-Santa Cruz Sentinel - Tuesday, April 25, 1989 Sentinel Athletes of the Week Darryl Ratliff of Cabrillo College, Laurie Durette of Aptos High and Jake Botts of North Monterey County have been selected the Sentinel's Athletes of the Week. I Ratliff, a freshman right fielder on the Seahawk baseball team, went 6-for-11 with five runs scored, two home runs, one double and four runs batted in as Cabrillo beat Skyline 11-0 and Foothill 9-6. "He was actually 7-for-11," said Cabrillo assistant coach Matt King. "He beat out an infield hit, but we were ahead of Skyline by 11 runs, it was the ninth inning, it was foggy and cold, and the ump looked like he was ready to get out of there so he called him out." It's not like he needed the hit, though. Ratliff already has 40 in 17 Coast Conference games (he's 40- for-71, .563 average). "That's unbelievable," King said. Ratliff's biggest asset is his speed. Said King, "Granted, I'm 25 and I haven't seen everything, but I've seen my share of games from coaching and scouting, and he is without a doubt the fastest player I've seen. And I'm talking Saturday Game of the Week, too." Against Los Medanos earlier this year, the infielders were playing Ratliff three to five feet in on the grass and he still dropped two drag bunts for hits. "He flat out flies," King said in amazement. I Durette, a senior on the Mariner track team, won three events as Aptos edged Santa Cruz 60-58 to remain the only unbeaten team in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. Durette won the 400 meters (1 minute, 0.1 second), 300 intermediate hurdles (49.3 seconds) and anchored the winning 1,600- Darryl Ratliff Laurie meter relay team after taking the baton 25 to 30 yards behind Santa Cruz's lead runner. "*I thought the meet was over at that point," Aptos Coach Allen Grasso said because of the ground Durette had to make up. "It did not seem possible that Laurie could catch up." But she did, reeling in the Santa Cruz runner on the far turn and winning by a foot. "It was just a miracle finish," Grasso said. "She had so much heart. She wouldn't give up. I told my athletic director that she's not human. "She's all heart," Grasso continued. "That's the best accurate description of Laurie Durette. She's a competitor." Durette's best event is the 300 hurdles; she has the top time in the league at 47.8. She's second in the 400 (59.8) and 800 (2:21.6) and ninth in the 200 (28.2). "As a runner, I doubt if there's anyone. who could do more events than she could," Grasso said. "If don't stop her, she'll try do the high jump and throw the discus, too." Botts, a junior pitcher on the Condor baseball team, followed up a one-hit win against San Lorenzo Valley two weeks ago with a 2-0 no-hitter against Soquel. He walked five, whiffed five Durette Jake Botts and made 95 pitches. "I felt really good," Botts said. "I had good movement on my fastball and I had all my breaking pitches working." When Botts says all, he means all. "I have an overhand curve, and sometimes throw it threequarters and on occasion | drop down sidearm and it just kind of slides along," he said. "And to throw them off, I throw a fourfinger knuckleball as a changeup, and I throw a couple two-finger knucklers that have a little more spin and break down. I had a lot of ground balls hit off that." Throughout the game, Botts was trying not to think about the nohitter. "I was just putting it off and not worrying about it because I was afraid I'd lose it," he said. "Our scorekeeper came over to me in the sixth inning and said, 'Did you know you're throwing .. I shut him up right there. I said 'please be quiet. You can tell me after the game.' I wanted nothing to go wrong. I really wanted it. It meant a lot to me, especially because Soquel was undefeated." I To nominate athletes, coaches may call 423-4248 between 5 and 8 p.m. Sundays. Selections are made by the Sentinel sports staff.