Page 14 - Dinuba Sentinel 4-26-18 E-edition

B6 | Thursday, April 26, 2018
Sports
The Dinuba Sentinel
Cardinals Continued from Page B1
Track
Continued from Page B1
Orosi High School junior Valentine Quevedo attempts to tag out a Laton runner at first base during Monday’s league game with the Mustangs. Quevedo had an RBI on a sac-fly in the third inning to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Orosi went on to win the game 4-2.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
As strong as Martinez and Dinuba’s long distance runners are, the team actually sports one of the strongest athletes in the Valley. Senior Alex Sandoval is another Emperor athlete who has dominated the CSL in the field event of shot put.
Friday, Sandoval set a personal record in the event with a throw of 52’0.5”, good enough for third place at the Sanger Classic. The two shot putters ahead of Sandoval were all from Division I schools, Buchanan’s Christian Johnson, who took first place with a throw of 53’5.75”, and Clovis North’s Tobin Phillips, who finished in second place with a
throw of 52’7.75”.
The Dinuba track and field
has only one more competition before competing in the league championships next Wednesday at Central Valley Christian. That competition will be tomorrow, as the Emperors will host the Dinuba Invitational featuring 26 teams from mid to mid-major schools. Tomorrow’s meet begins at 2 p.m.
For Dinuba, the event will serve as some fine-tuning before competing for another league, and possibly Valley title. The Sierra-Sequoia Championships will be held on May 9 at Kingsburg High.
the game. Those hits translated to a 1-0 lead when Laton’s Juan Zaragoza shot a liner past the infield to score teammate Bryan Lopez.
But Soto was able to gather himself and struck out the next two Mustang batters, leaving two runners stranded on base. He then did all the work in the bottom of the inning with a lead-off line drive down the third base line for a double. After stealing third base, Soto then took advantage of the Cardinals’ deep backstop and came home on a passed ball to tie the game.
Over the next two innings, Soto and Cardinals would see only six batters on five ground outs and Soto’s third strike out.
The Cardinals then came alive in the bottom of the third, and again it was Soto who led the charge. His second double of the game would score a run to give Orosi the lead, 2-1. The hit would also spark a 3-run rally for the Cards.
Orosi would get their largest lead of the game when junior Valentine Quevedo hit a sac-
fly to right field, scored Orosi’s third run of the inning and giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Laton would get back on the board in the bottom of the fifth. This
time it was the Mustangs who took advantage of Orosi’s deep backstop when Laton’s Adrian Leon came home on a Cardinals’ passed ball.
Soto provided damage
control, however, adding two more strikeouts to help the Cardinals escape the inning with a two-run lead.
Not wanting the game to get out of hand, Coach Gonzalez gathered his team in front of the home dug out.
“It’s a 4-2 game right now,” Gonzalez said sternly to his team. “Let’s wake up and get
some hits!”
The team responded with
hits, putting two runners on base in the bottom of the inning. However, both runners were left stranded after a
questionable call by the umpires when a ball bounced off a Cardinals’ batter’s shoulder and dribbled just fair and barely up the third base line. The ball was ruled fair by the home plate umpire, leaving the
confused Orosi batter tagged out at home plate for the final out of the inning.
But the game ended with another solid two innings by Soto. He saw three batters in the sixth inning, getting a caught line drive, a strikeout and a ground out. Soto then closed out the game in the seventh inning by again seeing
only three batters. This time two grounders and a fly out would seal the deal for the Cardinals.
“We’re improving little by little,” said Gonzalez. “We played a good game today. I don’t think we had any errors.”
Monday’s game against Laton was a makeup game of a game that was originally scheduled at the beginning of the season but needed to be rescheduled due to rain. The win gave the Cardinals a 4-4 record in the ESL.
On Tuesday, Orosi traveled to Laton to wrap up their inter-league series. Their next game will be an away game at Farmersville tomorrow. They will then host Summit Charter Collegiate Academy on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m., the first of a three- game home standing to close out the season.
