The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 25

The Modesto Bee wwwmodbeecom SPORTS THURSDAY MAY 22 2008 C-3 Mariposa sweeps past Golden Sierra in D-VI best team ever? If we win Monday say said coach Bruce Vegely noting Mariposa won a title in 1997 got to the final in 2000 and 2007 but The Grizzlies earned this berth by scoring eight runs in the first inning showing patience at the plate and then pound-ing strikes Everyone got in on Mariposa 13 s)j0W) as jq0 Golden Sierra 1 hitter Alec Zurligan belted a two-run double to deep center to make it 6-0 Leadoff hitter Joey Jarret knocked in two more with a double that ricocheted loudly off the fence in left-center The at-bat that best illustrated the baseball IQ though came from junior catcher John Ashton with a runner on third and two out in the third School-record 24th victory puts Grizzlies in title game against Capital Christian By RICHARD ESTRADA restradamodbeecom LODI Patience and power as well as plenty of solid pitching have Mariposa High on the cusp of its first Sac-Joaquin Section baseball crown in a decade The Grizzlies moved to the Division VI championship game by routing Golden Sierra 10-5 Wednesday to sweep the best-of-three series at Tony Zupo Field Mariposa (24-6) pounded Golden Sierra 13-1 in series opener and has outscored its last 12 foes 123-21 winning all 12 Its 24 wins is a school record Getting a dose of offspeed pitches Ashton remained on his back foot and waited for a slow curve to reach the plate Rather than pull the outside pitch he stepped into and drilled it off the right-center fence for an RBI triple was instinct to wait for it and then go with the said Ashton who had a two-run single in the first taught to go with the pitch not to pull It was a significant moment because the inability to remain patient was Golden Sierra's flaw Mariposa starter David Hawes (11-1) was in and out of trouble during most of his six innings but repeatedly used his offspeed pitches when he needed an out The hitters lunged at the pitches hitting fly balls and grounders to the left side Hawes gave up 12 hits but struck out 11 and allowed only two earned runs didn't see David at his Vegely said typically has a great fastball to go with a changeup He toughed this The right-hander will need his best stuff Monday when the Grizzlies face Capital Christian (25-3) at 3 pm at Zupo The Cougars are No 2 in the CalHiSports com Division IV state rankings While many coaches try to stay vague about their pitching plans in playoff games Vegely saw no need to try and deceive anyone the biggest game and you go with your biggest he said told the kids all year a baseball game Go out and play hard play your best and you be To comment on this story click on the link at wwwmodbeecom the biggest game and you go with your biggest pitcher Like told the kids-all year a baseball game Go out and play hard play your best and you won be disappointed Mariposa coach Bruce Vegely on announcing pitcher David Hawes will start D-VI title game against Capital Christian ATHLETES OF THE WEEK DEREK SINCLAIR Sierra track Derek Sinclair was a two-way star for Sierra High's football team in the fall and he's playing a similar role on the track team with the shot put and the discus Sinclair has personal bests of 58 feet V4 inches in the shot and BEKAH GARVIN Sonora soccer When Sonora coach Buzz Garvin talks about the skills required to be a successful goalie it might sound as if he is describing his daughter Bekah which a surprise Bekah Garvin has 46 shutouts and has played goal in three successive Sac-Joaquin Section finals helping the Wildcats to shutout victories in all three matches great high school goalie makes very good decisions as to when to come out to a ball and when to stay said Buzz whose daughter will challenge the national mark of 59 shutouts next season would have good hands good athleticism good skills with her feet She needs to be willing to take charge of the defense and be smart enough to understand the defensive game plan" The 5-foot-1 0-inch junior is a setter on Sonora's volleyball team and her soft hands and ability to make quick decisions are an asset in the goal Buzz said RICHARD ESTRADA 154-4 in the discus and he will be participating in this Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet in both He qualified for the meet by winning the shot with a heave of 55- and placing fifth in the discus SCHOOLS at 144-4 at the section Division III meet is having so much success due to a combination of strength and technique something that his throws coach (Nate Diamantine) prides himself in" said coach Anthony Chapman noting that Sinclair is aiming for his first State Meet berth is becoming a student of the sport doing research working hard and striving to do the best he can He set the goal of becoming the first thrower to represent Sierra at state" RICHARD ESTRADA ARCHIE QUAY