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GARYREYES—BAYAREANEWSGROUP Patrick Willis sheds a tear before announcing his retirement from the San Francisco 49ers during a press conference at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Tuesday. ByCamInman BayAreaNewsGroup SANTACLARA PatrickWillisstepped forth at his retirement announce- ment Tuesday wearing suede, size- 13 wingtips. Inside those olive-col- ored shoes were the well-worn feet he credited for his All-Pro career. After eight seasons as arguably the San Francisco 49ers' most domi- nant linebacker ever, Willis hung up his cleats to travel new paths in life. "I tell y'all, my feet, I make no ex- cuses, but they have worked," Willis said, "and they have worked and they have worked and they have worked and they have worked to the point where today, I am blessed to be able to say, man, I get to retire happy." Willis' final game came in an Oct. 13 win at St. Louis, when he left be- fore halftime after aggravating a left toe injury he had secretly battled for years. Playing through broken hands was one thing, but putting more tread on his feet was apparently too much, es- pecially after November surgery on his toe. He seemed at peace leaving a bar- baric sport in relatively good health, at age 30, rather than string out a few more years at the risk of looking like so many ex-players he's seen struggle with everyday activities. "If I had anything left in these feet ...," Willis said. "There's some- thing about these feet. When you don't have no feet ... That's what has made me who I am. I don't have too much more left in these toes." Willis is one of only three defen- sive players in NFL history to earn Pro Bowl berths in each of their first seven seasons, the others being Pro Football Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas. Ronnie Lott is the only other 49ers player to make the Pro Bowl in his first four seasons. Willis claimed he won't be follow- ing the path of Brett Favre, for in- stance, and come out of retirement "in case I get bored at home or need a paycheck. No, I'm leaving this with closure." NFL Willisretires,willnotreturn Arguably 49ers' most dominant linebacker ever says feet are done By Rich Greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF Five Mercy play- ers and two from Los Molinos were named to the Five-Star All- League boys and girls basketball teams. Los Molinos boys basketball coach Kevin Wilkerson was Co- coach of the Year along with Ches- ter's Jake Sims. Mercy's Adil Syed and Terry Ranberg made the team along with Los Molinos' Jorge Ceja. Ranberg, a junior wing, led the Warriors with 16.4 points, 6.4 re- bounds, 1.6 assists and 0.6 blocks per game. Syed, a senior wing, av- eraged 5 points per game. Ceja, a senior forward, was cap- tain for the Bulldogs. For the girls All-League team Mercy's Marissa Starman, Chey- anne Johnson and Madeline Flynn were joined by Los Moli- nos' Rachel Rogers. The Lady Warriors were led by Starman, a senior, who averaged 18.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Johnson, a junior, averaged 8.3 points per game and led the Lady Warriors with 3.8 assists and 3 steals per game. Flynn, another junior, averaged 8.1 points and 6 rebounds per game. Rogers made the team as a freshman for the Lady Bulldogs. BASKETBALL Bulldogs, Warriors named as All-League Staff Reports CORNING The 22nd annual Northern California Pheasant Championship will be held Sat- urday and Sunday at Clear Creek Sports Club at Rolling Hills Ca- sino. Teams consisting of two hunt- ers and one dog will attempt to bag up to six birds within a 30-minute time period, using as few shells as possible. Teams will have a maximum of 12. The event is split into two divi- sions with flushing dogs on Satur- day and pointing dogs on Sunday. The entry fee is $165 per team and each division is limited to 20 teams. Payout, with a full field, will be $500 for first place, $300 for sec- ond and $200 for third. HUNTING Pheasant hunt this weekend at Clear Creek There was no big splash from the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday as the free agent period began, although that could change if they were able to sign Dallas running back DeMarco Murray. NFL FREE AGENCY RaiderssignSmith,add tight end, running back FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group PEORIA, ARIZ. The San Diego Pa- dres are moving in the fences at Petco Park for the second time in three seasons. If their performance in Tuesday's 10-5 exhibition thump- ing of the San Francisco Giants is any indication, they'll take advan- tage of it, too. Newcomers Matt Kemp, Will Middlebrooks and Justin Upton joined Carlos Quentin in belting home runs at Peoria Sports Com- plex — a potential sign of things to come for a Padres club that has been bereft of power since … well, maybe when Bruce Bochy was man- aging them at Qualcomm Stadium. "Yeah, I like the long ball," Pa- dres manager Bud Black said. "You know, I saw it a lot on the mound when I was pitching." The weather is warming up in the Cactus League and so are the bats; the Cubs' rookie trio of Jorge Soler, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant went back-to-back-to-back on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Giants are ex- pressing private concern. With Hunter Pence's fractured forearm keeping him out for a chunk of April, if not the entire month, the Giants have precious few power threats in the lineup. Their forecasted open- ing day roster, without Pence, hit just 67 home runs last season — and that includes four from Mad- ison Bumgarner, who is tied with third baseman Casey McGehee for the fifth most on the team. Joe Panik's solo shot off the Pa- dres' Ian Kennedy was the sixth by a Giant this spring but the first by a player who is a lock to stand on the baseline for the opener at Ar- izona's Chase Field; Gary Brown, Matt Duffy, Guillermo Quiroz, Dan- iel Carbonell and Adam Duvall have hit the others. "I'm glad we're not starting the season," Bochy said. "We're not ready. We've got some work to do." Panik's homer was his first hit of SPRING TRAINING POWER PROBLEMS A GIANTS CONCERN Padres sluggers make San Francisco's deficiencies stand out by belting four home runs in 10-5 romp LENNY IGNELZI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The San Francisco Giants' Norichika Aoki follows through with his swing while batting against the San Diego Padres in a spring training game Tuesday in Peoria, Ariz. LENNY IGNELZI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The San Diego Padres' Matt Kemp watches his three-run home run in the third inning against the San Francisco Giants in a spring training game Tuesday in Peoria, Ariz. The Tehama County 4-H pro- gram is recruiting teen staff and adult volunteers for 4-H Youth Camp. Teens do not need to be enrolled in the 4-H program to attend. Camp staff will attend camp July 10-16. FOR TEENS Positions available for 4-H Youth Camp FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 The Corning golf team is scheduled to host Lassen at Sevillano Links at noon. The Cardinals track and field team will travel to Las Plumas for a 2p.m. meet. CORNING Cardinals track and field, golf compete The annual Glenn Cox baseball tournament is scheduled at Los Molinos High School today through Friday. The Lady Bulldogs so ball team is scheduled to host Maxwell at 4p.m. LOS MOLINOS Glenn Cox tournament continues in LM today WILLIS PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 11, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1