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Sports 1B Weekend April 17-18, 2010 Big fifth key to Spartan win By CHIP THOMPSON DN editor After watching Chico put up four runs in the top of the fifth inning Friday, the Red Bluff Spartans softball team put together its own rally in the bottom half, plating three runners to take back the lead. An RBI double in the bottom of the sixth off the bat of Brittany Fletcher sent Haley Harris all the way from first to home for an insurance run that the Spartans ended up not needing. Red Bluff beat Chico 6-4 at the home game. Sophomore Megan McColpin pitched shutout ball through four innings, but got into a jam in the top of the fifth, giving up four earned runs. But she got through the inning, and the strong bottom half at the plate for the Spar- tans gave McColpin the win. After scoring a run in each of the first two innings, Red Bluff’s bats went silent until the rally in the fifth, which led off with a walk for Emily McEnaney, followed by a single from McColpin, Coach J Howell said. With runners at first and second, Harris bunted to moved McColpin and McEnaney over to second and third. Fletcher singled in McEnaney from third and moved McColpin to Dodgers, Ethier slam Giants 10-8 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andre Ethier hit his first grand slam while homering in his first two at-bats, lead- ing the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-8 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. Vicente Padilla (1-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings and struck out seven after his teammates staked him to a 7-0 lead. Matt Kemp tied a career best by homering in his fourth straight game, but slugger Manny Ramirez left after three innings because of tightness in his right calf. Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand was hit on the bill of the helmet by a pitch from Padilla in fifth. After several minutes on his knees by home plate, Rowand walked off the field without help, accom- panied by San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy and a trainer. The Giants made it close in the ninth. Eugenio Velez hit a three-run homer off Ramon Troncoso with two outs after the Giants already had scored twice against Russ Ortiz in the inning. Bochy didn’t get any enjoyment out of his 55th birthday, watching starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer fall behind 3-0 after just three batters and 14 pitches. Wellemeyer (0-2) walked Rafael Furcal before Kemp homered to right-center and Ethier followed with a drive to right. Wellemeyer gave up seven runs, six hits and three walks in four innings. The right-hander, who threw 52 pitches over the first two innings, buzzed a fastball past Kemp’s head in the second before walking him. That loaded the bases for Ethier, who homered to center on the next pitch to give the Dodgers a 7-0 cushion and earn a curtain call from the crowd of 49,319. Pablo Sandoval homered in the sixth for San Francis- co. Sharks rally to even series in overtime SAN JOSE (AP) — Devin Setoguchi deflected in a loose puck for a power- play goal 5:32 into overtime and the San Jose Sharks ral- lied to even the first-round Western Conference series, beating the Colorado Avalanche 6-5 in Game 2 on Friday night. Joe Pavelski tied it for the Sharks with 31.3 sec- onds left in regulation and goalie Evgeni Nabokov off for an extra attacker, and Setoguchi won it with his second goal of the game with Adam Foote in the penalty box for Colorado for interference. The Sharks avoided dropping the first two games at home for a third straight playoff series. The series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4 Sunday night. Nabokov earned his fifth Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Brittany Fletcher gets ahold of a pitch Friday afternoon and rips a run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Spartans’ 6-4 victory over Chico. third. The Spartan bats weren’t done. With run- ners on the corners, Bryce Etzler singled in a run, leaving runners at first and second. Danisha Slay walked to load the bases. Fletcher scored on Krista Rodriguez’s infield single, which Howell described as a swinging bunt between the pitcher and third base. The inning ended with consecutive batters going down on strikes, but the damage had been done and the Spartans had retaken the lead 5-4. “To me that was the big point in the game, being up by two and then going down 4-2,” Howell said. To come right back to reclaim the lead was key. Etzler took over for McColpin in the sixth and pitched two shut out innings, giving up just two hits and one base on balls for the save. McColpin took home the win, giving up four runs on seven hits, with a pair each of strike outs and walks. Top hitters for Red Bluff were McEnaney, who went 2-3 with two doubles, two runs and a RBI. McColpin was 3-4 with a run and Fletcher was 2-4 with a double, two RBI and a run. Bryce went 1-4 and Rodriguez 