The Californian from Salinas, California • 7

Friday, April 15, 2011 SPORTS ON YOUR PHONE Will For sports scores and stats, send a text message with team name, player name or league to 44636 (e.g. Giants). fj Haul SPORTS COORDINATOR: George Watkins PHONE: 754-4264 FAX: 754-4293 E-MAIL: sportsthecalifornian.com www.thecalifornian.com aeiraoKsonto Lnraapr igfe mm Johnson says Kings are worth keeping in city The Associated Press NEW YORK Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson watched part of the Kings' season finale, then flew overnight across the country to meet with NBA owners. His goal: Make sure that if not there was an ownership group headed by Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle that would be interested in purchasing the team from them or buying another team to move to Sacramento. "We totally acknowledge that it's the Maloofs' decision as business owners to determine if it's in their best interests to go to Anaheim or stay in Sacramento," Johnson said.

"I think we wasn't the last NBA game in California's state capital. "We felt very strongly that the Sacramento Kings were worth fighting for. And if anybody thinks that we're going to sit on our hands and roll over and just let somebody leave without putting up a good fight, they'd be gravely mistaken," Johnson said Thursday after a presentation in front of NBA owners. Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof are considering a move to Anaheim and must file a relocation application with the league by Monday. The league's owners are meeting in New York the next two days, and Johnson followed the Maloof group in speaking to them Thursday.

Ownership Johnson said he hopes the Maloofs choose to stay, but presented the alternative in that it makes sense to stay in Sacramento." The Maloofs already have made one thing clear. "The Maloofs are not going to sell the team," Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said. Johnson stressed the viability of the Sacramento market to the owners and reminded them of the Kings' success in the city over the last 26 years. A former NBA All-Star, Johnson compared his adrenaline when he got dressed Thursday to that of a postseason game. He revealed to the owners more than $7 million in corporate participation that he said was identified in less than a week and reiterated the city's commitment to building a new entertainment complex to replace See KINGS, 9A Sharks beat Kings in OT r-r i VI 1 Tigers solid in win over A's The Associated Press RAY SOTERO On the Track mi! lilt'.

7 1- I Vasser celebrated in Long Beach SI i -t Rome OAKLAND Detroit lefthander Phil Coke and two relievers combined on a three-hitter, Ryan Raburn hit a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and the Tigers held on for a 3-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night. Ramon Santiago had two hits and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth for Detroit. Manager Jim Leyland now needs one win to become the 19th manager in major league history to reach 1,500 for his career. The Tigers managed only four hits, matching their season low, but held on behind Coke's second straight solid start after he opened the year in the bullpen. Coke, a Northern California native, pitched seven shutout innings and struck out two for his first victory of the season.

Conor Jackson singled twice for the A's, who were shut out for the first time this year. The Tigers, who won their previous two games on walkoff hits, couldn't get anything going against Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez but broke through after Gonzalez left. Santiago greeted reliever Tyson Ross (1-1) with a sharp single to center and Pavelski gets past Quick to give San Jose Game 1 The Associated Press SAN JOSE Joe Pavelski scored 14:44 into overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their all-California opening round playoff series Thursday night. Pavelski took a pass from Kyle Wellwood as the trailer on a three-on-two advantage and fired a forehand past Jonathan Quick for his second career playoff overtime goal. Dany Heatley and Logan Couture also scored and Ryane Clowe had three assists for the Sharks, who had lost five of their previous six series openers.

Antti Niemi made 33 saves. Dustin Brown and Justin Williams scored for the Kings, who have won just one playoff series since going to the Stanley Cup final with Wayne Gretzky in 1993. Quick made 42 saves. Game 2 is Saturday night in San Jose. The teams traded good chances earlier in a sloppy overtime with Brad Richardson poking a rebound from the side of the net just wide for Los Angeles early in the period and Quick making a pad save against Joe Thornton midway through the overtime.

Quick then made a nice pad save on Jason Demers later in the period and covered up the rebound just before Well-wood could get to it. Quick had little chance on Pavelski's game-winner that sent the fans at the soldout Shark Tank into delirium after a roller coaster game that saw each team dominate for long stretches. The Kings killed of a penalty in the closing minutes of regulation after Drew Doughty was called for tripping in the offensive zone with 2:11 to play. Los Angeles had the best scoring chance of the third period in the opening minutes with a two-on-one after i San Jose Sharks right wing Dany Heatley, left, is congratulated by center Logan Couture after Heatley scored against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period of Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series on Thursday in San Jose, the associated press Imagine a three-day festival of IndyCars, sports cars and Hollywood celebrities booming through downtown. Add iconic sights like the Queen Mary, sunny beaches and enough eye candy to blind Superman.

Best of all, add a special tribute this weekend to one of Morgan Hills' best, a local boy who made good: Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART Champ who co-owns a multi-car IndyCar team. Vasser and his former team, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, will be celebrated at the sixth annual Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame induction ceremony in front of the Long Beach Convention Center shortly before Sunday's race. Both honorees have won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach during their illustrious careers. Jim Michaelian, President and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, said both the driver and the team were historic. "Few can match the success that Chip Ganassi has achieved as the team owner of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and for 15 years Jimmy Vasser displayed his driving prowess at Long Beach including winning the 1996 Toyota Grand Prix," Michaelian said.

