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Friday Track —Division 1 Championships at Enterprise, 9 a.m. Track —Division 2 Championships at C.V., 3 p.m. Track — Division 4 Championships at W.V., 10:30 a.m. MLB— Cubs at Red Sox, 4 p.m., WGN MLB —Athletics at Giants, 7 p.m., MNT-21 NHLPlayoffs — Canucks at Sharks, Game 3, 6 p.m., VS Sports 1B Friday May 20, 2011 Lady Spartans head to final SOFTBALL With one gone in the inning, Mimi Williams singled and moved to a sec- ond on a McColpin wild pitch. Then on a 1-2 pitch, Kiley Mans- By RICKSILVA MediaNews Group CHICO — The Spartans got all the big hits they needed in a 7-2 win over host Pleasant Valley, Thursday, to earn a spot in the Division II championship game for the fourth consecutive season. Red Bluff will seek its third consec- utive section title, Saturday, when they take on Chico, who beat Shasta 7-0 in the other semifinal. The championship is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Chico High School. The Spartans got off to a great start, which Spartan head coach J Howell attributed to his club’s intensity. “The girls wanted it from the first pitch of the game,” Howell said. “They were very focused. This is my 20th year doing this and this was as intense and focused as I have ever had a group.” It showed at the outset when Haley Harris singled to open the game with a single off Vikings’ senior pitcher Tori Urriutia and scored when Megan McColpin drilled a double a into the left centerfield gap. McColpin later scored on a Emily McEnaney sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. The Vikings tried answering in their half of the inning against McColpin. field drilled a single into centerfield, scoring Williams. But the senior centerfielder got hung up between first and second. When Spartans catcher Brittney Fletcher threw behind the Viking run- ner to first, Mansfield tried to break for second — but ran right into a base umpire who was in the base path. The temporary stall, gave the Spar- tans time to cut down Mansfield and the inning fizzled. “We had some good hitters coming up after that with Kaylie Hull and Jes- sica Gallaway,” Pleasant Valley coach Tony Tallerico said. “We get the run scored with only one out and Kiley at second, or even safe at first – the inning could be different. It could have been 3-2 or 2-2 at the end of that inning, you never know.” Red Bluff went right back to work scoring twice more, one a RBI single by Harris, in the second inning on three hits and a Viking error to claim a 4-1 lead. After that Urrutia seemed to settle in, retiring nine of the next 11 hitters to keep the Vikings in the game. But Pleasant Valley just couldn’t score for its senior right-hander, man- aging just three hits over the next four innings against McColpin. The junior pitcher allowed just one runner to get to second base in that same span. She tossed a complete game, scat- tering seven hits and walking just two. “Megan does a real good job of moving the ball around,” Howell said. “Side-to-side and up down. She was just doing a real good job of locating her pitches.” Pleasant Valley caught a break of their own in the fourth inning when Slay opened the inning with single and went to third on an infield single. But Harris was called out for runner inter- ference and Slay returned to first — killing the rally. In the sixth, Urrutia seemed to have solved the Spartans, retiring the first two hitters of the inning. But she hit Slay, walked Harris and gave up a RBI single to McColpin and it was 5-1 Red Bluff. Tallerico tried to stem the tide by bringing in Mansfield. But RBI singles by Emily Mcenaney and Fletcher gave the Spartans a 7-1 lead. In the sixth inning, Williams and Mansfield opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but could only manage one run as Williams scored from third on a wild pitch. The Vikings did get two runners in the bottom of the seventh, but much like the rest of the game, couldn’t get that one big hit that the Spartans were getting so many of. Ross leaves game, A’s drop 2nd straight #3 Red Bluff at #1 Chico Division-II Championship Saturday, 2 p.m. Red Bluff Spartans: 24- 5, 11-2, first in EAL- South, beat Pleasant Valley 7-2 in semifinal Chico Panthers: 20-4, 9-3, first in EAL-North, beat Shasta 7-0 in semifinal Admission Adults, $5. Students and seniors, $4 Previous meeting: The teams met a couple weeks ago on May 5 in Red Bluff. The Lady Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning and then the Chico offense exploded. The Panthers put up crooked numbers in the last three innings and left with a 7-2 win. Players to watch: Red Bluff —#4 Tayler Zazueta, #5 Krista Rodriguez, #6 Aubrey Lair, #7 Brittney Fletcher, #8 Katie Hall, #9 Megan McColpin, #10 Courtney Boes, #11 Haley Harris, #12 Danisha Slay, #13 Sarah Jor- rick, #14 Brooke Clatty, #15 Bryce Etzler, #16 Emily McEnaney, #17 Bayli Johnson, #18 Morgan Weaver Chico — #8 Jo Koons, #13 Jade Smith, #5 Maris- sa Weeber, #4 Nicole Weeber Notes: A rematch of last year’s championship game, which Red Bluff won 2-1 in the eighth inning when Danisha Slay drove in Megan McColpin...Red Bluff seeks their third consecutive section title and 11th since 1984...Chico hasn’t won a title in the mod- ern era Paradise knocks out Lady Cardinals By JEFFLARSON MediaNews Group PARADISE — It wasn’t pretty, but the Paradise High softball team accomplished its goal of advancing back to a Northern Section championship game, thanks largely to three seniors — two of whom are four-year varsity players experiencing their fourth straight postseason. Alex Sobrero and Jessica Sharp, who have been playing together since freshman year, joined Melanie Winans as the catalysts in the top-seeded Bobcats’ 8-5 victory over No. 4 seeded Corning in the opening round of the Division III sec- tion playoffs Thursday night in Paradise. Sobrero, who is headed to Division I North Dakota State in the fall, had just watched her team’s lead slimmed