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ByStephenHawkins TheAssociatedPress DALLAS Allisha Gray scored 18 points, A'ja Wilson had a double- double and South Carolina is going to its first national championship game after beating Stanford 62-53 Friday night in the women's national semifinals. Wilson had 13 points and 19 re- bounds for the Gamecocks (32-4), who lost in the semifinal of their only other Final Four appearance two years ago. They went ahead to stay with 13 straight points in the third quarter. Stanford (32-6) took a big hit when senior star guard Karlie Sam- uelson sprained her right ankle with about 4 minutes before halftime. after the Cardinal had taken an eight-point lead with a 13-1 run. South Carolina's Dawn Staley, who played for Tara VanDerveer on the U.S. women's team that won the 1996 Olympic gold medal, won as a coach against the Stanford coach for the first time in six tries. Staley also made three consec- utive Final Four appearances as a player for Virginia from 1990-92. Two of those included semifinal losses to VanDerveer and the Car- dinal on way to their only national titles (1990, 1992). Samuelson was hurt when she was making a move toward the basket, and stepped on the foot of South Carolina guard Bianca Cue- vas-Moore. Samuelson's right foot WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR SOUTHCAROLINA BEATS STANFORD Gamecocks heading to first national championship in school history LMOTERO—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Stanford guard Marta Sniezek (13) and South Carolina guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore (1) scramble for a loose ball. TONY GUTIERREZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS South Carolina forward A'ja Wilson (22) shoots over Stanford guard Briana Roberson (10) during the second half. By Carl Steward Bay Area News Group SAN FRANCISCO Bruce Bochy finally made the call on the Gi- ants' fifth starter, and in what shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone, it'll be veteran right- hander Matt Cain. Despite a shaky spring, the 32-year-old Cain was the pick over rookie left-hander Ty Blach, who will make the club as a swing man pitching short and long relief and possibly spot starting if needed. Cain, in the final year of a five-year deal that will pay him $20 million in 2017, posted a 7.82 ERAinspringtrainingfollowing a rough 2016 campaign in which he was 4-8 with a 5.64 ERA. But Bochy saw a pitcher who plowed through early spring adversity and showed enough improve- ment to win the job. "I thought Matt handled ev- erything well, he was healthy, he threw strikes, and he got bet- ter as it went," said Bochy said. "His command of his second- ary pitches really came around there at the end, so he deserves to be our fifth starter right now." As for Blach, Bochy said, "We'll use Ty everywhere. He'll be a swing man, anything from long relief, spot start to what he did last night (pitch one in- ning as part of the setup group to closer Mark Melancon). Before the decision was made, Blach said he was fine with how- ever the Giants wanted to use him. He understands that with left-handed relief specialist Will Smith out for the season follow- ing Tommy John surgery, his value could be more significant in the bullpen even though he has been stretched out pitch- wise to start. "I've just been trying to be ready this spring for any situ- ation that may arise and know GIANTS Ca in i s fi h st art er , Bl ac h wi ll b e bu ll pe n Staff report REDDING The Red Bluff Spartans boys golf team finished fifth, with a team score of 507, Thursday in the Gold Hills tournament hosted by the Shasta Wolves. Kaden Cantrell led the way for the Spartans with a 92, followed by Nathen Fregoso at 93 and Cal Grossman, who shot a 47 on the front nine and finished with a 98. Luke Downey, Bryce Stevenson and Russel Crain rounded out the Spartans scorecard, with the high score being tossed. The Pleasant Valley Vikings took the team and individual wins, with Noah Norton coming in at 73 and three other players in the 80s for a team score of 415. Ronak Singh took second place with