"They certainly deserve to be included in the pantheon of motor racing legends who have previously been inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame." Indeed, Vasser possesses some of the finest credentials in U.S. open-wheel racing history. His win at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1996 helped him earn the CART Championship that year. In 2010, he took another checkered flag in Long Beach when he won the Pro category in the 2010 Toyota ProCelebrity Race. Vasser's accomplishments include winning the fastest 500-mile race in U.S.

history with an average speed of 197.995 mph at California Speedway, in 2002. He also holds the record for most consecutive starts 21 1 and finished in the top 10 in 136 of his 238 starts. Overall, Vasser's impressive career includes 10 wins, 33 podiums and nine poles. Vasser's success and experience on the track help him remain heavily involved with motorsports as co-owner of the KV Racing TechnologyLotus team. See SOTERO, 9A missed the net on a three-on-one chance and Williams broke back the other way on an odd-man rush for the Kings.

He sent a cross-ice pass to Brown, whose one-timer easily beat Niemi to tie the game at 1. Couture atoned for the goal when he beat Doughty to the outside, avoided a hip check and powered the puck through Quick's pads just a few minutes later to put the Sharks on top. But Los Angeles dominated play for the rest of the period, getting the equalizer when Murray and Boyle collided with Ryan Smyth behind the net. Williams came up with the loose puck and tucked it into the net before Niemi even realized where the puck was. The Kings weren't even sure Williams would play this series after he dislocated his right shoulder on March 21 against Calgary.

He missed the final nine games of the regular season but returned to the ice this week just in time for the Kings. Niemi came up with a pad stop on Willie Mitchell late in the period and then Richardson's shot in the closing See SHARKS, 9A Douglas Murray broke his stick. But Niemi made a spectacular sliding pad save to rob Kyle Clifford and keep the game tied at 2. The Sharks didn't even manage a single shot on goal for the first 9:51 of the third, but put heavy pressure on Quick late in the period to no avail. After being thoroughly dominated for the first 26 minutes of the game when they were outshot 18-3, the Kings turned the tables on the Sharks.

It started when Niclas Wallin was called for delay of game, giving the Kings their third power-play of the game. Couture Salinas completes sweep of Spirits Cowboy softball was sacrificed to second. After Casper Wells flew out to right, Raburn doubled hard off the wall in right-center. Santiago, who also singled in the fifth, scored easily. That was all Coke (1-2) and Detroit's bullpen needed to slow down the surging A's.

Primarily a reliever throughout his career, Coke made his first start in the majors late in the 2010 season and was impressive enough to earn a spot in the Tigers' rotation this year. Because of the schedule, Coke opened the year in Detroit's bullpen when manager Jim Leyland worked with a four-man rotation, but he's been solid ever since. Coke allowed only one Oakland runner past first base and retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced. Joaquin Benoit pitched the eighth and Jose Val-verde worked the ninth for his third save in as many chances. It was a welcomed performance for the Tigers, who were stymied by Gonzalez for six innings.

Gonzalez gave up just two hits and extended his scoreless streak to 17 consecutive innings, but flirted with control problems most of the game and matched his career-high with six walks. Gonzalez also threw two wild pitches. Gonzalez still lowered his ERA to a stellar 0.47. rallies to beat Notre Dame BY RYAN WALLACE AND DAVID ALMANZAR sportsOthecalifornian.com The Salinas High softball team rallied late and pulled out a 3-2 victory Thursday in extra innings at the Salinas Sports Complex to earn SPORTS ROUNDUP Moore then came through with a double that scored the game-winning run. Moore also had an RBI double in the sixth inning.

Brittany Enny went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Danielle Vallejo also went 2-for-3. Justine Armento pitched three innings in relief to record the win. Salinas improved to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League. Notre Dame's Morgan Bal-estreri and Celina Medina each had two hits. The Spirits (14-8, 3-4 T-CAL) outhit the Cowboys 9-8.

Soledad 15, Gonzales 5: At Soledad, Shelby Bush had three hits including two doubles and four RBIs as Soledad topped Gonzales in Mis loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but King City got out of the jam with a 1-2-3 double play. The Padres are back in action Saturday against North County in the Watson-ville Tournament. Seaside 11, Pajaro Valley 1: At Soper Field, the Spartans poured it on late, scoring three in the fourth and sixth in the fifth to end the game. Brianna Butler had a home run and a triple and two RBIs and Lelei Hernandez went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Spartans. Alana Chow-Hoon pitched a three-hitter to pick up the win.

Seaside (5-1 MBL) returns to action Monday at home against Watsonville. See ROUNDUP, 9A sion Trail Athletic League play. Joanna Wilcomb had a double and three RBIs and Destanee Casillas had two hits and two RBIs. Wilcomb also picked up the win. Soledad (2-4 MTAL) returns to action Saturday with a doubleheader in San Luis Obispo.

Carmel 3, King City 0: At Carmel, the Padres scored three runs in the first two innings and that was all that Brittany File would need. File tossed a no-hit shutout and recorded 12 strikeouts as Carmel improved to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the MTAL Lilly Young had a twoout RBI triple in the first inning and Kaylee Vandenberg had a two-out RBI single in the second inning. Carmel a season sweep over Notre Dame. Notre Dame led 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning when Salinas struck for two runs. In the bottom of the eighth inning, leadoff hitter Casey Watt reached on a base hit and was advanced to second base.

Sophomore Samantha.