Local News

Vacaville Christian High softball team grabs win over Golden Sierra – Battery of Meggers, Webb charge the Falcons

By MATT SIEGER | msieger@thereporter.com | Vacaville ReporterPUBLISHED: May 12, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. | UPDATED: May 13, 2021 at 3:07 p.m.

It was no surprise that Vacaville Christian High School pitcher Emerson Meggers and catcher Macy Webb were the stars in the Falcons’ 13-10 softball win over visiting Golden Sierra on Tuesday afternoon.

They are the only two returning players on the squad, and eight of the Falcons never even put a mitt on until this season.

“They are captains on our team,” said VCS head coach George Everett. “They lead by example. I use them both for coaching the new girls.”

The coaching appears to be working, as the supporting cast did quite well in the victory that gave the Falcons a 2-1 record in Sierra Delta League play, while the Grizzlies slipped to 1-2.

Meggers is normally a middle infielder and has not pitched since she was 10 years old.

“We have all new players except for these two,” Everett said. “And we have two others who have played when they were 8U and Bobby Sox. So by proxy she (Meggers) is our starting pitcher. Mainly it’s her heart that keeps her out on the mound.”

Meggers completed the game and, although she allowed ten runs, including a four-run uprising by the Grizzlies in the sixth inning, she persevered in the circle on a blistering hot day. It was especially impressive in that both she and Webb are just getting over being sick.

“I was getting a little hot and tired but I know how to finish,” Meggers said.

She allowed 11 hits but struck out 17 batters of the 21 outs recorded. In the second inning she pitched out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out three consecutive batters. She also worked her way out of the tough sixth inning with two consecutive strikeouts and a groundball out.

Her battery mate, Webb, has seen Meggers on better days.

“Normally she is really on top of it and every single inning is usually just boom, three at-bats and done,” said Webb. “But both of us are pretty tired. We’ve been sick. So a little bit slow today.”

Webb wasn’t slow in an exciting play in the bottom of the third. After blasting a double that bounced off the fence in left field, she advanced to third on a Meggers single. When Ainsley Smith hit a hard ground ball to third, Webb found herself caught off the bag. She tried to head home but slipped and fell to the ground.

“I thought I was definitely out on that one because I tripped,” she said. “I thought that was a for sure out. I thought they were right behind me with the ball.”

What made her get up?

“My coach and everyone yelling at me,” she said with a laugh.

Webb then managed to stay in the pickle long enough to force an errant throw as she scampered home with the run. Eggers then scored on a single by Meagan Duarte, who drove in three runs on the day, to put the Falcons up 10-2.

VCS scored five times in the first inning, helped in great part by five walks issued by the Grizzlies starting pitcher. The Falcons got three more in the second inning aided by key hits from Meggers and Kyra Williams.

The Falcons got their final tallies in a three-run fifth headlined by Webb’s third hit of the game and a two-run single to left by freshman Paige Prentice.

Everett was very pleased with the progress his largely inexperienced team has been making.

“They are developing very well, 100 percent improvement from our first couple of games,” he said. “This (Meggers and Webb) is the heart of our team. And then our defense backing them up and our bats coming into play really well. They take care of each other. They are 100 percent supportive of each other. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. I told them, ‘We don’t care about the score.’ Today was a great win because they worked really hard at it. But they always support each other.”

– Co-Head Coach George Everett

Matt Sieger | Sports Reporter

Matt covers local high school sports. He also writes a sports column and local news features. Matt is a graduate of Cornell University and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. He grew up in New Jersey, where he was an all-league second baseman in high school.msieger@thereporter.com Follow Matt Sieger @MattSieger1

BASKETBALL CAMP

The Skills Factory Experience Basketball Camp

If you missed out on the free clinic going on May 15th, the Skills Factory Experience returns June 5-6 for a two-day camp. Intended for ages 5 yrs. to 14 yrs., the camp runs both days from 9am to 12 noon at the VCS Falcon Gymnasium.

WHO: Boys & Girls, 5-14 yrs. old

WHEN: June 5-6th

TIME: 9am-12noon

COST: $150/player for both days or $100 for only one day.

Space is limited and CDPH guidelines will be enforced. Each player must bring their own basketball and there will be special guests and prizes awarded!

Go to www.hoopitup3x3.net to register today!

