Page 9 - Dinuba Sentinel 4-26-18 E-edition

Sports
“We’re improving little by little... We played a good game today. I don’t think we had any errors.”
- RJ Gonzalez, Orosi High Baseball Coach
The Dinuba Sentinel
B1
Dinuba in the
hunt for CSL
championship
Race for league title is tight, four teams competing this week for advantage
early to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
The Emperors then tied the game in the third inning, but only held on to the lead briefly as Selma responded with two runs in the bottom of the same inning. Dinuba managed to rally, bringing in one run in the fourth inning and then extending the game into extra innings by scoring in the seventh inning.
However, it was the Bears who capitalized in the bottom of the eighth, walking off with a 5-4 victory.
The next three games will be critical for the Emperors in their quest for a league title. Tomorrow they will wrap up their series with the Vikings when they travel to Kingsburg. They begin their two-game series with Immanuel on Tuesday with an away game, finishing at home on Friday.
They will then close out the regular with a two-game series against Exeter. Tuesday’s game against Kingsburg was played after publication. Look for
results in next week’s Sentinel.
Thursday, April 26, 2018 High School Baseball
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
It’s anyone’s game in the Central Section’s Central Sequoia League when it comes to baseball this year. Before Tuesday’s pivotal matchups, Selma and Immanuel were tied for first place in the standings, both with a league record of 6-3. Sitting right behind them were Dinuba and Kingsburg, both at 5-4 in league.
This made Tuesday’s CSL matchups all the more important, with Selma traveling to take on Immanuel in the first of a two-game series, while Dinuba began their series with Kingsburg at home. At stake is the slightest advantage in a tight race for the top of the league standings and a hope for a league championship.
Last week the Emperors wrapped up their series with Selma by splitting the series 1-1. Dinuba took the first game at home by coming away with a 2-0 shutout. The Bears, however, exacted their revenge in Selma by jumping out
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Orosi High School senior Kevin Soto pitched seven innings in a 4-2 win over Laton, allowing one earned run and going 3-for-3 at the plate, with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Earlier this month Soto also homered at home, sending a ball into the pile of dirt where the old stadium berm once stood.
Lady Emps hold on
against Exeter, improve
to 3-2 in league
Victory puts Dinuba in third place in tough Central Sequoia League
Coincidentally, both teams’ losses were to Selma and Kingsburg, who prior to Tuesday night’s league matchups were sitting tied for first place at 4-0.
With Kingsburg and Selma going head-to-head on Tuesday, a victory for Dinuba or Exeter would give the winning team a distinct advantage in the race for a championship in one of the Valley’s toughest leagues.
Advantage Dinuba.
Tuesday night Dinuba was the better
See Lady Emps, Page B6
Cardinals rally past Laton, climb league standings
Orosi travels to Farmersville tomorrow and will close out regular season with a three-game homestand beginning next week.
easy, Orosi took care of business by rallying from behind to walk away with a 4-2 victory.
It took a solid performance by one of only two seniors on the young team, Kevin Soto.
The Orosi High senior led his team to victory on both the mound and at the plate. Soto pitched all seven innings, allowing only one earned run while collecting six strikeouts. His performance at the plate was perhaps even more impressive as he went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.
“Soto pitched well,” said Orosi High School baseball coach RJ Gonzalez. “He played a good game. He’s got a ton of energy.”
But the Mustangs struck first as they came out swinging in the first inning, getting four consecutive hits to open up
See Cardinals, Page B6
By Rick Curiel
The East Sierra League is a top-heavy league when you look at the baseball standings. The league features two undefeated teams, McFarland (5-0) and Orange Cove (7-0). After them is a pack of teams shooting for third place, or the smallest chance of spoiling the party for the league’s top two.
In the middle of that pack is the Orosi Cardinals’ baseball team. They entered Monday’s home game against Laton with a 3-4 league record, sitting in fourth place. A run for the Cardinals would need to start this week for them to have a chance at either of the aforementioned prizes.
Monday afternoon’s matchup with the Mustangs represented the Cardinals’ best chance at getting a run going, as Laton entered the game with a 2-11 overall record and near the bottom of the league standings. Though it didn’t come
Track & Field
Dinuba gears up for CSL championships, hosts Dinuba Invitational tomorrow.
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
If you were to look at the overall records, one could argue that Dinuba and Exeter are the two best softball teams in the Central Sequoia League. Prior to Tuesday night’s matchup, Dinuba’s overall record was 15-5 while Exeter came into the game with a 20-3 record.
The Lady Emperors and the Lady Monarchs entered the game with identical league records, both 2-2.
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Emperors set to make another title run
Dinuba High junior Danny Araujo is one of several strong long- distance runners on the Emperors’ track and field team. Here he runs the 4x800 relay at a league meet held last week in Dinuba.
At Friday’s meet three Emperor runners
See Track, Page B6
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
The Dinuba High School boys track and field team looks to be running towards another Central Sequoia League title, after a solid season in which the team has collected five meet victories, all while continuing to get better in multiple events.
Traditionally, the Emperors have excelled in the hurdles event, having sent three consecutive runners to Masters and State finals. This year looks to be a continuation of that tradition as senior Daniel Martinez looks to be next in a long line of great Dinuba hurdlers.
Martinez has dominated the league in the 110-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles as well as the long jump event. But even at larger competitions that feature athletes from much larger schools, he has risen to the occasion and has ran with the best of them.
Last Friday was no exception, as
By Rick Curiel
Martinez and the rest of the Emperors’ track team traveled to Sanger to compete in the Sanger Metric Classic, a meet that featured 26 of the top track and field teams from throughout the Valley, including many from Division I schools.
Once again Martinez showed why Dinuba has a long-standing place in the hurdles events, taking first place in the 300-meter hurdles event, edging Clovis High rival Jake Woods by just over three- tenths of a second with a time of 38.66.
He also ran a personal record time in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in third place with a time of 14.97 seconds. And in the long jump competition, Martinez finished in sixth place with a jump of 21’02.5.”
But if the Emperors’ track and field team were to win another league title, or even Division title, it won’t be Martinez alone who gets the job done. The team also has some of the strongest long-distance runners in the league.
finished in the top three in the 3200 meters race. Dinuba High junior Jonathan Padilla finished the event in fourth place with a time of 9:45.52, while seniors Oscar Perez and Jaime Cueva finished just behind him in seventh and ninth place, respectively.
Perez finished the race with a time of 9:58.11 and Cueva finished with a time of 10:04.53. All three times were personal records for the three runners.
Padilla also set a personal record in the 1600 meters race where he finished the event in 13th place with a time of 4:36.01. Junior teammate Danny Araujo also finished the event in the top 20, placing 18th with a time of 4:40.85.
Araujo also set a season record in the 800 meters race, finishing the event in 14th place with a time of 2:02.38. Dinuba senior Leo Jimenez finished just behind him with a time of 2:03.22, a personal record for him and good enough for 16th place.
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com