Page 10 - Reedley Exponent 5-16-19 E-edition

B3 | Thursday, May 16, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Baseball, softball teams bounced early
Colleges
RC men's golf 5th at state tourney Contributed
Four Reedley College sophomores and two fresh- men combined for a fifth place team finish at the Cal- ifornia Community College Athletic Association men's golf tournament on May 13.
The 36-hole tournament was played at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa.
College of the Canyons won its fourth CCCAA state title in the last seven years with a 36-hole total of 734, 18 shots better than second place Santa Bar- bara City College and 37 shots ahead of the Tigers, who fired a 51-over par team score of 771.
Reedley came into the tournament undefeated on the season, facing mostly Northern California com- petition. The Tigers actu- ally finished in a tie for fifth overall, tied with Mt. San Antonio. Folsom Lake College finished three shots ahead of the Tigers in fourth place with a team score of 768. Fresno City College finished eighth.
Tiger freshman Tom O’Rourke (Canberra, AUS) was tied for the overall lead after the first round after firing an even-par 72 but a seven on the eighth hole and a six on the 16th hole raised his second round to- tal to 77. His 36-hole total of 149 was good for a tie for eighth place overall. He missed all-state honors by just one stroke.
Next for Reedley was sophomore Dylan Otto (Kingsburg), who tied for 24th with a 74-80-154. Soph- omore Xavier Coreno (Cen- tral, Fresno) bounced back from a morning round of 80 with an afternoon round of 75 to tie for 26th with a 155. After shooting a 75 in the first round, Morgan Cooper (sophomore, Las Vegas, Nev.) shot a non- scoring 83 in the afternoon to finish in a tie for 36th. Bailey Flickinger (sopho- more, Paso Robles) had a non-scoring 81 in the morn- ing and finished with a 159, good for a tie for 44th.
Beau Willett (freshman from Toukley, Australia) finished in a tie for 46th in the field of 60 golfers with an 80-80-160.
This was the fifth con- secutive trip to the state tournament for head coach Scott Stark’s Tigers, who won the state title in 2016.
See COLLEGES on page B4
Reedley, IHS drop opening round matchups
Staff Report
The season came to unexpected early end for the Reedley and Imman- uel High baseball teams as well as the Pirates' NYL champion softball squad.
In baseball, both the Pirates (17- 9) and Eagles (22-7) were part of the wave of high-seeded teams knocked off in the Central Section Division 3 bracket. Despite a number two overall seed, Central Sequoia League co-champion Immanuel dropped a 3-0 decision at The Yard to No. 15 seed Santa Maria on May 8. But that wasn't the biggest upset of the open- ing round, as top seed CSL co-champ Selma was stunned, 4-0, 16th-seeded Templeton.
That same day, Reedley carried a No. 5 seed into its matchup at RHS diamond against No. 12 Atascadero High. After rallying from an early three-run deficit to tie the score, the Pirates gave up two in the second in- ning and couldn't catch up in a 5-3 loss. The Greyhounds hosted Templeton in a semifinal matchup on May 15.
Seventh-seeded Reedley softball, meanwhile, couldn't overcome a cold day with the bat and dropped a 1-0 decision to unseeded Tulare Union at RHS on May 7. The Pirates (17-11) cap- tured a fourth straight North Yosemite League title this season, but were the top of five NYL teams making a first round exit from the playoffs.
A recap of last week's baseball playoff games:
Atascadero 5, Reedley 3
The visiting Greyhounds scored three runs in the first after the first two hitters were retired by RHS start- er Oscar Lemus. Three singles loaded the bases, and after a walk forced in a run a two-run single to center made it 3-0.
Reedley promptly responded, get- ting hits from Tristen Garza and Rog- er Ortiz plus a catcher's interference
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley High's Tristen Garza (4) sprinted toward third base while teammate Justin Rackley pulled into second base on Roger Ortiz's first-inning single in a Central Section Division 3 first round game against Atascadero on May 8. Garza and Rackley later scored during a three-run inning, but the Pirates dropped a 5-3 decision to the visiting Greyhounds to end their season at 17-9.
Preps
while Justin Rackley batted to load the bases. Will Gagnon drew a bases- loaded walk, Jacob Franco was hit by a pitch and Matthew Vargas delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the score.
Atascadero (11-17) scored twice in the second after again loading the bas- es, but Lemus settled down after that and worked into the seventh inning. But the Greyhounds' Cade Van Allen also regained his form and kept the Pirates scoreless the rest of the way.
