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2B Daily News – Thursday, May 9, 2013 HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL | Pleasant Valley 3, Red Bluff 2 Spartans fall; Vikings' Park throws gem By JOSEPH SHUFELBERGER MediaNews Group CHICO – It wasn't a Northern Section championship, a playoff game or even an important league game. It just felt that way. Two state-ranked teams played up to their billing as the Pleasant Valley High softball team edged Red Bluff 3-2 Wednesday at Hooker Oak Park as True Park retired 17 batters in a row and still had a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning. Allison Taylor, one of several powerful batters in the Vikings' vaunted lineup, provided the production Park would need as she was 3 for 3 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored. PV, at 30-3 now and ranked 10th in the state among Division II teams by CalHiSports, and Red Bluff, at 28-7 and ranked ninth among D-III squads, did exactly what one would expect. One lone error between the two teams and several crisp plays highlighted a game that didn't need much more than an hour to complete. "PV and Red Bluff, this is always going to be a tight game," Red Bluff coach J. Howell said. "We want to play the best teams." The Spartans got that, filling up their bye week in the Sacramento River League with a nonleague contest against PV. "Anytime you can beat Red Bluff is a good win," PV coach Tony Tallerico said, "they're the premier program in the section the last 20 years." After Park walked Red Bluff's first two batters, Haley Harris and Samantha Jones, she sat down the next 17 batters she would face, keeping the Spartans off-balance and out in front with her changeup. "I wasn't fully warmed up," said Park, who got there quickly, thankfully for the Vikings' sake. "I was just feeling it, getting into a rhythm." PV was able to get to pitcher Hailee Nicholls for runs in the second, third and fifth innings, and Taylor had a hand in all of them, helping make up for the absence of catcher Jessica Gallaway, who injured her shoulder in PV's doubleheader split with Paradise on Tuesday. "We're all really good," said Taylor, including Gallaway in the description. "We'll miss her, but we're going to be fine." Taylor led off the second inning with a single and eventually scored on Maddie Roach's infield single. In the third, Kaylie Hull was hit by a pitch in her second plate appearance after her first at-bat started with a hard foul shot off her leg before eventually doubling. Taylor drove in Hull by lifting a triple over the right fielder's head. Taylor then came through in the fifth with a two-out single to score Dominique Jackson, who had doubled. "She's been coming through all year," Tallerico said. "With the year Dominique has been having and Kaylie as well, she's just been the forgotten one, but she's been seeing the ball really well." With Park cruising, a 3-0 lead appeared to be plenty. But the Spartans, who had already won their league with an 11-1 record, finally broke through in the sixth inning. Jones walked again and went to second on a wild pitch. Alyssa Hethcoat singled in front of Roach in left field for Red Bluff's first hit and first run. Bailey Akins came through and drove in Hethcoat with another base hit, drawing the Spartans within one. Tayler Zazueta got a hold of another Park offering, but Roach, playing deep, had room in left field and caught it to end the threat. Red Bluff put the tying run on base once again in the seventh when Brittany Clatty singled with two outs, but Park ended the game with her fifth comebacker of the day. Park finished with three strikeouts, three walks and three hits allowed in the shutout. The sophomore, who doesn't bat often, also singled twice. ——— Connect with Sports Writer Joseph Shufelberger: @JShufelberger Giants 4, Phillies 3 Torres singles in 10th, lifts Giants past Phillies SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buster Posey and Andres Torres waited three hours before making their contributions to yet another walkoff win for the San Francisco Giants. Make it five such victories for the reigning World Series champions by early May. Torres lined a gameending single to right field with two outs in the 10th inning to score Posey for the winning run, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday to avoid a sweep. ''I think we've got a group of guys that's going to continue to scrap and go out there and put pressure on the other team,'' Posey said. ''We've got a lot of guys who have been here a few years and we've played a lot of tight games the last three years. The more you do it, the more, I don't want to say comfortable, but I think you gain more confidence when you're