Soccer

Kimball 2, Manteca 1

Kimball High’s varsity soccer team won its first Valley Oak League game on Wednesday at Kimball High’s Don Nicholson Stadium. The Jaguars won it 2-1 after increasing the offensive pressure on Manteca at the end of the second half.

Manteca scored early in the first half and kept the 1-0 lead well into the second half. Both teams had their chances to score, but both were also quick to get their defensive players in position.

The Jaguars (5-1-1) attacked the Manteca goal about 25 minutes into the second half as Amber Lennier got past the Manteca defenders and dashed ahead toward the goal. She was right at the left corner when a Manteca defender charged up and knocked her and the ball out of bounds.

Kimball got the penalty kick, and Marissa Paz shot the ball into the upper left corner to tie it up. The Jaguars kept up the pressure after that, with Mireya Magana taking a shot on a pass from Lennier, Natalie Lambert shooting on a corner kick, both blocked by the Manteca goalie.

Paz got another shot 37 minutes into the half on pass from Magana. Paz shot it up the middle and into the right side of the goal to make it a 2-1 game. Manteca had a last-second shot that went wide left.

Paz said she was confident against Manteca, and said that while her team had the potential to make more of its shots.

"This is our very first (Valley Oak League) game as varsity ever for our school,” she said. “It means a lot to us to win.”

“What I liked about it is the girls played the same kind of game the whole game,” Coach Ron Hattley said. “We controlled the ball really well.”

Softball

West 10, Kimball 0

West High’s softball team got another win on Wednesday, this time in a cross-town game at Kimball High against the fledgling Jaguar varsity team. West won it 10-0, and while Kimball is in its first year of varsity play, with only four juniors on the team, West knew the Jaguars weren’t to be taken lightly.

“They were 5-2 and we were 4-0, but we played some teams that weren’t as good as Kimball, and it kind of solidified that we’re a pretty good team,” West Coach Steve Anastasio said. “That team right there, they’ve got a lot of talent and they’re going to go far.”

Anastasio said that his team’s experience, led by veteran pitcher Andi Anderson, was a big advantage. Kimball Coach Joe Hernandez also said that a game like this against tough competition shows his girls what they’re in for in the rest of the season.

“We made some good plays in the field but also made some mental errors that came back to hurt us pretty bad,” he said. Kimball had just two errors on defense, but also had moments of indecision in the field that allowed West to reach base on infield hits.

West also brought some powerful bats. Three base hits in the first inning brought the Wolf Pack three runs, and three more in the second put West up 6-0. Sophomore outfielder Ciara Ervin went three-for-four for the day, including a triple over the Kimball right fielder’s head in the second inning. Ervin said that her goal this year is to be more confident at the plate.

“I’ve been working up my nerves. I was getting ready for this game so I turned that nervousness into energy and it worked,” she said. “This is a really big win for us. I think we’re going to be strong this whole season. Our advantage is just hitting, hitting, hitting. That’s what we focus on.”

She got the Wolf Pack started in the first with a single to right field. Jamie Costa was hit by a pitch, and Ervin came home when Jalissa Sims singled to left. Costa scored on a wild pitch, and Sims scored on Jill Anastasio’s infield single.

Miranda Gannon singled to start off the second inning and Celina Carrisosa reached on an infield error. Gannon scored on Ashley Tornio’s sacrifice fly, Ervin then tripled to bring in Carrisosa, and Ervin then scored on Costa’s single to left-center.

Tornio scored in the fourth after she reached on an error and came home on Costa’s sacrifice grounder.

Kimball’s defense got out of trouble in the fifth inning after West loaded the bases with one out. Shortstop Ariana Hawkins made the play to catcher Taylor Honnoll for the second out. West scored one on a bases-loaded walk, but Honnoll ended the inning when she made a pickoff throw to Anisha Richardson at third base to catch West’s Miranda Gannon leading too far off base.

Ervin got her third hit of the day in the sixth inning, Costa was again hit by a pitch, and they came home on Allison Noble’s single to center field with two out, putting West up 10-0.

West’s Anderson pitched six innings and gave up two hits for the win. Kimball’s Montanna Bradley and Llesenia Torres both singled for Kimball. Kimball’s Katie Hanville pitched the first two innings and allowed six hits and six runs, five of them earned, for the loss. Alexis Lopez pitched three innings for the Jaguars and allowed two runs, one of them earned, and no hits, and Torres pitched one inning and allowed two hits and two runs.

Sophomores: West 5, Kimball 3

West (7-2) got on the scoreboard with back-to-back doubles in the first inning for Haley Hollis and Amanda Riley, and Katie Eddington scored in the second after she walked, advanced on Bryana Gonzalez’ single and scored on Kathy Le’s double. Ysabella Padojino singled to start off the third for Kimball (6-3) and Isabella Peralta was hit by a pitch. They both scored on Kayla Chelman’s drive up the middle. West scored three more in the sixth inning as Hollis doubled, Riley singled and Eddington doubled. Kimball scored one more in the sixth when Chelman singled and came in on Priscilla Franco’s hit up the middle. Riley pitched for West and Chelman pitched for Kimball.

