Page 9 - Dinuba Sentinel 5-10-18 E-edition

Sports
- Bryan Patterson, Dinuba High Softball Coach
“I think everything got triggered in that Kingsburg game. I think once they won that game, I think it just gave the girls the confidence they had early in the season.”
B1
Thursday, May 10, 2018
High School Softball
The Dinuba Sentinel
Lady Emps take upper hand in league title race
Tomorrow’s regular season nale at Exeter will be for CSL Championship
“I think everything got triggered in that Kingsburg game,” said Dinuba High softball coach Bryan Patterson. “I think once they won that game, I think it just gave the girls the confidence they had early in the season.”
What it triggered was an offensive performance to be remembered. Over the next two games, versus Selma and Immanuel, the Lady Emps outscored their opponents 27-3, while racking up
eight homeruns.
And the offense couldn’t
have come at a better time. Dinuba went into Friday night’s matchup one game behind Selma in the title race. It had been over two years since the Lady Emps had last beaten the Lady Bears, so a win at Selma would go a long way for Dinuba in their quest for a league title.
Not wasting time, Dinuba opened the game by belting homer after homer to take
an early 5-0 lead after just the first inning. The Lady Emps never looked back, and kept swinging away as five different Lady Emps had homeruns in the game.
Dinuba High’s Kaily Manning had a two-run homer against Selma, while teammates Alexa
See Lady Emps, Page B2
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
There’s a time to rise for all championship teams, and the judging by the Lady Emps recent performances, this may be the time for Dinuba High School softball.
The team is currently on a five-game winning streak, a streak that most notably includes an 8-2 thumping over long-time league
leader Selma that put Dinuba in
a tie for first place in the Central Sequoia League.
The Lady Emps then followed that performance with a 19-1 manhandling over visiting Immanuel on Tuesday to stay in prime position for what could be Dinuba High School’s first league title in softball since 2010.
But the upswing for the Lady
Emps may have started last
Tuesday when the team was
pushed to the limit at home against Kingsburg. Dinuba found themselves down 4-3, going into the final inning and pushed the game into extra innings by scoring the needed run in the seventh.
Six innings later, the Lady Emps found themselves in the same predicament, down a run with the game on the line. Dinuba scored two runs in the 13th inning for a walk-off 6-5 win.
Emperor boys win fourth consecutive league title
Dinuba competes in Valley Championships, looking to repeat as Central Section’s Division II Champs
Track & Field
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Dinuba High School junior Alexa Garcia, center, is congratulated at home plate after hitting a two-run homer in the fourth inning of the Lady Emperors’ 19-1 victory over visiting Immanuel on Tuesday.
Senior Carlee Newlin, right, and Garcia both nearly hit for the cycle in the game. Each player went 4-for-4 at the plate with a single, two doubles and a homerun. Newlin hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning. Senior Faith Kodur, left, went 3-for-4 at the plate and had a single and two doubles.
By Rick Curiel
who led the way for the Emperors, coming away with three first-place finishes in track events and also a third place finish in the long jump competition.
Martinez outdid himself in the hurdles event, of which he is one of the highest ranked in the entire Valley, breaking through in the 110-meter competition by putting up his best time yet, 14.85 seconds, for first place.
He also placed first in the 300-meter hurdles event with a time of 39.37 seconds and in the 200-meters race with a time of 22.94 seconds. Martinez took third place in the long jump competition with a jump of 20’11.5”.
Dinuba High junior Danny Araujo also scored
big for the Emperors, taking two second place finishes on the track in individual competition and also helping the team’s 4x400 relay team finish in second place at the league championships.
Araujo took second place in the 400-meters race by running the event in 53. 89 seconds, a season record for him. He also finished second in the 1600-meters event with a time of 4:38.59 and was the second leg of 4x400 relay team that also took second. The other runners were Nathaniel Medina, Leo Jimenez and Diego Estrada.
Jimenez also took second place in the 800-meters race with a time of 2:03.70 and Dinuba’s Jaime Cueva finished in third place in the 1600-meters event with a time of 4:39.76.