VCS Baseball

Season Opener: Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity Fights Back In Loss To Rio Vista

Season opener on Friday, March 19, 2021

Despite a 4-run deficit in the fourth inning, Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity almost came all
the way back, eventually falling 4-3 to Rio Vista on Friday. Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity
scored three runs in the failed comeback on a error and a triple by Steve Dingman.
Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity couldn’t keep up with Rio Vista early in the game. Rio
Vista scored on a double by Baldwin and a single by Drury in the first inning.

Rio Vista got things moving in the first inning, when Baldwin doubled on a 2-1 count, scoring
one run. Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity tallied three runs in the fourth inning. Rafa Rios and Dingman each had RBIs in the frame. Baldwin earned the victory on the mound for Rio Vista. The ace allowed five hits and three runs over five innings, striking out five. Drury threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen. Drury recorded the last six outs to earn the save for Rio Vista. John Elliott took the loss for Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity. Elliott surrendered four runs on six hits over three and two-thirds innings, striking out one.

Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity scattered six hits in the game. Elliott and Dingman each managed multiple hits for Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity. Dingman and Elliott each collected two hits to lead Vacaville Christian Falcons Varsity.

 

"Powered by Narrative Science and GameChanger Media. Copyright 2021. All rights
reserved." Any reuse or republication of this story must include the preceding attribution.

CDPH logo

UPDATE: Outdoor and Indoor Youth and Recreational Adult Sports

Summary

COVID-19 continues to pose a severe risk to communities and requires all people in California to follow recommended precautions. This guidance provides direction on outdoor and indoor youth and recreational adult sports activities to support a safe environment for these sports. The guidance applies to all organized youth sports and recreation— including school- and  community-sponsored programs, and privately-organized clubs and leagues — and adult recreational sports (hereafter youth and adult sports). This guidance does not apply to collegiate or professional sports. Additionally, this guidance does not apply to community events, such as marathons, half-marathons, and endurance races. 

Inter-team competitions (i.e., between two teams) resumed in California beginning January 25, 2021. The guidelines outlined in this document shall take effect on February 26, 2021.

The status of return-to-competition is subject to change at any time given the level of COVID-19 transmission in California.

Click here to review the full CDPH update.

CDPH logo

VCS Athletics and the lifting of the state’s regional stay-at-home order for all regions

SACRAMENTO – Officials with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today ended the Regional Stay at Home Order, lifting the order for all regions statewide, including the three regions that had still been under the order – San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area and Southern California. Four-week ICU capacity projections for these three regions are above 15%, the threshold that allows regions to exit the order. The Sacramento Region exited the order on January 12 and the Northern California region never entered the order.

This action allows all counties statewide to return to the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity. The majority of the counties are in the strictest, or purple tier. Tier updates are provided weekly on Tuesdays. Individual counties could choose to impose stricter rules.

Read the full announce by clicking here.

What does this mean for VCS Athletics?

Solano County remains in the Widespread – Purple Tier allowing youth sports to begin the use of shared equipment within our cohorts/teams during practice sessions following the CDPH guidelines for masking, social distancing to the maximum extent possible, hygiene and Equipment Sanitation. Athletes and coaches are expected to choose one team for the season, they are not to participate/coach on multiple teams during the same time frame.  Once outside competitions begin, due to the added risk of spreading the COVID virus if an athlete contracted the virus while competing with an outside school, the athlete must stop training with all other teams.

For example: If Joe is participating on the school football team, he cannot concurrently participate with his outside club basketball team.  Joe must choose to participate with only one team. Also, if Joe is currently participating on the school cross country team and practicing with his school basketball team, once he starts to compete against other schools with his cross country team, he must stop training with the basketball team until he is finished with his cross country season. This is all about protecting everyone involved and we must abide by our county order to follow the CDPH guidelines.

