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ByJoshDubow TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO The days of batting average, RBIs, wins and ERA telling the whole story ended a while ago. To get the true picture of how baseball players are performing or will perform in the future takes navi- gating through an alphabet soup of new-age stats and acronyms. Some of these statistics look back at what players did. Others are tools to predict future perfor- mance, allowing both real gen- eral managers and fantasy play- ers a chance to identify under- or overvalued players. Here's a look at some of them, what they measure and why they're important: WAR Wins Above Replacement. A single number that tries to en- capsulate everything a player does as a hitter, pitcher, fielder and base runner. This allows for comparisons between a slugging first baseman and a slick-fielding shortstop; or five-tool outfielder and elite starting pitcher. The re- sult is how many wins a specific player provided in comparison to a readily available replacement — or a so-called four-A player. Different sites have slightly dif- ferent calculations but an aver- age starter is worth about two wins, a star around four and an MVP candidate in excess of six. FIP Fielding Independent Pitch- ing. Tries to measure the aspects of pitching most in control of the pitcher: walks, strikeouts, hit batsmen and home runs. The BASEBALL WAR,FIP,WPA:Alook atsomefancystats Insteadofjustbattingaverage,RBIs,wins and ERA, now there are new measurements MATTYORK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The Cleveland Indians' Michael Martinez bunts for a base hit against the Cincinnati Reds during the third inning of a spring training game Thursday in Goodyear, Arizona. MATT YORK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce catches a fly out by the Cleveland Indians' Brandon Moss during the fourth inning of a spring training game Thursday in Goodyear, Arizona. By Rachel Cohen The Associated Press NEW YORK Chasson Randle hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left in overtime, and Stanford won the second NIT title of his career, edging Mi- ami 66-64 on Thursday. Sheldon McClellan's dou- ble-pumping 3-point attempt that would have won it at the buzzer wasn't close to going in. The short-handed Hur- ricanes had rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to force the extra period and led 64-61 with less than a minute left. But Randle twice got to the line, making four straight foul shots for the victory. The senior, who became the Cardinal's all-time lead- ing scorer in Tuesday's semi- finals, finished with 25 points Thursday to end his career with 2,375. McClellan led Miami with 17 points. The experimental 30-sec- ond shot clock being used in the NIT proved critical after Randle's free throws pulled Stanford to 64-63 with 38.9 seconds left. With the regular 35-second clock, the Cardinal (24-13) probably would have needed to foul. Instead, they played defense, and Deandre NIT CHAMPIONSHIP Ra nd le , St an fo rd h ol d off M ia mi i n OT Cardinal senior and all-time leading scorer finishes with 25 points a er losing lead FRANK FRANKLIN II — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Miami's Sheldon McClellan (center) fights for control of the ball with Stanford's Stefan Nastic (le ) and Rosco Allen (right) during the first half of the NIT championship game Thursday in New York. Staff Reports CLOVIS Kolby Button threw a two-hit shutout and the Red Bluff Spartans beat Crater (Cen- tral Point, Oregon) 1-0 Wednes- day at the Fresno Easter Classic. Button struck out two, walked none and faced just 23 batters in seven innings pitched. Bryce Sinclair drove in Ryan Gamboa for the game's only run in the seventh inning. Gamboa had a double and drew two walks. Wesley Clawson went 2-for-3 for Red Bluff. Red Bluff (14-3, 4-1) opens up play at Central Valley's Shasta Lake Bass Easter Tournament on April 8 against Etna. The Spartans' next home game is at 3:30 p.m. April 18 against Grass Valley's Bear River. BASEBALL Button pitches Spartans to victory Throws 2-hit shutout as Red Bluff improves to 14-3 The Associated Press HOUSTON After his record-tying round Thursday, Scott Piercy let his thoughts drift toward quali- fying for the Masters with a win this week. Piercy tied a tournament re- cord with a nearly flawless 9-un- der-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Houston Open. "It's the first round," he said. "If I'm sitting here Sunday, then I'll be super-excited. If I (keep play- ing) like I did today, I would say there's a pretty good chance of that." Alex Cejka, in an afternoon group, made four birdies on his back nine — the course's front nine — to finish with a 64, one stroke behind Piercy. J. B. Holmes was next at 65, having also gotten to 8-under with four holes to play before finding a fairway bunker with his first shot at No. 6. After badly missing the green, Holmes had to scramble to a bogey. Phil Mickelson, Luke Guthrie, Charles Howell III and Houston's Shawn Stefani each shot a 66 and trail Piercy by three strokes. Piercy, who made five birdies in a row over one torrid stretch during the middle of his round, became only the fifth player to card a 63 since this PGA Tour stop moved to the Golf Club of Houston Tournament Course in 2003. Two of the others, Mickel- son in 2011 and Johnson Wagner in 2008, went on to win the cham- pionship. The 36-year-old Piercy, a pro from Las Vegas, missed only one green in regulation and needed just 26 putts. Two days earlier, however, feeling so discouraged by the way he'd been playing of late that it crossed his mind while he was out grinding on the driv- ing range "to go home and not waste my time." Piercy, instead, decided to keep practicing. He wound up hitting golf balls for "12, 13 hours. ... In the 13th hour, something kind of PGA TOUR Piercy shoots 63 for 1-stroke advantage at Houston Open REDBLUFF1,CRATER0 Up next: Red Bluff vs. Etna, April 8, Shasta Lake Bass Easter Tour- nament at Central Valley. THESCORE Al-Shabab gunmen ram- paged through a university in northeastern Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing 147people in the group's deadliest attack in the East African country. Four militants were slain. TERRORIST ATTACK Militantskill147at university in Kenya FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 Russia vowed Thursday to continue searching a vast area of the frigid Sea of Okhotsk for 13people missing a er a fishing trawler sank, killing at least 56of the 132people on- board. Another 63were found. RUSSIA Trawler sinks in icy water, at least 56 dead FULL STORY ON PAGE B10 The Red Bluff Spartans track and field teams are scheduled to compete at 9:30a.m. in Redding at Enterprise High School's Hornet Invite. Around 25schools are scheduled to attend. TRACK AND FIELD Spartans head to Hornet Invite Saturday Red Bluff High School is searching for a varsity vol- leyball coach for the 2015 season. Visit edjoin.org and search Red Bluff, CA or call Karen at 529-8703for more information. HELP WANTED Red Bluff seeks volleyball coach STATS PAGE 2 GOLF PAGE 2 STANFORD PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, April 3, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1