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An article published in the San Mateo County Times on Milwaukee Brewers' pitching prospect Chuck Lofgren:

Chuck Lofgren received a heads-up from his agent. The word along the baseball grapevine had him getting picked up by a team in the Rule 5 draft.
The second-chance draft involves any ballplayer that has six years of minor-league experience and is no longer protected on a 40-man roster.
Lofgren's five years with the Cleveland Indians' organization was coming to an end. The Serra High grad was hoping for a change of scenery and the Milwaukee Brewers made the call.
Just as he gathered around a computer to watch the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, he was listening again on the internet this past winter as his name was called.
The left-handed pitcher, who set hitting records with the Padres, couldn't have asked for a better place to restart his professional career. The Brewers' spring training facilities is closer to his Mesa home than the Indians camp a few miles west.
"The last five years have been the most fun of my life," Lofgren said as he sat on a chair in front of his locker at the Maryvale complex. "To be in professional ball, to put on a jersey every day, is a blessing. There's nowhere else I would rather be or nothing else I'd rather do."
This is his best chance to make an Opening Day roster. The Brewers will have to keep him on the 25-man roster all season or offer him back to the Indians at a reduced rate. All signs point to Lofgren getting the nod.
"I just want to show that I am capable of being a quality major league pitcher," he said. "I'd like to improve my fastball command and locate to both sides of the plate to set my offspeed pitch."
Milwaukee pitching coach Rick Petersen has introduced Lofgren to balance drills, since his likely role will be as a relief pitcher. The drills are designed to help Lofgren start out of the stretch.
Meanwhile Petersen, who specializes in the mental aspect of pitching, has shied away from tinkering with his delivery until he's seen Lofgren in action.
"He wants to know where I'm at," Lofgren said. "He wants to know where I feel most comfortable. He wants me to get comfortable out of the stretch."
He's made a total of 13 relief appearances among his 132 professional starts but the Brewers see him as a valuable commodity out of the bullpen, at least for now.
"What we've got is a pitcher who can do two things; he's capable of starting because that was his role, but he's also capable of coming out of the bullpen because left-handed hitters were hitting in the low .200s against him," Brewers' head scout Dick Groch told the team's web site in December. "We saw a chance to get a 23-year-old left-hander who can get the ball over the plate. We like the age, we like the body and we like the things we can do with him."
After 633 innings, 45 wins, 35 losses, 532 strikeouts and 281 walks, Lofgren has been through just about every situation. Now he'd like to do it at the highest level.
The delivery is a little different from the days Lofgren terrorized West Catholic Athletic League and there's more bulk on his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame but Lofgren has the same competitiveness, the same drive that made him a special player.
He's been a Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and an all-star at more than one level of the minor leagues. He's also been through one of the roughest stretches anyone can experience.
While he was struggling through a sub-par season at Double-A Akron in 2008, which led to his demotion to the bullpen, his mother, Pamela, was battling cancer.
"It's been a roller coaster ride," Lofgren said. "There are so many ups and downs you have to ride out. It's such a crazy game and you have to be so focused on every pitch. That's why the game is 90 percent mental."
He drew strength and inspiration from his mother's full recovery and responded the following year with a tremendous start at Akron that led to his promotion to Triple-A Columbus.
He can still hear Ruben Niebla's voice, his pitching coach at Rookie League Burlington, his first professional stop.
"I was 18 years old and throwing the ball 95 miles an hour," Lofgren recalled. "I had no clue what I was doing. I was throwing as hard as I could and quickly learned you can't throw like that and expect to win. Those guys could hit my fastball. I needed to learn how to command it."
Niebla took the lead on Lofgren's learning curve and now Lofgren hopes to follow Niebla, now coaching with Cleveland, to the major leagues.
With the Brewers, Lofgren can also dream of returning to the batter's box. He was an outfielder and hit in the third spot with the United States junior national team that traveled the world.
"Hitting is still a passion of mine," he said. "I get into the cage during the offseason so I don't completely lose it. I can't wait until we start taking batting practice. Being a good hitter I can be an asset for the team."
He's also proud that he continued to pursue a college education and is on schedule to graduate from the University of Phoenix in June with a degree in criminal justice.
"It's good to have that to fall back on," he said.
As long as its later rather than sooner.

