Dave is married, has two children and lives in Castro Valley. He was born in San Francisco and grew up in Greenbrae, attending Greenbrae Elementary, Kent Junior High and Redwood High. A former editor of the Redwood Bark, Dave's first sportswriting job was with the Marin Independent Journal while attended Redwood High. Dave is an avid sports fan and covered the Golden State Warriors for 16 years for the Alameda Newspaper Group based in Oakland. He remains very active in youth sports, coaching soccer, basketball and softball, and can be contacted through his fantasy football Web site -- www.mrfantasy.com -- as well as via Facebook and LinkedIn.
Five Bay Area baseball teams will compete for the 12-and-under title and six will go for the 10-and-under crown in the event that begins Sunday with action on three Memorial Park fields.
The Novato 12-and-under team sweeps through the competition in Davis, getting good pitching, strong defense and timely hitting to edge the East Bay's Crossfire twice, including 3-1 in the finals.
A first-inning home run by Nick Calzaretta and outstanding pitching by Zach Cohen and Clayton Demski fuel a 5-1 win over Tiburon that sends the All-Stars to the Section tournament in Petaluma.
Title-game loss to San Francisco National in the Little League 9-10 division is secondary to the memory-creating run that gave the league's youngest All-Stars a shot at the championship.
Twin Cities Junior Division All-Star Sarah Ihnken plans to try out for baseball at Marin Catholic next season, something Mike Terry and Mike Wills believe she might do successfully ... for a while.
Mill Valley pitcher Gabe Bouchard is too tough for the Little League's 13- and 14-year-old All-Stars, who are praised by the opposing coach even in defeat.
The league's 9-10 All-Stars run into a brilliant pitching performance by Matthew Lozovoy in a 3-0 loss to Novato North in the semifinals of the District 3 Little League Tournament.
The Little League's 9-10 team uses a three-run first inning, featuring extra-base hits by Max Glasser and Spencer Shifs, to beat Twin Cities and earn a shot at San Francisco National on Wednesday.
Team of 13- and 14-year-olds saves its best for last, nearing upsetting an unbeaten Mill Valley squad on the final night of pool play in the annual All-Star tournament.
The Little League's 13- and 14-year-old All-Stars end a perfect tournament with a near-perfect pitching performance; meanwhile, the Mill Valley 9-10 team falls in the district semifinals.
His bases-loaded double lifts the league's 9-10 All-Stars into Monday's semifinals against Twin Cities; reliever Charlie Dial has done his Brian Wilson act on the club's last two opponents.
Juniors are paced by Mason Collins while the 9-10 All-Stars also won Saturday and advanced to Monday's semifinals; two other local teams suffered season-ending losses, one after having won its tournament opener.
The leadoff man homers in wins Saturday and Sunday, lifting the 11-12 All-Stars into a showdown with Tiburon on Wednesday; the league's 9-10 club also stays alive with a 10-0 victory.
The single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday in the District 3 Little League tournament; Novato South's 9-10 squad and Novato American's 11-12 stars also are just three wins from title.
The 11-12 and 9-10 Little League squads finish pool play atop the standings and advance to this weekend's start of single elimination along with the league's 10-11 and Junior Division stars.
Bill Lampl's 11-12 squad needs a last-night upset to survive pool play, enters quarterfinals Saturday; the unbeaten Junior Division stars are top-seeded headed into the semifinals at Alto Field.
Bill Gaito's 10-and-under squad, based in San Rafael and led by Maddie Augusto, is coming off a tournament win in Rohnert Park; the Sami Mericle-led Smackers' 16A team won there, too.
Annual summer-league girls basketball event tips off Friday morning and runs through Sunday night at Novato High; Marin Catholic, which placed second last year, is also in the field.
The team's second baseman and leadoff hitter is a girl, a multi-sport star from Larkspur who is darn good in baseball and hopeful of making the powerful Marin Catholic High team next spring.
Sarah Ihnken is so good in baseball, she has her sights set on making the powerful Marin Catholic High team next spring.