And once again, the Emperors’ long distance runners showed that Dinuba’s track team is not a one-event team. Their strongest performance came in the 3200-meter race, where Dinuba represented the top four finishes in the event.
Dinuba High junior Jonathan Padilla was the top finisher in the event, finishing with a time of 9:57.11. Cueva finished in second place with a time of 10:00.65, a personal record for him. And seniors Oscar Perez and Andres Martinez rounded out the third and fourth spot, Perez finishing in 10:04.40 and Martinez in 10:25.48, a personal record time for Martinez.
See Track, Page B2
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
For the fourth year in a row, the Dinuba High School boy’s track team is the Central League Champions after running away with the title last Wednesday at the league championships, held at Central Valley Christian.
The Emperors dominated league play meets all season and did likewise last Wednesday, compiling a total of 172 team points for an overwhelming first place finish. Second place went to Exeter with a total of 103.5 points and Kingsburg came in third place with 88.5 points.
Again it was Dinuba High senior Daniel Martinez
High School Baseball
season push for
title falls short
Regular season wraps up at Exeter tomorrow
Dinuba’s late
See Cardinals, Page B6
Sentinel staff report
Though perhaps their best season in the last four years, the Dinuba High School baseball team came up just short of earning their first league title since 2012.
With an 8-1 victory at home against Exeter on Tuesday, the Emperors’ baseball team went to 8-6 in league play, putting them in fourth place in
the Central Sequoia League prior to their regular season finale at Exeter tomorrow night.
Up until the middle of April, Dinuba was in the mix for a title run, but two consecutive losses, one a 5-4 heartbreaker to Selma in extra innings back on April 20 and the other a 17-11 rollercoaster game against Kingsburg, set the Emperors just a little too far back.
Dinuba managed to gather themselves after the two losses, scoring a 6-1 redemption victory against Kingsburg on April 27 and then taking care of business on May 1 with a 5-2 win over Immanuel.
Tomorrow the Emperors will travel to Exeter for the final game in league play. As it stands now, the best Dinuba can finish is tied for second place in the CSL. For that to happen, the Emperors would need to win against Exeter, Selma would need to beat Kingsburg tomorrow and Central Valley Christian would need to upset Immanuel.
Otherwise, Dinuba would be looking at a third or fourth place finish.
Playoffs for the Central Section’s Division III begin on Wednesday, with seeding available early next week. As of Tuesday, Dinuba was the No. 7 ranked team in the Division III. Immanuel and Selma are ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the division, respectively.
Central Sequoia League’s current standings
Team League Overall
Selma 9-4 16-9 Immanuel 9-5 19-9 Kingsburg 8-5 12-13-2 Dinuba 8-6 17-10 Exeter 7-7 18-10 CVC 0-14 3-23
Orosi High sophomore Justin Marroquin pitched two consecutive one-hitters in recent games, an 11-0 victory over Laton on April 24 and then a 4-1 win over Summit Charter Collegiate Academy on May 1.
Cardinals nish season strong
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Playoffs begin May 15
“We just need to keep rising, rising to the occasion... We’re clicking at the right time.”
— Bryan Patterson DHS Softball Coach
Sentinel staff report
After a rough start to the 2018 season, the Orosi High School Cardinals’ baseball team once again came on strong towards the end of league play. They went 5-1 over the last two weeks in April to be a contender in the East Sierra League.
The Cardinals only two losses since April 13 were to the league’s top two teams, Orange Cove and McFarland.
Orosi finished their regular season on Tuesday with a 10-0 victory over Kings Christian to go to 8-5 on the season in league play. That put them in a tie for third place in the ESL.
The Cardinals will now wait for
seeding in the Central Section’s Division VI playoffs. As of Tuesday, Orosi was the No. 14 ranked team in Div. VI.
Last year the Cardinals finished with a 7-7 league record, after winning their final five games of the regular season. They then lost in the first round of the playoffs to Fresno Christian.