Page 15 - MidValleyTimes 7-4-19 E-edition

Thursday, July 4, 2019
Roby takes the
reins for Reedley
College volleyball
Reedley College alumnus Mariah Roby returns to campus to become the Tiger's new head volleyball
Mike Nemeth / Mid Valley Times
Anni Raley, a Buchanan High graduate who plays catcher for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, worked on catching technique with a camper during a softball clinic at Sanger High School on June 3 through 6.
College athletes return for Sanger softball clinic
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Mariah Roby has made her mark as a player and as- sistant coach for the Reedley College women’s volleyball program. And the 28-year- old now returns to her “sec- ond home” as the Tigers’ head coach.
Roby replaces Shannon Jefferies, her former coach who retired after 23 seasons directing the RC program. Her most recent college coaching stint was as a gradu- ate assistant at New Mexico Highlands University.
“I liked being away, and I learned a lot of really cool things,” the Chowchilla native said of her year in New Mex- ico. “They had a wonderful program and a very knowl- edgable coach. But I became homesick and I was ready to come back to California. And I missed Reedley.”
Roby’s connection to Reedley helped her get her first head coaching job. She served three years as an as- sistant under Jefferies, after playing for the Tigers in 2008 and 2009.
“I knew from first play- ing here that I wanted to be around Reedley [College] vol- leyball,” she said, acknowl- edging that Jefferies recom- mended her for the job. “I was very grateful when Shan- non offered me a position as an assistant, and she [later] wrote me a wonderful recom- mendation letter. She coached me, and I coached for her. She put in her time, and I was thrilled to take over.”
Roby has been active re- cruiting since accepting the position, as she builds the foundation of a team that went 4-19 in 2018 and has four returning players.
“I’m definitely excited for the fresh start. A lot of the girls coming in are very green, new. Have four re- turning players. It’s a chance to put together everything I’ve learned the last 15-plus years that I’ve been around the game.”
Roby said that based on the Tigers’ personnel, they will rely on defense, relent- less energy and scrappiness from the first day of practice on July 2.
“That’s a huge part of my philosophy. Completely put- ting your whole heart into the game and sacrificing your body if need be,” she said.
Roby said she’s also ex- cited to work with longtime assistant coach Nobi Kitaoka, who helped coach her and worked with her as a fellow assistant on the sidelines.
“He’s extremely knowl- edgable; he’s been around the game a long time, and coached in different realms,” she said. “I’m just as excited tolearnfromhimasIamto work with him.”
Perennial power Fresno City College figures to be the team to beat in the Central Valley Conference race, but Roby said that College of the Sequoias and Taft College will also be formidable.
“We’ve got a solid confer- ence,” she said. “I feel confi- dent that we’ll be able to com- pete this year, and it’s only go- ing to get better. Going in, I understand it’s our first year and there’s work to do.”
By Mike Nemeth
Mid Valley Times
Vanessa Hernandez completed her first season playing for the Fresno State softball team.
And she got to play against some of the best athletes in the country, taking on UCLA twice. The Bruins won both encoun- ters but also ended up being the best team in the nation, winning a national champi- onship against Oklahoma 5-4 on June 4.
“I learned a lot,” Hernandez said.
And what she learned she brought back home, sharing her skills and wis- dom with about 45 girls at her first soft- ball clinic back at her old Sanger High stomping grounds on June 3 . Helping Hernandez were a couple of friends — Anni Raley, a Buchanan grad who plays catcher for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Bulldog teammate Julianna Martinez, a Clovis West grad who played left field for Fresno State this past season.
About a half hour before the clinic of- ficially began, Hernandez hurried and got everything ready. At one point she tried to find the anchor for first base, getting help from Taryn East, 12. Taryn introduced herself as a pitcher, one who played for the seventh grade team even though she was just in sixth.
“You good?” I asked.
Taryn paused a moment.
Then Hernandez quit scraping around
in the dirt with the softball trowel — she still couldn’t find the spot where the base went. “Yes,” Hernandez said. “From what I hear, yes.”
Then Taryn, obviously not used to the
kind of question, responded. “Yeah,” she said. And she added this about what she likes about softball. “It’s fun. And it gets me in shape. And it’s just my favorite sport.”
Hernandez’s, too.
The former Apache shortstop wanted to share her love of the game, help her students have a good time and learn some- thing new. She clicked off what she hoped to teach her crew. “How to play defense,” she said. “How to field a ground ball. Some life lessons. Teach them how to have fun. And the fundamentals of playing softball.”
And batting practice.
Taryn was all for it. “My dream col- lege is UCLA because they have a good law school, and I want to become a law- yer,” she said. “I want to help people. I want to help them get justice.”
