Joey San Nicolas Foundation

Meet Matt Gelalich, the 2011 JSN Scholarship Winner

2011-06-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

On June 7, 2011, the Bonita Baseball program celebrated yet another successful season. The Bearcats advanced to the CIF Semi Finals, falling to the eventual Division Champions. Part of the festivities at the banquet was the announcement of the winner of the 2011 Joey San Nicolas Scholarship. While all applications were worthy, the winner was Matt Gelalich. Matt was a three year varsity player who roamed Centerfield like no other. Matt was also recognized as a Scholar Athlete all three years, while juggling both baseball and football. In his spare time, Matt is also able to volunteer at his church as well as with the Special Olympics. In the fall, Matt will be attending either Pepperdine University, UC Irvine or BYU. A 4.13 GPA will allow you college options such as Matts. So please join me in welcoming Matt to the JSN Foundation family! Welcome Matt and good luck in continuing with your baseball and college careers.

Bonita baseball program pays it forward

2011-01-11T10:36:00.001-08:00

For two days in January the Bonita baseball players served as the "coaches." On January 8 and 9, 2011, Bonita baseball hosted over fifty youth, ages 6-13, in a two day baseball camp. Lorenzo Gomez was fortunate enough to participate in this exciting event. Here's what he had to say about his experience:

Did you make friends at camp?
"Yes, a lot. My best friends were Dillon and Jacob."

Who were your coaches?
"The players from Bonita. They were cool."

What did you learn?
"How to crow hop and how to play pickle. It was fun."

What was your favorite part of camp?
When we played games against each other. I hit a homerun and coach let me keep the ball."

The campers ended the weekend by receiving prizes for their worthy efforts. Lorenzo received a camp T shirt and a wristband. Coach Knott was so impressed with Lorenzo's group of 6-8 year olds that he invited them to serve as an honorary bat boy at an upcoming Bonita Varsity game. Lorenzo is very excited about this opportunity. We'll be sure to let you know when he takes Coach Knott up on the invitation. A special thank you to Coach Knott and the entire Bonita baseball program for making a positive impact in the lives of these young ball players.

JSN Foundation brings holiday cheer to a needy family

2010-12-21T12:49:00.000-08:00


Quinn playing Santa!

Back in October, at the Annual JSN Family Golf Tournament, over 25 golfers generously contributed their time, money and good-will in an effort to raise funds towards the Joey San Nicolas Scholarship program. In addition, they also donated an unwrapped toy/gift to be donated to a needy Bonita family, in honor of Joey.

On Friday, December 10, 2010, four bags of toys and gifts were delivered to Bonita High School. Mr. John Knott, the Bonita Baseball Coach, graciously assisted us in putting us in contact with a school Police Officer, who was able to identify a family in need during the Christmas season. Officer Scott Mena wrote,

"Hi Steve, the family selected live on a street across from the high school and the parents are Spanish speakers. They have a 14 year old daughter, 10 year old son, and 4 year old twins both a boy and a girl."

A special thank you to all the golfers, Coach Knott, Officer Mena and to my wife Ana for volunteering & donating some extra goodies while she shopped for this wonderful cause. Please refer to the slide show on this page to see more photo's of the JSN Foundation spreading holiday cheer during the season of giving.

2010 JSN Winter Classic a Success!

2010-10-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Twenty-seven golfers participated in the JSN Winter Golf Classic on Sunday, October 3, 2010. The tournament was held at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course. This years award winners were: Closest to the Pin - Paul Gutierrez, Buster Award (High Score) - Tony Sanabria & Champion (Low Score) - Brendan Harper (Shot a 77). $626 was raised, which will be used to fund a scholarship to a graduating Bonita High School baseball player in 2011. Also, over $200 worth of Christmas toys/gifts were collected, which will be donated to a needy family from Bonita High School during the holiday season.

A special thank you to several individuals: Tournament Volunteers - Ana Gomez, Eddie Quintana, Sergio Gutierrez Jr. & Chano Diaz. Also, a special thank you to our "Closest to the Pin" sponsor- Free Sweeping (Chano & Laura Diaz), trophy sponsor- Moli Mex, Inc. (Juan Campos) and raffle prize sponsor- Bonita High School Baseball (Coach John Knott). Finally, my deepest appreciation goes out to everyone who participated in this years event:

Brendan Harper, John Dunaway, Sergio Gutierrez Jr., Octavio Marquez, Bob Harper, Darren Dunaway, Chano Diaz, Fernando Sanchez, Joe Veach, Mike Blazenski, Danny Yoguez, Raul Sanchez, Rudy Magallon, Oliver Marquez, Ed Silva, Angel Medina, Carlos Perez, Juan Troncoso, Albert Espinoza, Paul Gutierrez, Dave Cordero, Roger Soto, Eddie Quintana, Jay McWhorter, Tony Sanabria, Skubee Gonzalez, Gabe Fuentes, Ernesto Marquez, Fred Licon & Juan Campos.

