Page 11 - Reedley Exponent 2-7-19 E-edition

B3 | Thursday, February 7, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Pirate boys soccer clinches NYL
Spring
sports
start up
this week
Staff Report
If the weather coop- erates, two main spring sports will start this week for Reedley High School.
The Pirates baseball team will host the Dinuba Emperors in a 6:30 p.m. eve- ning contest on Friday, Feb. 8 at RHS varsity diamond to open the season. Reedley did host a scrimmage on Feb. 5 against Kerman.
The Pirates travel to Orange Cove for a 5:30 p.m. non-league game on Tues- day, Feb. 12. That's followed by a Thursday, Feb. 14 home game against Kingsburg that starts at 3:30 p.m.
Reedley High's softball team also begins the season on Friday, Feb. 8, with a 6 p.m. home game against Di- nuba.
The Pirates have road games next week at Selma and Kerman before return- ing home to play Golden West on Thursday, Feb. 21.
Win over second place Fresno, rout of Hoover seals league supremacy
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The Reedley High Pirates boys have de- livered in every big soccer match they've had this season. And form held true in a North Yosemite League first place show- down on Feb. 1 at Fresno High.
First half goals from Junior Elizondo and Gustavo Ledesma were just enough to hold off a Warrior rally in a 2-1 victory for RHS. The Pirates (18-6-2, 9-0) then clinched the outright league championship with a 4-0 shutout of Hoover on Feb. 4 in a steady rain at Sal Gonzalez Field.
Reedley should earn a high seed in the upcoming Division II Central Section playoffs, where the Pirates are defending section champions. They've exhibited a combination of solid defense, ball control and quick strike ability to handle all NYL opposition.
The first score came on a counter- attack when Elizondo raced down the right side, deked out the Fresno goal- keeper and scored into the empty net in the 24th minute. About six minutes later, the team received a free kick following a foul and Ledesma rifled a soaring shot past the Warriors' defensive wall and goalkeeper.
See SOCCER on page B4
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley High's Junior Elizondo, second from left, celebrated with teammates Edgar Escovedo (3), Isaac Cardenas and Tomas Alvarez after scoring the Pirates' first goal of the match in a Feb. 1 showdown at Fresno High. Reedley defeated the second place Warriors, 2-1, then routed Hoover on Feb. 4 to clinch the outright North Yosemite League soccer championship.
RHS boys basketball upsets first place Fresno
Immanuel boys suffer first league loss, playoff seedings this weekend
Preps Roundup
first round opponent will be in the Division III playoff bracket this weekend, and are expected to re- ceive a first round bye.
GIRLS BASKETBALL RHS defeats McLane, Hoover Reedley High's girls enjoyed
a strong week of play, trouncing McLane on Jan. 29 and then bounc- ing back from a blowout loss against first place Fresno to win at Hoover, 57-53, on Feb. 4.
Freshman Miah Paz scored 20 points while Madison Haney had 11 points and Clare McGahan 10 points as the Pirates (14-13, 3-6 NYL) spoiled the Patriots' Senior Night celebration. Paz earlier had scored a career-high 32 points in the rout of McLane, senior Reese Kubo scored 11 points while McGahan added sev- en points and 13 rebounds.
Reedley had its own Senior Night on Feb. 6 against Sunnyside High, then begins action in the sec- tion playoffs next week.
Immanuel ends slump
Immanuel's 10-game Central Sequoia League losing streak ended
See PREPS on page B4
Colleges
RC women's basketball splits pair of CVC games Contributed
Reedley College split a pair of Central Valley Con- ference women’s basketball contests last week, defeat- ing Porterville 74-58 on the road on Jan. 30 before a 66-51 loss at home to West Hills Lemoore on Feb. 2.
The Lady Tigers took a conference record of 4-3 and an overall mark of 12- 10 into a Feb. 6 home con- test with Taft College. It was the only action of the week for head coach Dan Kilbert’s team, which re- turns to the court at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13 in Visalia against the College of the Sequoias Giants.
In the win over Porter- ville, I’man Conley led the Lady Tigers with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Xavia Barlow followed with 15 points and nine rebounds
See COLLEGES on page B4
Staff Report
The Reedley High Pirate boys on Feb. 1 gave themselves a dazzling highlight in what's been a difficult North Yosemite League basketball season — a road upset of first place Fresno High.
Roger Ortiz scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and the Pirates (9-15, 2-7) held on in the clos- ing seconds to post a 74-71 victory at Fresno High gym. The win was sand- wiched by home losses to McLane (65-52 on Jan. 30) and on Senior Night against Hoover (69-58 on Feb. 4).
Coach Travis Ferrell was proud of his team's effort and performance against Fresno, which allowed Reed- ley to qualify for the upcoming Cen- tral Section Division IV playoffs.
