Page 9 - Sanger Herald 5-3-18 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
One inning makes the difference in series
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Jaime Pacheco dished a shot of water from a communal gallon jug to each of the starters as they were introduced to the crowd prior to the April 27 game.
“It’s a mental boost,” said outfielder Anthony Schwamb, grinning.
Whatever helps. Such routines are common amongst athletes. A little edge, even if it’s just perceived, can make a difference. Because in sport, often the line between winning and losing is extremely narrow.
And that was the case that night at Sanger High. The Apaches faced Madera South, a team they had beaten the two previous meetings, one 6-1 thumping earlier that week, April 24, and the other a 5-4 victory March 23.
The Stallions wanted
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Justin Boissonneault scores the first run for the Apaches against Madera South.
looked promising, with junior Jake Harrell and senior Zack Jaurique getting singles and junior Darrin Herring walking to first. But no score. Pitcher Alec Flores, a junior, then struck out a batter in the second and subsequently dispatched the Stallions for no score.
But the third inning proved a different story. The Stallions rose to the occasion while the Apaches stumbled, allowing six runs. And that one inning cost Sanger the game. It was just like what happened just minutes later in the girls’ game against arch rival Madera in the adjoining field that same night in the ninth.
Final score was 7-4 Stallions.
That’s baseball.
In the girls’ case, the Coyotes scored eight runs in the top of the ninth in what had been a hotly contested 5-5 game in extra
innings. Then Vanessa Hernandez, who’s heading to Fresno State to play for the Bulldogs, got that look and unleashed a grand slam, limiting the damage and the effect the loss would have on the team during senior night festivities later that evening. Final score in the girls’ game was 13-9.
The boys took the same position. Pitching duties went to junior Steven Martinez, who had finally ended the Stallions’ damage in the third, tagging Madera South senior Ramon Uribe out on third base. Martinez proved to be the tourniquet the Apaches needed to staunch the bleeding. He shut down the Stallions’ offense, giving his Apaches a shot at a comeback.
“I knew no more could be allowed,” he said, referring to runs. “And no more damage.”
Martinez said he made
See Baseball, Page 2B
payback, as they made clear in the first inning. Caleb Bertoncini, a Madera South senior, scored the
first run of the game. It was enough that after the third out, ushering in the bottom of the first, one of
the incoming outfield said, “They scored one, let’s score two.”
The rest of the inning
Apaches trounce Edison Tigers
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Tyra Holly stood at home plate, bat in her hands, poised to hit at least a single and join her Edison teammate already on base.
Emily Fortaney pitched for Sanger. It was the top of the second inning, and the Apaches had just come off a busy bottom of the first where Ashley Mata stole second in a cloud of dust before following fellow senior Vanessa Hernandez to cross home plate. And Fortaney had retired each Tiger who stepped to the plate in the top of the first, one by strikeout.
Sanger led 2-0 with a home field advantage April 24, and the Tigers wanted a little payback. The two teams at the time sat even in the standings with County Metro Athletic Conference, or league, records of 3-1. These Tigers were no pushovers, sporting a nearly identical overall record as the Apaches.
Holly hit a line drive and took off running.
By Rob Krider
Sanger Herald correspondent
I drive for Double Nickel Nine Motorsports out of Del Ray.
We like to consider ourselves the most successful racing team out of Del Rey. We also like to say we are “the locally world-famous racing team from Del Rey.” None of this may be true, but we like to work on race cars, win races and just have a good time.
Our little racing team from the Valley has won two consecutive National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Honda Challenge Western States Championships in 2016 and 2017. See, I told you we were locally world
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Vanessa Hernandez tries to get the out against Edison during a game April 24 in Sanger. The Apaches won, 8-1.
memory, an ability to reproduce movement without conscious thought and instilled through frequent repetition.
“It’s the adrenaline,” Leon said, after listening to how others described the play.
Perhaps. But these softball Apaches continued to perform such feats throughout the game.
For instance, at the top of the fifth inning, Tiger catcher Kristin Arias drilled the ball straight into center field in what appeared could have been a possible double. But Hernandez at shortstop, showing chops that got her recruited by Fresno State, leaped up and caught the ball, which appeared to be sailing about 5 feet above her head.
Stephanie Herring, who was playing catcher at the time, said it didn’t look as if Hernandez leaped that far off the ground but that she somehow extended her entire body to get her glove just high enough for the catch.
From the perspective behind the fence by first base, it looked as if Hernandez got about 4
But senior Vanessa Leon, playing first base, plucked the ball from its speeding trajectory, spun around and somehow dashed the five
or so steps back to first and tagged out Tiger catcher Mackenzie Soper, who had left the safety of the base and was trying vainly to return.
“It was like going into my glove like that,” Leon said after the game, explaining how the scenario unfolded. “I was going, ‘I got it. I got it.’IknewIhadit.Iwas close to the base.”
Her perception and how it looked to the spectators differed. Leon’s athleticism in the moment proved to be one of the game’s highlights — but hardly the only one offered up by this
Apache team that warm evening. Leon said she thought she was right at the base, somehow forgetting she had to back up some distance to get Soper out.
See Softball, Page 2B Del Rey's Double Nickle Nine gears up for the summer racing season
Double play.
The staff at Olson Auto Body in Sanger puts the final coats on DNN Motorsports newest Acura Integra for 2018.
Experts call that muscle
famous.
We have had great
success driving our 1993 Acura Integras and beating other Honda Challenge teams from all across the country. We have two cars on our team, one driven by myself, the No. 38 car,
and the other driven by my team partner, Keith Kramer, in the No. 33 car.
The No. 33 car has seen a lot of on track action and has a few damaged body panels to prove it. The car has earned track records and won races.
Holly Olson photo
But we decided the chassis needs to be updated as some of the rear welds are cracking. It’s time for that car to become a back- up car and for the team to build a fresh new car for 2018.
We have big plans for 2018. We want to defend our championship title by qualifying for the 2018 NASA National Championships to be held at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas in September. And of course, we want to win that race.
But winning races takes an entire team, or community, in order for that to happen. That is why our team is very fortunate as we have local partners that keep our race cars
out in front. Namely Olson Auto Body, Sanger Tire, J&B Farms, Economy Stock Feed, “Cadet Blues” the novel and Tactical Ops Brewing in Fresno.
Randy Olson, who owns Olson Auto Body, is a veteran race driver himself and is happy to support Team Double Nickel Nine Motorsports.
“I know how tough it is to keep a racing team running,” Randy said. “My shop makes the cars straight and the paint nice after Keith and Rob get aggressive on the race track.”
We are very lucky to have Randy’s support and much needed body work skills because anyone who has been on a track
knows, rubbin’ is racin’ and sometimes things get bent. We have been running 1990-93 model Acura Integras for 10 years now. Our first racing win was in a 1991 Acura Integra in an event called the 24 Hours of LeMons at Altamont Speedway in 2008. The cars could only be worth $500 and had to last an entire
endurance race. Somehow our junker
Integra held together togiveusthewinanda decade later we are still running this platform and learning to improve on it each year. We are taking that decade’s worth of knowledge and building what we believe will be the
See Racing, Page 2B