Hughson baseball Quay a junior right-hander tossed a shutout in the 5-0 victory over Linden in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division playoffs last Wednesday And in 6-5 victory over Calaveras Quay came in and finished the game getting two strikeouts and a grounder to seal the victory with the tying run on third base played terrific defense behind Archie in the Linden game" Hughson coach Marcel Avila said led the Trans-Valley League in strikeouts but LACEY KOHL Orestimba softball Lacey Kohl was asked to fill one of the most pressure-packed roles in the Stanislaus District this spring when she was put in the cleanup spot behind Juliana Santos the LSU-bound shortstop who boasts one of the state's most feared bats That was never more apparent than in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division playoffs when teams pitched away from Santos putting the pressure on Kohl to slug the Warriors to a second consecutive title She did just that hammering three doubles and driving in eight runs in a 12-0 rout of Linden in the final Kohl batted 400 with 11 RBIs and five doubles as the Warriors won all four playoff games knew teams wouldn't want to pitch to Jules and I knew be up there with runners said Kohl who batted 432 with 40 RBIs and 17 doubles this season pressure hitting behind Jules but I've got hitters behind me too so they had to throw to me" RICHARD ESTRADA SMALL SCHOOLS ri IS he didn't strike one guy out that night He did a terrific job of locating the fastball and throwing the breaking ball for strikes to keep guys off-balance and give our defense a chance to make plays" Quay and the Huskies will play Central Catholic for the section Division championship Monday at Zupo Field at 6 pm Quay who is 8-1 on the season could start that game for Hughson WILL DeBOARD ADRIAN MENDOZATHE BEE Beyer catcher Dillon Usiak tags Buhach's Markus Melgoza during game in Stockton Crosby takes the big stage BUHACH COLONY: Thunder wins hard way Mason Ankeney then lined a single into left field scoring Roberts and ending the no-hitter and shutout with one swing Kyle double off the wall that scored another run and Logan Hampton drew a walk to again load the bases Josh Shackelford struck out for the second out but Joey Roy followed by drawing a walk to plate the Patriots' third run Josh Young then singled to make it 9-4 and Hampton scored on a wild pitch Barber in his second at-bat of the inning drilled a double to the left-field wall scoring two and bringing the tying run in the form of Roberts the cleanup hitter to the plate It also brought Floro back to the mound from right field He induced a grounder to Koehler at third base whose throw just beat headfirst dive for the bag ending the game While Beyer has momentum heading into game against St it was still a loss nice that we Clark said guys really battled But we have a long road ahead of us The Thunder side meanwhile was trying to put a good face on the victory With one more win Buhach will move on to the first Division I section championship series approach is this over a Thunder coach Wayne Fitzgerald said behind us Now just worry about who going to see on To comment on this story click on the link at www modbeecom CONTINUED FROM C-1 Brett Mooneyham launched a three-run home run over the left-field fence in the first inning The Thunder scored two runs in each of the next two innings then added two more in the fourth when Connor Oldcorn hit a two-run home run also over the left-field fence for a 9-0 lead Buhach Colony needed only one more run to end the game due to the 10-run mercy rule He allow a hit through five innings the only mark on his scorecard a walk issued to Josh Young in the fourth inning felt pretty good out Floro said was tight before the game but I loosened slider was so Beyer co-coach Steve Clark said was pretty much Said Buhach Colony coach Wayne Fitzgerald: "I seen a better high school But Floro was relieved in the fifth giving way to Justin Koehler who had a hitless sixth inning told our guys to remember what Hughson and East Union did on said Clark talking about two teams that rallied from seven- and nine-run deficits to win laughed about it but we needed to at least get some momentum Blake Barber opened the seventh against Garrett Adams by flying out Vince Roberts followed with a walk and Dillon Usiak lofted a fly ball to left field that was dropped for an error moving runners to second and third The swirling wind turned every fly ball into an adventure GENE PUSKARTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS Twenty-year-old Sidney Crosby leads the youthful Pittsburgh Penguins against the veteran Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals By GEORGE SIPPLE DETROIT FREE PRESS DETROIT It that long ago the Pittsburgh Penguins were barely making a blip in the NHL In 2003-04 they finished with only 23 wins and 58 points