Page 9 - Dinuba Sentinel 5-24-18 E-edition

Sports
B1
Martinez quali es at Masters, moves on to State meet
Dinuba High senior becomes the rst Emperor to advance to State level in two track events
Division II and the second ranked hurdler in the 300-meter hurdles in the entire Central Section.
Therefore, Martinez had a strong chance of making it to the State finals in the 300, his best event. But adding a third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles was the extra icing on the cake.
Waiting in center field after the event, Martinez looked to the jumbotron as the top times were displayed one-by-one. The top three finishers would qualify for the State finals.
The top finisher read Caleb Foster of Clovis North, with a time of 14.12 seconds. The second top finisher read Jake Woods of Clovis with a time of 14.42 seconds. And in the third spot the name came up, Daniel Martinez of Dinuba.
With the wind at his back, Martinez put in a personal record performance on Saturday, completing the 110 in 14.48 seconds. It was Martinez’s thirds straight improvement on his 110-time.
“I hit one of the last hurdles near the end and it kind of slowed me down,” said a winded Martinez after the race. “But I felt like I was there. I did get a really good start. My finish wasn’t the best but I’ll take that.”
See Track, Page B8
“They knew what was at stake. They know what their goal is and they haven’t lost sight of that. They were ready to go.”
- Bryan Patterson, Dinuba High Softball Coach
The Dinuba Sentinel
Thursday, May 24, 2018 Track & Field
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
On Saturday Dinuba High School senior Daniel Martinez became the first Emperor athlete to qualify for the State track meet in two events after taking third place in both the 110- meter and 300-meter hurdles at the Master track event.
Martinez follows in a long line of Dinuba High hurdlers to make it to the State finals in the event. In 2014 Dinuba’s Xavier Jones became the first Emperor to qualify for the State finals. He was followed by Isaak Leppke and Raymond Yan, who made it to the finals last year.
Waiting in the wings behind Yan was Martinez, who also competed in the Masters last year. But it was the offseason work that Martinez put in that paid dividends.
“He would ask me to bring out the hurdles during the offseason just so he can work on his own,” said Dinuba High School track coach Lucas Lichtenwaldt. “He put in a lot of hard work.”
That hard work came to a culmination on Saturday as the top athletes from across the Central Valley competed at the Masters track event at Buchanan High School.
Martinez qualified by being the top ranked hurdler in
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
High School Baseball
Dinuba falls
in second
round of
Division III
playoffs
Sentinel staff report
Dinuba High School’s varsity baseball team had perhaps their best season in years, but that season came to an end last Thursday after suffering a 10-4 loss to Independence of Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the Central Section’s Division III playoffs.
The Emperors found themselves down 4-0 going in to the fourth inning and then managed to rally in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, scoring a run in each to pull within one run.
The Falcons, however, put together a six-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to run away with the game.
Dinuba finished the season with an 18-12 overall record and finished 8-7 in the Central Sequoia League.
Emperor senior Elijah Mayberry was also named to the All-League team.
High School Softball
Lady Emps win big in quarter nals
Dinuba hosted Tehachapi yesterday for a chance to play in Valley title game
research, because Garcia finished the regular season as the one of the top hitters in the Central Sequoia League. She came in with a batting average of .495 and had 37 RBIs. She also led the league in homeruns with 7 in the regular season.
Calculated as the move may have been, it actually worked in favor of the Lady Emperors, as Hernandez was able to send an 0-2 pitch deep over centerfield for a three-run homer. For Hernandez, it was her third homerun of the season.
“She got a hold of it,” said Dinuba High Softball coach Bryan Patterson. “She crushed it.”
Dinuba then added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth as junior Felicity Morales was able to come home on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly ball to left by field junior Kayla Villarreal scored pinch runner Roma Gallardo late in the inning
See Lady Emps, Page B8
After dominating the Central Sequoia League and Division II in both the 110- meter and 300-meter hurdles, Dinuba High School senior Daniel Martinez took his speed to the Masters track and field event this past Saturday and finished as the No. 3 hurdler in the entire Central Valley in both events. His finishes also qualified him to compete at the State level and he will compete in both events come June 1.
Dinuba High freshman Faith Hernandez connected for a three-run homer in the third inning of the Lady Emperors quarterfinals matchup against Liberty. The homer gave Dinuba a 3-0 lead and sparked a 10-run game to help the Lady Emperors advance to the Division III semifinals, a game they hosted yesterday against Tehachapi.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
The Dinuba High School Lady Emperors softball team took full advantage of their No. 1 seeding by turning in a dominant performance over visiting Liberty on Friday. Dinuba High freshman Faith Hernandez and senior Carlee Newlin each had three- run homers in the game to lift the Lady Emperors to a 10-2 victory and send them to the semifinals game.
The game started off as a defensive battle as both teams went scoreless into the third inning. But in the bottom of the inning Dinuba senior Bailee Garza was able to get on base on a slow grounder and by beating out the throw to first base. Three batters later, and with two outs, the Hawks chose to intentionally walk Dinuba junior Alexa Garcia, choosing rather to face freshman Faith Hernandez.
Liberty must have done their
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Lady Giants win four straight
played together,” said Lady Giants coach Fernando Diaz. “Many of them have never even played the game.”
This is also Diaz’s first year coaching, having taken the role when it became apparent that the city didn’t have enough coaches.
In their last two games, the Lady Giants have defeated their opponents by a margin of 20-9. Last Thursday the team beat the Lady Dragons 12-9 in a game highlighted by Lexi Rubalcaba, who had two homeruns in the game.
Then on Monday, they took on the Lady Yankees. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, they rallied back into the game off a three-run homer by first baseman Hazel Moreno to give the Lady Giants a 3-2 lead.
Moreno would then extend the lead to 8-3 in the second inning on a double, giving her five RBI’s for the game.
The Lady Giants’ only loss of the season was their first game, a 5-0 loss to undefeated Lady Dynamite. Tonight they will have a chance at redemption as the two teams play again. The game will be played at Felix Delgado Park and will start at 6 p.m.
Youth Softball
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
With three-time winning coach Manuel Castillo no longer in the league to devote more time to his traveling softball team Knights, and his daughters Mia and Anahi doing likewise, this year’s Running Rebels, though 4-1, is not the same team.
This makes the 2018 Dinuba city league majors softball title up for grabs. Midway through the season, the biggest contender appears to be last year’s runners-up. Though last year the team, coached by Jesse Sanders, competed as the Lady Dodgers, this year they return eight starters under team
Lady Dynamite.
Lady Dynamite brings the most
experience back to the league and their record shows it. As of Tuesday the Lady Dynamites were undefeated at 5-0.
But just behind them is an improbable group of first year players who are currently sitting at 4-1, and are on a four-game winning streak, the Lady Giants.
“This is the first year these girls have
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Lady Giants pitcher Alize Flores is in her first year of pitching in competitive softball. She, along with many players on the Lady Giants roster, are new to the game but have managed to win their last four games to stay one game behind league leader Lady Dynamites, who is currently undefeated. Tonight the Lady Giants will take on team Lady Dynamite at Felix Delgado Park. The game begins at 6 p.m.