Sports

The varsity baseball Eagles stretched their league unbeaten streak to three games last week, claiming Willits and Kelseyville as their latest victims.

The irregular thwack-thwop-pop of tennis rises up from the high school courts every afternoon of the week, and often on weekends, as the student-athletes of Healdsburg High School hone their serves, returns, backspins and lobs. It seems worth the while: The school’s boys tennis team is definitely competitive this year.

To no one’s surprise, the Healdsburg Prune Packers begin the last full week of PEL (Pacific Empire League) play on Wednesday with an unassailable 5.5 game lead over two second-place teams, their 20 wins against only three losses demonstrating their dominance. With only three or four games left for each team, a different pennant winner is impossible.

Things looked mighty hopeful there for a few minutes at the end of the April 12 softball game against Windsor. The Jaguars came to visit on a weekend to make up for a rained-out game, bringing a strong 9-4 record to Healdsburg and a 4-1 league record that puts them on top of the North Bay – Oak division, a bigger, tougher division than the Redwood the Greyhounds compete in...

"This is the most talented roster the Packers have seen since I took over in 2014,” said an enthusiastic coach Joey Gomes this week, as his team prepared to begin their two-month Pacific Empire League Season. “We’ll need to be as well! I have no doubt this league is the most competitive league in the West Coast."

Nine Healdsburg High athletes qualified to participate in the May 17 North Coast Section, Redwood Empire area meeting in Fortuna, including...

For the second year in a row, a Greyhound won the Most Valuable Pitcher award as Eric Nielsen followed 2024's co-winner Mauro-Manos into the exclusive circle. Nielsen’s finishing record of 10 wins and 83 strikeouts led in the league and placed him among the top 10 high school pitchers statewide.

Two recent track matches have helped bring the Healdsburg Greyhounds teams into focus. The distance runners continue to make strong showings, and sprinters pound the track to the finish line.

It’s been an up and down season for the Healdsburg softball team, but the regular season ended on a much higher note a week earlier, their last home game on May 6. The Greyhounds scored 9 runs in the second inning and 7 more in the next two, ending the game after four-and-a-half innings far ahead, 17-2.

“We brought the intent and spirit of our full team of 42 athletes to the Viking Classic, although only 17 were able to compete due to illness and family commitments over the holiday weekend,” said coach Kate Guthrie. “Those who stepped on the track or into the field did so with purpose, representing the work ethic and culture we’ve built this season.”