which put them in fifth the basement of the Atlantic Division for the third season in a row But luck was waiting for the storied franchise After the NHL returned from its lockout of the 2004-05 season it employed a weighted lottery system for the entry draft giving every team a shot at No 1 The Penguins with a 625 percent ended up winning the pick and chose a player who has changed its franchise Less than three years since he was drafted 20-year-old Sidney Crosby has taken the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals The series against the Red Wings which opens Saturday in Detroit puts Crosby on the NHL's biggest stage and gives the league an opportunity to promote a player many consider the sport's savior Even as a young teen Crosby drew comparisons to Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux now owner of the Penguins Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said he first saw Crosby play as a young teen at Shattuck St prep school in Minnesota which he attended in 2002-03 knew he was already someone Nill said skill level and hockey sense were so much better than everyone Former Shattuck teammate Jack Johnson who went on to star at Michigan and now plays for the Los Angeles Kings said he also knew there was something special about Crosby could tell he was bound for great things way beyond anyone he said biggest thing is that he steadily progressed from being a great play NUTS: Johnston gets league-leading 10th save er to now being a superstar gotten more and more focused as the years have gone Johnson said Crosby had a strong work ethic even in high school While hanging out with teammates one night Crosby decided he wanted to go to the tennis court said go shoot some pucks on the tennis Johnson recalled was February below zero and he wanted to fire pucks with me guy just stop going to do whatever it takes to be the Crosby had 72 goals and 90 assists in his one season at the prep school and went on to become an obsession in hockey-obsessed Canada A team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League wanted to draft him before he was eligible When Crosby finally was able to join the league he went No 1 to the Rimouski Oceanic and rang up 135 points in 59 games as a rookie and 168 points in 62 games in 2004-05 There was no question he would go No 1 in the 2005 draft and when the Penguins won the lottery a team that had just 5500 season-ticket holders in its last season was instantly transformed According to Tom McMillan Penguins vice president of communications ticket sales operators worked into the night the day the Penguins won the right to draft Crosby Now on the doorstep of claiming the Stanley Cup If that seems like a major accomplishment for someone at such a young age Crosby is used to it At 18 years 8 months he became the youngest NHL player to score 100 points in a season As a rookie he had 39 goals and 63 assists all the while living with Lemieux and learning from him how to be next great sports hero a whole lot of Crosby said learned more from just observing him especially early on watching the way he carried Crosby had a better sophomore season becoming the first teenager in major pro team sports history to win a scoring title He finished with 120 points (36 goals 84 assists) and earned the Hart Trophy as league MVP with two runs in the bottom of the inning with Jason Van Kooten doubling home Jay Cox and Mayora plating the second with a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 lead that the Nuts would need was a good team feel tonight in the way that everybody was vested in the said manager Jerry Weinstein talk a lot about that and how we can get energy from each other It helps when your starting pitcher goes out and pitches like To comment click on the link with this story at wwwmodbeecom Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeekmodbeecom or 578-2300 and off the field I spent the whole off-season trying to get back to where I was in that first half of the The Nuts never trailed in getting their fourth home victory over San Jose in as many tries this season In the first Mike Paulk reached on a choice and scored on Victor double to right-center the first of his three hits Ferrante drove home Daniel Mayora with a single in the third for a 2-0 lead then the Giants got to Rogers for a run in the fourth on a leadoff double and two ground balls But the Nuts struck right back CONTINUED FROM C-1 in Class-A one season generally are playing in Double-A the next But after making the squad in 2007 Johnston struggled mightily in the second half He lost his touch then his confidence then the role you want to be in the same league for two years but it would be an honor to play in that game Johnston said not worried about that I just want to play do my job and get a call-up to the next level last couple months of last season were a struggle for me on.