Napa Valley Register from Napa, California • B2

B2 Monday, January 2, 2017 Napa Valley RegisteR 1 ASSOCIATED PRESS Brendan Steele follows his shot from the second tee of the Silverado resort and Spa north Course during the final round of the Safeway open PGa Tour event on Sunday, oct. 16, 2016, in napa. THE SPORTS PAGE become the second wire-to-wire winner at the event, Steele shot a 4-over 76 in the final round, dropping down the leaderboard and finishing in a tie for 17th place. birdie the last three to get it done this year is a complete role reversal and feels really said Steele. a feeling of redemption for me.

just tried to adjust my atti- tude, keep moving forward, and tried to make as many birdies as I It was first win in 141 starts on the PGA Tour dating to his rookie season. think my putting coming down the stretch was really the most important thing and defi- nitely some wedge play said Steele. been working on some stuff with Dave Pelz that really helped me with the soft conditions take spin off the ball and really control my numbers, which is somewhere that kind of struggled in the Steele will be making his sec- ond appearance at the SBS Tour- nament of Champions, which takes place on the par-73, yard Plantation Course. The course opened in 1991. Golf Channel will have cover- age each of the four days.

Besides Pelz, Steele also works with two other coaches, Chris Mason and Rick Smith. sat down with Chris Mason after the season ended and we just kind of decided that all my mechanics are really said Steele. wanted to develop a blueprint for me so I get off the rails because he says always just trying to keep me in line. very quick to feel like my falling apart. he wanted to develop this blueprint for me for every part of my game so that I go through At the Safeway Open, Steele tied for fifth in driving accuracy, tied for 21st for greens hit in reg- ulation, and tied for first in sand saves.

Steele had earlier rounds of 67, 71 and 67. The PGA season contin- ues with the Sony Open in Ha- waii, Jan. 12-15, Waialae Country Club, Honolulu; CareerBuilder Challenge, Jan. 19-22, PGA West TPC Stadium Course, La Quinta, Farmers Insurance Open, Jan. 26-29, Torrey Pines, San Di- ego; Waste Management Phoenix Open Feb.

2-5, TPC Scottsdale, Arizona; Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Feb. 9-12; and the Gen- esis Open, Feb. 16-19, Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Calif. Safeway From B1 rankings. 1954 Vallejo High team one of best in state history Vallejo 1954 team, which went 9-0 and featured running back Dick Bass, is listed No.

2 among the State Super 55, accord- ing to CalHiSports.com. Bass ran for 1,964 yards and 37 touchdowns on just 133 carries, a 14.8 yards per carry average. One of wins that season came over Napa, 53-0. there is a non-De La Salle team with a legitimate argument about being the greatest in North- ern California history, the Apaches for CalHiSports. com said.

Other stars that season for Vallejo included fullback D.L. Hurd, returner Bob Coronado, defensive end Ron Sto- ver, quarterback Tom Zunino, and quarterback Norman Bass. Bob Patterson was head coach, De La Salle, which went 12-0 in 2001 under head coach Bob Ladoucuer, is listed No. 1. Sutter resigns at Rodriguez Greg Sutter stepped down at Rodriguez-Cordelia on Dec.

16 af- ter two seasons as head coach, the Fairfield Daily Republic reported. Rodriguez was 1-9 overall, 1-4 in the Monticello Empire League this past season. The Mustangs were 1-9, 0-5 during the 2015 season. Sutter is a former Vintage High assistant coach. Longtime Galt coach Hatzenbuhler passes away Erv Hatzenbuhler, a longtime head coach at Galt High School whose teams ran the single-wing, passed away Dec.

29 at his home in Galt (Sacramento County), The Sacramento Bee reported. He was 83. Hatzenbuhler was coach for 25 years. His last year as coach was 2005. Highest scoring games of 2016 80-64 win over Compton, which resulted in a combined 144 points, was the highest scoring game in the state in 2016, MaxPreps.com reported.