2011 DATE - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2011 - 8:30 AM, AZUSA GREENS COUNTRY CLUB

2010 JSN Scholarship Recipient - Kyle Pine

2010-06-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

Kyle Pine will be attending Azusa Pacific this fall & using the JSN scholarship monetary award to get him started as college is an expensive feat. Kyle was very appreciative & honored to have been chosen as this years recipient just as his parents expressed to us also. They said that even with the monetary award set aside, the bigger picture for them was the honor of being chosen to be part of Joey's legacy. Kyle follows a line of great recipients and he does not fall short one bit. Kyle played baseball at Bonita all four years. This year as they reached State Finals Kyle had a lone start with an ERA of .55. He also was given the "Coaches Award" at this years banquet.

Kyle is also involved with his church as a volunteer with young children. In being at the banquet, we got to see first hand that Kyle was liked not only by his coaches but also by his teammates...from all levels of baseball. We are proud to say that although the other candidates were just as deserving we again feel our selection falls just as it was meant to be, a good kid, kind soul, friend to many, a baseball player & a good son just as Joey was.

We wish Kyle much luck as he transitions on to college life from the entire JSN Foundation & their donors.

Bonita Baseball Plays in CIF Division 3 Championship Game

2010-06-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Bonita High School Varsity Baseball Team. On Saturday, June 5, 2010, they played in the CIF Division 3 Championship Game. My Compadre (Sergio) & I made the trip to Lake Elsinore to watch this very exciting game. Below is a news article, courtesy of La Verne Online, summarizing the game...

While Bonita was trying to play long ball, the ballpark wasn’t cooperating. Meanwhile, Ocean View pushed across a run in the second and another in third, neither RBI coming by virtue of a base hit, but the two runs were enough to edge the Bearcats, 2-1, and steal a little luster from their otherwise amazing 24-5-1 season that saw them play farther into the season than any Bearcats team in 36 years.

Here’s a closer look at how events unfolded. The first inning was a carbon copy of the Bearcats’ season, which had been a model of efficiency and production. On the first pitch from Seahawks’ starter Blake Walker, Robert Mier cracked a solid single to left field. After an errant pick-off attempt from Ocean View catcher Timothy Robinson, Mier advanced to second and then moved to third on Matt Gelalich’s groundout to first. Evan Highley then crushed a ball about 400 feet for a sacrifice fly to put Bonita up 1-0. After a sharp single by cleanup hitter Brian Tuttle, KC Huth belted a ball about as far he can rip one, but again it was contained by the ballpark’s Bermuda Triangle in center.

No doubt, Bonita wanted more. Still, it had the early 1-0 lead and had clearly set the tone for the game. In the bottom half of the first, McCreery walked Ocean View lead-off hitter Colton Johnson. But after Walker bunted him over to second, McCreery struck out Aaron Delgado and got Kevin Nance to pop up.

In the top of the second, Bonita continued to hit the ball sharply, but came away with nothing. After Matt Rodriguez grounded out to second, catcher Mark Lindsay and Thomas Castro flied to right. “I thought we hit some balls right on the button, and they seemed to be right at people,” Bonita Coach John Knott said. “We hit the ball along the gaps, but we just happened to hit it right to ‘em, and we seemed not to get the big hit with runners in scoring position.”

That pattern would continue, but not before Ocean View tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Blake Hitchcock banged McCreery’s first-pitch offering for a solid single to right and then Robinson perfectly executed a hit-and-run to put runners on first and second with no outs. With the back-to-back singles and no outs, Ocean View looked to have a big inning in store.

Facing similar situations in other close ballgames, Bonita often resorted to its highly successful pickoff play at second, and Knott called for it again. In the bang-bang timing play, McCreery whirled and appeared to have Hitchcock hung up, but the ball leaked out to short center, with Hitchcock and Robinson moving up 90 feet. Instead of recording an out and dealing with a runner at first, McCreery now had runners at second and third with no outs.

