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Weekend Sat — Preakness Stakes, 1:30 p.m., NBC MLB— Astros at Giants, 1 p.m., Sat, FOX; Sun, CSNBA MLB — A’s at Angels, Sat., 6 p.m., Sun, 12:30 p.m., CSNCA Sun — NHLPlayoffs — Blackhawks at Sharks, Noon, NBC Sun — NBAPlayoffs —Celtics at Magic, 12:30 p.m., ABC Sun — NASCAR Autism Speaks 400, 9 a.m., FOX Sports 1B Weekend May 15-16, 2010 Red Bluff advances to semis Chico Rage to play Spartans By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor Nothing was hitting Red Bluff pitcher Scott Avery during Friday’s first round Division 1 playoff game other than the ball itself. Behind a six-inning one-hit perfor- mance from their staff ace, the Spar- tans handled Las Plumas 8-0 to advance to a semifinal showdown Tuesday at Shasta. Avery was plunked twice while batting and took a comeback liner off of his right hand thumb while pitching to the second batter of the game. The liner seemed to rattle Avery, as on his following pitch he hit the next Thunderbirds batter in the head — one of only three base runners he would allow for the game. “Iwas nervous,” Avery said. But for a senior who has thrown in big games all season long, those nerves quickly faded and Avery set down the next seven batters he faced. His teammates grabbed him an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Derek Jones once again opened up a game with a single. EJ Stanton then singled behind him and Avery took the first of his plunkings to load the bases with one out. That led to Red Bluff scratching across the only run they would need on a Maison Etzler fielder’s choice. The Spartans struck for two more runs in the fourth inning. The rally began on one of the Thunderbirds’ four errors, which allowed Austin Brownfield to reach base. Trevor Gipson then his his second of three infield singles on the day and Trevor Miller laid down a picture per- fect bunt that rolled to a stop on the third base foul line for one of his two hits. With the bases loaded, two outs and a full count, Stanton hit a ball in between the first and second baseman that plated two more Spartan runs. Red Bluff picked up another run in the fifth inning. After Avery was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, he worked around the bases on a pair of passed balls. Three batters later Brownfield blooped an RBI single to center field to put Red Bluff up 4-0. Avery lost his no-hit bid in the sixth inning on a high bouncing ball in the infield that a charging Stanton from shortstop couldn’t make a play on. CORNING—It took the pitching of both Brandon Erickson and Andrew Millner, some comebacks and even physicality for Foothill to knock off Corning 6-4 in Friday’s Division 1 baseball first round game. With Erickson starting, Corning struck for the game’s first run when Michael Garcia drove in Caleb John- son in the second inning. Foothill came back in the third inning to tie the game 1-1 and then sent Millner out to the mound in the bottom half. The Cougars took a 3-1 lead with fundraiser today The Chico Rage will be hosting an exhibition basket- ball game at Red Bluff High School 6 p.m. today with proceeds generated from the game going to the school's athletic department. The Rage will be playing their ABA NorCal Division rivals the Clayton Showtime. The Showtime were ranked in the Top 10 of the 55-team league the entire 2009-2010 season and earned a spot in the ABA playoffs. The Rage completed their first season as an ABA travel team and finished with a 5-5 record. Admission to the game will be $5. Free golf clinic Tuesday The Oak Creek Women’s Golf Club and golf profes- sional Paul Bullock will be hosting a free clinic Tuesday at Oak Creek Golf Course. The course is located at 2620 Montgomery Road in Red Bluff. Check-in for the clinic will be 8:45 a.m. The clinic will begin at 9 a.m. with tee times available afterward at 10 a.m. There will be a $12 per person fee to golf nine holes and carts may available for an additional $18. If you have any questions, please call the Oak Creek Golf Course at 529-0674. Salazar wins 3 events as Lady Bulldogs take second; Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff’s Scott Avery pitches during Friday’s playoff game. If the game wasn’t already put away, Red Bluff made sure of it in the sixth inning with four more runs. Jones reached on an error. Stanton singled and then Cody Gappa drove them both in with a double. Avery smashed a single up the mid- dle to drive in Gappa. Red Bluff got its last run on one last Las Plumas error after Gipson had put the ball into play. Gipson pitched a perfect seventh inning for the Spartans as Avery got through the game with only throwing 58 pitches. Stanton went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. The Spartans shortstop has seen his early-season struggles all but disap- pear at a time when his bat is needed the most. “I’m seeing the ball great. I could- n’t be happier,” he said. Word trickled down to the Spartans three hits in the fourth inning, but the Cardinals fought right back in their half of the fourth. With two runners on, Austin Grootveld hit a grounder to first base. Grootveld ran over the Foothill second baseman covering first on the play and was called safe as two Cardinals players and coaches at the end of the game that there semifinal matchup would be against Shasta. Despite finishing with identical league records and Red Bluff sweep- ing the season series, Shasta was given a higher seed and will host Tuesday’s game. Shasta’s ace, Dallas Chadwick, pitched on Friday, which would mean he would be on three days rest if the Wolves decide to use him again. Red Bluff coach Joe Gallaty