Page 9 - Sanger Herald 4-18-19 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019
Mike Nemeth, editor
nemethfeatures@gmail.com
Baseball team splits with SJM, wins more afterward
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Nathan Padilla had a split second to react when San Joaquin Memorial’s Eddie Saldivar smacked a chopper off a pitch by Apaches reliever Alec Flores.
It was the top of the seventh inning, and the Panthers didn’t want another loss. Sanger led 3-1 in the April 9 home game, and the Apaches kept their coach David Cuellar’s command of “no doubles” burned in their collective consciousness.
Cuellar pulled Jake Harrell after he struck out the first batter in the inning, Jordan Smith, because Harrell had exhausted his allowed number of pitches. Two outs remained.
The Panthers itched to capitalize.
Padilla, the junior third baseman, didn’t allow it. He caught the bounced hit with an athletic prowess exhibited by many on this 17-4 Apache team, tagged Panther Mac Dalena as he raced from second base and then in one fluid motion threw the ball to Harrell on first.
Harrell, who switched positions with Flores, ended the game by getting Saldivar out by a hair. It was close.
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Jake Harrell pitches a win against Memorial's Panthers. SJM won the next meeting. But the Apaches came back with at least a couple more wins this week.
game was tough for us,” Cuellar said of the loss.
Sustained winds of about 25 mph blew into Sanger in the late afternoon and brought clouds of dust and some chilly temperatures, but Harrell said it didn’t affect his game — in which he collected at least 11 strikeouts. He praised his team for their performance that night.
“Our team’s always good,” he said. “They always pick me up when I need it. They (Memorial) got a lot of good hitters. They make you work hard.”
And Harrell, who’s headed to play for Fresno State’s Bulldogs after graduation, said he believes his team is out to make a statement this post season.
Darrin Herring, who played seven innings as catcher opposite Harrell, went to the Apache trainers afterward with a sore left hand. He left with an ice pack and a diagnosis of bruising by way of repetitive impact. His father said later that Herring, a senior like Harrell, is still using the same mitt he started the season with and that the 80 to 90 mph fastballs Harrell throws have worn it down.
Herring and Harrell have played alongside each other for many years. And for Herring a bruised hand is
just another constant of his time in the sport. Nothing new.
“The season in one word,” Herring said. “It would be ‘grind.’ We just keep grinding.” As for Memorial he added, “They can swing the bat, but they have a bad attitude.”
The Apaches all appeared to enjoy themselves, joking around about such things as wetting down the field with water bottles to avoid wind from affecting the infield clay. Martinez got Herring, Padilla and Mason Lopez to crack smiles with his pre- game antics. Zack Jaurique, a second baseman from last year’s team who took in the game, said his group may have been rowdier. Jaurique’s fellow classman and teammate Anthony Schwamb also watched. He said he’s going to play football for Reedley College next year.
Ryan Esparza, another big part of this year’s team, said the Apaches have an edge because they’re all so close. As he walked out of the ballpark, Esparza said the key to obtaining a championship “is good connections with all your teammates, a strong connection. That’s how you win.”
“It’s all love,” Martinez said of the bond his team shares. He said the win
will propel the Apaches for the next contest with the Panthers. “We wanted it more. We always have confidence. If we play the right way, we’ll come out with the win.”
Padilla explained a little about what was going through his head when he made the play that ended the game and sealed the win for Sanger. He said he’d missed a similar chopper earlier in the game and wasn’t about to let the second one get past him.
“I got the force at third,” he said, possibly making a reference to the power that made Luke Skywalker a Jedi. “Then I threw him out at first.” And he thought to himself, “Take your time. Don’t be greedy.”
Alex Avalos, who started the game with a single off Panther pitcher Josh Castro, said he hoped for a sweep. He said the April 9 game set the tone. “Yessir,” he said. “Heck yeah.”
The Apaches beat Tehachapi 13-2 and El Diamonte 12-3 on April 15.
Sanger also had a game against Porterville on Tuesday.
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
“He’s a hell of a player,” said Steven Martinez, Apache shortstop, of Padilla. “Whenever we need him, we can count on him.”
After the play, the Apaches whooped and hollered, jumped into each other and did all the things a team does after it wins. The Panthers left the field quietly after handshakes. They wanted a different outcome, especially after a game that saw tempers flare from both dugouts.
Memorial dropped to 16-4 after the game.
“Two good teams out here,” Cuellar said. “A lot of passion.”
The two sit atop the County Metro Athletic
Conference standings, and Memorial had a chance two days later on April 11 to even the score. Memorial did, winning 6-5 at home April 11.
“I’m really proud all these guys came out,” Cuellar said after the first game last week. “This was a great win. Now we’re one game up. That’s a good team over there. They were fighting to win the CMAC.”
The win came after a heart-breaking 6-3 loss to Madera on April 5. The Apaches had come from behind to lead 3-2, but the Coyotes rallied at the end of the game. Sanger had won the two previous contests with Madera. “Friday’s
Records obliterated at metric classic
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Senior Isaiah Gaucin had one thought as he neared the finish in the 1,600-meter race April 12 at Dodson Field in Sanger.
“Get Juan,” he said. “Get Juan.”