Despite the ominous outlook, McCreery gave up just the one run when he got Nick Schulenberg to ground out to third. He then fanned Eddie Sepulveda and Travis Sparks to end the inning. “You have to give Ocean View a lot of credit,” said Knott after the game. “They do a lot of things we do. They started their inning off with a hit and run.”

In the top of the third, it was Mier again serving as catalyst. After Greg Victoria lined out to right (by now becoming a major theme of the game), Mier worked a walk, bringing up the fleet-footed Gelalich. Gelalich hit a routine grounder to Schulenberg at first, but when the first baseman wheeled to second to start the front end of a double play, he threw the ball away, allowing Mier and Gelalich to advance to second and third with just one out.

While Knott had several options, including a suicide squeeze, a play South Hills used to defeat Bonita in the quarterfinals a year earlier, he elected to let his slugger hit away. Highley roped a liner to right field. This time, however, Highley did not get the sacrifice fly, as the runners held. Walker then fanned Tuttle to wiggle off the hook. “We had a situation with Highley up, and he’s probably been our best clutch hitter all year, and he lined the ball to right field,” Knott said, analyzing one of the game’s pivotal plays.

In the bottom of the third, lead-off batter Colton Johnson grounded a sharply hit ball inside the third base bag that rattled all the way into the left field corner in foul territory, with Johnson finally pulling up at third with a triple. With the infield in, Walker grounded to second baseman Mier, who, after juggling the ball for a split second, took the sure out at first. Surely, Bonita would score again. It was only the third inning.

But Bonita didn’t score again, and neither did Ocean View. In the top of the fourth, despite two well hit fly balls by Huth and Rodriguez, Bonita went down in order. Ocean View did the same, although not conventionally. Schulenberg hit a one-out single but was promptly picked off by McCreery.

Although Bonita didn’t score again, it didn’t mean the Bearcats weren’t trying to knock down the door or at least pry it open. With one out in the top of the fifth, Greg Victoria laced a double down the left field line off new pitcher Sepulveda, the team’s closer. Mier followed by hitting a shot to right, deep enough to move Victoria to third, but Walker snuck a curve ball by Gelalich for the third out.

Ocean View appeared it might break open the tight contest in the bottom of the fifth, but again McCreery showed his resilience. After walking Sparks and giving up a disputed bunt base hit to Johnson, Highley made a diving catch of a bunt attempt by Walker for the first out. Then McCreery made an equally outstanding play on a roller to the right side, grabbing it while fully extended and flipping it to Highley to nip Delgado at first. He then escaped the inning by getting Nance to ground to Highley who flipped it to McCreery covering at first.

In the top of the sixth, Bonita again had a chance to even the score. Highley hit a lead-off single. Although Tuttle flied to right and Huth grounded into a force place, Rodriguez caught a break when the Ocean View shortstop booted his grounder to put runners on first and second with two out. Sepulveda, however, got Lindsay to ground out to short.

Senior Josh Yepez relieved McCreery and set down the Seahawks in the bottom of the sixth. Sepulveda did the same in the top of the seventh. And with the third strike call on Mier who started the game at the plate and ended it at home plate, the Seahawks swarmed onto the field. From the first pitch to the last was close and a test of wills. Ocean View edged Bonita in hits, five to four. Perhaps, Bonita might have had a few more, but playing in the Storm’s Single-A professional ballpark, the Bearcats had to play by the stadium’s rules and mighty dimensions, and in the end they proved too much along with a stubborn and stingy Seahawks’ team.

“Things, for whatever reason, didn’t go our way today,” Knott said. “We didn’t get the big hit, that’s baseball.” Despite the tough loss, Knott wasn’t quite ready to close the book on the season or the incredible players who took Bonita baseball farther than any baseball journey in a long, long time. “You can’t let one game determine whether your season was poor or not,” he said. “We had so many good memories. I’ll never forget this group. They fought in there all the way up to the last pitch. I could tell every guy wanted it. It was a pleasure for me to coach them; they showed up every day to work.”

In a few days, the outfield fences at Bonita will come down, but work on laying out a blueprint to return to CIF’s biggest stage no doubt has already begun.

