In the first few minutes of the game, Fountain Valley had made the first six points and hopes were high. Huntington caught up with us, however and was ahead 14-6 by the end of the first half. Even though we were behind, Fountain Valley did not despair. Our side was on their feet for the entire second half, cheering our football team on.

The third quarter was another win for the Oilers and they ended the game strong, with twenty-one points. Our Fountain Valley team scored another touchdown and ended the game with a respectable twelve points.

Though it was not a win for Fountain Valley, the varsity football team ended strong and the crowd cheered until the very end.

Photographed By: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff

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Earlier in their season, Varsity Baseball was invited by the Sunset League to CIF Playoffs. Their first opponent, St. John Bosco High School, was considered one of the strongest teams in the league.

However, on their first CIF Playoff game, our Baron\’s Baseball team easily defeated St. John Bosco with a score of 4 – 1. Initially, the Barons were down 0 – 1. It wasn\’t until the 5th and 6th innings that our baseball team rallied to sweep the St. John Bosco Braves.

Ending strong in their first game, the Barons went on to take on Simi Valley High School. Our team however was not as successful, losing to the Pioneers 17 – 10. Early in the game, the Barons were leading by 7 runs until Simi Valley made a comeback and took the lead. From there, the two teams traded off until finally, Simi Valley overtook the Barons significantly.

“This season was one of the best in 8 years. We\’ve made a pretty big come around in comparison to last year. Either way, we would have liked to go even farther but we got cut short,” said outfielder, Charlie Stephens (\’11).

Overall, the Barons played a phenomenal season with 16 wins and 12 losses. Next year, Coach LaRuffa and the 2011-2012 team hope to advance even farther into the Baseball Sunset League.

On Tuesday, November 30^th, Boys\’ Varsity won against Calvary Chapel High School, their first game of the season. It was a great start for our Baron soccer team. The ball was rarely against our side. The strong fight put up by our boys ended the game in a 2-0 victory. “Our offense was dominating the field and the ball didn\’t even pass our defense,” says varsity player, Eric Shearer (\’12), “it was just a successful game that helped boast our confidence and Baron Pride.”

The boys practice every day after school from running miles to scrimmaging with all the levels for 3 hours and more a day. “The season has been shaping really well and we want to go for a long winning streak,” Shearer says.

Friday December 3^rd was a different story. During 2^nd game of the season, Our boys challenged the formidable Trabuco Hills. Our mighty Barons were holding up the Mustangs, winning by 1-0 at half time. Unfortunately, 2 goals were suddenly put in by Trabuco Hills. “Neither goal was put into our net, it was luck that they got pass our 10 players and the ball just rolled in,” explains Shearer.

For now our Barons Boys\’ soccer team is holding up one win and one loss. Regardless of this uncertainty, they continue to strive to find victory. When asked about the team\’s ultimate goal, Shearer further states, “Our goal is to make it to CIFs and show what the Barons have.”

Emerging as one of the top teams of Orange County early in their season, Girl\’s Varsity Golf showed great promise. Match after match, the Barons came out undefeated against the most formidable schools in the Sunset League. Newport Harbor, Estancia, Los Alamitos, and even our rival Edison all fell to our ladies during the early matches of the year. The Baron\’s early lead however was cut short by a series of heavy losses to Marina and Esparanza. To make matters worse, our ladies were also defeated in rematches against Los Alamitos and Edison.

Amidst the mid-season crisis, the Barons were able to turn the tides toward victory with a stunning breakthrough win against Huntington Beach on Thursday, October 14th. Our ladies defeated the Oiliers 226 to 233, a significant 7 stroke difference.

Sally Kim (\’13) medaled with the top score of 33. Captain Jennifer Tsai (\’11) followed with 46 strokes and Katherine Tengan (\’13) with 47.

“It was an amazing and invigorating game. This year, our team is great and is still working really hard,” said Captain Tsai.

Making up for their mid-season losses, Fountain Valley overcame Huntington Beach shot by shot. Across the course, our Barons kept a strong pace against the Oilers, denying them any chance to over take them.

Jasmine Lieu (\’12) commented, “We messed up pretty badly for the past couple of weeks. Our putting, irons, and shot accuracy was lacking. But we pulled through. This was a good day.”