Donna Hagans, VCS Director of Athletics


CURRENT CIF SPORTS SCHEDULE:

IN-SEASON (In-person competitions allowed to begin according to assigned tier): Cheer (Yellow), Cross Country (Purple), Football (Orange), and Women’s Volleyball (Orange)

LIMITED PERIOD for all other high school sports: Baseball (Red), Basketball (Yellow), Competitive Cheer (Yellow), Golf (Purple), Soccer (Orange), Softball (Red), Swimming (Purple), Track & Field (Purple), and Men’s Volleyball (Orange)

Still, the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section has yet a new proposal on the table. They are preparing to vote on a new Sports Calendar for the remaining 2020-2021 school year this week. This new proposal could give the VCS sports league, the Sierra Delta League, the opportunity to determine which sports our small school league could actually make happen this spring based on anticipated movement into particular tiers. The SDL has many things to consider in their decision, such as student-athlete participation numbers, facility availability, transportation, and coaching staff to name a few. Part of the CDPH guidelines requires schools to limit their competitions to their own county and adjacent counties within the same tier. For VCS this means we can only compete with schools in the same tier and located in Solano, Napa, Sacrament, and Yolo counties respectively. The challenge for the SDL is that we are not all in adjacent counties, so VCS is not even allowed to play two of the seven league teams: Golden Sierra and Linden.

Our heads are spinning as A.D.’s as we try to manage the constant changes handed down by both the state and our CIF section along with the many unknowns of this virus. Our goal is the same at this point – we simply want our kids to be able to compete!

Donna Hagans, VCS Director of Athletics

PRESS RELEASE: CIF Statement Regarding Education-Based Athletics for 2020-21 School Year

December 1, 2020

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Due to the continued surge in COVID-19 infections, the
California Department of Public Health has postponed the issuance of its updated youth
sports guidance. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) does not expect the
CDPH will issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and
competition until after January 1, 2021, at the earliest. Thus, all full practice and
competition start dates are officially on hold until updated guidance is issued.

Therefore, to provide the 10 CIF Sections, our 1,605 member schools, and more than
800,000 student-athletes the best opportunity to compete in Season 1 Sports, once
allowed by the CDPH and local county offices of public health, the CIF State Office is
removing all Regional and State Championship events from the Season 1 Sports calendar.
By canceling Regional and State Championship events, more student-athletes will have
the opportunity to participate in a longer season, rather than a truncated season with
Regional and State post-season play for a limited number of schools.
Additionally, boys volleyball will be moved to Season 2 to avoid the loss of a second full
season, and an updated Season 2 calendar to include boys volleyball will be posted in
January.

The CIF is confident this decision is a necessary and reasonable action for our member
schools, student-athletes, and school communities in light of the current statewide crisis.
This revision to the CIF State 2020-21 Season 1 Sports calendar offers our Sections and
Leagues the flexibility and needed time to plan for the return to practice and competition
once updated guidance is provided by the CDPH.

West Coast Prep Kendall Allen

Xclusive Speed Top 45 Powered by West Coast Preps: Nos. 30-26

No. 27: Vacaville Christian junior receiver Kendall Allen

Kendall Allen is simply a freak of an athlete.

During his first two high school seasons, Allen was one of the top receivers in the entire region and accumulated nearly 1,000 yards both seasons. His freshman year was a 994-yard and 13-touchdown season, following that up with 992 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns to lift Vacaville Christian in a remarkable turnaround from one win in 2018 to a section semifinals appearance in 2019.

On top of that, Allen is a star in basketball and track. He averaged 13.9 points per game off the bench as a freshman to help VCS to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship and then posted 21.8 points per game his sophomore year, all the while also being a Junior Olympian.

Click here to read the West Coast Preps article Xclusive Speed Top 45 Powered by West Coast Preps: Nos. 30-26

Zack Mercado

Sky is the limit for Vacaville Christian’s Mercado

October 8, 2020/Chris Jackson

Zack Mercado’s father reached out to one of the most prominent line coaches, and there was no hesitation to work out with the young phenom from Vacaville Christian.

Aaron Day, a defensive line trainer who focuses on rushing the passer, saw it all when Mercado’s father connected with him, and he has seen why those around Mercado rave about the defensive lineman every chance they can.

“With him it’s the ability to pick up things quickly and to put them to use,” Day said. “I give him a couple moves, I try not to put too much on his plate, but he’s been able to surpass my expectations and just keep going. He’s very tenacious, really attacks things. He has an ability to bend and not only just bend, but he can put his hands in the ground and muscle people out of his way. He’s very strong. 

“He’s a special talent.”

– Aaron Day

Mercado’s first varsity campaign his sophomore season in 2019 said it all.

