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Thursday PGAChampionship — First round, 10 a.m., TNT MLB — Rockies at Mets, 9 a.m., MLBN MLB — Cubs at Giants, 12:30 p.m., CSNB MLB— Dodgers at Phillies, 4 p.m., MLBN NFLPreseason — Panthers at Ravens, 5 p.m., ESPN Little League — Regional semifinals, 8 a.m., 2 p.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B Thursday August 12, 2010 Bulldogs look to start again with new coach FOOTBALL Los Molinos Bulldogs By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor LOS MOLINOS—Since reaching the Division 5 championship game in 2005 the Bulldogs have won just seven games. How do you get over such a mental hurdle? “You just forget about it,” says first-year coach Irvin Maxwell. Maxwell hopes to inject not only some wins, but some fun back into a program that went 2-7 on the field in 2009. To do so he’s brought in a slew of assistants, includ- ing his brother Jim, the Los Molinos wrestling coach. The Maxwells have been coaching football for seven years, before Irwin got hired in to take over the Bulldogs. The coaching staff isn’t the only new thing in Los Molinos this season — they’ll depart the Shasta Cascade to join the Mountain Valley League. They’ll be joined by Biggs, Chester and Maxwell. One thing the program does return however is its starting quarterback — junior Sean Conrad. Conrad passed for 774 yards and five touchdowns last season and rushed for 216 more yards. While Conrad’s brother, Jc has graduated along with Richie Lakin, he does have some help returning as well. Sean Higgins comes back after making 50 tackles in 2009 and Eric Blanchard, who caught 15 balls for 155 yards and recorded three sacks returns as well. The returning talent, much of whom saw a lot of game time a year ago, has Maxwell excited. “I expect to have a pretty good team,” he said at the team’s second Wednesday practice. The switch in leagues should also help. Maxwell lost in the D-5 championship game last sea- son, but Biggs and Chester were both 3-win teams and Los Molinos has each twice on their schedule in 2010 with the 4-team league set to play home-and-homes. The schedule opens a week earlier than most teams with the Bulldogs traveling to Williams on Aug. 27 in Week 0. Los Molinos should have a good shot at getting Maxwell his first win against a Williams team that went 1-9 last season. The toughest game of the schedule comes next when on Sept. 3 the Bulldogs travel to defending Division 4 champions Portola. In their home opener Sept. 10 Los Molinos hosts Weed, who went 4-6 last season. The Bulldogs then get University Prep at home, a team they beat last season. After their traditional off week for the fair, the Bull- dogs get into league play, by hosting Maxwell on Oct. 1. They then travel to Biggs and then host Chester before playing the same three teams again. After a last road trip to Maxwell on Oct. 22 the Bulldogs close out with two Giants acquire infielder Fontenot from Cubs SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco Giants (AP) — The San Francisco Giants looked only as far as the visitor’s clubhouse to add depth and versatility to their infield, acquiring Mike Fontenot from the Chicago Cubs on Wednes- day night. Fontenot was still in Cubs gear a couple hours before game time, ready to make the short walk across the ballpark — all of about 500 feet. He was available for the Giants off the bench. ‘‘It’s been a strange day so far,’’ Fontenot said. ‘‘Coming to the field to get your work in and went up the stairs after hitting and they called me in the office. I’m excited for the opportu- nity. Knowing the Giants are in the thick of it really gets you pumped up.’’ Fontenot gave up his No. 17 blue road jersey to wear 14 for the Giants because Aubrey Huff already has 17. Fontenot chatted before the game with San Francisco’s injured Mark DeRosa as the two were also Cubs teammates. ‘‘Beat it!’’ one Cubs player yelled good-natured- ly at Fontenot. ‘‘We’ve got to change our signs.’’ Carlos Zambrano waved goodbye a couple of times from a nearby table. ‘‘I told him to take it easy on us,’’ said acting Cubs manager Alan Tram- mell, filling in while Lou Piniella is in Tampa, Fla., helping his ailing mother. ‘‘When you’ve been around the game, you know things like this happen. Mike Fontenot was a very good teammate.’’ San Francisco sent speedy Class-A center fielder Evan Crawford to the Cubs, who weren’t sure yet at which level Crawford would play. Short-handed Chicago was set to call up shortstop Darwin Barney from Triple-A Iowa, with the hope he would join the Daily News photo by Rich Greene Los Molinos football coach Irvin Maxwell looks on,Wednesday, as his players gets physical. home games against Biggs and Chester. Maxwell said he hopes to have near 40 varsity play- ers once school gets under way next week. He’s also already looking to the future, by promoting the community of Los Molinos takes advantage of little league football programs to have players prepared when entering junior varsity in the future. But one comment frequently came up during an inter- view Wednesday. “Football’s a fun game,” he said. High schools will now face restrictions on metal bats BASEBALL SACRAMENTO (AP) — High school baseball teams in California will have to follow new safety standards for the metal bats they use under rules released Wednesday, in the wake of accidents that brought national attention to the issue of the bats’ safety. The aluminum bats will be tested to limit the speed of the balls they hit and may include a tamper-proof decal that would change color if the bat was modified to improve per- formance. While in production, the new bats will be broken in to ensure that their performance — the speed balls travel and the amount they bounce — could not be improved over time with wear. they are available. Schools will be required to use the new bats in January if The changes came after 16-year-old pitcher Gunnar Sandberg of Marin County suffered a major head injury when he was hit in the head last March by a line drive off a metal bat. Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said Wednesday that he will withdraw his proposed two-year moratorium on non-wooden bats for high school baseball teams. MCT file photo The San Francisco Cubs made a trade,Wednesday, for Mike Fontenot. team Thursday — or at the latest by the start of a series at St. Louis on Friday. The Cubs scratched Aramis Ramirez an hour before first pitch Wednes- day with a sore ribcage. First baseman Derrek Lee is on the bereavement list and it’s unclear when he will come back, but he can’t play before Friday. Fontenot is ready to help any way he can. ‘‘Whatever they need me to do,’’ he said. The Giants were in negotiations with the Cubs to acquire Fontenot at the July 31 trade deadline. Talks picked up between Cubs general manager Jim Hendry and Giants GM Brian Sabean after San Francisco shortstop Edgar Renteria strained his left biceps and went on the dis- abled list Wednesday, Renteria’s third stint on the DL this season. Renteria underwent an MRI exam earlier Wednes- day for the injury that began bothering him on a swing during last week’s series at Atlanta. ‘‘Mike will help us in the infield, give us experience and a left-handed bat,’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘‘I wish we had him a day earlier.’’ The 30-year-old Fontenot is batting .284 with one home run, 11 dou- bles, three triples and 20 RBIs in 75 games this sea- son. Of his 40 starts, 29 have been at second base, seven at third and four at shortstop. ‘‘He appreciated how he was handled here and he appreciates being in a pen- nant race,’’ Cubs assistant GM Randy Bush said. He could spell Freddy Sanchez at second while also filling in at other posi- tions. San Francisco traded for Sanchez the same way last season, getting him from Pittsburgh when the Pirates were in town. The Giants also activat- ed infielder Eugenio Velez from the disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno. Velez was struck on the head July 25 by a foul ball while in the dugout against Arizona. Also Wednesday, the Cubs announced that lefty reliever John Grabow is done for the season. Already on the disabled list since June 29 with a sprained left knee, the pitcher tore the medial col- lateral ligament while on a rehab assignment in the Arizona League. He is scheduled to meet Monday with the team orthopedist in Chicago to discuss his options, and surgery is pos- sible. The hope is that Grabow will be ready for the start of spring training 2011. He was 1-3 with a 7.36 ERA in 28 appearances this year. His bill, AB7, sought to ban both aluminum and com- posite bats until new safety standards were adopted. Huff- man said he postponed the bill for months as he worked on safety changes with the California Interscholastic Federa- tion, which sets statewide rules for high school sports. The new rules released Wednesday will give California a jump start on implementing national standards for aluminum bats, which take effect in 2012. The CIF announced in July that the composite bats that some high school teams use will also have to meet new national standards. The CIF also will encourage member high schools to require protective headgear for players. ‘‘Safety has always been the top priority, and continues to be the top priority, of the CIF,’’ said Marie Ishida, executive director of CIF. Sandberg, who was in a coma for weeks following the accident, said Wednesday that he plans to resume playing baseball this season. ‘‘Even though this new protective gear might not look like just wearing a regular hat, I would say that it’s definite- ly worth it, after what I’ve been through, and after what other kids have been through,’’ he said. Huffman said many other young people have also suf- fered similar head injuries. ‘‘Not all have recovered. Some young people have been killed from this very same type of incident: a line drive dri- ven by a performance-enhancing metal bat,’’ he said. Ishida recommended that those who plan to buy new bats should wait until bats that meet the new standards are avail- able. Tom Cove, president and chief executive officer of the Maryland-based Sporting Goods Manufacturers Associa- tion, said companies are rushing to develop new products to meet the standards. ‘‘There will be bats available, but not enough to sell to the whole market by the beginning of next year,’’ Cove said. Cove said the changes would make the new metal bats more ‘‘wood-like’’ and take away some of the benefits of composite bats. He said manufacturers do not yet have the technology to create the tamper-proof decals, and he is working with the standard makers to refine that rule.