May 17, 2008

Paye going home again with Knights

By John Reid / Daily News Staff

John Paye is back home, so to speak. Paye, who coached girls basketball at Notre Dame-Belmont the past two years, has been named the new coach at Menlo School, his alma mater (class of '83).

Paye coached Menlo School to three state Div. V titles from 1989 to 1991 and spent seven seasons as coach of the Knights. He is a member of the Menlo School Hall of Fame, the San Mateo County Hall of Fame and the Stanford Hall of Fame.

"My two sisters, Kate and Amy, and I went to Menlo School," Paye said. "Menlo School is in my blood. I was sad to leave Notre Dame because we had a great season last year. I got Notre Dame back on track, and I want to get Menlo School back on track. Menlo had a difficult season last year and it's going to be a challenge."

Paye played quarterback at Stanford then was a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

"I got the Menlo job back in '89 because we were walking the picket line with the 49ers," Paye said. "I needed something to do, so I took the job at Menlo."

Paye replaces Brooke McKinney, who resigned after last season.



TRIVIA TIME: Aragon defeated Westmont-San Jose 1-0 in a first-round Central Coast Section Div. II softball game Thursday. When was the last time the Dons won a CCS playoff game in softball? Answer lower in story.



FILIOS' NEW CAREER: Steve Filios' plate is rarely empty. His hunger never abated, Filios has been named the new assistant CCS commissioner, leaving his full-time job at St. Francis at the end of the school year. Filios' most immediate duty is to serve as meet director for the upcoming CCS track and field championships.

Filios recently resigned his post as boys basketball coach at St. Francis, where he had more than 300 wins. The CCS post is a newly created one with Filios joining Duane Morgan as the other assistant commissioner to Commish Nancy Lazenby Blaser.

"It's a great challenge for me and a wonderful opportunity," said Filios, who has been at St. Francis the past 30 years. "It happened quickly. Nancy called me the other day and we talked about it. Then I met with Duane. We agreed that our goal is to make CCS the best section in the state."

Filios admits he'll "miss his students the most."

"It's hard to leave something you have done for so long," Filios said. "You go to school, say hi to the students and your colleagues in the faculty room. But I feel I can make a difference to many more students on a different level."

Filios' commute just got a little longer. The Mountain View resident must travel to the CCS office in South San Jose.

"My commute went from one mile one-way to 19 miles," Filios said. "That's part of the deal."

Meanwhile, St. Francis named Filios' replacement as head boys basketball coach. It's Michael Motil, who coached the Lancers' freshman squad last season and has been in the boys basketball program the past six seasons.



MOUNTAIN VIEW'S NEAR MISS: Mountain View, with 43.5 CCS points, was the last team to fail to make the baseball playoffs. The Spartans were 16-13-1 overall, finishing third in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division.

"It was frustrating," Mountain View first-year coach Gabe Stewart said. "Milpitas made it with 44.5 points and we beat them 5-2. But they play in an 'A' league and we play in a 'B' league."

The Spartans also defeated Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division champ Menlo School 6-0, another feather in their cap. The Spartans' best effort, however, may have been in a non-league loss to Los Altos. Mountain View led 2-1 with one out in the seventh when the Eagles' Erik Johnson belted a three-run homer to win it for Los Altos.

"That was a well-played game," said Stewart, who coached the frosh-soph at Los Altos the past 12 years. "It was intense, a rivalry game. I was proud of the way we played."

The pitcher in that game for the Spartans was lefty James Sierras, one of seven seniors on the team. Sierras was a major bright spot for the Spartans this season, batting .381 with three homers with a 6-2 overall win-loss record. But the outing against Los Altos, which was during Easter Break, was Sierras' last.

"Sierras had a tired arm," Stewart said. "He had no pop left. That hurt not having him available."

Injuries really stung the Spartans this season. In a game against Monta Vista, the Spartans had to play an inning with eight players.

"We had a roster of 15 and had seven players out," Stewart said. "We were a M.A.S.H. unit."

Stewart was counting on Paul Vargas to pitch this season, but a ligament injury put the kibosh on that. Then Jake Robbins, who was 4-1 overall, broke his pitching wrist and missed three or four starts. Robbins, who was hitting .400 in league, is one of two juniors Stewart will rely on next season. The other is Sean Barrie, who hit .345 and was 2-2 on the mound.

Senior shortstop Jerrick Berry, who hit .350 with an on-base-percentage of .509, told Stewart the other day that he would play at West Valley College next year.

"Berry was a tremendous leader and played a fabulous shortstop," Stewart said. "I moved him to the third spot in the order from leadoff because I needed him to. He did a great job."

When Stewart, a full-time teacher at Los Altos, first arrived, he knew he had quite a task at hand.

"I was the fourth varsity baseball coach for the program in four years for those seniors," Stewart said. "I was coming over from their rival high school. If they would have turned me off, I wouldn't have blamed them. I laid it on thick at first. Gradually they started to listen. I had to gain their trust. I hope to stay here for a long time."



NORCAL HOPES: Menlo School's Patrick Grimes and Carlmont's Daniel Semmler have their tee times set for Monday's CIF NorCal boys golf championship at the Richmond Country Club. Grimes, the Central Coast Section medalist as a freshman, tees off at 9:54 a.m. on the first tee. Semmler, who carded a 70 to qualify, tees off at 10:13 a.m. on the first tee box. St. Francis-Mountain View, second in CCS as a team, has Sean Nadir at 8:57 a.m. to kick off their team title quest.

Grimes' CCS victory at Rancho Canada West was tremendous as he shot a 5-under 66. He had six birdies and a bogey. Menlo School coach Dave Lage, who was marshaling the event, could only see Grimes on a couple of holes.

"Patrick played smart and things clicked," Lage said. "He won the PAL tournament, too, so he's on a roll."

Grimes became the third CCS medalist from Menlo School, joining Phil Huff ('89) and Roger Pineda, who was a co-medalist in '91.

The state boys golf tournament will be June 3 at Santa Maria Country Club.



ALBANESE'S WILD RIDE: Castilleja's Samantha Albanese led off the top of the seventh of Wednesday's CCS Div. III softball game with a drive over the Redwood Christian center fielder's head. There is a lot of real estate at Redwood City's Hawes Park, and Albanese, with her club trailing 1-0 and facing elimination, ran like the wind.

"She kept pitching us outside and I kept trying to pull her pitches," said Albanese, a sophomore. "As I was headed home, the catcher was up the line, but waiting for the throw. I knew it was going to be close, so I hook-slid around her."

Albanese's wild ride tied the score 1-1, but the Gators lost 2-1 in nine innings. Both of Redwood Christian's runs were unearned. Albanese, a whirlwind hurler, whiffed 20 batters in the loss. Besides trying to get the opposition out, Albanese said there was one other minor distraction.

"There were a lot of bugs in the air," Albanese said. "But it didn't affect my pitching that much."



TRIVIA ANSWER: Aragon last won a CCS softball playoff game in 1993, shutting out Mt. Pleasant-San Jose 3-0 in a Div. I contest.



E-mail John Reid jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.