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ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO It's an even season and the San Francisco Giants expect to be contending for another World Series cham- pionship. Just as they did by winning it all in 2010, '12 and '14. No matter that San Francisco is in a dominant division fea- turing the three-time defend- ing NL West champion Los An- geles Dodgers and the much-im- proved Arizona Diamondbacks with big-money ace Zack Gre- inke. Giants general manager Bobby Evans brought in top-tier starters Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to boost an already impressive rotation, committing a combined $220 million for the two right-handers. "We're trying to go for an- other championship, another ring here, it's going to take all of us," new center fielder Denard Span said. Cueto signed for $130 million over six years and Samardzija received $90 million for the next five seasons. Each spring training, man- ager Bruce Bochy said, a man- ager might ask himself whether he has the group that could chase a championship eight months later. As he surveyed San Francis- co's talent in the clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium this spring, there was no doubt in Bochy's mind — and he knows a thing or two about what it takes to win in October. "If you look at this team, Bobby Evans did a great job of assembling this club. He added depth to the rotation and to the BASEBALL PREVIEW Giantstryforanothertitleinevenyear SanFranciscowonitallin2010,'12and'14, has added talent to battle in tough NL West CHRISCARLSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, le , and starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija chat during practice Feb. 18in Scottsdale, Ariz. By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter REDBLUFF Kolby Button threw five scoreless innings Thursday night and the Spartans' bats backed him up with eight runs through five, and even when the Paradise Bobcats woke up in the sixth, Red Bluff hung on for an 8-4 win. After giving up two runs with nobody out in the sixth, Button was pulled and Lane Pritchard took over on the mound. Pritchard struck out Kevin Wright looking before giving up a run on a Kevin Ferreira single with runners on the cor- ners. A double steal plated Dy- lan Moran, but got the Spartans another out when Ferreira was thrown out at second. Pritchard fanned leadoff hitter James Er- isman looking to put an end to the Bobcats' rally. Pritchard opened the seventh by striking out Jet Hampton be- fore a pair of singles put Bob- cats on first and second. Nick Rockwell flied out to right but a catcher's interference call on Tanner Tweedt loaded the bases with two down. Wright dribbled a 1-0 pitch back to Pritchard, who tossed to first for the final out. The Spartans' runs came when Eric Spencer got aboard in the second with a single to left and moved to second on an Austin Youngblood bunt. Tweedt singled to put runners on the corners and stole second before leadoff hitter Wes Clawson dou- bled up the middle to plate the runners. Pritchard led off the third with a base on balls, stole sec- ond and reached third on a long Button fly out to right. A double to the wall off the bat of Bryce Sinclair scored Pritchard, but Sinclair was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. The Spartans batted through the lineup in the fifth. Pritchard and Button led off with walks. A Sinclair single scored Pritchard and put runners at the corners. Button came home on a double steal and Sinclair moved to third on an Eric Spencer single. A sac- rifice fly that just missed clear- ing the fence from Ryan Gamboa got Sinclair home. Spencer stole second and a Youngblood sin- gle moved him to third. Young- blood stole second and Spencer came home on a Tweedt sacri- fice to right. The final run of the inning came when Youngblood took home on a passed ball with Clawson at the plate. The Spartans (6-4 overall, 2-1 league) were scheduled to take the field at 2 p.m. Friday at Cen- tral Valley (5-7 overall) in Shasta Lake. Individualstats Clawson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Button was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a double, Sinclair was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a double, Tweedt was 1 for 2 with an RBI and a sacrifice fly and Gamboa was 0 for 3 but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Pritchard was 0 for 2 with two walks and he scored twice. Spencer was 2 for 4 and scored twice. Button got the win with five innings pitched, giving up six hits and four runs, two earned, three walks and six strikeouts. Pritchard pitched two score- less innings and gave up two hits, a walk and had three strikeouts. BASEBALL Spartanshangonfor victoryoverParadise Button tosses five scoreless innings, Pritchard finishes out win with solid relief PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS Red Bluff's Kolby Button threw five scoreless innings Thursday night and got the win over the Paradise Bobcats. Payton Edwards singles to right in the first inning Thursday night in the Spartans' win over Paradise. REDBLUFF8,PARADISE4 Up next: Red Bluff at Central Valley, 2p.m. Friday. THESCORE By Pat Eaton-Robb The Associated Press STORRS,CONN. Tufts coach Carla Berube says Geno Auriemma would recognize a lot of the things she does in practice with her Jumbos. After all, she learned them while playing on Auriemma's first national championship team at UConn. Berube and her players are in Indianapolis this weekend, pre- paring to play Thomas More for the Division III national title, while Auriemma and the Hus- kies are there looking for their 11th Division I championship and fourth in a row. This season, all three NCAA women's champion- ship games will be played at the same venue, Bankers Life Field- house. Auriemma's influence isn't hard to find. Morgan Valley, who played on three UConn champion- ship teams between 2000-2004, is an assistant this season with the Washington Huskies, who are in the Final Four. "I kind of feel like we're his dis- ciples," said Berube. "We learned so much from him and we have WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR Auriemma's coaching tree has branches Former UConn players show coach's influence JESSICA HILL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Connecticut assistant coach Shea Ralph embraces coach Geno Auriemma a er UConn defeated Texas in the regional final of the women's NCAA Tournament in Bridgeport, Conn., on Monday. ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma's Ryan Spangler shoots during a practice session for the NCAA Final Four on Friday in Houston. Spangler transferred from Gonzaga to Oklahoma. By Ralph D. Russo The Associated Press HOUSTON Oklahoma forward Ryan Spangler had a no-drama transfer. Spangler spent his freshman year at Gonzaga, but wanted to play closer to his hometown of Ar- dmore, Oklahoma. After talking to Bulldogs coach Mark Few, he ended up at OU. Simple as that. Now Spangler is a senior playing in the Final Four on Saturday against Villanova. In the other semifinal, guard Mi- chael Gbinije, who had trans- ferred from Duke to Syracuse after his freshman year with no hassle, leads the Orange against North Carolina. If only all transfers were so simple. This is the time of year when the NCAA transfer rules — or the lack thereof — end up drawing lots of attention as college basket- ball and football players decide to move. Plenty of it ends up reflect- ing poorly on coaches and schools that have either limited where a player can transfer or blocked an athlete from leaving altogether. COLLEGE BASKETBALL NCAA still searching for answers to fix transfer rules GIANTS PAGE 2 UCONN PAGE 2 TRANSFERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, April 2, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1