Empire notes: SRJC hoops stars moving on

All three sophomores from the 23-8 Santa Rosa Junior College men's basketball team have committed to play at the next level next season.

Skylar Chavez, who prepped at Drake High and led the state in scoring this season, is set to play next season for the Pepperdine University Waves. Chavez averaged nearly 28 points per game this season while leading the Bear Cubs to the California Community College Athletic Association quarterfinals.

Ryan Perez, a Petaluma High grad, is headed to Montanta State University to play for the Bobcats. Perez averaged 14 points per game for the Bear Cubs. Jayson McMillan, a Cloverdale High product, averaged nearly five points and three rebounds per game. He is headed to Southern Oregon University in Ashland to play for the Raiders.

Rancho grad Wong lifts Seawolves' tennis team

Rancho Cotate grad Alec Wong and the Sonoma State men's tennis team took fifth place at the PacWest Championship in Surprise, Arizona on Saturday.

Wong, who graduated from Rancho in 2016, delivered a win for the Seawolves by winning his sixth-spot singles match 6-2, 6-2. And he and partner Igor Pissarenko, a senior who transferred from Foothill College, won their No. 2-slot doubles match 7-6, 7-3.

Crucial series for SRJC baseball this week

The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team completed a critical three-game series with Sacramento City College, taking two of three games from the Panthers on April 16, 18 and 20.

That set up the final three-game series of the Big 8 Conference with Sierra College, the team that sits just ahead of the Bear Cubs in the standings. The Bear Cubs were 15-6 and the Wolverines, the defending Big 8 champs, were 16-5 heading into the first game Tuesday.

The Bear Cubs are in third, Sierra is in second and San Joaquin Delta is in first at 17-4.

Casa's Lampe to suit up for UC Davis Aggies

Casa Grande senior Joe Lampe is signed on to play baseball at UC Davis next season. The Gauchos were 7-8 overall and 4-4 in the Vine Valley Athletic League heading into Tuesday night's non-league game with Bishop O'Dowd in the Elite 8 tournament. Lampe is hitting .340 with three homers and four triples. He has a team-leading 10 stolen bases this season.

Cloverdale softball on a tear in league play

Who can stop the Eagles? The Cloverdale High softball team was 15-0 and 9-0 in the North Central I League standings heading into their game on the road at Kelseyville Tuesday.

The Eagles have four players hitting better than .425 including junior Tehya Bird's other-wordly .732. The junior pitcher has 35 RBIs and nine homers on the season.

Senior Heather Sterling and junior Lane Hughes are both hitting .435 and sophomore Vanessa Fisher is hitting .426. Sterling has added 10 stolen bases to her resume as well.

SR grads Carter, White still setting records

Santa Rosa High grad Kirsten Carter, owner of every Redwood Empire sprint record, is just getting faster.

A freshman at UC Davis, Carter ran a personal-record 11.84 in the 100 meters - the fourth-fastest time in the Big West - at the Azuza Invite on April 17. In the 200 meters, Carter ran a 23.73 to sit in second in the Big West. Those times are sevent and second fastest ever for UC Davis.

Then, on Saturday at the Beach Invite at Long Beach State, Carter ran a personal best in the 400 meters, crossing the line at 54.65 to make her the fourth-fastest Aggie ever at that distance.

Another Panther set a personal best at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach. Delaney White, a 2016 graduate of Santa Rosa High, ran a PR in the 5,000 meters for the Portland State University Vikings. She finished in 18:05, demolishing by 19 seconds a personal best she set three weeks prior.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes and SoundCloud, “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”