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Friday Baseball — Hamilton at Los Molinos, 4:30 p.m. Softball — Hamilton at Los Molinos, 4:30 p.m. Track — Corning, LM at Black Butte Invite in Orland, 10 a.m. Track — Red Bluff at Hornet Invite at Enterprise, 9:30 a.m. NBA — Knicks at Warriors, 7:30 p.m., CSNBA Spring Training — A’s at Giants, 7 p.m., MNT-21 Sports 1B Friday April 2, 2010 Spartans slip by Shasta By RICHGREENE DNSports Editor The Red Bluff Spartans weren’t especially strong with their bats or gloves, Thursday, but they did show a great deal of mental toughness and rallied from behind to beat Shasta 5-4 to close out a perfect five-game home stand. A two-run deficit, Shasta starter Dallas Chadwick and even the umpires appeared to be rattling the Spartans by the third inning and then they almost came unglued. With a full count Spartans sec- ond baseman Derek Jones was hit in the arm by a Chadwick curveball, but as he started to make his way down to first base the home plate umpire called him out for leaning into a strike. Red Bluff coach Joe Gallaty argued the call at home plate and the Spartan dugout began chirping with the umpire. Two innings and three more of Chadwick’s eight strikeouts later, the scenario replayed itself. Jones once again was hit by a breaking ball in the arm and the umpire awarded a strike. This time however it was the first pitch of the at bat. With the boo birds ringing from the crowd in attendance, Jones took the next pitch and ripped it down the third base line for a double. It was the first hard hit ball off of Chadwick and it fired up the Spar- tans bench and seemed to derail the Shasta starter. EJ Stanton drew a walk with the fourth ball coming on a wild pitch that also allowed Jones to score. Chadwick then threw a ball behind Cody Gappa to put runners on first and second. Yet another wild pitch came with the next Spartan, Gerald Baker, at the plate. The Shasta catcher then threw the ball away trying to throw Stanton out at third base and the Spartans had rallied back for a 2-2 tie. With one down, Baker finished his at bat with Gallaty sending Gappa from second base on a hit- and-run. Baker grounded to the shortstop, but Gappa caught the Shasta Tehama Tracker Spartans softball The Lady Spartans beat Shasta 11-0 on Thursday behind a strong pitching per- formance from Megan McColpin and two titanic home runs from Emily McEnaney. McColpin went seven innings and struck out eight, allowing just one hit and two walks. McEnaney finished her day 3-for-5 with two homers, three RBIS and a couple of runs scored. McColpin also swung a good bat, picking up a triple and a single. Haley Harris went 2-for- 4 with two runs scored. Brit- tany Fletcher went 2-for3 with a double. Bryce Etzler had a triple and Jerilynn Purcell had a double. Courtney Boes and Haley Matheson also picked up hits. Spartans track and field Alana Hinkston had four Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff coach Joe Gallaty discusses a call with the umpire in the third inning. defenders by surprise and rounded third base and speeded home for the go-ahead run. Gallaty pumped his fist from the third base coaches box as the once down Spartans had turned the momentum completely around. Spartans starter Scott Avery worked out of jam in the sixth inning to keep Shasta off the board and Red Bluff fired back two more runs in their end after Chadwick had been pulled. Avery opened the inning with a walk, stole second base and was bunted over to third by Trevor Miller. Jones then ripped another double to drive Avery home, taking second base on a heads up move when the Shasta center fielder slightly bob- bled the ball attempting to scoop it up. Jones eventually scored on a wild pitch to give the Spartans a 5-2 lead and needing just three more outs to win their season best fifth straight game. The first two outs came easy for Avery. Gappa made a solid play at third base for the first and then Jones caught a high infield pop fly for the second. But one strike away from the win, Colby McNabb was awarded first base following a catcher inter- ference call when Austin Brown- field’s glove grazed his bat. That brought up Shasta designat- ed hitter Derek Marsili who pound- ed a ball 360 feet to right field and up against the fence for a triple. The relay throw to third got past Gappa, and Marsili came around to score. The lead was down to one run. However, Avery wasn’t rattled and got his sixth and final strikeout of the game when he caught Nolan Barnhart looking. The Spartans improved to 5-1 in the Eastern Athletic League and 14- 3 overall. Afterward Jones said he wasn’t going to let an umpire’s call get to him. “You can’t let it get to you. The umpires are human and make mis- takes you just got to flush it,” Jones said. “I just flushed it right there and looked for something to drive and got it on the next pitch.” Avery also battled through some adversity on the mound. Shasta belted out nine hits and his defense committed five errors, but Avery kept the Spartans in the game with a bulldog performance. Even when Marsili’s ball was flying toward the fence in left field, Avery said he tried to keep his emo- tions in check. “I knew they were still going to be down even if it went out,” he said. Like the rest of the Spartans, in the end he found a way to respond. Giants gearing up to get back to playoffs at last SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pitcher Matt Cain isn’t going to make any bold predictions about playoffs at this early stage. He’s sure thinking about it, though. His San Francisco teammates are, too. The Giants will be sat- isfied with nothing less than finally getting back to the postseason after a six-year drought. They were close last fall, in the wild-card chase well into September — and now this club believes it has the offensive power to get over the hump. ‘‘It always seems like whoever kind of jumps out in this division usual- ly has an upper hand,’’ Cain said of the NL West. ‘‘That’s something we’ll definitely try to do. We’ll try to kick it up in April and work from there. ... That’s our biggest goal, to make it deep into Octo- ber.’’ General manager Brian Sabean made additions to the lineup he expects will help support Cain and two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum at the front of a rotation also featuring lefties Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez. There’s new cleanup hitter Aubrey Huff to fol- low free-swinging slugger Pablo Sandoval in the middle of the order, then Mark DeRosa in the No. 5 hole. ‘‘It’s the first spring training I’ve had where you come in and know you have a legitimate shot of going to the playoffs,’’ Huff said. ‘‘My first six years with Tampa and my first-place finishes for the Lady Spartans at a dual meet at Foothill on Thursday. Hinkston won the 200 and 400-meter races and was a part of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. In the 100 relay she teamed with Morghan Moore, Roxanne Luppino and Jesse Slade. Hinkston, Slade and Lup- pino then teamed with Naomi Carter to win the 4x400. The boys sprinters had a strong performance as Jef- frey Foster won the 100 meters, Zach Iverson the 200 meters and Colin Dahlberg the 400 meters. Devin Shoop kept up the winning ways with a first place finish in the 800 meters. The 4x100 boys relay team of Foster, Taylor Hick- son, Grant Blaser and Marco Rodriguez also won. Robert Schatz took first- place in the high jump. Cardinals track and field Jose Torres had a remark- able day for Corning in a tri- meet with Yreka and Ander- son, hosted by the Cubs on Wednesday. Torres won the 800, 1600 and 3200-meter races. Meanwhile Karen Torres won the girls 1600 event. Corning picked up two more first-place finishes as Andres Marquez won the 200 meters and David Drig- gers the 300-meter hurdles. Mid-Vally League track Kevin Garnica helped lead the Los Molinos boys team to a fifth place at a Mid-Valley League meet hosted by the Bulldogs. The Mercy Warriors fin- ished sixth. Garnica won the discus MCT file photo Matt Cain will once again be a key for the San Francisco Giants’ success in 2010. last three with Baltimore, you kind of know who’s going to be in first and second place in that divi- sion every year.’’ At 88-74 last season, the Giants won 16 more games than in 2008. Everybody knows this club boasts one of the best pitching staffs in baseball led by Lincecum, but now the offense must do its part if San Francisco is going to play deep into October. The Giants ranked 29th out of the 30 major league teams for home runs in 2009 with 122, ahead only of the New York Mets (95). They also were 26th in runs scored with 657. Sabean acquired first baseman Huff, a career .282 hitter with 203 homers and 752 RBIs and a .340 on-base percent- age. DeRosa provides flexi- bility as an infielder and outfielder but will be the primary left fielder. He received a $12 million, two-year contract to join the Giants in late Decem- ber. The 35-year-old DeRosa, a 12-year veter- an, underwent left wrist surgery after the 2009 season but doesn’t seem to be affected by it. He batted .250 with a career- best 23 homers to go along with 78 RBIs for Cleveland and St. Louis last season. ‘‘Spring training as a hitter you search for tim- ing. You don’t want to get too hot and you don’t want to be too cold,’’ DeRosa said. ‘‘You want to fall somewhere in the middle. I feel like if my timing’s there and I’m not swinging at bad pitches, eventually the results will be there.’’ Juan Uribe brings some pop, too. Sabean has said he might play even more than he did as a super utility infielder in 122 games last season because of his versatility and production. He batted .289 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs. The Giants also brought back veteran catcher Bengie Molina on a one-year contract after he batted .265 with a career-high 20 home runs to go with 80 RBIs last season, his third with the Giants and 12th in the big leagues. Sandoval’s slimdown was a big focus this win- ter — for him and the organization, which believes Sandoval will be even more effective and move better if he’s a little lighter. He just missed an All-Star nod last year in his first full season in the majors. Sandoval is down near- ly 20 pounds from his playing weight in 2009, when he hit .330 with 25 home runs and 90 RBIs in 153 games and had a .556 slugging percentage. He also struck out 83 times to 52 walks and earned a reputation for swinging at anything in sight. ‘‘I’m lighter and quick- er,’’ he said. ‘‘I feel great.’’ See GIANTS, page 2B event with a toss of 118’ and was third in the shot put. Royce Crane in the 100 meters and Henry Wan in the 200 meters gave the Warriors a couple of third place finishes. On the girls side Caroly- na Salazar won the 100- meter hurdles and took sec- ond in the 3200 meters for Los Molinos. The Lady Bulldogs fin- ished sixth and the Lady Warriors were in seventh. Giants, Texas finalize trade ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers sent left-hander Edwin Escobar to the San Francis- co Giants on Thursday in order to retain lefty Ben Snyder, a Rule 5 draft pick. Snyder was selected from the Giants by the Baltimore Orioles in the Rule 5 draft on December 10. The Orioles then immediately traded Snyder to Texas