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Thursday British Open — First Round, 1 a.m., ESPN Tour de France — Stage 12, 3:30 a.m., VERSUS MLB—Giants at Padres, 7 p.m., CSNB PGA—Viking Classic, 1 p.m., TGC WNBA—Seattle at San Antonio, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B Thursday July 14, 2011 Giants eye 2nd half Red Bluff sends 4 to HS Rodeo Finals RODEO By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor Four of Red Bluff’s brightest and best cowboys and cow- girls are taking off for Gillette, Wyo. for the 63rd Annual National High School Finals Rodeo set to run Sunday through July 23. Casey Meroshnekoff will be looking to defend his nation- al championship in bareback riding. He’ll be joined at the event featuring competitors from 41 states, Canada and Australia by Red Bluff’s Brandi Antho- ny, Danny Brown and Pierce McClelland. Also headed from District 1 are Colton Campbell (Kla- math Falls, Ore.), Sterling Humphry (McArthur) and Court- ney Wood (Chico). Around 1,500 contestants are scheduled to compete. With a rodeo this large and important, controlling one’s nerves becomes even more important. Brown, who will be competing in steer wrestling, said his MCT file photo The San Francisco Giants look for a repeat performance of the second half of their 2010 season. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Giants manager Bruce Bochy wasn’t shy about recognizing his team’s problems at the All-Star break: The hitting is anemic, scoring scarce and statistics mind-boggling. ‘‘I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re in first place.’’ How the injury-filled Giants are leading the NL West can be a bit baffling. About all the defend- ing World Series champions do well is pitch close and win closer, and that seems to be the only things that matter. The Giants open a four-game series at San Diego on Thursday, beginning the season’s second half in first place for the first time since 2003 and looking every bit the surprising contender they were a year ago. ‘‘This first half is a good one for us with the nicks that we’ve taken as players and everyone showing resiliency and bouncing back and being a part of the team regardless of what they’re asked to do,’’ two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum said. ‘‘We’re in a good spot right now.’’ Hard to argue that considering what they’ve endured. The Giants lost the middle of their lineup — Buster Posey, Freddy Sanchez and Pablo San- doval — to injuries for significant time. They had a road-stacked schedule early and enough cham- pionship ceremonies and celebra- tions to provide plenty of distrac- tions. Players even had camera crews following their every move for a documentary titled ‘‘The Fran- chise,’’ with the first episode pre- miering Wednesday night on Showtime. The Giants certainly haven’t lacked for drama. Posey, the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, was lost for the season after he tore three ligaments in his left ankle and fractured a bone in his lower leg in a home-plate col- lision with Florida’s Scott Cousins on May 25. Sanchez, the 2006 NL batting champion, has been out since he dislocated his right shoulder div- ing for a ball June 10, and there’s no guarantee the sure-handed sec- ond baseman will return soon. Sandoval also missed more than six weeks recovering from right wrist surgery but has carried San Francisco since. The All-Star third baseman has a career-high 21-game hitting streak. ‘‘We need to keep fighting the way we have in the first half,’’ Sandoval said. ‘‘We’ve had a cou- ple of tough injuries. Buster, Freddy, I was on the DL. We are a team. We need to pull together like we did in the first half.’’ The Giants have continued to play the kind of games they did all of last year: tight ones depen- dent on the pitcher being almost perfect. They lead the majors with a 25-12 record in one-run games this season, thanks in large part to a talented rotation and a strong bullpen. San Francisco’s rotation received a big boost from 33- year-old journeyman Ryan Vogel- song, who leads the staff with a 2.17 ERA and made his first All- Star team in a breakout season since replacing the injured Barry Zito. If Vogelsong comes any- where close to duplicating his remarkable start, it could be a scary outlook for the National League. The rest of the staff carried the franchise to its first title since 1954 and first since moving West in 1958 last season, and it’s doing it again despite the fourth-worst run support in the majors. ‘‘It has been tough,’’ said Matt Cain, one of four Giants All-Star pitchers. ‘‘That shows what group of guys we have and what kind of team we have. We’re not always banking on one guy to pick every- one up. That really works out well.’’ While it can be easy to pick at the Giants’ shortcomings, it’s hard to argue with the end results. A year ago, they were in fourth place in the division and four games behind the first-place Padres. Now they have a three- game lead over a young Arizona team and are 8 1/2 games ahead of banged-up Colorado. Whether San Francisco could make another deep playoff run with such little scoring punch remains a mystery. The Giants are the only team in the majors without a player with at least 10 home runs and are in desperate need of some power. General manager Brian Sabean will surely try to rekindle his magic moves from a year ago, when late-season pickups Cody Ross and Pat Burrell turned into postseason stars. Otherwise it will be all on the pitchers to the carry the club again. ‘‘It’s hard to ask this pitching to keep doing what it’s doing,’’ Bochy said. ‘‘The guys are relent- less, resilient. They fight every day. That’s what we’ll need in the second half. It’s going to be a tight race. It’s all about having the will. These guys show it every day.’’ keys for this weekend are being aggressive, but not letting that pressure get to him. He spent the week in Susanville practicing for the finals, which he qualified for in his last chance this year as a senior. “It was a pretty big accomplishment. It was pretty excit- ing to do it my last year,” Brown said. “I’ve never been healthy all the way through a high school season.” Brown has been held back in previous years by broken bones in his wrist and shoulder, which has also been dislo- cated. “I’m hoping to come home with a National Champi- onship — I have the ability,” he said. Anthony is making her second trip to Gillette. She’ll compete in breakaway roping. “It was a lot of fun, you get to meet a whole bunch of peo- ple from all over the state,” she said. Anthony had some rather straight forward keys to success in the coming week. “Well, you gotta’ rope really fast calves and be confi- dence in yourself,” she said. Meroshnekoff became the first California cowboy to win the bareback title in 2010. It’s a buckle that’s been won by some of rodeo’s best including legend Ty Murray and cur- rent PRCA stars JR Vazain and Royce Ford. Meroshnekoff will look to become the first back-to-back bareback champion since Keith Bourgeois in 1979-1980. Tehama Tracker AMERICAN LEGION The Red Bluff Jr. Bulls went 3-1 during a pair of dou- bleheaders over the weekend in Eureka. Red Bluff swept the Eurkea Dukes with 14-11 and 19-5 wins. In the 14-11 win, Will Macdonald and Kyle Martin each had three hits. Martin had a single, double and triple. Danny Vietti had a pair of singles and a pair of RBIs, while Ryan Gamboa got the win on the mound. Andrew Clawson, Macdonald and Jack Murphy each had three hits during the 19-5 win. Keith Drury and Sam Geveden had two singles each and Murphy picked up the win. Red Bluff split a doubleheader with North Humboldt. Martin pitched a complete game in the Jr. Bulls 9-4 win. Clawson had two singles and a triple and drove in four runs. Vietti and Martin each had a pair of hits. Vietti also drove in two runs. Red Bluff lost the first game 15-7. Geveden went 3-for- 5 with a double and Macdonald had a pair of singles with an RBI. Clawson and Gambo also drove in runs. The South County Sun Devils have also been on a role as of late, winning three of their last four games. See DEVILS, page 2B BACH, Germany (AP) — The U.S. kept its fans breathless again. And just like last time, Abby Wambach — who else — came up big. Wambach broke a tense tie with a thunderous header in the 79th minute, and the U.S. earned its first trip to the World Cup final since winning it in 1999 with a 3- 1 victory over France on Wednesday. ‘‘We’ve achieved part of our goal. We’re in the final,’’ Wambach said. ‘‘We want to complete it. We want to be world champs.’’ Lauren Cheney and Alex Wambach lifts US to final in 3-1 win over France — Abby Wambach MOENCHENGLAD- bearhug as the pro-Ameri- can crowd of 25,676 sere- naded the team with chants of ‘‘U-S-A! U-S-A!’’ and the party quickly spread across the Atlantic. A thrilling win over Brazil in the quarterfinals captivated fans back home, and a little thing called the workday wasn’t enough to deter them. Morgan also scored for the Americans, who will play either Sweden or Japan on Sunday in Frankfurt. If the U.S. wins, it would be the first team to claim three World Cup titles. When the final whistle sounded, the Americans rushed onto the field. Wambach found U.S. coach Pia Sundhage and gave her a Dozens of fans crowded around TVs in the Phoenix airport to watch the game, and less than an hour after it ended, ‘‘World Cup Finals’’ was trending on Twitter. ‘‘My heroes. Wambach. Boxx. Rapinoe. Solo. That TEAM! Our team!’’ actor Tom Hanks tweeted. Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers said, ‘‘Awesome job US Women, finish it off Sunday now.’’ Wambach and company were glad to share the moment. ‘‘These wins, we can’t do it alone. We know a whole nation is cheering us on,’’ Wambach said. ‘‘We believe ‘‘These wins, we can’t do it alone. We know a whole nation is cheering us on.” in ourselves and we’re in the final. I couldn’t be happier.’’ The Americans had only two days’ rest following the Brazil game, their quickest turnaround of the tourna- ment, and there had been concern that fatigue or emo- tions might get the best of them. But Wambach, who has been playing with an Achilles’ tendon so sore it often keeps her out of prac- tice, dismissed that idea. And she sure didn’t look hobbled. Lauren Cheney, who’d staked the Americans to an early lead with her goal in the ninth minute, took a cor- ner kick in the 79th and immediately looked for the star forward. Wambach is one of the world’s best in the air, and France was guarding her tightly. But Cheney delivered the ball perfectly to the far post, and the 5- foot-11 Wambach soared over the scrum, pushing the ball past French goalkeeper Berangere Sapowicz. ‘‘I knew Abby was going to beat her,’’ Cheney said. Asked how, Cheney said, ‘‘Because she’s Abby Wambach.’’ Wambach let out a scream and did a sliding sprint into the corner, where she was mobbed by her teammates. It was her third goal of the tournament and 12th of her career, tying fel- low American Michelle Akers for third on the all- time World Cup scoring list. Alex Morgan added an insurance goal in the 82nd, the first for the World Cup rookie. Fed by second-half sparkplug Megan Rapinoe, Morgan outraced four defenders up the left side before stutter-stepping to throw Sapowicz off before taking her shot. ‘‘The priority is not to accept another goal,’’ France coach Bruno Bini said through a translator. ‘‘When that happens, you’ve had it. We conceded another goal and that was it for us.’’ Despite the loss, the World Cup was a resound- ing success for the French, who made their first appear- ance in the semifinals and qualified for next summer’s London Olympics. The U.S. was staked to an early lead by Cheney’s goal in the ninth minute. But with the silky smooth Louisa Necib calling the shots, France dominated for most of the game, finishing with a whopping 25-11 advantage in shots. The French missed two great chances in the first half, with goalkeeper Hope Solo hav- ing to tip a Gaetane Thiney shot away in the 30th and Sonia Bompastor rattling the crossbar two minutes later. Finally, in the 55th, France got its equalizer. Bompastor floated in a cross from about 30 yards and, with the dangerous Gaetane Thiney right in front of her, Solo had little opportunity to move. The ball flew right past her. But just as they did Sun- day against Brazil, the Americans got stronger and stronger as the game went on before Wambach — who scored a critical goal in the waning moments against the Brazilians — came through. ‘‘In the end, we’re in the finals,’’ Wambach said, ‘‘and that’s all that matters.” Red Bluff Jr. Bulls South County Sun Devils San Francisco Giants