There were 64 games that had combined scores of 100 or more points. Those included American 71-36 win over Wood and American 64-42 win over El Camino-Sacramento, and St. 78-28 win over Willits. Penn receives Craig Long Award Tackle Donald Penn was named the recipient of the Oak- land Raiders Craig Long Award, the team announced last week. Chosen by a select group of lo- cal media and facilitated by the Oakland media rela- tions department, the Craig Long Award is presented annually to the player who best exemplifies professionalism and collabora- tion with the media at large, the team said.

Penn, who was named to his second career Pro Bowl, has started every game at left tackle for the Raiders since coming to Oakland as a free agent in 2014. Long, an Iowa native who passed away in 2007 at age 36, worked in the public relations department from 1997- 2004. All-State From B1 hits, including 20 doubles, four triples and nine home runs, for the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, last year. Iowa ended the 2016 Pa- cific Coast League season by beating the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 12-3, as Negron went 2 for 5 and drove in two runs in Des Moines, Iowa. He batted .323 with two home runs, five RBIs and two stolen bases over his final 10 games.

For the season, he had 46 RBIs, 23 stolen bases and a .403 slugging percentage. Negron, a 2004 Vanden High School graduate, was a non-roster invitee in spring training camp with the Chicago Cubs last year. A utility player, he can play first base, second base, shortstop and third base, as well as each outfield po- sition. Negron went to UC Davis on a baseball scholarship. After one year with the Ag- gies, he transferred to Cos- umnes River College-Sac- ramento.

He was selected in the seventh round of the 2006 major league draft by the Boston Red Sox. He was traded to Cincinnati in 2009. He made his major league debut on June 7, 2012. Negron made 36 starts at three positions (second base, third base, shortstop) during the 2014 season for Cincinnati. Email napa Valley register Executive Sports Editor Marty James at com, follow him on Twitter at or call 256-2223.

Notes From B1 the bench in a stocking cap for the second half. A fourth-year player out of Penn State, McGloin was making his first start since 2013. He was hurt when Jared Crick slammed him to the turf, drawing a roughing-the- passer penalty. Moments before that play, McGloin overthrew a wide-open Amari Cooper. Cook was 14 of 21 with a touch- down to Cooper, an interception and a lost fumble against the de- fending Super Bowl champion Broncos (9-7), who ended a three- game slide.

Devontae Booker became the first Broncos rookie with a rush- ing and receiving touchdown in the same game since Clinton Portis in 2002. The speculation that Kubiak was stepping away from the game was circulating all day. 11 months removed from leading Denver to a Super Bowl win over Carolina. The 55-year-old Kubiak suffered a complex migraine on Oct. 9 fol- lowing loss to Atlanta.

was quarterback Trevor Siemian said. a lot of guys who love him. a heck of a coach, but a better person. Glad we sent him off with a STATS Justin 64-yard run in the second quarter was the longest of the season by a Broncos run- ning back. The offense scored more points Sunday than the last three games combined (23).

Oakland coach Jack Del Rio is still looking for his first division title as a coach. Only Norm Van Brocklin (173) coached more games without winning a division in NFL history than Del Rio (171). INJURIES Raiders: Safety Nate Allen was evaluated for a concussion. Broncos: Receiver Emmanuel Sanders hurt his foot in the first quarter and return. Spe- cial teamer Zaire Anderson was strapped to a backboard and carted off the field after being injured on punt coverage in the third quarter.

UP NEXT Raiders: Face the Texans (9-7), who have an unsettled QB situa- tion as well. Broncos: Head into the offsea- son looking for a new head coach. Raiders From B1 ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) passes against Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker K.J. Wright (50) during the first half of an nFL game in Santa Clara on Sunday. JOSH DUBOW Associated Press SANTA CLARA The San Francisco 49ers fired coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke on Sunday in the latest overhaul for a franchise that has fallen from perennial Super Bowl contender to the bottom of the standings in three seasons.

