Sports

Hunter Morris slides into second during the Susanville Renegades’ doubleheader against the Galena Silver Sox Saturday, June 8. The Renegades split with Galena, losing the first game, but winning the second.  Photo by Maddie Musante

June 17 — The Susanville Renegades baseball team hosted the Galena Silver Sox for a doubleheader Saturday, June 8 at Memorial Park. Both games were close and exciting for fans who came out in full force to watch the Renegades in their second home game of the season. The Renegades lost the opener, 11-3, but won the second game, 6-5.

The first game was close with the Renegades down 5-3 in the sixth inning. However, the Silver Sox erupted and got six runs to seal the victory. Hunter Morris, Tommy Sharpe, Ryan Sharpe, Daniel Perry and Adrik Yacelga each had one hit for Susanville.

In the second game of the doubleheader, fans witnessed one of the more exciting games in recent history. The game went back and forth, with Galena leading, 5-4, in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Renegades got a break when Galena committed an error on Hunter Morris at the start of the inning.  Yacelga then came through and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Ryan Sharpe singled and then went on to second when Galena threw home to cut off the run. At that point, the Renegades had runners on second and third with two outs and Jake Hatzell was up to bat with a full count. After fouling off numerous pitches, he lined a single to score two runs, causing the Renegades to storm out of the dugout and mob him.

It was a big win for the Renegades, as the Silver Sox were previously undefeated.

Garrison Collier pitched five innings and gave up four runs. Izak Davenport pitched the innings and Perry pitched a three-up, three-down seventh inning. Offensively, Perry got three hits. Yacelga, Hatzell, Ryan Sharpe and Skylar Inguerson each had two.

The Renegades are currently 3-3 on the season. 

Nathan Horward, driving car No. 81, and Richard Longacre, in car No. 07, make their way around a turn.  Photo by Maddie Musante

June 13 — Lassen County racing fans were out in full force to hear engines roar and watch dirt fly at Diamond Mountain Speedway’s second racing event of the year Friday, May 31. The crowd was not disappointed, as the races provided hours of entertainment between the mini, strictly and modified division car races.

Mini division results

In the mini division heat race, Galen Hainline won first place in car No. 11h, Lary Whitebird, in car No. 97, took second and Bailee Glenn came in third driving car No. 75.

Hainline also took first place in the trophy dash with Whitebird getting second and Glenn coming in third.

The results were much the same when it came to the main event. Hainline won the race, Whitebird came in second and Glenn got third.

Mini division standings

Hainline currently stands at the top of list in the mini division with a total of 86 points. Whitebird is in the number two position with 82 points, Glenn holds the number three spot with 76 points and Michael Nichols is next with 39 total points.

Strictly stock division results

Junior Toon, driving car No. 33, won first place in heat race #1, Dan Dias, in car No. 427, took second place, Fred Kresky got third place in car No. 3 and Samantha Schultz came in fourth in car No. 05.

In heat race #2, Nathan Howard won first place driving car No. 81, Gene Cain took second in car No. 100 and Aaron Mayne, in car No. 13, got third place.

Dias came back to take first place in the trophy dash, while Howard took second, Toon came in third and Cain got fourth.

Dias again claimed the first place spot in the main event. Richard Longacre came in second, Schultz took third, Cain was fourth, Mayne came in fifth and Toon got sixth.

Strictly stock division standings

Toon boasts the number one spot in the strictly stock division with a total of 81 points, however, Schultz is not far behind him, taking the number two position with 80 points. Mayne and Cain stand side-by-side in the number three and four positions, each with 77 total points. Longacre is fifth with 76 points and Dias has sixth place with 42 points.

Modified division results

In heat race #1 of the modified division, Winn Zinn won first place in car No. 17z, Matt Murphy was second in car No. 6m, Dennis Arnold, in car No. 13, got third place and Joe Wood, in car No. 3a, came in fourth.

Tom Canniff won heat race #2 in car No. 68, while Mitch Murphy, in car No. 7m, took second place and Steve Bejcek got third in car No. 20.

Zinn was the winner of the trophy dash, Canniff came in second and Murphy took third.

In the main event, Riley Simmons won first place driving car No. 21r, Matt Murphy came in second place, Zinn took third, Bejcek got fourth, John Sloan, in car No. 14s, was fifth, Mitch Murphy got sixth, Arnold came in seventh and Richard Gorton, in car No. 96x, was eighth.

Modified division standings

Simmons currently stands in the number one spot in the modified division with 83 total points. Bejcek is in second place with 78 points, Arnold is third with 75, Matt Murphy is fourth with 79, Sloan is in the fifth place spot with 74 points and Zinn takes sixth with 41 points.

The next racing event will take place at Diamond Mountain Speedway tomorrow, Friday, June 14.

Despite the game being flag football, some tackling inevitably took place as the players were swept up in the intensity of competition. The gold team won the game, 4-0.  Photos by Maddie Musante

Quarterback for the purple team, Jacob Atkinson, evades the gold team’s defense and looks to make a pass.

June 12 — The Lassen High School junior varsity and varsity football teams took the field Friday, May 31 for the annual Purple and Gold Game, giving fans a little taste of what they can expect in the coming fall.

Two teams made up of both JV and varsity players were formed, one purple and one gold. The two teams then played each other in a good old-fashioned game of flag football. While flag football usually means minimal contact, the intensity of competition and challenge of grabbing other players’ flags inevitably led to some tackling.

The gold team was the first to score, which was an indicator of how the game would end. Despite the efforts of the purple team, gold won, 4-0.

A dinner of hamburgers, chips, dessert and a drink was sold to fans during and prior to the start of the game, allowing fans to enjoy tasty barbecue while watching the game. Proceeds from the dinner sales helped fund players’ fees for attending Gold Beach football camp.

“It was fun … the competition is always interesting,” said head coach Tom St. Jacques. The Purple and Gold Game is the first chance coaches and fans get to see what the players are really made of. Despite watching the team practice prior to the game, St. Jacques said there is something about competition that brings out the true skills and talents of a player. The game allows him to see which players step up the intensity under pressure and which ones shy away.

The Grizzlies will return 14 seniors to next season’s team, the smallest number of seniors St. Jacques says he has ever had. He expects the senior players to act as leaders and role models for the other players, but said success will be a whole team effort.

The Grizzlies will travel to Gold Beach, Ore. on Saturday, June 15 to participate in Gold Beach Football Team Camp. St. Jacques said he is looking forward to camp. It is a time when he can get players away from the distractions of home and have them focus entirely on football. “It’s a big team-building camp,” he said.

Lassen will compete with 17 different teams at camp and St. Jacques is confident the team will come back better and stronger.