Page 9 - Dinuba Sentinel 5-31-18 E-edition

Sports
“I think it all started my sophomore year. We lost Valley and I had this chip on my shoulder. I never wanted to feel that way ever again”
- Daniel Martinez, Dinuba High Track Star
The Dinuba Sentinel
B1
Thursday, May 31, 2018
High School Softball
Late rally spoils Lady Emps Valley parade
Selma scores eight unanswered late to steal Division III title from No. 1 seeded Dinuba
down 2-0 after Selma’s Clarrissa Moreno hit a first-pitch to deep right- centerfield to drive in two runs.
For Dinuba it only took three at-bats to get back into the game. After junior Kayla Villarreal got on base on a walk, teammate Alexa Garcia, batting third, also took advantage of a first pitch. Garcia, however, sent hers sailing deep into left field and over the outfield fence to tie the game at two runs apiece.
What ensued was what you might have expected in a Valley championship game, two heavy weights going at it.
Selma responded in the second inning by putting up another two runs, again taking advantage of Dinuba’s imperfect defense to put runners on. A ball driven off the fence in left-center field by Lady Bears’ Aly Cerda helped give the Bears a 4-2 lead.
Before going to bat in the bottom of the second inning, two words resounded in the Lady Emperors’ dugout, “Keep fighting!”
And fight they did, Dinuba responded with four runs.
See Lady Emps, Page B8
Dinuba High School junior Alexa Garcia rounds the bases after hitting a two-run homer in the second inning of Saturday’s Division III title game against Selma. Her homerun tied the game at 2-2 and was part of and explosive first two innings that resulted in ten runs between both teams. Garcia was named the CIF MVP for the Lady Emps.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
It’s been a long season.
For the Dinuba High School softball team, their 2018 season came to an end on Saturday when they suffered a late 8-run rally to lose the Division III championship game to Selma, 12-6. For Selma, it was the Bears’ second straight Valley title. They won the Division IV championship last year.
“This just wasn’t our day today,” said Dinuba High School softball coach Bryan Patterson after the loss.
This was the rubber match. And it was certainly the two best teams in the division going toe-to-toe. But in this heavy-weight match, the fight was won in the final two rounds.
Selma came out of the gate aggressive at the plate, and capitalized off a few errors by Dinuba in the first inning. The Lady Emperors dropped two routine popups in the first three at-bats by Selma, missing out on a huge opportunity to go three-and-out in the first.
Instead, Dinuba found themselves
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Track & Field
Hard work pays o for Martinez, races for school history, again
Following a long line of great Emperor hurdlers, the Dinuba senior looks to become the best at this weekend’s State track and eld event.
that means putting in more time.
His motivation for his work may have come two years ago. Said Martinez. “I think it all started my sophomore year. We
lost Valley and I had this chip on my shoulder. I never wanted to feel that way ever again.”
He began listening to inspirational speakers and recalled a story of former NBA star Kobe Bryant. As the story went, Bryant was found working out before his opponents, and everyone else, before a big playoff game. After the game, a game his Lakers won, Kobe told one of his opponents, “I knew that I had to work harder
to be better than you.”
“I felt that inside of me,” said Martinez. “I
thought, I really do have to work harder than everybody else.”
That work has paid off for Martinez, as he enters the California Interscholastic Federation’s State Prelims on Friday as the only Emperor to stand a chance at the finals in two events.
He is currently the school record holder in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 38.37 seconds and has a chance to move ahead of school record holder Isaac Leppke this weekend in the 110. Martinez can leapfrog Leppke with a time of 14.3 or better.
His time at Masters was 14.48 seconds, a personal record for Martinez.
“I’m shooting for 14.1 or 14.2” said Martinez. “I think it’s possible.”
And the numbers seem to reflect that. Over the last year Martinez’s numbers have progressively gotten better. His last three races in the 110 have all been personal records, one after the other. And his time this year compared to last year is over a
See Martinez, Page B8
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
On Monday morning, when most people were preparing to enjoy a sunny Memorial Day, Daniel Martinez was embracing the heat on the track of Dinuba High School.
The Emperor senior was the sole person on the track, on the field, in the stadium. Martinez was using the day off to prepare for what is by far the biggest race of his illustrious career at Dinuba High.
He has to. It’s what he’s had to do since joining the Emperors’ track team. Not just work, but work harder.
Martinez is the fourth in line of great Dinuba hurdlers, an event that has led the high school track team to multiple league titles and, just recently, back-to-back Valley titles.
Though blessed to have inherited the legacy of Xavior Jones, Isaac Leppke and Raymond Yan, Martinez has found himself having to work, and work harder.
For a hurdler, Martinez is short by most standards. At just 5’8”, he was often mistaken for a long-distance runner when he would go to meets.
Jones was about 6’3”, Leppke 6’4” and Yan stood at about six feet tall. The shortest Martinez raced against at Masters was 5’11”. “At the beginning, yeah, people thought I was a long distance runner,” said Martinez. “But then when they got to know me, they realized I was a hurdler. And then they were like, ‘Shoot, I’ve got
to race against you?’ So it’s pretty cool.”
But that recognition comes only after countless hours on the
track, working on his craft to be the best he can be, even when
Youth Softball
Tomorrow Dinuba High’s Daniel Martinez looks to become the first Emperor athlete to make it to the State track and field finals.
Lady Dynamite stay undefeated
went to work early, putting up four runs in the first inning while Ortega shut out the Lady Giants in the first two innings.
After Lady Dynamite added another score in the third inning, the Lady Giants started to make it more of a game, as they scored one run in the third inning off a hit by Alexis Diaz.
The Lady Giants defense was then able to turn a double play in the bottom of the inning and get a strike out to end the inning.
But with time running out, the Lady Giants needed to score four runs in the top of the fourth if they wanted any hopes of extending the game. They managed two runs.
With the win the Lady Dynamite improved their record to 7-0 and have all but locked up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming playoffs. They will play again this Thursday before heading into the playoffs.
“Three games to go,” said Sanders.
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
“What Daniel has done in just a year’s time is nothing short of remarkable.”
— Lucas Lichtenwaldt DHS Track Coach
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
According to Lady Dynamite’s head coach Jesse Sanders, the team has much improved since last year when they were the runners-up to the city league champions Running Rebels.
This year the team is currently undefeated after winning one of their closest games this year, a 5-3 victory over the Lady Giants last Thursday.
Prior to Thursday’s game against the Lady Giants, the Lady Dynamites had outscored their opponents 55-6.
They bring back eight starters from last year’s sqaud, including their ace pitcher Bella Ortega. “I worked with her all winter,” said Sanders. “Bella has been throwing hard. I kind of showed her what drills to use and when she came back
in February she was really throwing well.” Against the Lady Giants, the Lady Dynamite
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Lady Dynamite’s Bella Ortega spent last year developing as the starting pitcher for the Lady Dodgers. This year, under a new team name, she has improved to become one of the top pitchers in the city’s Majors softball division.