an 81. The host Shasta Wolves took second with a team score of 439 and Jaykob Caples carding a 77. The Chico Panthers were third at 452, top scorer Jackson Bragg at 83; Foothill took fourth at 471, top scorer Jake Shaw at 90 and the Enterprise Hornets took sixth at 510, top scorer Jason Deaver at 94. The Spartans are fourth over- all in league standings with 7 points. The Vikings lead with 20, followed by Shasta with 16, Chico with 10, Foothill with 4 and En- terprise with 3. The Spartans will head to Riv- erview Golf Club Thursday for a 1 p.m. tournament hosted by the Hornets. Mercytennis COLUSA The Mercy Warriors boys tennis team fell on the road to the Colusa RedHawks 8-1 Tues- day and the Willows Honkers 8-1 Thursday. Against the RedHawks, Mer- cy's T.J. Frase and James McK- ellar took a doubles win 8-5 and Fletcher Bennett and Raffi Ibarra fell 8-2. The third doubles match was forfeited by the Warriors. In singles play, Frase lost 6-0, 6-0; McKellar lost 6-0, 6-1; Ben- nett lost 6-0, 6-0; Ibarra lost 6-2, 6-0 and Eric Wu lost 6-2, 6-2. The sixth singles match was forfeited by the Warriors. Against the Honkers, Wu and Ibarra took an 8-6 win in doubles play and Frase and Bennett fell 8-0. The third doubles match was forfeited by the Warriors. Frase battled in singles play to go 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a loss. Bennett lost 6-0, 6-1; Ibarra 6-1, 6-1 and Wu 6-2, 6-0. The fifth and sixth singles matches were forfeited by the Warriors. The Warriors are scheduled to face the Live Oak Lions at 3 p.m. Monday at Orland High School. PREP ROUNDUP Sp ar ta ns compete in R ed di ng By Jerry McDonald Bay Area News Group Rod Martin played his college home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum, but confided to his boss after the 1981 season he wasn't all that excited about going back home as a professional. Owner Al Davis had moved the Raiders against the NFL's wishes from Oakland to Los Angeles. Martin was a 12th-round draft pick in 1977 with more potential than power. NFL Di d Oa kl an d mo ve make Raiders go so on LA? Staff report REDDING The Enterprise Hor- nets softball team beat the Red Bluff Lady Spartans 3-2 Thursday in Redding. The Spartans were held to just 3 hits by Enterprise pitcher Shelby Keltner and both of their runs were unearned. Elizabeth Baccala started of the third with a walk and after a sac bunt attempt by Allyson Drury, Baccala and Drury ended up on second and third, as En- terprise third baseman Tricia McClain threw the ball in the dirt trying to gun down Drury. The next batter, Aubree Akins, would attempt to squeeze bunt, and Enterprise catcher Desti- nee Baird threw the ball past the first baseman, allowing Baccala and Drury to score. In the bottom half of the third, the Hornets answered with 2 runs. A bunt base hit by Faith Cooper, a walk by Valerie Garcia, a double by Alyssa Kosta scoring Cooper, and a ground ball by out to short to score Garcia. The game-winning run came in the bottom of the sixth after a triple by Katrina Winterburn. Baird would hit a ground ball out to second, scoring Winterburn. The hits for Red Bluff came from Kylee Kitchell, who went 1-3 with a double; Aubrey Zamora who went 1-3 and Alexis Zamora who went 1-3. Sarah Reineman took the loss for the Spartans, giving up 3 earned on 6 hits with a walk and 5 strikeouts. The Spartans began tourna- ment play early Friday with 7-4 win over the Chico Panthers at the Panther Challenge in Chico. They beat the Pleasant Valley Vi- kings later in the day, 13-6, and the Durham Trojans, 9-2. Action gets underway at 9:45 a.m. Saturday when the Spar- tans (14-7 overall, 1-1 league) take on the Willows Honkers (1-6). The Spartans are scheduled to host the Panthers (11-6 over- all, 1-1 league) at 4 p.m. Tuesday. SOFTBALL LadySpartansfalltoEnterprise RAIDERS PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 STANFORD PAGE 2 GEORGE NIKITIN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Giants pitcher Matt Cain will be the team's fi h starter. SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, April 1, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1