said at this point of the season his team needs to focus on playing their own brand of baseball “We have to take care of business, no matter who’s in the other dugout,” he said. The message had already filtered down to his own ace pitcher. “We’ll just take the same approach we have every game,” Avery said of Tuesday’s semifinal. Cards hang, but fall to Foothill 6-4 crossed the plate. Each team then had a brief huddle to settle down their players. In the fifth inning, Foothill again went back on top with a pair of runs then tacked on an insurance run in the seventh to make it 6-3. Down to their final out, Corning got a homer from Caleb Johnson to close it to 6-4, but the rally ended with a Mill- ner strikeout. Foothill will play Pleasant Valley in the semifinals on Tuesday. Daily News Staff Writer Tang Lor contributed to this report. Mercy can’t keep up with Tulelake, lose 22-12 By CHIP THOMPSON Daily News editor A strong pitching per- formance by Pat Farmer and the non-stop base run- ning of Michael Uhalde weren’t enough for the Mercy Warriors to get past the powerful bats of the Tulelake Honkers dur- ing a 22-12 loss Friday in the first round of the Divi- sion 5 baseball playoffs. Coach Jerry Bartlett said the loss was disap- pointing, but it won’t tar- nish the gains made dur- ing the regular season. “I think we played well,” he said. “We improved all season long. I’m very proud of how they played all year.” Starting pitcher Cameron Vietti, bothered by a throwing arm injury, shifted to shortstop after giving up four runs in the bottom of the first inning and Farmer came out to take the mound in the top of the second. Bartlett said Vietti’s See MERCY, page 2B Garnica wins discus title At the Mid-Valley League Championship, Carolyna Salazar won three events Friday, to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a score of 56 points — three ahead of Providence Christian for second place. University Prep was first. Mercy finished 10th. Kevin Garnica gave Los Molinos another event winner, by winning the boys discus toss with a mark of 123’. Salazar was first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.24 seconds, won the discus with a throw of 89’07 and topped everyone in the triple jump with a mark of 29’11.5”. Francis Ocampo gave the Bulldogs a second place finish in the long jump (14’) and Linzy Irle was third in the 800 meters (2:43.43). The boys tied for seventh place. Mercy was ninth. Uni- versity Prep, Hamilton City and Hayfork took the top boys spots. Mercy had a pair of third place finishes with Royce Crane in the 200 meters (25.61) and Jeremie Jones in the shot put (38’09.5”). Red Bluff boys track third at EAL finals The Red Bluff boys track and field team placed third at Friday’s Eastern Athletic League championships. The host, Enterprise, won the league championship with 336 points. Chico was second with 194 points, followed by the Spartans with 118 and Foothill with 110 points. A number of Spartans qualified for the Division I championships on May 21. Jeffrey Foster was second in the 200 meters (23.45) and third in the 100 meters (11.63). Marco Rodriguez finished fourth in the 100 meters sprint at 11.79 seconds. Grant Blaser had a second place finish in the 400 meters (51.52). Devin Shoop placed fourth in the 800 meters (2:00.68). Taylor Hickson had a number of top finishes. He was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.64) and long jump (20’4.25”) and tied for the second best mark in the high jump (6’4”). The Spartans relay teams were third in the 1600-meter relay and fourth in the 400-meter relay. The 4x400 team of Blaser, Foster, Shoop and Rodriguez turned in a time of 3:32.77. Blaser, Colin Dahlberg, Foster and Hickson ran the 4x100 in 44.41 seconds. Roxanne Luppino gave the Lady Spartans a fourth place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 27.75 seconds. Hai- ley Carlon, Savannah Carrillo, Erin Eicholtz and Luppino were third in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:23.48. Tehama Tracker Mondragons off to great weekend. Mercy’s Christian Mondragon will be playing in today’s NSCIF Individual Championship. Mondragon achieved all- league status on the season and played above his seed at the league tournament last weekend to earn a spot in the section championships. Meanwhile Samantha Mondragon won the 100 and 300-meter junior varsity hurdle events at the Mid- Valley League Championship on Friday. Spartans junior varsity track and field The future of Red Bluff track and field appears bright, after the boys won the EAL’s junior varsity division champi- onship and the girls placed second. Jonah McInnis won the triple jump and Zach Iverson the 400 meters. They teamed with Chandler Faeth and Brandon Ragone to win the 4x400 relay. Jeff Skaggs won the shot put. Alana Hinkston, Jessie Slade, Morghan Moore and Joan- na Smith Conrad won the 4x100 relay. Hinkston, Slade, Riley Kittle and Taylor Wood also won the 4x400 relay. Hinkston won the 200 and 400 meters. Kittle was first in the high jump. Meaggan Rector won a pair of events — the discus and shot put Bulldogs junior varsity track and field A pair of Los Molinos athletes won four J.V. events at the Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Mercy catcher Scott Farmer tags out Tulelake runner Zane Burrier at home in the second inning of their first round playoff matchup at Sacred Heart School Friday. Mid-Valley League Championships. Dominique Ceja won the 100, 200 and 400 meters to go along with a victory in the long jump. Gilbert Zamora took first place finishes in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles as well as the high and triple jumps.