Gaucin referred to junior teammate Juan Zamora, who ran near the front of the pack in the invitation only competition, challenging fleet-footed Isaiah Galindo, a Clovis North junior who also ended up winning the 800 meter race that day. Zamora said he pushed himself but didn’t quite make his goal. However, he did get a personal best 4:31.13 minutes, and Gaucin pulled down a 4:30.76, shaving a full 6 seconds from his previous record.
They scored the sixth and seventh places behind some of the best 1,600 runners in the central San Joaquin Valley. Gaucin passed Zamora ever so slightly in the final sprint.
Their stories of personal peaks and powerful performances punctuated the 62nd annual Sanger Metric Classic track and field meet. This year, participants smashed records in at least two events, and many more like Zamora and Gaucin ripped up their old times and records.
Chief among these was Nia Lamas’ domination of the 3,200 meter girls race. Lamas, a ninth-grader, is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of what a high school athlete can accomplish. Lamas set the Sanger High record for the 1,600 in February, shaving about 10 seconds from the record time Lupe Rodriguez set 37 years earlier.
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Nia Lamas, right, gets a hug from teammates Jahari Garcia and Alondra Huerta.
Alondra Huerta hugged Lamas, said she was pleased with her performance in the 800 but still wanted to decrease her time. “I’m going to train to get a 2:30 or less by the end of the season,” she said.
Apache sophomore Jose Porras grabbed a personal record 11.18 seconds in the 100 for second in the freshman-sophomore race. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw I was ahead of the kid from Central,” he said. “When I finished, I thought he ran slow or I ran really, really fast.” The Central runner, Cameron Tarver, got fourth.
Lamas wasn’t the only one breaking event records. Elizabeth Funk, a Clovis West senior who will be competing for San Diego State, shattered the classic record for girls pole vault with her 13 feet 7 inches. The classic record was 13 feet 4 inches, set by Brooke Tjerrild of Clovis North in
2017.
“She’s a great kid,” said
Chuck Anderson, Funk’s coach. “Couldn’t ask for a better kid.”
Then Anderson told a story, the one where he first met Funk four years ago when she was just an aspiring pole vaulter. Anderson said Funk lived nearby and she walked past his house. Students apparently practiced in his front yard, typical for a coach. She expressed interest.
“I asked her if she was serious,” he said.
She was. “We’ve been working nine months a year, at least, ever since,” Anderson said. He said she just hit 13 feet 4 inches two days previous to the classic. He said she’s going to clear more height, break more records. “Oh yeah,” he said. “She’s just beginning.”
Funk didn’t make any higher vaults that evening. She had three chances.
She didn’t mind. “That was my school record and my PR,” she said of her booked height.
Sanger hurdler Carlos Wong was one of the student volunteers replacing the bar on the vault set-up. He wanted her to clear the bar. “I hope she makes it,” he said. “I can see the drive in her. The crowd loves her, cheering for her.”
The crowd, which had begun to thin somewhat but remained substantial, quieted for her jump and then cheered enthusiastically when she beat the classic record.
Funk said she worked hard to get greater verical lift. “I’ve been waiting,” she said. “Today I was just focused on my technique. I’ve been super close (before).” She said she clears her head before a vault of anything but her technique, letting the crowd fall away, the other athletes and the height. She just thinks about what she has to do, her technique. Nothing else.
Toward the end of the evening, Caleb Pouliot, a Buchanan sophomore, again got the crowd’s attention on pole vault, clearing 15 feet 4 inches. He said he had a personal record previously of 14 feet 10 inches. “The (Buchanan) school record was 15 feet 5 inches,” he said. “I was going for 15 feet 6 inches.”
He had three chances but didn’t make the greater height. “I’m not disappointed,” he said. “My form was a lot better coming into the competition.” The classic record is 15 feet 10 inches set by Mark Unzueta of Lemoore in 1997.
At the classic, Lamas ran her first 3,200 in high school competition. Not only did she do well, recording a time of 10:45.62 minutes in the normally sedate distance event, she set the Sanger High record.
Again.
Megan Osten had held that honor with a 11:20.42 minutes since 2011. And Lamas also set the record for the classic, which was 10:50.86, set by Corie Smith of Buchanan in 2017. Smith, now a junior, won the 1,600 for the girls but didn’t dislodge the classic record of 4:55.09 set by another Buchanan star, Hannah Benoit, in 2015. But with a 2019 time of 5:00.92, Smith still scorched the track.
Lamas said she’d been
reading some motivational material to help her improve her performances and that some phrases she picked up kept her going. “When you feel like quitting, remember all the people who said you could,” she said. “Remember that pain is temporary.”
Lamas said she watched the clock. “The first lap was easy,” she said.
Dariana Miramontes, a Madera South junior, kept up with Lamas early on but started fading in the later laps and eventually wound up with a second-place 11:12.32 minutes.
All alone and catching up to the slower runners in the event, Lamas had no competitors who could encourage her to speed up.
She had to do it herself. “I had to push it,” she said.
Lamas did.
“That’s fast,” said head track coach Clay Manning. “That’s really fast.”
When she crossed the finish line, she got encouragement from teammate Ethan Hunt and then her fellow runners gathered around for a grand group hug. Family members joined in with congratulations, telling her how proud they were.
“A seven-year record got shattered,” Hunt said, although it was actually eight. Hunt had the school records printed on the back of his T-shirt and had to rely on others for interpretation. “Crazy. Like a fox.”
Jahari Garcia, who with