Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/28426
Weekend Free Baseball Clinic Sunday 1 p.m. at Red Bluff High School more information at www.redbluffbaseball.com SAT—Track — Red Bluff at Hornet Invitational SAT—NCAA— Men’s Final Four, 3 p.m., CBS SAT — MLB— Giants at Dodgers, 1 p.m., FOX SUN —NASCAR—Goody’s Fast Relief 500, 9:30 a.m., FOX Sports 1B Softball surging Final Four: BUTLER (27-9) vs. VCU (28-11) Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff’s Haley Harris rips a 2-RBI single down the line in the third inning, Friday. SOFTBALL Lassen 0 Red Bluff 10 By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor Losing a game might have been the best thing that could have hap- pened to this group of Lady Spar- tans. Red Bluff continued its almost flawless play since dropping a game early in the week to Pleas- ant Valley, by blasting Lassen 10- 0 in a mercy rule shortened five innings, Friday. Megan McColpin allowed just a pair of hits and struck out five batters and the Spartans’ offense provided plenty of firepower. “(The Pleasant Valley game) left a very sour taste in their mouths and they’ve kind of had a chip on their shoulder since then,” Red Bluff coach J Howell said. It showed as the Spartans wast- ed no time scoring as 1-2 hitters Haley Harris and McColpin both “(The Pleasant Valley game) left a very sour taste in their mouths and they’ve kind of had a chip on their shoulder since then,” Lady Spartans coach J Howell came around to score in the first inning. Red Bluff tacked on two more in the second inning as Danisha Slay and Brooke Clatty both crossed the plate for a 4-0 lead. In the third inning the Lady Spartans put up another crooked number. Bryce Etzler reached on an error followed by back-to-back walks to Slay and Clatty to load the bases. Harris drove in two of the runs with a single down the right field line and then McColpin drove in two more with a deep double. “Right now, I just really want to win and we’re all fired up,” McColpin said. Red Bluff sealed the game in the fifth inning. Again Clatty drew a walk. Katie Hall got on base by a Lassen error and Harris delivered a double to drive home Clatty. Emily McEnaney drew a walk to load the bases and Brittney Fletcher drew one as well to force home the 10th run. Red Bluff improved to 9-2 with the win and 3-0 in league play. They continue a homestand this week when they host Paradise on Tuesday and Las Plumas on Wednesday. Asked what his team has done right in a pair of league wins over Shasta and Lassen since the Pleas- ant Valley loss, Howell answered quickly and to the point. “Everything.” Baseball takes down Lassen ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR BUTLER No. 8 Butler beat No. 9 Old Dominion 60-58; No. 1 Pitts- burgh 71-70; No. 4 Wisconsin 61-54; No. 2 Florida 74-71, OT. STAR It’s a very close call between Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack as to who is most important, but Howard gets it in a photo finish. The 6-foot-8 senior forward averaged 16.7 points and 7.7 rebounds this season, shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from 3-point range. He got the Bulldogs’ run to a second Final Four started with a tip-in at the buzzer to beat Old Dominion. He made the winning free throw with less than a second to play in the victory over Pittsburgh, and he had 20 points and 16 rebounds in the win over Wisconsin. COACH Brad Stevens is a Final Four veteran at the age of 34. He has taken the Bulldogs to consecutive Final Four appear- ances and what might be the biggest surprise is that he was around to do it. Many thought he would leave Butler for the riches of one of the power conferences after last season’s run, but he and his calm demeanor are back. He is already nine wins ahead of the previous record for best four-year start by a coach with a 116-24 mark. KEY POINT The Bulldogs don’t just have experience — they have Final Four experience. Four key players are back from the team that lost to Duke in last year’s national championship game. Three of their four wins have been by three points or less, and they went overtime to beat Florida in the regional final. Despite not having a lot of size, Butler stays even on the boards, and the Bulldogs are coming in on a 13-game winning streak. ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR VCU No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth beat No. 11 Southern California 59-46; No. 6 Georgetown 74-56; No. 3 Purdue 94-76; No. 10 Florida State 72-71, OT; No. 1 Kansas 71-61. STAR Joey Rodriguez is a true college point guard, and his numbers in the NCAA tournament bear that out. The 5-foot- 10 Rodriguez is averaging 10.1 points in the tournament, but his impressive numbers are 38 assists and 10 turnovers in that span. In the Rams’ win over Purdue, he had 12 points, 11 assists and no turnovers. He is comfortable directing the offense in the halfcourt, but he also does a good job of get- ting the ball to the right man on the break. COACH Shaka Smart burst onto the national scene with the Rams’ Final Four run. In his second season as a head coach, the 33- year-old Smart already has become a candidate for every Division I opening, and his season isn’t even over yet. He has solid credentials as an assistant having worked under Billy Donovan at Florida and Oliver Purnell at Clemson. He won 27 games in his first season, and the Rams won the CBI. KEY POINT The Rams came into the tournament with a chip on their shoulder after so many said they didn’t deserve to be in the field, even one expanded by three teams. VCU has already won five games, something that would get a team to the title game in past years. What’s been most impressive is that only one win has been by less than 10 points, and that was an overtime win over Florida State. THE SKINNY Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff’s Storm Lewis tags out Lassen’s Steven White at home plate in the first inning. BASEBALL Lassen 1 4 2 Red Bluff 3 8 3 By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor The Spartans made the clutch plays when they had to, Storm Lewis pitched seven strong innings and Joel Duggins deliv- ered a crucial bases loaded RBI single as Red Bluff beat Lassen 3-1, Friday night. A single and error put the Spartans into trouble in the early going, but a strong defensive play made up for it. With two runners already on in the first inning and just one out a Lewis pitch bounced away from catcher Austin Brownfield. Lassen’s Steven White raced home from third base, but Lewis beat him there, taking Brown- field’s throw, blocking the plate and applying the tag. While Richard Murphy deliv- ered a Lassen run with the next at bat — a big inning had been prevented. The Spartans had no trouble getting base runners, but could- n’t push a run across the plate to tie the game until the third. Mitch Robison led off the inning with a single followed by Jordan Fox beating out a bunt for his second hit of the game. Robison advanced to third on a Gerald Baker fly to right field and then came home on a Modesto Ramirez RBI single. Baker, who was hit on the leg in the first inning, would eventu- ally leave the game. His replacement came up huge. In the fourth inning Robby Lasby got a rally started with a single. Tyler Reed then reached on a Lassen error. With two down, another Grizzlies error allowed Fox to reach and load the bases. With Baker’s third spot in the order due up — Duggins entered the game and broke the tie with an RBI single. It was all Lewis would need. At the time the Spartans pitcher was in the middle of a stretch of setting down 12 Lassen batters in a row. Lewis didn’t allow a hit after the second inning. Red Bluff tacked on an insur- ance run in the sixth inning after Reed led off with a double. Taylor Figgs laid down a sac- rifice bunt, but the Lassen defense tried to get Reed out at third and couldn’t — allowing Spartan runners on the corners. Two batters later Fox laid down a perfect suicide squeeze and Reed crossed the plate for the third run. The Spartans improved to 11- 2 on the season with the win and 3-1 in league play. They head to Paradise on Tuesday. Butler has been here before. VCU has done something no team has ever done before, going from the First Four to the Final Four. Both are carrying the banner for mid-major schools, and one will get to play for the national champi- onship. Butler doesn’t mind an up-tempo game; that’s exact- ly what the Rams want, using their ‘‘Wreaking Havoc’’ style to force turnovers and create opportunities in the open court. THE PICK No matter who wins this game provides a great story. The team that has won so many close ones this tournament does it again — Butler 74, VCU 67. Weekend April 2-3, 2011 Final Four at a glance HOUSTON (AP) — A look at Saturday’s games at the KENTUCKY(29-8) vs. CONNECTICUT (30-9) ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR KENTUCKY No. 4 Kentucky beat No. 13 Princeton 59-57; No. 5 West Virginia 71-63; No. 1 Ohio State 62-60; No. 2 North Caroli- na 76-69. See FOUR, page 2B