Young Follows Father’s Pitch in Courting Fame

Some kids skip school because they are sick. Others trudge into class late because they miss the bus or carpool.

Brynne Young sometimes missed school because her father was a major leaguer.

Young, an outside hitter at Flintridge Sacred Heart, is the daughter of former pitcher Matt Young, who had a 12-year career with five teams, including the Dodgers in 1987 and the World Series-champion Oakland A’s in 1989.

Brynne used to take road trips with her father and mother, Sue, riding on the team plane and bus, walking through the line of fans in the hotel lobby.

After games, Brynne would see kids lean over the infield wall and ask for her father’s autograph.

“Growing up, it seemed pretty normal,” Brynne said. “Now that I’m older, I realize that was pretty special. Not many people get to do that.”

Brynne was in San Francisco for the 1989 World Series, when an earthquake shook the city and forced postponement of a game.

She was riding to the game with her mother when the temblor struck. The two continued to Candlestick Park to be reunited with Matt.

“I remember him taking us [from the stands], going across the field and going down into the locker room, where we tried to call my brother [Clay],” Brynne said. “It was very scary.”

Brynne, a senior, was an avid softball player in junior high, but abandoned the sport for volleyball.

Did she strike out in the eyes of her father? Hardly.

“Not one time did I say, ‘I’d really like to see you go out for softball,’ ” Matt said. “I love for kids to play sports because it occupies time that they could be doing something else.”

Said Brynne: “I think he loved [volleyball] because it was something different.”

Brynne appears to have inherited her father’s athletic genes.

An All-Mission League selection last season, she is the best passer on the team and has helped Flintridge Sacred Heart (3-2) make several adjustments this season.

The Tologs are without Coach Nancy Tinkham, who is sitting out the season because of an unusual amount of pre-labor contractions during her pregnancy. And their best player from a year ago, Megan Hosp, is playing at South Carolina.

“That was the big question of everyone,” Brynne said. “What’s Flintridge Sacred Heart going to do now?”

With Young on the court, the answer is simple: They’ll continue to win.

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Sarah Morrison saw the doorway of opportunity and went for it.

Oxnard Coach Lori Rice said last year that any player who touched the top of a gym doorway, about 8 1/2 feet high, didn’t have to run after practice. Ever.

During the second water break, Morrison touched the top of the doorway. Smacked it, actually, guaranteeing herself a career of nonrunning if she wished.

Morrison, now a 5-foot-11 junior outside hitter, still chooses to run with the rest of the team.

“Girls that say, ‘I have a cramp, I just pulled something,’ that just doesn’t work when you have somebody in this gym who doesn’t have to run, but does,” Rice said.

Morrison is among the main reasons for the resurgence of the Yellowjackets (4-0).

A middle blocker the last two seasons, she has made a smooth transition to outside hitter and helped Oxnard finish second at the 16-team Paso Robles tournament last week.

The Yellowjackets lost to San Luis Obispo in the championship match, 17-15, 17-16. (The match didn’t count toward their record because it was not best of three.)

Morrison, outside hitter Jennifer Otani and middle blocker Sara Naumann were all-tournament selections, which is expected to run away with the Pacific View League championship.

Morrison isn’t afraid to push her teammates, including her younger sister, Naomi, a freshman.

Sarah teaches Naomi the intricacies of the jump serve after practice, imploring her by saying, “You can be the next Morrison.”

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Does life go on for Village Christian without Errin Benesh?

“Believe it or not, it does,” Coach Bill Schnobrich said.

Benesh, who set several school records at Village Christian, is starting at opposite hitter at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Off to an 11-2 start, the Crusaders are coping without Benesh.

They swept Cerritos Valley Christian, which has won consecutive state Division IV titles, and also took out Hart and Maranatha in three games.

Outside hitter Maria Abaca has become the crunch-time player, delivering a combined 36 kills against Hart and Valley Christian.

Setter Heather Fieldsteel has directed the offense and was selected most valuable player of the Pasadena Poly tournament, which Village Christian won for the first time.

“We’re a different-looking team, but I think we’re going to be just as successful,” Schnobrich said. “We just have to do things differently than we’ve been doing them the past couple of years.”

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The Top 10

Rankings of region volleyball teams

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 La Reina (Tri-Valley) 7-0 2 2 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 5-3 3 3 Royal (Marmonte) 7-3 4 5 La Canada (Rio Hondo) 6-0 5 4 Westlake (Marmonte) 3-1 6 8 Oxnard (Pacific View) 4-0 7 9 Chatsworth (West Valley) 2-0 8 7 Flintridge Sacred Heart (Mission) 3-2 9 NR Taft (West Valley) 4-0 10 NR Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 5-3

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