In Vacaville Christian’s run to a 7-5 record and a Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII semifinals appearance, which was the program’s first playoff appearance since 2014 and was also a year when it won its first playoff game since 2011, Mercado was dominant every step of the way. He registered 119 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, 28 hurries and one blocked punt, earning his way to Defensive Player of the Year honors in the region

And Mercado reminds Vacaville Christian head coach Manny Tarango of Armon Bailey, who is now a linebacker at Sacramento State and played for Tarango when Tarango was a defensive coordinator at Vanden.

Both players are intentional. They’re deliberate. They’re extremely hard on themselves, no matter how well they performed or what type of big play they just made.

“Zack pushes himself and holds himself to such a high standard,” Tarango said. “This is a guy that wakes up and watches film on a game and says, ‘My hand placement when I was holding that B gap was off six inches. And if I had got a little bit lower, I would have been able to push the pocket and I would have been able to get that sack instead of the quarterback hurry.’”

There is still so much more room for Mercado to grow, which is exactly what he has done during this extended offseason before his junior season officially rolls around in a few months.

Mercado is 6-2 and 245 pounds and has been a menace at every showcase he’s attended, displaying a burst right away that is tricky for any opposing offensive lineman to maneuver against.

“He has the athleticism to be able to move and pull, but he has the strength and the power to be able to just be, he can be like an Aaron Donald,” Tarango said. “He can hold a gap. He can change the direction of a game, and he’s only 6-2, 245. He’s still growing. But he plays like he’s much bigger. He’s super humble. He’s one of those guys that is very quiet in the classroom. 

“He just gets in, does his work, 3.8 GPA, but he’s just so cognizant of what he’s doing and how he’s doing it, and he plays with such a reckless abandonment.”

The sky is only the limit from here going forward.

With 26 tackles for loss and 10 sacks as just a sophomore for a team that went as far as it did a year ago, the expectations are higher now. Once colleges can start recruiting in person again – the NCAA dead period was extended to Jan. 1, 2020 – Day sees the recruiting process taking off for Mercado.

“I think once they physically see the kid that they’ll see on film, especially this season, because his film is going to be very, very good,” Day said. “Once they see him in person, they can put somebody physically in front of them and see what he’s all about. He’s going to start taking off as far as offers come or just attention.”

“It’s going to help me with everything – recruiting, in game, just everything, the proper technique that he’s telling me to do,” Mercado said. “It’s just on the field, off the field, just me as a person – it’s going to help with everything.”

Maybe another Defensive Player of the Year award is on the way, too.

“I can’t say enough about Zack Mercado,” Tarango said.

“The kid has a motor. I think we might see our first two-time Defensive Player of the Year out of this season because I just don’t know if they’ll be able to block him. He’s bigger, stronger, faster, and he has an unrelentless will to succeed. I just love Zack.”

– Coach Tarango
Kendall Allen

‘Dog mentality’ carries Allen into three-sport sensation

September 13, 2020/Chris Jackson/No Comments

The simplest way for Vacaville Christian head football coach Manny Tarango to describe three-sport sensation Kendall Allen is to look back at one of his former players.

Tarango remembers back when he was coaching Javin White. The two had started working together from when White was 11 or 12 years old all the way yp to White’s junior season at Vanden, where Tarango was on the staff until becoming Vacaville Christian’s newest leader, before White moved over to McClymonds.

White ended up shining at McClymonds, where he developed into a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and was a first team all-league selection while ending up at UNLV to play college football at the next level.

Now, White just wrapped up a remarkable stint at UNLV, winning Mountain Defensive Player of the Year honors and signing an undrafted free agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders last month.

“I got to go to all his games, as many as I could go, graduation, the whole thing,” Tarango said. “That’s like my son. We used to workout at 4 o’clock in the morning. I would take him to school and then I would see him at football practice. He would come over on the weekends, and so because of that relationship I always knew that Javin was going to end up being in the league because he is, and I say that because he and Kendall share that same.”

What made White special is exactly what has Allen destined for a career in athletics beyond high school, too. 

Even if the success is there, Allen is going full throttle every single rep in practice and every single time he’s competing – whether that’s on the football field, on the basketball court or on the track.

“These guys are just dogs,” Tarango said. “Javin and Kendall hold themselves to a standard that I don’t think anybody could ever touch. When Kendall works out, Kendall is going a 100 miles an hour and nothing is good enough for him. And now some people may be like, ‘Well, that’s kind of obsessive, compulsive, but no.’ He just understands, ‘If I want to be the best, I have to work like I’m No. 2 chasing No. 1.’ And he is out there, and on game day he is the ultimate competitor.”