"They went in against Fresno High with great energy and mental focus," he said. "To go on the road and beat the No. 1 team in league on their home court is a great accomplish- ment. Through the season, we've had moments, but to put it all it all together is a testament to our play-
ers' resolve and dedication."
The Pirates had a 12-0 run in the
second quarter that enabled them to build a double-digit lead, after Fres- no closed the gap late in the game consecutive steals by Augie Villar- real, Jordan Chavez and Israel Vil- dosola secured the victory.
Aaron Todd finished with 15 points, Chavez added 14 points and 11 rebounds while Villarreal chipped in with 11 points. Ortiz and Chavez led the team in scoring against McLane with 11 and 10 points while Villarreal scored 15 in the loss to Hoover.
Reedley closed out the regular season on Feb. 6 at Sunnyside, then will find out its seeding this weekend for the upcoming section playoffs.
Eagles clinch, then
fall at Hanford West Immanuel High wrapped up an-
other Central Sequoia League cham- pionship last week, but then suffered its first defeat in league when host Hanford West pulled out a 75-70 win on Feb. 1. Two days earlier, the Eagles (18-7, 10-1) secured the out- right title by cruising past last-place
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
Reedley High's Reese Kubo fired up a shot while being closely defended by McLane High's Thyda Lay during the Pirates' 75-19 victory over the Highlanders on Jan. 29. Kubo finished with 11 points.
Selma, 79-40, on Jan. 30 at IHS gym. Against Hanford West, Kaleb Da- glish led the Eagles in scoring with 22 points. Jordan Rodriguez scored
16 points while Shawn Rodgers and Winston Williams each scored 12 points.
The Eagles will learn who their
Tigers bag 1st win of 2019
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
Reedley College's Deagan Risnes took a cut at a pitch during the Tigers' 8-2 loss to Golden West College on Feb. 1. Reedley picked up its first vic- tory of the season later that day, defeating Mission College, 7-5.
Contributed
After starting the 2019 season with five straight losses, the Reedley College Tiger baseball team broke into the win column Feb. 1 with a 7-5 victory over the Mission College Saints in Reedley.
The 1-5 Tigers are on the road for the next five games. The road trip was sched- uled to start with a Feb. 5 (weather per- mitting) against DeAnza College in Cuper- tino. Reedley gets the weekend off after a Thursday, Feb. 7 contest at Ohlone College in Fremont before going to Sacramento City College on Tuesday, Feb. 12.
The week started for the Tigers with a tough 9-6 loss to Bakersfield College Jan. 31 in Reedley. The hosts built an early 5-2 lead before the Renegades scored six times in the seventh to take control.
Deagan Risnes (Lake Arrowhead) slugged triples in his first two at-bats and later added a double while Nick Martinez (Madera) hit a solo home run in the second.
College baseball
The Tigers got in two games on Feb. 1 before a Feb. 2 matchup with Napa Valley was postponed due to rain. In the opener, Golden West hit three home runs in an 8-2 win over the Tigers. Trailing 6-0 in the sev- enth, Reedley scored twice on a two-run dou- ble off the bat of Henry Degnan (El Cerrito).
Reliever Trenton Vander Veen (Central Valley Christian) retired eight straight bat- ters before allowing back-to-back home runs.
Freshman righthander Harrison Moy (Honolulu) started the Mission contest and threw five shutout innings, striking out sev- en. Reedley took advantage of five walks and a hit batter to score five times in the bottom of the first inning. Martinez drove in the first run with a single while Tony Riley (Alameda) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Blake Costa (Tulare Western), Mitch Silvas (Redwood) and Martinez all finished with two hits for the winners.
RC softball picks up four more mercy rule victories
Contributed
Four games in 2019 and four mer- cy rule victories for the Reedley Col- lege softball team.
But the competition is expected to get tougher this week for head coach Kathy Kuball’s squad.
The Lady Tigers head to Monterey
on Saturday, Feb. 9, to face Santa Rosa, a team that has yet to play a game in 2019 due to the weather before facing host and 4-0 Monterey Peninsula. Two of the Lobos’ four wins have come over Lady Tiger rival Fresno City College.
On Tuesday, Feb. 12, Reedley heads to Sacramento City College for a noon doubleheader. The Panthers are also
4-0 with a .423 team batting average and have outscored the competition by a 44-6 margin.
At press time, statistics for the Jan. 31 doubleheader sweep of Gavilan College in Gilroy were not complete. It is believed that Reedley recorded 10- 0 and 11-1 victories, giving the Lady Tigers a 40-2 advantage over the com-
petition with a team batting average of .403 over the four games.
Weather permitting, Reedley was scheduled to host Cuesta in a double- header on Feb. 5. Cuesta has four home games scheduled with Sacra- mento City this weekend.
See RC SOFTBALL on page B4