10th Annual JSN Tournament

2010-02-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

I would like to take this time to thank everyone who participated and or attended this years event! Special thanks go out to: Steve and Ana for donating the beautiful trophies, Steve for his assistance with the wind-breaker give-a-ways, Dick for donating to the goodie bags, to those that made additional monotary donations, and all who participated in the event. I appreciate everyone, and I know my Aunt Peachy, Cousin Kristy and Jay, appreciate everyone participating and showing your continued support!

Please take some time to enjoy the pictures attached to this blog and I hope to see you all next year, same location LA QUINTA - This time, a month earlier to avoid the heat!

Next years event: LA QUINTA: JUNE 25TH / $250 DEPOSIT DUE FEBRUARY 28TH

2009 WINNERS; DENNY MAIFIELD - TOP GOLFER
SERGIO G. & RAUL S - TEAM

DONATION RAISED: $850!

Christmas Golf Classic 2009

2010-02-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

On December 6, 2009, 40 golfers participated in the JSN Christmas Golf Classic. The tournament was held at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course. Each golfer was generous enough to bring an unwrapped toy or gift card, which was donated to a needy family from Bonita High School. The monetary value of these gifts was just over $400. In addition to the Christmas gifts, an additional $400 was raised to benefit the annual Scholarship that is awarded to a senior baseball player from Bonita High School. The Christmas gifts and scholarship are given, in memory of our cousin, Joey San Nicolas. A special thanks to everyone who contributed to this event and congratulations to this years tournament winner, Darren Dunaway!

Jeff Gelalich 2008-09 Scholarship Recipient

2009-07-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

On the field…

2009 Highlights

Batted .338 for the year; 25 hits; 14 RBI’s

The team advanced to the Quarter Finals of the CIF Playoffs. The team had 21 wins & only 6 loses, going a perfect 9-0 at home

Played Varsity Football for 3 years (Team MVP; Miramonte League Honorable Mention, 1^st Team Defense, Defensive MVP, & 1st Team All San Gabriel Valley in 2009)

Played Varsity baseball all 4 years (All Glendora Tournament Team; Miramonte League 1^st& 2nd Team All Inland Valley; All Northview Tournament Team; Milwaukee Brewers Area Codes Team and Atlanta Braves Scout Team.

In the Class Room…Overall GPA of 3.98; California Scholarship Federation (4 years); Bonita HS Honor Roll (4 years);Miramonte Scholar Athlete (4 years); Bonita HS Scholar Athlete (4 years); Miramonte 5 Scholar Athlete (Senior year)

Volunteers at a local Church & La Verne Little League

Will attend UCLA in the Fall, Majoring in Business & Physiology & play baseball

2009-04-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here is what JSN Foundation has up at Bonita High School, all because of a donation made possible by many of you....THANK YOU!

Shawn Riley

2009-04-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

As noted in a previous blog, Shawn Riley is doing great things in Santa Cruz. We are happy to report a $200 check has been sent his way to alleviate his expenses for college if even just a bit. Shawn has truly exemplified what is searched for in a JSN scholarship recipient. He is passionate about life, college, bettering himself & the world! And of course loves the game of baseball! This is a true testament to honoring Joey & his own life...even if cut short, Joey lives on within us, within our recipients & within the JSN Foundation.
Thanks to all that have contributed to making Steve's dream of honoring Joey a success. Your donations, attendance & support make all this possible!
In closing, to Steve...your passion on honoring Joey is carried out in you, in JSN Foundation and his legacy. Your example to our children in caring about family, life & never letting Joey be forgotten is such a memory they will live with forever. Thanks for that.

BEARCATS BEAT GLENDORA 8-4 TO CLAIM TOURNAMENT TITLE

2009-03-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

Home Runs and Good Pitching Bring Down Tartans in Championship Game

March 14 - Just to reach the championship game of this year’s Glendora Tournament was asking a lot. This tournament featured defending CIF Champions Northview, previous CIF Champions Charter Oak and always-tough teams like Bishop Amat, Diamond Ranch, Ayala and host school Glendora. This is one tough tournament to win. But there’s now another team to add to that list; this year’s tournament champions, the Bonita Bearcats.

Using a familiar method, the Bearcats defeated the Glendora Tartans 8-4 Saturday night to claim the tournament title. Bonita pitchers kept their team in the game while also contributing offensively, the Bearcats kept their mistakes to a minimum and Jason Plowman hits at least one home run. On Saturday night, each of those things happened again and the Bearcats are tournament champs as a result.