Cardinal corner

Sept. 14, 2010:
Beating No. 5 Texas and upsetting No. 1 Penn State will get one noticed in a hurry. Accomplish that in a tournament and earn Most Valuable Player honors will get one the kind of recognition that Stanford Alix Klineman received on Tuesday when she was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week.

Klineman, a senior outside hitter, sparked the then-No. 2 Cardinal to those very big victories last weekend at the first annual Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic, hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Klineman began the weekend by chalking up 10 kills, nine digs, three blocks and two aces in Stanford's whitewashing of the Longhorns. She followed by powering the Cardinal to a 3-0 victory over the three-time defending national champion Nittany Lions, snapping Penn State's history-making 109-match win streak in the process. Klineman registered 16 kills in the match, putting her over the 1,500 kill mark for her career, and collected 10 digs and two aces to tally a double-double.

For the week, Klineman averaged 4.33 kills, 3.16 digs and 5.33 points per set. This is the second time Klineman has been honored as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week, her last nod coming Oct. 6, 2009. It also marks the 13th time an athlete from Stanford has earned the distinction.

The Cardinal, coached by John Dunning, took a 7-0 record into this week and on Monday took over the No. 1 ranking in the nation. Stanford will visit St. Mary's on Friday and USF on Saturday, both nonconference matches at 7 p.m.

Sept. 13, 2010:
The Stanford baseball program had seven players -- the most in college baseball -- ranked among Baseball America's top summer prospects.

Menlo School grad Kenny Diekroeger (New England), Chris Reed (Atlantic Collegiate League) and Jake Stewart (Alaska) were all rated as the top prospects in their respective leagues, joining Mark Appel (NECBL), Eric Smith (Atlantic), Stephen Piscotty (Alaska) and Brett Mooneyham (Team USA).

Appel was rated as the the No. 2 prospect in the NECBL behind Diekroeger, while both Smith and Piscotty were the No. 3 prospects in their respective leagues.

The Pac-10 Conference had the most players listed, 30, spread across 18 summer leagues. Six Pac-10 players were No. 1, half of whom came from Stanford.

Stanford will host its annual alumni weekend on October 23-24 as part of Homecoming, with the alumni game taking place on Sunday at 1 p.m at Sunken Diamond.

Stanford baseball also announced the hiring of former San Diego State standout, Brock Ungricht, as the team's volunteer assistant.

9-13-2010:
The second-ranked Stanford women's soccer team got goals from four players en route to a 4-0 victory over visiting Pacific Sunday at the Stanford Nike Invitational, capturing the title of the four-team tournament.

Stanford (4-0-2) extended its home winning streak to 24 and its home unbeaten streak to 28 by winning both matches at the event. No. 9 Santa Clara, which tied No. 23 Georgia, 1-1, finished second at 1-0-1.

The Cardinal competes at the Santa Clara Classic this weekend, meeting Utah Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 18 Georgetown Sunday at 11 a.m.

Stanford built a 3-0 halftime lead on the strength of goals by Mariah Nogueira, Allison McCann, and Palo Alto High grad Teresa Noyola. Sophomore defender Rachel Quon struck in the 58th minute for her first collegiate goal. Noyola also recorded a pair of assists.

"Today was a good performance," Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "We looked sharp. I was really happy with the result, and the way we played. And the goals we scored, they were first-rate goals."

Christen Press supplied two of the assists, giving her 35 for her career and allowing her to move from fourth to second on Stanford's career list. Press trails only Marcie Ward (2000-04), who has 40.

With two goals Friday in a 2-1 overtime comeback victory over Georgia , and six points this weekend, Press moves to fourth on Stanford's all-time scoring list. With 135 points (including 50 goals), Press closes in on Julie Foudy (137 points) at No. 3.

Stanford outshot Pacific, 24-5, and didn't allow a shot until 81:13, even while substituting liberally.

