Page 8 - Mid Valley Times 6-17-21 E-edition

Thursday, June 17, 2021
City-County All-Star football game on June 18
Apaches place 7 on County, kickoff at 8:05 p.m. in Sanger
MVT Staff Report
After a year’s absence be- cause of COVID-19, the annual City-County All-Star Football Game is officially back — and it’s taking place this week at Tom Flores Stadium in Sanger.
This years’s game, the 66th meeting since 1955 in Califor- nia’s longest running NCAA- sanctioned high school all-star
Rodriguez.
The City team is coached
by Russ Pickett of Hoover High School. The squad will feature players from Fresno, Clovis West, Clovis North and Madera schools. Players from Central High, Clovis, Clovis East and Buchanan will be on the County team.
General admission tick- ets to the game are available online by going to the City- County All-Star Football web page (fccfootball.com) or at the gate.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High's Hailee Zapien followed through on her eighth-inning single that brought home the winning run in a 1-0 victory over Sanger High in the section Di- vision II quarterfinal matchup on June 10.
Dinuba reaches DII title game
football game, takes place at 8:05 p.m Friday, June 18, on Chuck Shidan Field in the Apaches’ longtime home stadi- um. The late kickoff is a neces- sity this year, as the high tem- perature on Friday is forecast to be in excess of 110 degrees.
The County will be looking to avenge a 15-13 loss to the City in the last game played in 2019, and will feature a distinctive Sanger High fla- vor. It starts at head coach with George Pena, who in his fourth season at the helm
guided the Apaches to a 5-1 record and the County Metro Athletic Conference champi- onship during a spring 2020- 2021 season.
Pena and staff will have seven SHS players as key components on the County squad: quarterback John Pe- na (son of the coach), running back Morgan Privett, wide receiver Nicholas Wise, line- backer Guillermo Cervantes, safety Mario Isaiah Becerril, offensive lineman Jaden Mu- noz and defensive lineman
Gabriel Olmos.
Two members of Reedley
High’s North Yosemite League championship team also are on the County roster. They are wide receiver Mike Rios, who wouldn’t play if the Pi- rates’ baseball team qualifies for the Division III section finals that same day, and of- fensive lineman Max Saucedo. Immanuel High School will be represented by linebacker Mi- chael Kawagoe while Parlier High also has a player on the roster in quarterback Joshua
Reedley baseball in DIII semis
Bakersfield
Christian
ends Sanger
boys hoop
playoff run
MVT Staff Report
The Reedley High Pi- rates rode the strength of strong offense and timely pitching to punch themselves a ticket into this week's Central Sec- tion Division III baseball semifinals.
In games played at The Yard at Immanuel Sports Complex', the third-seeded Pirates (22- 6-1) posted a 9-0 shutout of Dinuba High on June 9 before hanging on for a 5-4 victory over Inde- pendence High of Ba- kersfield on Jun 11. The wins earned Reedley a semifinal matchup at No. 2 seed and North Se- quoua League champion Kerman High (20-2) on June 16.
If the Pirates win that matchup, they'll ad- vance to the the finals at 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 18, at either top-seed Templeton or at The Yard against No. 4 seed Ridgeview from Bakers- field.
Reedley broke open a tight game against Di- nuba (4-21) by scoring three runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth. Matt Diaz belt- ed a home run during that outburst, driving in two runs along with Jared Estala. Mike Rios went 2-for-4 with a dou- ble while starting pitch- er Will Gagnon struck out eight. Senior Josh
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Reedley High's Dustin Wang slid in safely as the baseball bounced past Independence High catcher Julian Nevarez during the fifth inning of the PIrates' 5-4 Division III quar- terfinal victory over the Falcons on June 11 at Immanuel Sports Complex's The Yard.
MVT Staff Report
The top-seeded Di- nuba High Emperors are headed to the Cen- tral Section Division II softball champion- ship game after down- ing fifth-seeded Tulare Western by an 8-3 score on June 15.
Dinuba (16-6) will host the No. 3 seed Sel- ma Bears in a 7:30 p.m. contest Friday, June 17, at Tickey Field. The game is pushed back to a night contest.