“I\’m happy we beat Huntington Beach, exclaimed Sally Kim, “the last few weeks we just couldn\’t get ourselves together, but we finally did it.”

Even with the past setbacks, our Girl\’s Varsity team is living up to its promises: to have a more competitive, challenging season that delivers real results and real victories against the toughest teams of Southern California. With a record of 4-0-5 compared with last season 1-1-10, the Barons have done just that.

Captain Tsai, excited for the end of the season, said, “Next week is our last game of the year against Newport Harbor. We hope we can win and get to place in the CIF playoffs.”

Friday, January 22, was a great day– not only for the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, but also for our Varsity Boys Basketball team who played Esperanza.

The boys were down by one when there were only four minutes left. Luckily, they stepped up their game to bring it up by one with only 50 seconds left.

The boys were worried when they entered the game because the Junior Varsity team had previously lost by 25 against the Aztecs. However, throughout the match, they continued to hold about the same points as Esperanza, slightly lagging behind. With 6 seconds remaining on the clock, two free throws put the Barons up by 2 and led to a victory against the Aztecs.

“Although they came into this game 0-4 in league, Varsity pulled through to win an exciting game against Esperanza 47-45,” says Michael Perri (\’12), who plays on the JV team.

“The crowd was on the edge of their seats as the game progressed; seconds went by like hours. The game was very emotional for both sides and extremely tense,” continued Perri. “These are the games I want to see; the Barons deserve every victory with their hard work!”

Now with a record of 1-4 in the season, the team hopes to enter a winning streak.

Adam Renth concluded, “We came out strong by setting the tone early and Ardalan came through in the clutch. This was a great win in a hostile environment. It was a true Nam Pham Friday!”

By Sarah Kari, Staff writer

On Friday, September 11, 2009 at OCC. Barons defeated Tesoro by 35-14. This game was one of the most anticipated Baron football games and sure enough the wait was worth it. The players and the audience were tensed not knowing what would happen, but were relieved to claim the final victory.

The first touchdown was made by senior, Dominic Ragland. At the end of the first quarter the score was 6-0, Barons in the lead. By halftime Tesoro was in the lead by 14- 13. Barons were just waiting for the halftime to show Tesoro what the Barons were made of. And they completely did.

The game was turned around and by the end of third quarter with senior, Ryan Steadman’s touchdown, the Barons lead 21-14. With full determination and goal of winning the game, senior, Kyle Middlebrooks didn\’t make not only one but two touchdowns within 10 minutes. But credit does not only go to the recievers, but to the whole football team.

Sadly, Tesoros\’ audience started leaving with 5 min left on the clock seeing no hope of their win that day.

This year The Varsity Football Team is showing everybody that this year they are going to be tough and nothing is bringing them down. This was their game into the season with no losses yet. This year the football games are going to be exciting and regretful if missed.

GO BARONS!!!!!

Tuesday night was the varsity men\’s last volleyball home game and they were up against the formidable Aztecs.

Friday\’s Senior Night recognized the team\’s seven seniors: captain and opposite hitter Dillon Emery, middle blocker Chris Gierhart, outside hitter Brian Huffman, libero Jason Tran, outside hitter Adam Lander, setter Matt McCoy, and outside hitter Ryan Sharpe.

It was all or nothing from the start. Although there were no aces and only one block (by McCoy), the Barons were able to maintain their kills, which helped them battle the Aztecs\’ strong defense. Sharpe led the way with five kills, Emery followed suit with three, and Gierhart and Lander supported the effort with two and one respectively. Unfortunately, the final score of the first match was 18-25, with the Aztecs taking the win.

Match two was filled with just as many rallies and impressive moves. The Barons hit hard and did their best, but were frequently blocked by their opponents. Emery scored five kills and many ups from the blocks he was covering for his teammates. Gierhart claimed another kill of his own along with an impressive block. Sharpe managed two more kills and a block  – both impossible for the Aztec defenders to play. However, the outcome of this match was the same as the first.

The Barons headed into match three with the Aztec’s hits going straight over the Baron blockers, making defense hard for the back row players. Hard spikes also made defense difficult. The front row did manage to score seven kills offensively, all by Emery, VanVuuren, Tompkins, and the sole block of the match by McCoy. The match ended in the Aztecs\’ favor, 16-25.