"The Georgia game, for whatever reason, we were very flat," Ratcliffe said. "We lacked energy. We definitely talked about that on Saturday, an off day. Today, we came out with positive energy. We looked sharp and we were moving the ball, we created four great opportunities and scored four great goals. It was whole turnaround, a much better mentality."

Freshmen Emily Oliver and sophomore Lindsay Dickerson combined for the shutout in the goal.

History:
So I'm browsing through the October (2009) issue of Glamour magazine and run across a photo spread. I'm thinking this girl looks familiar.

Oh yeah. She played basketball at Stanford University. And she was pretty good. An All-American even. She set career rebounding and blocked shots records at the school and scored more than 2,000 points in her career.

She helped lead Stanford to the national championship game twice! Nice!

Appel was also drafted into the WNBA and plays for the San Antonio Silver Stars. While averaging 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, she was still elected to the WNBA ALl-Star Game played on July 10, 2010.

Jayne was drafted by the San Antonio Silver Stars on April 8, 2010. A story about it:

Stanford's Appel gets return trip to San Antonio
Cardinal senior center drafted fifth overall in the WNBA draft
Stanford senior All-American center Jayne Appel was drafted by the San Antonio Silver Stars in the first round, the fifth pick overall, of the WNBA draft Thursday.

Appel will return to the city where her college career ended (on Tuesday night) with a chance to show who she really is as a women's basketball player.

Appel, wearing a boot on her injured right ankle, was ready to start her professional career.

"I'll do the best I can to stay in shape and get healthy," she said. "Getting healthy is the big thing so I can help this team."

Appel, the Pac-10 Player of the Year in her junior season, is a two-time All-American who holds the Pac-10 career rebounding record and has scored over 2,000 points in her Cardinal career.

"It's important to be able to go either left or right," Appel said. "One of the other draftees thought I was left-handed until she saw me signing a basketball. But it's definitely important to have a lot of versatility with my moves and to defend."

The Silver Stars drafted Middle Tennessee State's Alysha Cark in the second round.

Connecticut All-American Tina Charles was the first overall pick of the draft, going appropriately enough, to the Connecticut Sun.

The Sun made several moves in the draft, picking up Kansas' Danielle McCray with the seventh overall pick and then adding Nebraska's Kelsey Griffin, the third overall pick, via a trade with the Minnesota Lynx.

Appel concluded her college career on Tuesday in the NCAA Final Four finale, a 53-47 loss to UConn in the Alamodome in San Antonio. Battling her ankle injury, Appel was 0-for-12 for the field and went scoreless for the first time in her illustrious career.

Now she a chance to show the folks in San Antonio just how good she really is.

This story can be found online here: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16389

Ever heard of Menlo College? They have a pretty darn good athletic department. The school is about seven miles north of Stanford University on the El Camino Real in Atherton, CA
Odd facts: Patty Hearst attended Menlo College. College football Hall of Fame inductee Ken Margerum coached football at Menlo. Current UC Santa Barbara men's basketball coach Bob Williams coached at Menlo. Canada College men's basketball coach Peter Diepenbrock played for the legendary Bud Presley at Menlo.

Why mention the Oaks?

Why not?

2010 Football Schedule, Results
Day Time Opponent
September
4 Menlo 42, at Occidental 25
11 Menlo 21, vs. Chapman 10
18 @ Humboldt State
25 1:00PM @ Southern Oregon
October
2 12:00PM vs. Whitworth
9 1:00PM @ Lewis & Clark
16 12:00PM vs. Pacific Lutheran
23 7:00PM @ Willamette
30 12:00PM @ Linfield
November
6 12:00PM vs. Puget Sound
13 12:00PM vs. Pacific University

Sept. 11, 2010:
Cruz Castillo threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes and the Menlo College football team won its home opener, beating Chapman, 21-10, Saturday.

Freshman wide receiver Michael Alexander caught an 18-yard scoring toss early in the final period and sophomore receiver Kenny Cavness caught a 30-yard touchdown pass late as the Oaks improved to 2-0 for the first time in seven years.

Menlo plays at Humboldt State on Saturday with a scheduled 6 p.m. kickoff.

