Dublin Athletes Compete in NCS, Bats Come Alive at Dougherty Valley in Regular Season Finale, Beach Volleyball EBAL Championships at Fallon Sports Park

Dozens of student-athletes from Dublin High School recently had the opportunity to compete in North Coast Section championship events for their respective sport in recent days, drawing a successful conclusion to their seasons.

After winning their 1st Round NCS match at Bishop O’Dowd, Dublin drew a touch matchup with #3 seed Amador Valley in the Quarterfinals. The teams split their two encounters during the regular season and also split their first two sets of last Thursday’s quarterfinal match. However, the Dons took control in the final two sets and pulled away with a 3-1 victory.

Despite the loss, the Gaels still finished the season with an overall record of 19-8, making this one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history. It was also the 3rd time in the past 4 seasons in which Dublin has won at least one postseason contest. In addition, the Junior Varsity team only had 1 loss the entire year and the Gaels only graduate 2 players from Varsity, so the future of the program is definitely extremely promising.

Last weekend also saw NCS competition take place in Swimming, as several athletes competed in the annual championship event at the Concord Community Pool. Qualifiers for Dublin on the Boys’ side included Preet Agrwal, Evan Brown, Ethan Brigs, Ranveer Jayaswal, Abhi Kasyab, Timothy Koo, Joey Loftus, Hariom Patel, Ben Ohrr, Jack True, and Jack Wu. Girls’ qualifiers for the Gaels included Monisha Anand, Abby Gargullo, Samira Leung, Emmy Loftus, Veronica Moore, Jenna Palattao, Sahara Salemi, Kelsie Spears, Kopal Tare, and Jayla Threets.

Ben Ohrr and Emmy Loftus had particularly strong showings at NCS, as both advanced to the second day of competition on Saturday. Emmy Loftus ended up advancing to the Consolation Finals in the 500 Free, while Ben Ohrr made the final head for the 100 Back and ended up finishing 7th overall in the event. Ohrr is now up for consideration in the 100 Back for the CIF State meet based upon his times, with a final announcement expected no later than Tuesday.

In addition to NCS competitions, last week also saw regular season finales in Baseball and Softball, as both teams competed at Dougherty Valley.

The Softball team once again exploded for 8 runs to keep up its torrid offensive pace of the season’s final weeks, but the Gaels ultimately fell to the Wildcats 9-8 to conclude their regular season. Similar to Boys Volleyball, the program only graduates two seniors, and with many returners who saw significant action on the diamond this season combined with an anticipated influx of talented freshmen, there are encouraging signs for the future.

Dublin’s Baseball team also scored 8 runs en route to an 8-1 victory that was much closer than the score would indicate. The Gaels trailed 1-0 into the 6th inning before putting all of their runs on the board in what proved to be the game’s decisive frame. Dublin finished the regular season with an overall mark of 17-7, which are its most regular season wins since winning the NCS title back in 2006.

The Gaels’ Baseball team is off this week in preparation for the NCS playoffs which begin on May 20th. Dublin is currently ranked 9th in the Division 1 Maxpreps rankings which are the primary factor in determining seeding, but depending upon results could move up to the 8th position to earn a 1st round home game. Brackets will be released next Sunday, May 18th.

Looking ahead to more postseason action this week, Aditya Das will be competing for Dublin in the NCS Division 2 Championships at Foxtail North on Monday. With a strong showing, Das could advance to next Monday’s Division 1 championship event. In other action, Dublin High School will be hosting the inaugural Girls Beach Volleyball Championships on Tuesday, May 13th starting at 4:00. The event is not a team competition but is designed to crown the best pair in the league. Doubles pairs which qualified for EBAL from Dublin include Sophia Ignacio and Brooke Feldinger along with Sophie Casanas and Sammy Wang.