cour- tesy of a two-run inside-the-park home run by Kristin Cox in the top of the sixth inning. Forget for a minute that Corning (12-15-1) would have had a 3-2 lead at that point, had it not committed three errors in the previous five innings, because the point is the Cardi- nals closed to within a manageable deficit at 6-3 within one inning still to play. At least until Sobrero came to the plate in the bottom half of the frame. The senior center fielder appeared locked and loaded from the first pitch of the at-bat and belted a ball to the left-center field gap for a solo inside-the-park home run. “I think you saw a little frustration come out of her then,” Paradise coach Lennie Dean said on Sobrero’s home run. “Her first at-bat of course the center fielder was in real shal- low and she wanted to get her and she did. It shows what a good player she is … she really focused up and got the job done when we needed her to.” Sobrero’s third home run of the season ignited a two-run rally in the inning, after two-hitter Melanie Winans followed Sobrero with a bunt single down the third-base line. Sharp then doubled to left-center, chasing home Winans and extending the lead back to five, 8-3. “In the past we weren’t a good enough team to overcome (mistakes) but this group of girls is a good group of kids and they can overcome a few errors and they showed that today,” Dean said. MCT photo Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki reacts after being struck out,Thursday. letics 11-1. The lanky right-hander OAKLAND (AP) — Oakland starter Tyson Ross tried to ignore it on the first pitch, and then tried to fight through it with his second pitch. The third pitch let him know something was wrong. Ross strained his left oblique and was removed after throwing only seven pitches on Thursday. ‘‘The first pitch to the second hitter felt like a mus- cle spasm or a cramp,’’ Ross said. ‘‘The next pitch I really felt it and the third pitch I said I can’t throw with this.’’ Justin Morneau homered and had three hits and Rene Rivera hit his first home run in nearly five years, and the suddenly resurgent Min- nesota Twins beat the Ath- gave up a single to Twins’ leadoff hitter Denard Span. Ross’ 1-1 pitch to Trevor Plouffe got by A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki, who was charged with a passed ball. Ross (3-3) will be evalu- ated by team trainers before Friday’s interleague game in San Francisco. ‘‘Obviously it was a rough start with Tyson being injured with no outs,’’ A’s manager Bob Geren said. ‘‘You just try to get through 27 outs with your bullpen. It was a rough day, but we’ll bounce back. ‘‘ Ross wandered around the mound for a few moments before A’s trainers were called to the mound. Ross walked off under his own power. David Purcey rushed in from the bullpen and assumed the count on Plouffe, who grounded out. Span later scored on an RBI single by Jason Kubel. ‘‘We were concerned because we did see him grab his side a little bit,’’ Purcey said. ‘‘It’s no big deal when the phone rings, but you never expect it that early. I just wanted to go as deep as I could and help save the bullpen.’’ Nick Blackburn pitched seven solid innings for Min- nesota, which has won three straight — all on the road — following a season-high nine-game losing streak. Plouffe also homered while Michael Cuddyer added three hits for Min- nesota. Plouffe homered as part of a six-run eighth inning, the Twins’ best of the season. Hideki Matsui walked and scored for the A’s. Blackburn (3-4) gave up five hits and allowed only one runner past second base to end a three-start winless skid. He struck out two and walked one. Phil Dumatrait pitched the eighth and Anthony Swarzak worked the ninth to complete the six-hitter. Blackburn didn’t need much support from the offense. The Twins’ right-hander has not surrendered more than two earned runs in his past four starts and has won 10 consecutive decisions in May dating to 2009. Blackburn only allowed two Oakland runners to reach second base through the first six innings — both See A's, page 2B The Bobcats (23-9) committed four errors Thursday night, the first one coming when the left fielder dropped a routine fly ball, allowing Corning sophomore Jennifer Dev- ers to score the team’s first run of the game in the fifth inning. Then in the seventh, Paradise’s third baseman fielded Karle Jennings’ ground ball cleanly, yet threw wildly to first base, enabling Shelbie Fryar to score from second and cut the deficit to 8-5. But Sharp struck out Erika Raygoza to end the threat, the game and send Paradise to its second section title game in the last four years. The Bobcats will face third-seeded Las Plumas – a 5-4 winner in eight innings over No. 2 Foothill in Redding in its opening-round game – for the D-III section crown at 11 a.m. Saturday in Paradise. It means a busy day for Paradise’s players, as they have the prom and a senior awards banquet to go to that same day. However, Sharp said the team will be focused. “I want to win so bad, that’s all I’m thinking about,” Sharp said. “It would be a great way to end my senior year, I’d love to win and I really hope we do.” For Corning coach Kirk Jennings, he said the outcome might have been different had the team not committed a few blunders early in the game. In fact the Cardinals misplayed two balls in the infield that led to three Paradise unearned runs in the fifth inning. The fielding mistakes coupled with six runners left on base were the two biggest hindrances in the game, Jennings said. “We had a couple mental errors and when you play good teams they capitalize on errors,” he said. “They made a few errors too, but we didn’t capitalize. We left runners on sec- ond and third twice with two outs. One more hit each time right there and we win that game. It was a good game that’s a good team, good luck to them and we’ll be back next year.” Corning 5 8 3 Paradise 8 10 4 Pleasant Valley 2 Red Bluff 7 Minnesota 11 Athletics 1