Oaks Chrisitan School football coach Bill Redell came to the defense of Westlake High coach Jim Benkert in the wake of Petros Papadakis' critical comments about Westlake's program last Sunday night on "The Challenge" on KNBC.

"I think Jim Benkert has done a fabulous job at Westlake High and he is a man of the highest character," Redell said. "The entire Westlake community and Westlake High should be very proud to have a coach of Jim Benkert's caliber and stature running that program. As a fellow coach in the fraternity and as a Westlake community person, I am very proud of what he has done."

Here is the full story

Agoura High senior Stefany Valentino has verbally committed to play softball at UNLV. The 5-foot-4 Valentino batted .329 with 28 hits, five doubles, five home runs, 11 RBIs and 20 runs scored last season for Agoura. The all-Marmonte League first-team selection had a slugging percentage of .588 and stole six bases in eight attempts.
Valentino, who plays for the So Cal Pumas travel team, is the third Agoura player to make a verbal commitment this year. Shannon Kaufman plans to attend Sacramento State and Julie Lewis plans to attend Colorado State.

In other softball news, Oaks Christian School pitcher Kiana Quolas was selected the national high school Player of the Year by the National Christian School Athletic Association.
Quolas, a junior, had a 15-3 record with a 0.80 ERA and 181 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings as a sophomore and was named Tri-Valley League MVP. She also hit .459 with five home runs and 29 RBIs. Oaks Christian catcher Savannah Carpenter and Grace Brethren's Kassy Dunn and Danielle Fletcher were named to the All-Far West roster.