De La Salle High ace Justin Hooper is one of 36 players nationwide to be selected for the 2014 Under Armour All-American baseball game.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior left-hander holds a 1.50 earned run average and has 38 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched this season for the Spartans, who are heavily in the mix for the East Bay Athletic League title.
The all-star game will be played Aug. 16 at Wrigley Field and will be televised by MLB Network the following day. The game is part of a four-day event that also includes a formal workout for MLB scouts.

Here’s a look at our latest East Bay softball poll.

Also receiving votes: Clayton Valley Charter (8-5, 3 votes). The East Bay Softball Poll is voted on by the prep sports staff of Bay Area News Group East Bay. Records are through Saturday.

De La Salle High is nearing an agreement to move its season opener against Jesuit-Carmichael to Levi’s Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers new billion-dollar home.
De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh confirmed Wednesday that the deal is in its final stages.
The game would likely be part of a doubleheader on Aug. 29 along with Wilcox-Santa Clara vs. Manteca. Wilcox cleared a big hurdle on Wednesday when the Central County Section’s Board of Managers granted the program a waiver to open the season a week early. That agreement is also close to being finalized, the Mercury News reports.
Interest in the De La Salle program should be intensified for a game at Levi’s with the release of “When the Game Stands Tall,” a movie focused on the Spartans program and its 151-game winning streak slated to be released the week before on Aug. 22.

Aaliyah Douglas, a volleyball player from Oakland Tech High, has been named a CIF Spirit of Sport award winner. She and five other winners from across the state will receive $2,000 and be recognized on May 2 at the year-end CIF Federated Council dinner in Los Angeles.

According to a press release, the CIF Spirit of Sport Award recognizes student-athletes who have demonstrated the 16 principles of Pursuing Victory with Honor, are active in school and community service and exhibit leadership qualities.

Douglas, the lone senior on Oakland Tech’s volleyball squad, has also volunteered at the Lawrence Hall of Science at U.C. Berkeley and worked at Children’s Hospital.

“The term Spirit of Sport refers to the embodiment of love for the game that is so profound, that win or lose, the light of the sports still shines though you,” Douglas said in the release. “From my experiences both on and off the court, I have learned that giving up is not an option. This is the ultimate lesson that having excellent sportsmanship and spirit of sport has taught me. Achievement in life is not granted to quitters, but those who remain steadfast in their purpose.”

Here’s a look at our latest East Bay softball poll.

Also receiving votes: Arroyo (12-3, 2 votes). The East Bay Softball Poll is voted on by the prep sports staff of Bay Area News Group East Bay. Records are through Saturday.

Salesian High’s Mariya Moore leads a list of six East Bay players to receive All-America honors by MaxPreps.com.

Moore, a McDonald’s All-American and the Bay Area News Group’s East Bay Player of the Year, was named to the five-player second team. Here’s what MaxPreps had to say about the 6-foot-1 forward headed to Louisville:

“Moore is a strong, physical wing who can overpower smaller players in the paint and out-quick bigger players on the perimeter. She led her Salesian team to the state championship game against powerhouse Long Beach Poly — which has about eight times as many students — with her all-around game and ability to rise to the challenge in the clutch.”

St. Mary’s forward Mikayla Cowling was named to the fifth team, and four other locals were chosen as honorable mention picks — Gabby Green (St. Mary’s), Sabrina Ionescu (Miramonte), Natalie Romeo (Carondelet) and Asha Thomas (Bishop O’Dowd).

Also receiving votes: Arroyo (8-2, 3 votes), Bishop O’Dowd (8-5, 1). The East Bay Softball Poll is voted on by the prep sports staff of Bay Area News Group East Bay. Records are through Saturday.

Here’s a look at our first East Bay softball poll of the season.

Also receiving votes: Freedom (6-3-2, 4 votes), Monte Vista (5-7, 1), San Leandro (6-3, 1). The East Bay Softball Poll is voted on by the prep sports staff of Bay Area News Group East Bay. Records are through Saturday.

All 12 CIF state basketball title games scheduled for this weekend will be televised live by Comcast SportsNet.

The Salesian girls (Open Division), Bishop O’Dowd boys (Open Division), Monte Vista boys (Division I), Moreau Catholic boys (Division IV) and St. Joseph Notre Dame boys (Division V) all will be playing for state titles at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. The television schedule for those games is as follows. The games will also be streamed on the CIF website.

Friday, March 28

DIVISION V BOYS: St. Joseph Notre Dame vs. Renaissance Academy-La Canada, noon, CSNCA. (Broadcast team: Play-by-play – Steve Quis, Analyst – Jon Crispin, Sideline – Rosalyn Gold-Onwude) 

DIVISION I BOYS: Monte Vista vs. Centennial-Corona, 8 p.m., CSN-Plus (Broadcast team: Play-by-Play – Barry Tompkins, Analyst – Jon Crispin, Sideline – Kelli Tennant)

Saturday, March 29

DIVISION IV BOYS: Moreau Catholic vs. Bishop Montgomery-Torrance, 12 p.m., CSN-Plus (Broadcast team: Play-by-play – Steve Quis, Analyst – Jon Crispin, Sideline – Rosalyn Gold-Onwude) 

OPEN DIVISION GIRLS: Salesian vs. Long Beach Poly, 6 p.m., CSNBA (Broadcast team: Play-by-Play – Barry Tompkins, Analyst – Mary Murphy, Sideline – Kelli Tennant.

OPEN DIVISION BOYS: Bishop O’Dowd vs. Mater Dei-Santa Ana, 8 p.m., CSNBA (Broadcast team: Play-by-Play – Barry Tompkins, Analyst – Drew Schiller, Sideline – Kelli Tennant)

The 2014 high school softball season will kick into gear for many local teams this weekend at the Queen of the Mountain tournament. One of the state’s best early-season tournaments — now in its 32nd year — starts Thursday and runs through Saturday at the Pleasanton Sports Park. The championship game is 5 p.m. Saturday. Another reason to be excited — warm weather with no rain in sight.

There will also be some great teams and exceptional players. The tournament includes two teams ranked in Cal-Hi Sports’ preseason state top 25 and two more on the bubble. That group is headlined by three-time defending tournament champion Amador Valley, which is No. 3 in the state and No. 7 in the nation in preseason rankings and features five college-committed seniors.

California High, ranked No. 10 in the state and led by standout pitcher Lindsey Chalmers, is on the other side of the bracket from Amador Valley. Cal High is part of one of the more intriguing opening-round games of the tournament. The Grizzlies face Rocklin, which has six college-bound players and made a deep run in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs last season.

Not to look too far ahead, but Amador Valley vs. Alhambra has the potential to be a second-round matchup very much worth the price of admission. The best pitcher in the area — Amador Valley’s Johanna Grauer — would face one of the very best hitters — Alhambra shortstop Kylee Perez. The travel ball teammates are both headed to UCLA. Their senior seasons are also off to fantastic starts. Grauer tossed a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts against Deer Valley in her opener, while Perez homered and drove in four runs as Alhambra beat defending NCS Division II champion Concord 12-0.

Other locals teams that could make some noise at Queen of the Mountain — Castro Valley, Clayton Valley, Newark Memorial, Livermore and Freedom.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students. For the complete tournament bracket, schedule, rosters and other information visit www.queenofthemountain.org

(And shout out to tournament director Julie Marshall for the excellent web site packed with great information)