Their final two regular season games of the season will be home games on May 4 against top-ranked McFarland, followed by their league finale on May 8 when they host Kings Christian. Both those games start at 4 p.m.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Lady Emps
Continued from Page B1
Dinuba High’s boys track team looks to make another title run behind yet another outstanding hurdler in Daniel Martinez, above. Martinez is currently the No. 7 ranked hurdler in the 300 meter event. He has finished at or near the top of most competitions in the event this year. In addition, Martinez is also one of the best long jumpers in the Valley, recently finishing sixth amongst larger schools at the Sanger Metric Classic.
Matchups
“Soto pitched well. He played a good game. He’s got a ton of energy.”
— RJ Gonzalez
OHS Baseball Coach
team as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and then staved off a late Exeter rally to win the critical league game 5-3.
Dinuba High junior Kirsten Martinez pitched a perfect game into the fourth inning and junior teammate Alexa Garcia provided the early offensive firepower by crushing a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning.
“She got every inch of it,” said Dinuba High softball coach Bryan Patterson.
A bunt in the fourth inning broke up Martinez’s perfect game and Exeter went on to score their first run in the fifth inning, making it a one-run game.
The Lady Emps responded, however, in the bottom of the same inning, putting runners on base and then taking advantage of a Carlee Newlin popup that was dropped by Exeter’s first baseman. The error scored
two runs for Dinuba, giving them a 4-1 lead. A double by Martinez then knocked Newlin home to give the Lady Emps an added insurance run. The Lady Emps nearly added another insurance run on what would have been Garcia’s second homer of the game, but Exeter’s Katelyn Kirman made a great play in left field, leaping and reaching over the outfield fence to rob the homerun. The Lady Monarchs then got their offense going in the sixth inning, quickly loading the bases before Exeter’s Kate Coulter connected, sending one up the middle to
score their second run of the game.
Exeter appeared to be on a rally and gaining momentum. But that momentum shifted on a short fly ball towards the first base line in outfield when Dinuba senior Bailee Garza made a critical sliding catch to
help end the inning.
In the seventh inning, errors would cost the Lady Emperors an additional run, and Exeter threatened most of the inning. But Dinuba managed to hold on, leaving three runners stranded on base for the Lady Monarchs.
“Exeter is a good team,” said Patterson. “They’ve got some good players. We kind of made a few physical and mental errors towards the end. We need to clean those up.”
Dinuba is currently the No. 2 ranked team in the Central Section’s Division III. They are also ranked No. 13 in the entire Central Section, ahead of Selma (No. 14), Exeter (No. 16) and Kingsburg (No. 17).
The Lady Emps will travel to Central Valley Christian today and then host Kingsburg, who reportedly lost to Selma, next Tuesday.
Thursday, April 26
Dinuba Varsity Softball at Central Valley Christian at 4 p.m. Dinuba Boys Golf at Exeter for Central Sequoia League Mini Tournament at River Island Golf
Course at 2 p.m.
Friday, April 27
Dinuba JV and Varsity Baseball at Kingsburg at 4 & 7 p.m.
Dinuba Track and Field hosts Dinuba Invitational at 2 p.m.
Dinuba Boys Tennis at Central Sequoia League Championships at Immanuel Sports Plex at 9 a.m.
Orosi JV and Varsity Baseball at Farmersville at 4 p.m.
Orosi JV and Varsity Softball at Farmersville at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, May 1
Dinuba JV and Varsity Baseball at Immanuel at 4 & 7 p.m.
Dinuba JV and Varsity Softball vs Kingsburg at 4 & 6 p.m.
Dinuba Boys Golf at Central Sequoia League Finals at Immanuel at Ridge Creek Golf Course at noon.
Orosi JV and Varsity Baseball vs Summit Charter Collegiate Academy at 4:15 p.m.
Wednesday, May 2
Dinuba Track and Field at Central Sequoia League Championships at Central Valley Christian at 4 p.m.
Dinuba Swimming at Central Sequoia League Championships at Exeter at 12 p.m.