Team CEO Jed York announced the moves just hours after the Niners (2-14) matched a franchise record for losses in a season by losing the finale to Seattle 25-23. my feelings for Trent and Chip, I felt the decision to change our football leadership was absolutely York said in a statement. perfor- mance of this team has not lived up to my expectations or those of our fans, and that is truly disap- pointing. We all expected to see this team progress and develop as the season went on, but unfortu- nately that did not happen. That is why now is the time to find a new direction for this The team has been searching for success ever since cutting ties with Jim Harbaugh following an 8-8 record in 2014.

Harbaugh had led San Francisco to three straight trips to the NFC title game and one Super Bowl appearance from 2011-13 in the only stretch of success in the past 15 years for a franchise that has won five Super Bowls. Jim Tomsula was fired after going 5-11 in 2015 and things only got worse under Kelly, whose once bright coaching star has dimmed after being fired by Philadelphia and San Francisco the past two years. This marks the first time in nearly four decades that a team fired coaches in successive years after just one-year tenures. The only other time that happened since the 1970 merger came when San Francisco fired Monte Clark after the 1976 season and Ken Meyer the following year. The Niners then fired Pete McCulley midway through the 1978 season and interim coach Fred after the year before hiring Bill Walsh to start a dynasty.

frustrating in this position left tackle Joe Sta- ley said before the news became official. a player you have to look at yourself first. What can I do next season to make sure not in this Kelly entered the NFL as one of the most highly sought coaches after his success in college at Or- egon. After winning 10 games in each of his first two seasons in Philadelphia in 2013-14, Kelly was fired with a 6-9 record for the Ea- gles late last season. He then lasted just one season with the Niners, raising more questions about whether his up- tempo, spread offense that was so successful at Oregon can work in the NFL.

He never had much of a chance at success with San Francisco with a roster that featured Blaine Gab- bert and Colin Kaepernick as the top two quarterbacks and had no playmakers on the outside. control the roster, so I think the one thing is our job as coaches is to create an environ- ment where our players have an opportunity to be successful, and what we have to Kelly said before getting the news in a meeting with York. look at, wish I had this. I wish I had We were fortunate for the guys we had and we tried to coach them as hard as we could and as well as we Baalke helped build the roster that made three straight trips to the NFC title game from 2011-13 and one Super Bowl appearance. But the team has had declining win totals the past three seasons, including a record 13-game losing streak this season.

we experienced our share of success over the years, I am disappointed at where we are Baalke said in a statement. The 49ers lost 13 straight games at one point this season and their only wins came against the Rams. San Francisco set franchise worsts for points, total yards and yards rushing allowed in a season and blew four double-digit leads in eight home games. Now they will look for a fourth coach in four seasons. we lose like we did and have a season like we had, changes are made, or can be re- ceiver Torrey Smith said.

from coaches to players. all of us. We were all a part of the prob- lem. why our record is what it Baalke originally joined the Niners as a scout in 2005 and quickly worked his way up to di- rector of player personnel where he helped then-general manager Scot McCloughan put together many of the pieces of the team that would be one of the most talented in the league. Baalke replaced McCloughan as the top front office executive shortly before the 2010 draft and came away from that with a load of talent led by Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati and NaVorro Bow- man.

Baalke was given the title of general manager the following year when the Niners hired Har- baugh as coach and Baalke had another successful draft that fea- tured All-Pro pass rusher Aldon Smith and Kaepernick with his first two picks. The talent well went dry af- ter that. Despite having 51 picks since 2012, Baalke has not added an impact player in any of those five drafts as he frequently drafted players with injuries and stayed away from skill position players. Since 2012, Baalke has had 15 picks in the first three rounds and used just one second-round running back Carlos Hyde in 2013 on a quarterback, receiver or running back. NFL 49ers fire Kelly, GM Baalke Latest overhaul for franchise that has fallen to the bottom of standings ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and head coach Chip Kelly watch from the sideline during the first half of an nFL game against the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara on Sunday..