Reedley made one last threat, load- ing the bases with two outs before
Atascadero reliever Evyn Lade closed the door by inducing a game- and sea- son-ending flyout to right.
Santa Maria 3, Immanuel 0
At Immanuel Sports Complex, the Saints (12-15) pushed across two runs in the third inning and one more in the fourth of senior ace JT Friesen while the Eagles managed just two hits.
Senior Roman Rosales and junior Matt Tiger had the hits for Immanuel. On the day, Friesen allowed two earned runs while scattering nine hits. He struck out six and walked two. For the season, the senior finished with an 8-3 pitching record and a 1.00 earned run average, completing eight of his
10 starts. He struck out 75 and walked just 20.
Rosales also was outstanding on the mound, going 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA including 94 strikeouts and 30 walks. Eagles pitchers compiled a 1.74 earned run average.
On offense, senior Derek Wood batted a team-best .454 with 44 hits, sharing the team lead with Rosales who hit .431 with five doubles, a team- high nine triples, a home run and team- leading 36 RBI. Justin Paboojian led the Eagles with four home runs.
The Eagles shared the CSL cham-
See PREPS on page B4
Jefferson downs Bucs in eighth-grade finale
Reedley can't rally in 6-3 loss to Madera team
Staff Report
The Reedley Buccaneers came up just short of capturing the Central Val- ley Athletic League overall champion- ship, falling by a 6-3 score to the Jeffer- son Patriots from Madera on May 9 at Reedley High.
The Bucs (9-1) couldn't overcome a four-run third-inning outburst by the vis- itors, who capitalized on a bases-loaded error by executing a squeeze bunt and hitting an RBI single. That wiped out an early 2-0 Bucs lead fueled by an RBI double by Aneas Vargas in the second in-
ning. Reedley opened the scoring with a single run in the first.
Vargas later delivered a run-scoring single in the third to bring Reedley with- in 4-3. But the hosts couldn't push across a run the rest of the way, and the Patri- ots added insurance with two runs in the seventh inning.
Matthew Armendarez picked up the pitching victory for Jefferson, with both teams collecting seven hits on the after- noon.
Vargas had a double and single while Sam Rodriguez collected two hits with a run scored for Reedley.
It still was a successful season for Reedley, made up of eighth-grade play- ers from schools in the Kings Canyon
See BUCCANEERS on page B4
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
The Reedley Buccaneers' Aneas Vargas pulled up into second base after belting an RBI double in the second inning of a 6-3 loss to the Jefferson Patriots on May 9.
Reedley Babe Ruth retires former player's number
Mark Kistler / Photo Contributed
Justin Garza's parents, Joey Garza and Sarah Flores, displayed their son's old Babe Ruth League jersey number during a number retirement cer- emony at Reedley High School on May 11. Garza died at age 23 on March 3 when he was fatally shot in Fresno. He played three years for Reedley High School and one year at Clovis West High School.
Staff Report
Reedley Babe Ruth Baseball retired the num- ber of one
of its for-
mer play-
ers — the
late Justin
Garza —
at a brief
ceremony
during the
league's
season-
opening
activities
on May 11 at Reedley High School.
Garza's number 25 jer- sey, which he wore dur- ing his three years in the league (two with the Giants and one with the White Sox), was retired in his memory. The 23-year died on March 3 when he was fatally shot in Fresno.
At the ceremony, Gar-
za's jersey was displayed in a frame. His number will be retired from being worn by players in the league. Gar- za's mother, Sarah Flores, and father, Joey Garza, par- ticipated in the ceremony.
Garza played youth base- ball in Reedley growing up, first for five years in Little League and then in Babe Ruth Baseball where he was coached by Louie Arias and Todd Lowery. The ceremony was held a day before Gar- za's birthday on May 12.
Justin Garza (no relation to the late former Reedley High football coach) played three years for the Reed- ley High baseball program before playing his senior season at Clovis West High School. He also was a mem- ber of travel ball teams Team Nitro (Fresno), Team Aces (Fresno), Cen-Cal (Fresno) and Team Under Armour (Los Angeles).
Mark Kistler / Photo Contributed
Justin Garza's parents, Sarah Flores and Joey Garza, held a framed photo of their son. Pictured at left is Louie Arias, who was Justin Garza's Babe Ruth coach.
Justin Garza in 2012