The clinic took a couple hours. Marti- nez started teaching a group the basics of the perfect throw. “You want to get that rotation going,” she said, sounding like she already was a seasoned coach. For the re- cord, she said she doesn’t want to do that. She said she’s studying accounting and plans to be a CPA. She landed an intern- ship with Moss Adams in Fresno.
“You want to get that spin. You want to get that wrist flip going.”
Then Martinez made a song of “flip of the wrist.” Her athletes got the idea. She made it fun.
Hernandez explained why the perfect throw is important. In softball, momentum can change in an instant. And a perfectly executed catch and throw can win games.
“I want you to have this transition ev- ery time,” Hernandez said. “To get that
double play.”
She and Martinez demonstrated. Just
two college softball athletes making it look easy.
“Alright,” Martinez said, again focus- ing on her girls. She had them in two lines, each one throwing the person opposite the ball. “Let’s take a step back.”
On the sideline was Vince Garcia, Sanger Warriors 10 and under coach. He and his wife brought their two girls and still gestating son, who is foretold to be a golfer. “It’s a good turnout,” he said. “We just started travel ball. I’m learning quick.
“Softball is a big thing in the Valley. In the state.”
Garcia, who was the one who ultimate- ly found the first-base anchor, said he ap- preciated that Hernandez decided to give back to her community. “She was there once,” he said, referring to the age and experience of the younger players. “That says a lot about her as a person. For the girls who look up to her. If that’s the extra push the girls needed.”
As the evening wore on and the young athletes went from one phase of the clinic to the next, they warmed up. Friendships were formed. Joking got more common. Smiles replaced the serious looks that be- gan the breezy evening.
But make no mistake, these girls were serious. When near the end Raley lined up about eight girls for a mini catcher clinic, each put on her game face when Raley threw the ball. Raley worked her way down the line. Each athlete took the
See CLINIC on page B2
The program hosted a grass tournament on June 29, and has another sched- uled for Sat-
urday, July
13. Roby
also looks to
continue the
program’s
annual sum-
mer camps,
and wants to
get Reedley
College vol-
leyball out
into the community.
Coaching and teaching at the college level always has been the end goal for Roby, who earned an athletic schol- arship to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She graduated with honors in 2012, after graduating cum laude from RC in 2010. She was voted the Tigers’ best of- fensive player in 2009.
“I’d say volleyball was key in definitely growing as an athlete and really as an in- dividual,” she said. “I kind of came out of my shell through volleyball. I owe a lot of who I am to the game.”
The reporter can be reach at jon@midvalleypublishing. com or by phone at (559) 638- 2244.
Mariah Roby
All stars wrap up season for Dinuba city league
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
A Lady Dynamite all star connects for a base hit walk-off in the fifth and final inning of Thursday's Dinuba City Softball All Star game. The hit capped off a seven-run inning to lift the B Team to a 12-11 victory.
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
The City of Dinuba’s softball recreation all- star game proved to be a thriller as Team B rallied from an eleven-run deficit to stun Team A in a 12-11 win Thursday night at Recreation Park.
Team A appeared to be in cruise control scoring five runs in the first and four in the second. Team B got on the board when Ash- ley Orozco scored with one out in the bottom of the second and in the fourth inning pushed across four runs, 9-5.
Hazel Moreno and Alina Pruneda scored to give Team A an 11-5 in the top of the fifth, but Team B countered with a furious seven run fifth inning for the win.
On Friday night, the boys all-star game was held as Team A downed Team B, 6-4, at Recreation Park.
Moses Quevedo scored the game’s first run giving Team B a 1-0 lead. Teammates Dominic Gonzalez and Angel Ruelas got on
base and were in scoring position. Team A starting pitcher, Carmelo Mendoza, managed to get out of the jam by striking out three con- secutive batters.
In the bottom half of the opening frame, Team A scored three runs as Anthony Pompa and Aiden Alejandro delivered key hits to take a 3-1 lead.
Diego Parra drew a lead-off walk in the second inning and Albert Cendejas singled to start a rally for Team B. With the bases loaded and one out, Mendoza slammed the door shut on the rally recording consecutive strikeouts.
After having their lead cut to 3-2 in the top of the third inning, Team A scored a pair of runs in the bottom half as Alejandro and Jim- my Hignojoz each had a hit. Team A would add another run in the bottom of the fourth before Team A scored two runs in the top of the fifth.
Team A was led by Pompa and Alejandro who each went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Mendoza and Michael Simmons each had a hit.
For Team B, Quevedo had a single and a double with two runs scored.
Softball Team B rallies to victory with 12 unanswered runs. Team A squeezes out 6-4 win in baseball.