Castillo, who threw for 119 of his 209 yards in the second half, methodically drove the Oaks downfield for the go-ahead touchdown. Menlo went 73 yards in 11 plays. He completed all six passes for 59 yards and rushed once for four yards.

Sophomore Andrew Welch returned a punt 23 yards to give Menlo some breathing room in setting up the clinching touchdown. The Oaks went 71 yards in 12 plays, with Payton Bell and Castillo each picking up critical first downs along the way. Castillo found Cavness on a fourth-down play.

Menlo converted three of its five fourth-down situations, including 2-of-3 in the second half.

Castillo was 23 of 36 passing and did not throw an interception. Senior Andrew Stevens caught six passes for 36 yards while Alexander had four receptions for 48 yards. Bell rushed for 89 yards on 24 carries and senior Jaronimo Wright added 88 yards on seven carries.

Junior linebacker Shawn Winters recorded three tackles for a loss, including a sack. Junior defensive back Beau Bussani led the Oaks with eight solo tackles and also had a 17-yard interception return.

Women's volleyball
Menlo broke an eight-match losing streak with a 25-19, 23-25, 18-25, 29-27, 15-12 victory over host William Jessup in the Warrior Classic on Saturday.

The Oaks also beat Dominican, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 later in the day after losing to Bethany in four sets.

Mia Ortiz recorded 16 kills and 17 digs in the victory over William Jessup. Jessica Atthowe had 49 assists and Shelby Goldman added 3 digs.

Menlo (2-9) hosts UC Merced next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Men's soccer
Menlo dropped a 7-0 decision to host Oregon Tech on Saturday in a nonconference match.

The Oaks (0-4-1) were outshot 30-5, including 15-2 on goal.

Menlo travels to Fresno Pacific for a game on Sept. 21.

Sept. 4:
Senior running back Payton Bell rushed for a career-high 189 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Menlo College football team opened its season with a 42-25 victory over host Occidental on Saturday night.

Bell, who led the Oaks in rushing with 364 yards last year, scored three times overall in 2009.

Menlo is well on its way to building on last year's taste of success. The Oaks averaged 13.9 points in finishing 4-6. The Oaks won their opener for the first time in four years.

Menlo hosts Chapman in its home opener next Saturday at noon.

Sophomore quarterback Cruz Castillo, who split time with Nick Ruhl last year, threw for 162 yards on 13-of-26 passing, including a pair of scoring tosses of 13 yards to sophomore receiver Kenny Cavness and 32 yards to junior receiver Dimitri Vigil.

Junior Boo Molinary returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown during a 28-point fourth quarter that turned a tight game into a scoring spectacular.

Cavness, Menlo's top receiver last year with 43 receptions, caught three passes for 26 yards. Freshman tight end Devin Young had four receptions for 52 yards.

Cavness also handled a pair of punt returns and four kickoff returns. He recorded one kickoff return of 53 yards.

Freshman Kevin Kurtz was kept busy. He was 6-of-6 on PATs, kicked off seven times and punted six times.

Molinary also had six tackles and was credited with half a sack. Junior Chris Tosello had seven tackles and 1 1/2 sacks. Junior defensive back Steven Lopes and senior linebacker Shawn Winters shared the team with Tosello, each with seven tackles. Palo Alto grad Brandon Boyd was credited with a quarterback hurry.

Gunn High grad Mark Reid, a freshman running back, saw limited action for Occidental.

The Tigers took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter but it didn't take long before Bell's 3-yard run capped a 67-yard, 8-play drive that put the Oaks ahead to stay less than a minute into the final frame.

The Oaks scored three touchdowns in the final 6:27 of play to secure the victory.

Women's volleyball
Menlo lost twice Saturday, the opening day of the Whitman College Tournament.

The Oaks (0-4) dropped a match to Pacific Lutheran, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18, and then lost to Whitman, 25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16.

Against the Lutes, setter Jessica Atthowe recorded 20 assists and 10 digs while Shelby Goldman added 18 digs.

Against the Missionary, Stephanie Monderine had 17 kills and nine digs. Menlo also got 19 digs from Goldman and 43 assists from Atthowe.

The Oaks play Puget Sound twice on Sunday, once in a preliminary match and again for third place.