It started quickly as leadoff hitter Ryan Henley, whose father coaches the opposing Tartans, was hit in his helmet to start the game. The next batter was Corey Hare and he hit one out of the park for a quick two runs. Glendora stayed in the game and led 4-3 after three. But the Bearcat formula kicked in. Pitcher Nico Calderaro hit a big home run to give Bonita the lead. Plowman followed with his 4^th home run of the tournament and the Bearcats were up 6-4 with time running out on Glendora. Terry Paredez pitched the last innings for Bonita and stopped Glendora cold while his teammates added another 2 runs and the Bearcats won the game pulling away.

Evan Highly also had a big night for the Bearcats with three hits. Matt Gelalich, Paredez and Jeff Gelalich also made offensive contributions and a little credit also goes to the coaches and the large group of Bonita fans at each game.

Jason Plowman was named the Tournament MVP with his showcase performance in the tournament that included an offensive power explosion and a dominant pitching performance. Congratulations to Jason on a tremendous tournament.

The Bearcats will enjoy the win but only for a short time. On Tuesday evening at 6:30p, the Bearcats will play at San Dimas in a big game with their biggest rival. There are many other challenges ahead for the Bearcats. But for right now, they are champs and we congratulate the players, coaches and parents. Go Bearcats

Update on Shawn Riley JSN Recipient 2007

2009-03-02T14:34:00.001-08:00

This was a letter we received from Shawn himself:

Dear Steve and Family,

First off, thank you for your generous contributions and efforts to carry out such a great cause. With the current economic conditions, public education in California has taken a devastating blow as money has become scarce on all school campuses. This has resulted in increased student fees and less money for the universities to distribute as financial aid. With that in mind, you should be very proud of your services and what this has meant for me and fellow scholarship recipients.

Since fall of 2007, I’ve been attending the University of California, Santa Cruz. I’ve decided to major in politics and minor in education. Thus far, my cumulative GPA is 3.76 – so somewhere right around the B+/A- range. I can say with no hesitation that I absolutely love it up here and receiving a liberal arts education from UC Santa Cruz has been an invaluable experience for me.

I currently have two jobs: student assistant at the university’s Special Collections and Archives and as the director of the university’s Student Volunteer Center. Unfortunately, I had to take a break from working in the archives simply because I’ve been so busy with everything else. On top of taking 19 units (12 units is considered full-time), work usually results in about 20-25 hours per week. To say the least, I’ve been very busy – yet all the things I do I very much enjoy so there’s nothing to complain about.

My job as director of the Student Volunteer Center (SVC) is absolutely great. SVC is the university’s resource for volunteer opportunities and internships. We have about 5 annual events that we put on each year, including an Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans to help out with the on-going Katrina relief. This will be my second year going, but this time I have the pleasure (or sometimes displeasure) of organizing the program. There will be twenty of us heading down to the Big Easy from March 21^st-29^th – the duration of our spring break. We will be rebuilding homes and restoring them to near original condition, most likely doing a lot of painting, sanding, floating and dry walling.

Also, this year I’ve been serving as the Student Union Assembly representative on the Committee on Educational Policy. This committee oversees all aspects of undergraduate education at UC Santa Cruz. We are currently drafting legislation for new general education requirements. I'm proud to say that I was able to include a service-learning requirement within the legislation. This could potentially result in thousands of students getting involved and giving back to our local community. The legislation is being voted on this Friday, March 6th. If it passes then I will be extremely happy.

I truly appreciate all that you do. If there’s any way I can help out, please let me know. Thanks!

As you can see Shawn has been extremely busy making the most of his college days. We are sure we selected the kind of young man we truly want honoring Joey's memory. Shawn has also along his long list of achievements has received the following awards while in college.

Collegiate Awards

Outstanding Student Employee Performance Award, May 2008

Bonner Scholars Program, 2008-2009: Awarded to students who have pledged a distinguished amount of time to work in the non-profit sector providing direct services to human needs.

We all would like to extend the JSN Foundation love to Shawn & him mother as he continues his education to strive for a better world! With that Shawn will be receiving a monetary award from the JSN Foundation for continuing on a path to success. Keep up the great work, Shawn!

JSN 10th Annual Golf Tournament

2009-02-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

The annual JSN Family Golf Tournament is coming up... July 24 - 26. 2009. This year it will be held in Palm Springs. Click on the flyer for all the latest information and registration deadlines.

Thanks for considering attending the 10th annual tournament!