2013 Local Sports Archive Stories

Jr. Trojans compete in state championships The Orland Jr. Trojans took part in the middle school state championships over the weekend in Fresno. Ricky Landeros finished in second place; Oscar Mertinez, third; Lucas Landeros and Ricardo Llamas, both fifth; and Fernando Macias and R.J. Baker, both seventh. Also competing but

Use of electronic calls out of season?Question: I was wondering if it is legal to use electronic calls for animals and birds out of season for things such as bird watching or scouting? I have heard yes and no from different people, so I want to clarify. Also is it even legal to call with non-electronic calls out of season?

There was no fear of spiders - or fear of much else for that matter - as youth wrestlers big and small took the mats at Orland High on Saturday for the annual Spider Patch Wrestling Tournament. Orland's own Jr. Trojans finished third in the team standings in the tournament named for coach Jeff "Spider" Patch, who began the Orland wrestli

After Hamilton High freshman Juan Ortiz scored on the first shot of the game, you kind of knew what was to follow. Six different Braves players scored and it could have been much worse, but Hamilton pulled back in the second half of Thursday's 6-0 shutout of Mercy in Hamilton City. Playing against an obviously overmatched Warrior

Looks can be deceiving, and nowhere was that more in evidence than in Hamilton City on Friday. Sure, the Lady Braves won by 24 points, but coach Mark Priano was anything but pleased with what he saw. "We played down. Quite frankly their minds were on homecoming and not basketball," the coach said regarding the school's winter hom

They're from a town small in size, but on a squad big on spirit. And that spirit opened up an amazing opportunity for the members of the Orland High School cheer team. Competing against high schools from bigger towns and with broader backgrounds, the Orland squad placed second at the United Spirit International's USA Regional Com

It was six mats, no waiting on Saturday as wrestlers representing 47 different high schools from California, Oregon and Nevada converged on Corning High School for the annual Corning Invitational. Wrestling mats were stretched three-wide on both gymnasiums on the campus, and careful choreography made sure that no mat sat empty any longer

Orland High basketball fans were treated to a double-dip of varsity basketball action on Thursday, as both the boys and girls squads took the home court versus the Bulldogs from Gridley. In the matinee matchup it was Gridley holding on for a 48-44 victory over the Lady Trojans, but the Orland boys followed that with a 72-56 triumph.

It was a leaky ship with a skeleton crew that drifted into Orland from Wheatland on Friday, and the Orland High boys soccer team plundered the Pirates 9-0. Wheatland had only 10 players in uniform, so in the spirit of sportsmanship the Trojans only sent 10 players onto the pitch for a contest that ended up being more of a "friendly" than

Just like the storm that dumped on both of their games, the Orland High girls and boys soccer teams stormed into Saturday's Northern Section Division II title games with home wins on Tuesday. The second-seeded Lady Trojans (13-5-1) put a freeze on No. 3 Winters' season with a 2-1 victory, while the top-seeded boys team (18-0-1) scolded t

The bats weren't exactly ringing, but a strong pitching performance from Orland High lefty Levi Paschall kept visiting East Nic off balance to where the subdued Trojan offense did enough to post a 2-1 win Tuesday at Bihler Field. With the roster now fully stocked and including players who were involved in the Trojans' extended basketball

On a day when he didn't even think a game would be held, Kyle Byker seized the opportunity when it was and showcased his pitching skills. With some form of raining falling for virtually the entire ballgame, the Orland High junior lefty took the wet ball in hand and tossed a masterpiece given the conditions. Byker threw a complete game in

There was Saturday baseball at Bihler Field in Orland, and the hometown fans got to watch the Trojans post an 8-4 win over Esparto. Orland improved to 6-2 on the season following the win. The Trojans plated a pair of 1st-inning runs, with Justin Smith drawing a walk and Garrett Ferreira reaching on a fielder's choice. The pair pu

Wednesday's weather in no way resembled what they faced last time they were up at U-Prep in Redding, and that seemed to suit the Providence Christian High track team just fine. While they were dodging raindrops on March 20, the Lions only needed to keep an eye on their closest competitors during Wednesday's Mountain Valley League meet, w

You can't judge a book by its cover, because the scores in Orland High's doubleheader sweep by Sutter on Tuesday don't tell the whole story. The final scores of 25-0 and 15-2 may be accurate, but they don't reflect the conditions under which the games were played, or the early success the Lady Trojans displayed in the opener. Wit

It wasn't something he had thought much about, seeing as he had never needed to do it before. Orland High senior Taylor Enck led off the sixth inning with the score tied at 4-4, hoping to get on base as the potential go-ahead run. Not only did he get on base but he circled them, putting an exclamation point on his high school pla

There's a familiar saying that goes, "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch." That's pretty much where the Bulldogs stayed on Friday. The Hamilton High baseball team proved to be the big dogs in the fight at home, as the second-seeded Braves banged out 13 hits and only allowed one in a 22-0 beatdown of Los Molinos in the

Every boy who has ever padded up to play competitive football knows that it is possible to get hurt or injured during practice or in games. And there's a very good chance those same boys have been told by at least one coach that there's a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. It's the dangerous line between "being

A trio of teams from the tri-county area tipped off Thursday in the last tournament before the beginning of league play, as action began in the 12th annual Corning Shootout. On the first day of the three-day tourney, Willows High fell to Trinity 54-51; Orland followed with a 46-40 win over Yreka; Corning topped Central Valley 46-32 and A

Stepping to the line with just 8.4 seconds showing on the clock and the Cardinals nursing a three-point lead, Chayce Maday knew the importance of his two free throws. Orland High had just closed the gap to three points on a Jordan Long trey, and eight seconds would give the Trojans ample time to work the ball up to either Long, Jud Sails

It was comedian Groucho Marx who quipped, "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member ." The quote seemed ironically appropriate coming from him, because the Baseball Writers' Association of America this week showed that the voting process for electing players to the National Baseball Hall of Fame has become a b

If you show it, they will come. Approximately 700 people, mostly clad in the black and orange of their favorite baseball team, waited in line at the Red Bluff Community Center on Thursday, where the San Francisco Giants had their 2012 and 2010 World Series Championship trophies on display. The World Championship Trophy Tour was p

Mercy High football and soccer opponents might think they're seeing double when going up against the Warriors, and you can hardly blame them. That's because twins Juan and Jose Rosales have been major threats in both sports, and share one view when it comes to any talk of competitiveness or sibling rivalry. Playing for a smaller

Christmas came a week early for Zane Petty in 2012, as the 2010 graduate of Corning Union High School received a gift that can keep on giving. On Dec. 19, Petty, a free safety for American River College in Sacramento, signed a national letter of intent to play Division I college football for the University of Illinois at Champaign.

A lot went on in the world of sports this week and there is plenty I could talk about, but a lot of it would be negative. First, cyclist Lance Armstrong, who for years vehemently denied any involvement in a wide-spread doping scandal and fought others who linked him to it, came clean and admitted that he was using performance-enhancing s