It’s simply like watching Russell Westbrook, whose aggression and will to win every single play has helped him morph into an NBA All-Star.

Kendall Allen was an award winner at the Exposure Academy Boys Basketball Showcase. Chris Jackson / Staff Photo

In basketball alone, Allen’s stardom has guided Vacaville Christian to unprecedented heights every single time he and his teammates step foot on the hardwood. As a freshman, Allen averaged 13.9 points per game while coming off the bench in the Falcons’ run to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship.

His sophomore year saw those numbers skyrocket, amassing 21.8 points per contest and being named the MVP of the squad as Vacaville Christian was a Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI semifinalist.

“When he goes up and dunks, he’s trying to break the rim off,” Tarango said. “He plays with an anger but at the same time he’s just a good hearted kid, and he’s constantly working on his craft. He just wants to compete and he doesn’t do it in a disrespectful manner.”

This type of athleticism was noticed a couple of years ago from Allen, citing a conversation with his mother when they understood that the sky was the limit for him.

“Seventh grade summer going into eighth grade,” Allen said. “I kind of hit a little bit of a growth spurt and I started getting my athleticism and stuff. It was always born with me, but I was always a small kid. That’s when I knew. I told my Mom I could actually do something with this athleticism and my God given talent, too.”

Meanwhile, Allen’s talents in every other sport he competes in are evident each and every night.

During his first year at VCS, Allen recorded 994 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, following that up with 992 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore to bump the Falcons’ win total from one to seven while appearing in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII semifinals.

And Allen’s resume also features being a Junior Olympian.

“He works his butt off,” said Vacaville Christian senior receiver Jaron Leaks, whose offer list includes UC Davis. “That guy – what an athlete. He’s just wonderful. I love that kid to death. He just knows how to work hard.”

It’s all that “dog mentality” Tarango alluded to, with his constant hours perfecting his craft with fellow teammates paying enormous dividends.

Allen, Leaks and others have worked out three and four times per day. They’re getting up early to run a few miles. 

Plus, Allen is attending every showcase and camp he can, most recently having a three-showcase weekend over Labor Day with the xposure Academy Football Showcase on Friday night in Vacaville, the Xclusive Speed Bay Area Top 100 Showcase Saturday morning and the Exposure Academy Boys Basketball Showcase on Sunday – the latter being a day when he also earned an award from the coaching staff.

“He does it to the point where if he lines up at wide receiver, he’ll tell you I have to make this corner know that I’m the best receiver that he’s going to guard all year,” Tarango said. “That’s his mentality every single day, on the basketball court, when we’re doing 400s on the track, when he’s out at practice just going up against his teammates in 1 on 1s or whatever.”

No schools have offered Allen yet, but schools from across the region are interested, like Hawaii, Sacramento State and Utah, to name a few.

But all Allen is focused on is continuing his progress as an athlete and adding more banners to Vacaville Christian’s athletic department.

“For myself I want to make the all-state nominee again,” Allen said. “I want to win Offensive Player of the Year. I’m trying to get 1,200-plus receiving yards, and then as a team I want to win state. I want to win. I don’t want to lose more than two games at all. We shouldn’t. We’re one of the best teams in this area and proved it already, too.”

Leaks develops into VCS star, college recruit

August 13, 2020/Chris Jackson/No Comments

Two months ago, Vacaville Christian senior athlete Jaron Leaks felt the moment that all of the work was worth it.

Going through some challenging days, Leaks received a call that showed he was next level. Whittier, a Division III school in Southern California, sent an offer his way to play college football.

“It’s a blessing because all my hard work, my family and I went through a hard time with all the corona stuff and my grandpa being sick, so everything was falling apart,” Leaks said. “And then I get a call from a coach and he gave me a full scholarship. It opened my eyes more.”

That moment was indicative of what those around him saw early on: a budding star just waiting to be unleashed.

Leaks’ cousin, Latrelle Smith, who is a cornerback at William & Mary, saw something in Leaks right away.

He knew he was different.

“He had been telling me all the time to just keep working hard,” Leaks said. “‘It’s in you. You got it.’ So when I first got my offer from Whittier about two months ago, I was like, ‘Alright, I can really get used to this type of stuff.’ Just got to keep working hard.”

Read more…

Scroll to Top