Oakdale 3, Tracy 2

The Mustangs put up two runs in the first inning Tuesday at the Tracy Sports Complex. The two teams settled into an even ball game until the sixth, when Tracy (1-4-1) scored. Both teams scored in the seventh, Oakdale (6-2-1) with the one-run advantage at the end.

Brianna Warner and Alison Stuart got Tracy’s only hits. Julia Fernandez pitched all seven innings for the loss as she allowed eight hits and two earned runs.

Sophomores: Oakdale 10, Tracy 7

Oakdale got out to a 5-1 lead in the first inning Tuesday at the Tracy Sports Complex. Tracy (5-1) scored two in the third inning and two more in the fourth, but wasn’t able to sustain a rally that could make up the deficit. Karsi Fyfe had three base hits and an RBI, Hayley Davis had two hits and batted in three runs, Macie Southerland had a hit and batted in two, and Elise Escobar had two hits and score three times. Shelby Perry pitched six inning and allowed 10 runs, seven of them earned, walked eight and gave up five hits.

Baseball

Oakdale 11, Kimball 2

Kimball’s first Valley Oak League game started well enough, as Zach Absire walked and then scored on a hit-and-run when Ismael Gutierrez singled to left-center in the first inning. Oakdale countered with three doubles in a row in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1.

In the third the Mustangs went through their batting order and also took advantage of three Kimball errors to take a 9-1 lead. Oakdale scored two more in the fourth. Kimball stayed in the game with one run in the fifth, scored when Zack Perugi batted in Zack Johnson, who had walked and then stole second and third.

Cody Wagner pitched three innings for the loss, and Perugi finished the game on the mound. Kimball is now 3-1, and gets a rematch against Oakdale at home on Friday.

Sophomores: Oakdale 11, Kimball 1

Oakdale had a six-run rally in the bottom of the first in Oakdale on Wednesday as the Mustangs capitalized on five hits, three walks and a batter hit by a pitch. Kimball’s Rico Arias, Issa Yusef and Logan Finley each had hits for the Jaguars, and Jason Riley scored Kimball’s only run in the third inning. Finley pitched the first inning, and Trevor Trew pitched the rest of the game. It puts the Jaguars at 2-1.

Swimming

Kimball vs. Sonora

Kimball High’s swim team traveled to Sonora on Tuesday for their first Valley Oak League dual meet. Sonora took the top team score in both the girls’ and the boys’ divisions. Results included Sac-Joaquin Section meet varsity qualifying times for the girls 200-yard medley relay team, and for Michaela Loomis in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly.

Varsity girls: Sonora 87, Kimball 73

First place finishers for Kimball were: 200 medley relay, Courtney Andres, Michaela Loomis, Sydnie Black, Colby Chase, 2:10.68. 200 IM, Michaela Loomis, 2:18.06. 100 fly, Michaela Loomis, 1:07.27. 200 free relay, Courtney Andres, Colby Chase, Sydnie Black, Michaela Loomis, 1:57.46.

Second place swimmers for Kimball were: 200 free, Gabby Nghiem, 2:35.75. 50 free, Sydnie Black, 28.01. 100 free, Sydnie Black, 1:04.42. 100 back, Courtney Andres, 1:20. 46. 400 free relay, Jhaky Romero, Audrey Caldwell, Casey Frankel, Kaitlyn Caldwell, 5:08.55.

Finishing third were: 200 medley relay, Gabby Nghiem, Alyssa Wong, Kaitlyn Caldwell, Valerie Wong, 2:30.41. 200 free, Jhaky Romero, 2:42.26. 100 fly, Kaitlyn Caldwell, 1:28.65. 500 free, Casey Frankel, 7:23.25. 200 free relay, Jhaky Romero, Alyssa Wong, Casey Frankel, Gabby Ngheim, 2:13.58. 100 back, Kaitlyn Caldwell, 1:25.78.

Varsity boys: Sonora 122, Kimball 43

Second place finishers for Kimball were: 200 medley relay, Dustin Branscomb, Kyle Nunes, John Harsch, Marcus Darnell, 2:16.82. 200 IM, Trent Gronow, 2:30.81. 200 free relay, John Harsch, Trent Gronow, Dustin Branscomb, Marcus Darnell, 1:50.60. 100 back, Dustin Branscomb, 1:16.27. 100 breast, Trent Gronow, 1:18.25.

Third-place swimmers for Kimball were: 50 free, Marcus Darnell, 26.97. 100 fly, Trent Gronow, 1:13.58. 100 free, Marcus Darnell, 1:01.08. 500 free, John Harsch, 6:33.05.