1-2, each with a RBI. Chico’s four-run rally in the fifth consisted of four hits and a base on balls, all with two outs on the board, Howell said. There were no errors for the Spartans. overtime win in 13 playoff games. He allowed five goals on the first 13 shots he faced, getting mock applause when he stopped an easy dump-in midway through the third period. But he made three tough saves in overtime, stopping 17 shots on the night to help San Jose avoid falling into a 2-0 hole. Pavelski knocked in a rebound of Dany Heatley’s shot to send the game to overtime. The goal came on San Jose’s 46th shot of the game and sent the fans at the Shark Tank into delirium after so much playoff frus- tration. Chico shocks favored Spartans 5-3 By NICK WILSON MediaNews Group CHICO — Though the Red Bluff High baseball team was per- ceived as one of the powers in the Eastern Athletic League and perhaps the favorite in Friday’s contest against Chico, the Panthers weren’t about to be cowed by their clout. Far from it. With Chico’s Andy Amaro offering a methodical performance on the mound, and teammate Steven Koehnen delivering an explosive effort at the plate, the Panthers top- pled the league hierar- chy with a 5-3 victory over the Spartans at Skip McDonald Field. Koehnen, who was perfect at the plate, going 3 for 3 and just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, cited one intangible quality as the game’s deciding factor: desire. “I think we wanted it a lot more than they wanted it,” Koehnen said. “I think we wanted it a lot more than those guys wanted it. We real- ly surprised those guys.” Amaro displayed poise and precision dur- ing his 6 1/3 innings of service, scattering five hits and striking out four, but also had plenty of help from the rest of the Panthers (8-9, 2-3 EAL), who turned three double plays, including one to end the game. In contrast, Red Bluff pitcher Scott Avery, though efficient through four innings, did not have the luxury of strong fielding behind him, and in the second inning, two defensive errors cost the Spartans (14-7, 5-2) a pair of unearned runs. After the game, Red Bluff coach Joe Gallaty acknowledged that his team faltered at times tion of his coach in the process. “Steven’s a very good catcher,” said Chico coach Chip Carton. “He calls a great game, he’s a very good defensive catcher and was able to get the throw off quick today to get those run- ners out for us. Those were big plays for us.” Perhaps the biggest defensive play Koehnen made came in the last inning, when the Spar- tans were staging a late surge with two runners on base. With one out, Red Bluff ’s Trevor Miller laid down a slow- rolling bunt that scored a run, but moments later, Austin Brownfield was thrown out at home and Koehnen tossed out Miller at second to end the game. Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record Chico High's #1 Pac Moxon breaks up a double play as he slides late into second base against Red Bluff High's #9 Ej Stanton in the bottom of the second inning during their baseball game in Chico Friday. and failed to execute fundamentals, yet also commended Amaro for his pitching proficiency. “We made a few mis- takes, they caught a few breaks and we did not run the bases well,” Gal- laty said. “Today’s one of those days where you tip your cap. Andy Amaro pitched a good game today. There’s a good reason why there were a couple of college scouts here today. He’s a good pitcher, he had some good movement, got ahead in the count, was getting his ball over and he was effective on the mound today. Some- times a good pitcher is going to beat you and today was a case of that.” Amaro didn’t do it alone, though. In the bottom of the third, Koehnen kept momentum on Chico’s side when he led off with a solo homer deep to center field, giving the Panthers a sturdy 5- 1 lead. Throughout the game, Koehnen also got it done on the defensive end, making savvy pitch calls and throwing out two baserunners at sec- ond, catching the atten- Though the contest ended with that, a minor fiasco ensued when a verbal exchange between the Spartan bench and the officiat- ing crew began to esca- late, ending with the ejection of assistant coach John Hanley. Gal- laty maintained a diplo- matic stance on the mat- ter and said that the flare-up was uncharac- teristic of his team. “I think that frustra- tion rolled over,” Gal- laty said. “That umpire crew wasn’t going to take any guff, and our guys need to know that there’s a time to keep your mouth shut. They’ve been really good all year and they know that you don’t talk to the officials and I think one of them did today and it fired them up. I’ll address that.” Chico 5, Red Bluff 3 Red Bluff 100 000 2 — 3 5 2 Chico 131 000 0 — 5 6 2 Avery, Madieros (5) and Brownfield; Amaro, Sullivan (7) and Koehnen. Top Hitters — RB: Fox 2x3; Brownfield 2B. C: Koehnen 3x3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI. Nick Wilson is a sports writer for the Chico Enterprise-Record.