in that situation more often.'' Javier Lopez (1-0) pitched the 10th for the win after Sergio Romo blew his second save in 14 opportunities, failing to finish off Barry Zito's gem. Posey hit a pinch-hit single to start the 10th against Antonio Bastardo (1-1) and was sacrificed to second by Joaquin Arias. Posey advanced to third on a wild pitch before Torres came through with his fourth career game-ending hit. Manager Bruce Bochy praised Posey's base running with the game on the line. ''More than anything, at that point in the game, I thought it was worth the chance to take that risk,'' Posey said of running for third. You see it and go.'' Zito pitched another gem in his home ballpark and Hunter Pence homered against his former club for the second time during the three-game series, but Romo wasn't his usual spot-on self in the ninth. Pence sent a 2-2 pitch into the stands in left field leading off the second for his seventh homer. Marco Scutaro hit a go-ahead single in the fifth to score Gregor Blanco after he singled and stole second. Still, Zito is 3-0 with a 0.55 ERA in his four home starts this season — and the home ERA ranked third-lowest in the majors. And San Francisco has won Zito's past 11 regular-season starts in the waterfront ballpark. ''We obviously don't want to be playing down to the wire,'' Zito said. ''We'd like to go out there and boat-race teams, but unfortunately it's the big leagues and that doesn't happen too often.'' He pitched into the eighth, struck out three and didn't walk a batter for the first time this season. Zito left to a rousing standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 41,048 in the eighth and added an RBI single in the sixth. Coming off a pair of no-decisions against the division rival Padres and Dodgers, Zito helped get the Giants back on track following a pair of 6-2 losses on the heels of their season-best six-game winning streak. Santiago Casilla took over from Zito after Carlos Ruiz's leadoff single, but he came out with a right knee injury two batters later and Jeremy Affeldt finished the eighth. Romo allowed Jimmy Rollins' leadoff double, an RBI single to Chase Utley and Delmon Young's tying sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. Kevin Frandsen hit his AP photo San Francisco Giants' Hunter Pence, right, steals second base against Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins during the seventh inning of a baseball game Wednesday in San Francisco. first home run of the year against his former team to tie the game leading off the fourth. He was booed as he rounded the bases. That was just the second earned run allowed by Zito in 33 innings at home this season. Philadelphia did little else until late, and couldn't pull off the club's first three-game series sweep in San Francisco since May 18-20, 1984. The Phillies have never swept at 14-year-old AT&T Park. Their 69-year-old skipper, Charlie Manuel, managed his 1,331st game for the franchise, matching Gene Mauch for the most in team history. ''We have core guys on this team who know to win. We'll survive,'' Manuel said. ''Others can think what they want, it's what we believe.'' The Phillies lost for the first time in four career starts by Jonathan Pettibone, who threw 112 pitches over 5 2-3 innings. Rollins doubled with one out in the sixth, but was thrown out at third for his second caught stealing in four attempts. Zito's single in the sixth chased Philadelphia's rookie right-hander. With two outs, Pettibone intentionally walked Guillermo Quiroz to get to Zito, who singled to right for his fourth hit of the season and second RBI. The Phillies received the news right-hander Roy Halladay would have arthroscopic shoulder surgery but could still return this year if all goes well. The team travels to the Arizona desert to continue a seven-game road trip that has shown some positive signs after Philadelphia dropped the final two games of its homestand — including a 14-2 defeat to the Marlins on Sunday. MLS NBA PLAYOFS Warriors end skid at 30 in San Antonio, tie series with 100-91 victory SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 34 points, Stephen Curry added 22 and the Golden State Warriors withstood another furious rally by the San Antonio Spurs for a 100-91 victory Wednesday night to even their series at one game apiece and snap a 30-game skid in the Alamo City. Thompson, who scored 29 points in the first half, added 14 rebounds for Golden State, which had not won in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997. Harrison Barnes had 13 points, Carl Landry added 10 and Andrew Bogut had six points and 11 rebounds. Tim Duncan scored 23 points and Tony Parker added 20 for San Antonio. Manu Ginobili had 12 points and Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio. The Warriors host Game 3 on Friday night. WESTERN CONFERENCE W FC Dallas 6 Real S.L. 5 Portland 3 Los Angeles 4 Colorado 3 Chivas USA 3 QUAKES 2 Vancouver 2 Seattle 2 L 1 4 1 2 4 4 3 4 3 T 2 2 5 2 3 2 5 3 3 Pts 20 17 14 14 12 11 11 9 9 GF 15 11 14 12 8 12 10 9 6 GA 9 10 11 5 9 15 13 13 7 EASTERN CONFERENCE New York Houston Sport. K.C. Montreal Columbus Philadelphia N. England Toronto FC Chicago D.C. W 6 6 5 5 3 3 2 1 2 1 L 4 2 4 2 3 3 4 4 5 7 T 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 1 1 Pts 20 20 17 17 12 12 9 7 7 4 GF 18 17 14 12 12 12 5 10 6 4 GA 14 9 9 9 8 14 8 13 14 17 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. —————————————————— Wednesday's Results Houston 4, D.C. United 0 New York 2, Montreal 1 Real Salt Lake 2, New England 1 Seattle FC 1, Sporting Kansas City 0 Portland at FC Dallas, late Toronto FC at San Jose, late ''These wins are fine, but it doesn't matter right now,'' slugger Ryan Howard said. ''As long as we get hot at the right time.'' An MRI on Giants center fielder Angel Pagan's right leg revealed a strained groin rather than a hamstring injury, which caused him to miss games Sunday and Monday before he returned Tuesday. He was held out of the line- up Wednesday as a precaution. Notes: Casilla was to have an MRI exam later Wednesday or Thursday. ... Posey had the day off after a night game until his pinch-hit appearance in the 10th. ... The Phillies will call up RHP Tyler Cloyd from TripleA Lehigh Valley to take Halladay's turn in the rotation Friday at Arizona. MLB MLB American League National League West Division W L Pct GB Texas 21 13 .618 — A's 18 17 .514 3.5 Seattle 16 19 .457 5.5 Angels 11 22 .333 9.5 Houston 10 24 .294 11 East Division W L Pct GB Baltimore 21 13 .618 — Boston 21 13 .618 — New York 19 13 .594 1 Tampa Bay 15 18 .455 5.5 Toronto 13 22 .371 8.5 Central Division W L Pct GB Detroit 19 12 .613 — Kansas City 17 13 .567 1.5 Cleveland 17 14 .548 2 Minnesota 15 15 .500 3.5 Chicago 14 18 .438 5.5 —————————————————— Wednesday's Results Seattle 2, Pittsburgh 1 Washington 3, Detroit 1 Baltimore 5, Kansas City 3 Cleveland 4, Oakland 3 Chicago White Sox 6, N.Y. Mets 3 Minnesota 15, Boston 8 Tampa Bay 10, Toronto 4 Houston 3, L.A. Angels 1 Texas 4, Milwaukee 1 N.Y. Yankees 3, Colorado 2 Today's Games Oakland (Colon 3-1) at Cleveland (Kazmir 1-1), 9:05 a.m. N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3) at Colorado (Francis 1-2), 12:10 p.m. Detroit (Fister 4-0) at Washington (Haren 3-3), 1:05 p.m. Kansas City (Guthrie 4-0) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Correia 3-2) at Boston (Lackey 1-2), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (Dickey 2-5) at Tampa Bay (Price 1-3), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Vargas 1-3) at Houston (Harrell 3-3), 5:10 p.m. Friday's Games Cleveland at Detroit, 4:08 p.m. San Diego at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Baltimore at Minnesota, 5:10 p.m. L.A. Angels at Chicago White Sox, 5:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Kansas City, 5:10 p.m. Texas at Houston, 5:10 p.m. Oakland at Seattle, 7:10 p.m. West Division W L Pct GB GIANTS 20 14 .588 — Colorado 19 14 .576 .5 Arizona 18 15 .545 1.5 San Diego 16 18 .471 4 Dodgers 13 19 .406 6 East Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 20 13 .606 — Washington 18 15 .545 2 Philadelphia16 19 .457 5 New York 13 17 .433 5.5 Miami 10 25 .286 11 Central Division W L Pct GB St. Louis 21 12 .636 — Pittsburgh 18 15 .545 3 Cincinnati 19 16 .543 3 Milwaukee 15 17 .469 5.5 Chicago 13 21 .382 8.5 —————————————————— Wednesday's Results Atlanta 7, Cincinnati 2 Seattle 2, Pittsburgh 1 St. Louis 5, Chicago Cubs 4 San Diego 1, Miami 0 San Francisco 4, Philadelphia 3, 10 innings Washington 3, Detroit 1 Chicago White Sox 6, N.Y. Mets 3 Texas 4, Milwaukee 1 N.Y. Yankees 3, Colorado 2 Arizona at L.A. Dodgers, late Today's Games N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3) at Colorado (Francis 1-2), 12:10 p.m. Detroit (Fister 4-0) at Washington (Haren 3-3), 1:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Locke 3-1) at N.Y. Mets (Gee 2-4), 4:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Hamels 1-4) at Arizona (Corbin 4-0), 6:40 p.m. Atlanta (Teheran 1-0) at San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-2), 7:15 p.m. Friday's Games Chicago Cubs at Washington, 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m. San Diego at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Colorado at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Philadelphia at Arizona, 6:40 p.m. Miami at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Atlanta at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m.