Men's soccer
Menlo dropped a 4-0 decision to visiting Hope International on Saturday.

The Oaks (0-1-1) are at San Francisco State on Monday.

Sept. 11, 2010:
Stanford 35, UCLA 0
A long offensive drive followed by a short defensive burst led to an impressive victory for the Stanford football team in the Pac-10 opener.

The 19th-ranked Cardinal wiped out years of frustration in its rivalry with UCLA, beating the host Bruins, 35-0, Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

Stanford moved up six spots to No. 19 in the latest AP poll after shutting out UCLA.

"Every play was important to them," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Our guys played good football. They were locked in and there weren't a lot of mistakes."

Stanford (2-0, 1-0 in the Pac-10) ended a six-game losing streak to UCLA at the Rose Bowl, winning at Pasadena for the first time since 1996. Stanford was shut out twice during that losing streak. The Cardinal also lost to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl following its conference championship season in 1999.

"It means a lot," Cardinal safety Michael Thomas said. "No doubt about it, we've been hearing it. Last time we won here was 1996. Shoot, let's get it done. A win here at the Rose Bowl, this is where we want to get back to. Getting the first win here, just get that taste in your mouth, see the atmosphere and you're like, 'Man, I've got to get back here,' so it was great."

Stanford hosts Wake Forest (2-0) for an 8:15 p.m. kickoff next Saturday in a nonconference affair.

Stanford enjoyed its first shutout away from home since beating Michigan State in the 1996 Sun Bowl, its first true road shutout since winning in Eugene in 1974, its first road shutout over UCLA since 1941 and its biggest margin of victory over the Bruins since 1929.

"We were exorcising our demons," Harbaugh said.

Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and Thomas led the defensive effort with a 21-yard fumble return for another score.

The Cardinal forced UCLA into four turnovers, leading to 10 points. UCLA was shut out for the first time at home since a loss to Cal in 1999.

After two games Stanford ranks seventh nationally in total defense, eighth in pass defense and 15th in turnover margin.

Bruins' quarterback Kevin Prince botched a handoff late in the third quarter, then had the ball stripped by Thomas, who ran 21 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead.

"Right after the offense scored a touchdown, the defense got together and talked about making the big plays," said Thomas, a former high school option quarterback. "I saw the quarterback and wanted to secure the tackle. He was coming at me with the ball in one hand so I went for the strip and it stayed in my hands so I just kept running."

Thomas credited teammate Delano Howell, the starting strong safety, for teaching how to strip the football.

"He is the best of anybody at it," Thomas said. "He taught me his craft, I used it, and it worked. That play is like something that you visualize when you dream the night before the game. When an opportunity like that happens, you've got to take advantage."

Harbaugh was certainly impressed with the defensive effort.

"We just talked a lot about packing the defense for a road game," Harbaugh said. "It's something we needed to play better on the road and we certainly packed the defense this week."

Thomas' score came moments after fullback Owen Marecic scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal. Luck threw a conversion pass to Doug Baldwin. It culminated an 18-play drive covering 68 yards and using 9:25 of the game clock.

"It was a great drive," Harbaugh said. "It's not easy to do that. Andrew kept the drive alive with his legs. He has super instincts."

Luck threw a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Coby Fleener, who was wide open in the right corner of the end zone with 8:38 to play. Luck's first TD pass of the night was a 16-yarder to Ryan Whalen midway through the first quarter.

Stanford gained 362 yards, including 211 on the ground.

Stanford's Nate Whitaker kicked field goals of 23 and 21 yards to give the Cardinal a 13-0 halftime lead.

In the first half, Randall Carroll fumbled when he was hit by Michael Thomas, with Chase Thomas recovering at the UCLA 46. That set up Whitaker's 21-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.

UCLA moved to the Stanford 28 on the next drive before Matt Masifilo recorded a sack and Richard Sherman intercepted a pass.

Luck, who was 11 of 24 for 151 yards, made way for backup quarterback Alex Loukas after Thomas Keiser intercepted Brehaut with about 5 minutes left. Luck also ran seven times for 63 yards.