Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/10607
Monday NBA Playoffs — Suns at Lakers, 6 p.m., TNT MLB— Red Sox at Yankees, 4 p.m. MLB— Giants at Padres, 7 p.m., CSNBA MLB — Mariners at Athletics, 7 p.m., CSNCA Cycling — Tour of California, 2 p.m., VERSUS Sports 1B Monday May 17, 2010 2010 NSCIF Softball Championships Division V Division II Tuesday — at higher seed (except Esparto vs Durham at Hamilton) Saturday Tuesday — at higher seed (except Esparto vs Durham at Hamilton) Thursday 9) Durham (6-16-1)/8) Esparto (6-10) 1) Hamilton (18-6) 4) Shasta (13-12) 1) Red Bluff (27-7) 3) Pleasant Valley (13-13) 2) Chico (23-11) 5) Colusa (21-8-1) 4) Quincy (16-4) 6) Modoc (12-4) 3) East Nicolaus (16-11) 7) Mercy (8-8) 2) Etna (25-7) Cavendish wins first stage of Tour of Calif. Saturday #3 Red Bluff at #2 Shasta Division 1, Semifinal 4 p.m. #3 Red Bluff Spartans: 20-9; 10-4, tied for second in Eastern Athletic League; beat Las Plumas 8-0 in first round #2 Shasta Wolves: 20-5; 10-4, tied for second in Eastern Athletic League; beat Chico 5-0 in first round Previous meetings: Red Bluff swept both games, beating both of Shasta’s top starters. On April 1 in Red Bluff, the Spartans used a three-run rally in the fifth inning as Dallas Chadwick started to lose control to edge out the Wolves 5-4. On the last day of the regular season, May 7, a Trevor Gipson homer in the fifth, helped fight off a Shasta comeback. Scott Avery drove in two runs as the Spartans won 8-5. Directions: Take I-5 north to Exit 678 and merge onto CA-44 West toward Eureka. Turn right at CA-273 North-Pine Street with signs for CA-299-Weaverville-Eureka. Then take the first left onto CA-273 North-Eureka Way with signs for Weaverville-CA-299 West. The school will be a mile down at 2500 Eureka Way. Players to watch: Red Bluff — Hitters: #11 Derek Jones, .494, 7 RBI; #10 Cody Gappa, .436, 4 HR, 30 RBI; #5 Scott Avery, .369, 20 RBI. Pitchers — #9 EJ Stanton, 2-3, 3.76 ERA in 22.1 IP, 27 k; #3 Zane Medeiros, 3-0, 1.65 ERA in 17 IP, 17 k; Avery, 6-3, 2.29 ERA in 58 IP, 38 k Shasta — Hitters: Colby McNabb, .375, 2 HR, 18 RBI; Dallas Chadwick, .368, 3 HR, 18 RBI; Cameron Cole, .365, 6 HR, 15 RBI. Pitchers — Chadwick, 7-2, 0.59 ERA in 47.2 IP, 98 k; McNabb, 5-2, 2.10 ERA in 40 IP; 44 K; Jacob Foster, 3-1, 3.75 ERA in 38 IP, 24 k Notes: Shasta’s only losses this year have come against Pleasant Valley, Foothill and Red Bluff...in what could be a low scoring game the Spartans have a base running advantage, they’ve stolen 43 bags to just five for Shasta...Red Bluff has scored at least six runs in its last six games. Softball #4 Shasta at MCTphoto The Amgen Tour of California peloton makes a turn onto Sacramento Street from Lincoln Way in Old Town Auburn, Sunday during the race’s first stage. Mark Cavendish of Britain surged to the front in the waning meters with the help of his teammates and won the opening stage. Cavendish, a 10-time Tour de France stage winner who rides for the American HTC-Columbia team, was timed in 4 hours, 4 minutes and 46 seconds in the 104.3-mile road stage from Nevada City. Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) of Argentina was second and Alexander Kristoff (BMC) of Norway third in the same time. Zito wins again SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Houston Astros already had a rough day after several players were forced to walk to AT&T Park because taxis declined to risk the traffic brought on by the downtown Bay to Breakers race. Barry Zito only added to their misery. Zito rebounded nice- ly from his only loss of the season, scattering six hits over seven innings while striking out four and walking only one, and San Francisco got another big day from reserve outfielder Andres Torres in a 4-3 win over Houston on Sunday. Torres homered, dou- bled and scored twice, Aaron Rowand also homered and the Giants swept a three-game series from the Astros for the second time this season. ‘‘These are the types of games you need to win if you’re a good ballclub,’’ San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘‘We’re finding a way to do it now, although they have been scary.’’ The Giants had a lit- tle hometown help for this win. Several Houston players walked to AT&T Park when taxis in San Francisco declined because of the Bay to Breakers foot race that was also taking place. Those who did manage to catch a ride spent almost an hour getting to the ballpark from the Astros team hotel, which was less than two miles from the stadium. Houston manager Brad Mills finally arrived 30 minutes after persuading a taxi driver to take a chance in the traffic. ‘‘I had to tell him how to get here, but we wound up getting here,’’ Mills said. ‘‘I’ve never had that before. It was nuts.’’ The Giants won the first game of the series handily but had to hold off ninth-inning threats in the last two, both of which were decided by one run. Each time clos- er Brian Wilson put the tying and go-ahead runs on base before working out of the jams. Wilson and Kaz Mat- sui waged a 15-pitch battle with two outs in the ninth on Saturday, then went at it again Sunday before Matsui struck out to end the game. Zito (6-1) was the first left-handed starter Houston has faced since April 23 and pitched out of jams much of the afternoon, most critical- ly in the seventh when he got pitcher Brett Myers to ground out with the tying run on second base. Zito retired 15 of 16 batters during one stretch, the lone blemish being Carlos Lee’s solo home run leading off the fourth. Lee’s home run was the first allowed by Zito this season. ‘‘This was a battle from the beginning,’’ Zito said. ‘‘I just had to keep attacking the zone and let them get them- selves out. We played great defense today and that picked me up big.’’ Jeremy Affeldt pitched the eighth and Wilson worked the ninth for his ninth save in 10 tries. Houston, which scored only three runs total in the first two games of the series, broke out of its collec- tive slump but the Astros still came up on the short end and dropped to 1-20 this season when scoring three runs or less. Lee had two hits and Hunter Pence had an RBI double off Zito in the first but that was about the extent of Houston’s offense. Myers (2-3) gave up five hits and matched his season high of seven strikeouts over eight innings. After Houston got a run in the top of the first, San Francisco answered quickly on Torres’ first home run of the season. The speedy utility outfielder, making his seventh straight start in place of injured left fielder Mark DeRosa, hit a fastball that sailed over the wall in right field and bounced into McCovey Cove to drive in Rowand, who had walked leading off the inning. Lee, who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes on Saturday, tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth but Myers couldn’t hang on. Sharks drop Game 1, 2-1 SAN JOSE (AP) — Antti Niemi might finally be putting to rest all those questions about whether he is the Chicago Blackhawks’ weak link. Niemi made 44 saves, Dustin Byfuglien scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:45 remaining in regulation to help Chicago get off to a fast start for a change this postseason by beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference final. Niemi stopped almost everything that came his way in his first career game against the Sharks, helping Chicago kill four of five power plays including a 6-on-4 advantage in the closing minute. That snapped a run of four straight series-opening losses for Chicago. Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks, who will try to take a 2-0 series lead on Tuesday night in San Jose. Chicago improved to 6-1 on the road this postseason. Rookie Jason Demers scored the lone goal for San Jose, which fell to 0- 4 at home all-time in two trips to the conference final. The Sharks managed a first-period power play goal against Niemi and nothing else. Pineiro shuts out A’s ANAHEIM (AP) — Joel Pineiro pitched a four-hitter for his sixth career shutout, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland Ath- letics with a 4-0 victory on Sunday. Pineiro (3-4) struck out five, walked one and threw just 98 pitches. He retired 20 of the last 24 batters after giving up the first of two singles by Jack Cust. Trevor Cahill (1-2) allowed three runs, five hits and no walks over seven innings. His catcher was Kurt Suzuki, who was reinstated from the disabled list earlier in the day after missing 19 games because of a strain his ribcage. The team went 7-12 without their RBI leader from last season. #1 Red Bluff Division II, Semifinal 4 p.m. #2 Shasta Wolves: 13- 12; 5-9, tied for sixth in Eastern Athletic League #3 Red Bluff Spartans: 27-7; 13-1, first in Eastern Athletic League Previous meetings: Red Bluff shutout Shasta in both games. On April 1, Emily McEnaney homered twice and Megan McColpin struck out eight in an 11-0 win at Shasta. In Red Bluff on May 6, McColpin allowed just two hits and walked none. Haley Matheson and Brittany Fletcher each drove in two runs and the Lady Spartans won 6-0. Tickets: Because it is a playoff game there will be admission charged. Students and seniors are $4 and adults are $5. Players to watch: Red Bluff — Hitters: #6 Emily McEnaney, .390, 6 HR, 18 RBI; #9 Megan McColpin, .312, 1 HR, 15 RBI; #7 Brittany Fletcher, .305, 2 HR, 29 RBI. Pitchers — McColpin, 15-5, 1.41 ERA in 129.1 IP, 127 k; #18 Bryce Etzler, 8-1, 0.92 ERA in 60.2 IP, 43 k; #5 Krista Rodriguez, 3-1, 3.14 ERA in 29 IP, 25 k Shasta — Hitters: #8 Taylor Gerhardt, .370, 1 HR, 18 RBI; #24 Alex Silva, .357, 5 RBI; #6 Rachel Parker, .314, 2 RBI. Pitchers — Silva, #15 Sarah Femmel, #12 Brooke Powell. Notes: While the Lady Spartans are the defending section champions, it’s been a long drought since the Lady Wolves reached the playoffs...Red Bluff has hit 15 homers this season, Shasta just one...The Lady Spartans have not been shutout this season...Shasta has put up an egg eight times, including a stretch of four in a row from April 30-May 6. #7 Mercy at #2 Etna Division V, Quarterfinal #7 Mercy Warriors: 8-8; 5-1, tied for first in Tri-Cities League #2 Etna Lions: 25-7; 11-3, sec- ond in Shasta Cascade League Previous meeting: Paige Finley and Ashley Page combined to hold Mercy to two hits in the first round of the 2008 playoffs as Elli Pynes drove in two runs in a 7-0 Etna win. Directions: Take I-5 north to Exit 773 toward CA-3- Yreka-Fort Jones-Etna and turn left at Moonlit Oaks Avenue. Take the first left onto CA-3 South-Fort Jones Road-South Main Street. Continue to follow CA-3 South for 26 miles and turn right at Howell Avenue. School is at 400 Howell Ave. Players to watch: Mercy — Hitters — #1 Benicia Grace, .444, 2 HR, 23 RBI; #24 Diana Van Ert, .280, 1 HR, 10 RBI; #3 Ariana Ramos, .275, 16 RBI. Pitcher — #11 Natasha Czajka, 6-4, 0.84 ERA in 58 IP, 84 k Etna — Hitters: #23 Tandy Thackeray, .440, 2 HR, 36 RBI; #2 Paige Finley, .432, 27 RBI; #4 Jennifer Hanes, .397, 23 RBI. Pitcher — Finley, 25-7, 1.40 ERA in 200 IP, 339 k Notes: Etna is the defending section champion...Fin- ley’s 339 strikeouts are third in the entire state. Tuesday’s playoffs Baseball