Junior Hailee Za- pien broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning by clubbing a two-run home run to left center. Two batters later, winning pitcher Erica Flores launched a solo homer to dead cen- ter. Flores then closed out the game to send the Emperors to the section final.
Dinuba reached the semifinals by out- lasting ninth-seeded Sanger High (12-8) by a 1-0 score in eight in- nings at DHS on June
10. Zapien ground- ed an RBI single up the middle to plate Izzy Vaughn with the game's only run. Vaughn drew a two- out walk off Sanger pitcher Layla Torres. took second on a wild pitch and after Faith Hernandez was inten- tionally walked anoth- er wild pitch moved the runners to second and third.
Sanger had threat- ened to grab the lead in the seventh, putting two runners aboard be- fore Flores retired Ana- ya Garcia on a field- ers' choice groundout. Flores scattered three hits in the complete game, striking out six and walking two.
The visiting Apach- es also put two runners on base in the second thanks to a pair of er-
SeeSOFTBALLonpage A14
Gonzalez went 2-for-3 for the Emperors.
Gagnon homered and Diaz had an RBI single as Reedley jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first against Independence (15-5). A throwing error by the Falcons and an RBI double by Diaz in the fifth gave Reedley a seemingly safe 5-1.
Gagnon relieved starter Rios in the sixth inning, but a walk, dou- ble, two errors and a sac- rifice fly cut the margin to 5-4. But the Pirates' ace worked out of the jam by inducing a popup and getting a strikeout, then fanned the Falcons in order in the seventh.
Also in Division III, Immanuel (12-11) blanked Fowler 10-0 on
June 8 in the first round before falling 10-1 at top seed Templeton on June 11. In Division II, Sanger (13-17) scored a 6-2 open- ing victory at Highland in Bakersfield on June 9 before dropping a hard- fought 6-4 decision at top seed Arroyo Grande on June 11.
BASKETBALL Sanger boys fall in Division II semis
At Bakersfield on June 9, the Apaches were outscored 28-9 in the second quarter against eventual sec- tion champion Bakers- field Christian in a
77-66 loss in the section Division II semifinals. Sanger finished the sea- son with a 10-9 record.
The No. 4 seed Apaches led 21-19 be- fore BC sank five 3-point baskets during the sec- ond quarter outburst to grab a commanding 17-point halftime lead. Luke Dillon scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the third, and SHS went on an 11-1 run in the fourth to come with- in five points before the hosts pulled away down the stretch.
See PREPS on page A14
SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
PREPS
SHS boys golf 4th in section
Sanger High School boys golf / Photo Contributed
Sanger High School's boys golf team placed fourth at the Central Section Division III championships on June 3 at Lemoore Golf Course. It was the first time the team had qualified for section play in years. Joseph Quintana (78, sixth place) and Jacob Calhoun (81) both qualified for the section individual championships in Nipomo. Pictured from left are coach Rob Thompson, John Pena, Jacob Calhoun, Joseph Quintana, Graham Luckin, Zack Zavala and William Heng.
Reedley College golf caps off a perfect 33-0 season
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE FOR JUNE 17-23
THURSDAY, JUNE 17 SOFTBALL Section Championship games (six divisions), Matchups and
sites TBD, 4:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 18 BASEBALL Section Championship games (six divisions), Matchups and
SATURDAY, JUNE 19 TRACK AND FIELD
Central Section Championship Meet, Veterans Stadium Buchanan HS Clovis, 5 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 22 BASEBALL
State Regional Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Matchups,
sites TBD, 4:30 p.m.
Sites and times TBD
FOOTBALL
SOFTBALL
City-County All-Star Football Game, Tom Flores Stadium Sanger, 8:05 p.m.
State Regional Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Matchups, Sites and times TBD
MVT Staff Report
The Reedley College golf team capped off a perfect 33-0 season by taking the final Big 8 conference tournament meet at Kings River Golf Course in Kings- burg on June 14.
Freshman Cole Ob- ridgewitcsch (Regina,
Saskatchewan in Can- ada) was named con- ference MVP while all- conference honors went to freshmen Matt Frith (Sydney, Australia), Jarred Hernandez (El Diamante HS, Visalia), Noah Kozack (Regina, Saskatchewan) and sophomore Beau Willett (Toukley, Australia).