Sports

Kennedy Ford smiles as she makes her way around the bases after hitting a homerun over the fence in the Lady Grizzlies’ home game against Corning Friday, April 19. According to coach Paul Moore, Ford’s homerun was only the second he’s seen go over the fence since the team began playing at the Lassen Community College softball field.  Photo by Maddie Musante

April 30 — The Lassen High School Lady Grizzlies softball team is off to an incredible start. The Lady Grizzlies are currently ranked third in their division and have a league record of 5-1.

After splitting with the Corning Lady Cardinals in a doubleheader played in Corning Tuesday, April 16, the Lady Grizzlies again faced the Lady Cardinals on Friday, April 19, but this time at home. In anticipation of the game on Friday, coach Paul Moore said it would be a huge game and it looked like Corning was the team to beat in the league.

Although the Lady Grizzlies struggled with Corning earlier in the week, the team had no problem securing a 9-3 win during Friday’s home game at Lassen Community College.

Sophomore Kennedy Ford was voted player of the game for Lassen. Ford went 2-2 at bat, hit two RBIs and hit a homerun over the fence. The Lady Grizzlies, as well as Lassen fans, were bursting with excitement after Ford hit the homerun, most of them saying they had never seen a homerun hit over the Lassen Community College softball field fence before. According to Moore, it was only the second homerun hit over the fence by a Lassen player since the team began playing at the Lassen Community College field.

Shelby Campa was the winning pitcher, pitching all seven innings for the Lady Grizzlies. Campa struck out two and walked three, while allowing five hits and two earned runs. Taylor Knecht also came out strong for Lassen’s offense, going 3-4 at the plate, hitting a double and an RBI. Laken Cagle hit a triple and got an RBI.

“This was a huge win for us, as Corning is one of the teams to beat in the NAL,” said Moore, “The key was we played outstanding defense. We were very disappointed in our defense on Tuesday … We as a team are hitting the ball well [with] 15 hits on Friday. That is the key to our team."

Daniel Gonzales takes a swing. Gonzales hit an RBI and stole a base during the Cougars’ doubleheader against the Eagles.  Photo by Maddie Musante

April 23 — The Lassen Community College baseball team went up against the College of the Siskiyous Eagles in a doubleheader played at home Wednesday, April 17. The Cougars came out on top in the first game, winning 2-0. They went on to lose the second game by only one run, 6-5. After the games against Siskiyous, the Cougars had a conference record of 5-13.

Avery Brandon pitched the entire first game for the Cougars, shutting out the Eagles with three strikeouts and no walks, while allowing only seven hits and no runs. Josh Correa led the Cougars’ offensive, going 2-3 at bat, getting an RBI and hitting a double. Daniel Gonzales stole a base for Lassen.

Weston Caindec pitched the first 3.1 innings for the Cougars. He walked one and allowed six hits and two earned runs. Donald Wanner then came in to pitch 4.2 innings. Wanner struck out one batter and walked two, while giving up six hits and one earned run. Catcher Walker Gemmill went 1-2 at the plate, getting two RBIs. Trevor Anthony hit a double. Gonzales and Chris McGahan each hit RBIs.

Sonya Martinez, left, Kara Hahn, Melanie Gatie and Jodee Lewis line up to practice their serves.  Photo by Maddie Musante

April 17 — Lassen Club Volleyball is in full swing, teaching youth of all ages to play volleyball skillfully and competitively. The club is enjoying both high membership this year and a high level of skill that is placing them in the upper ranks at tournaments.

Lassen Club Volleyball works with volleyball players as young as sixth-graders all the way up to college-level players. According to coach Julie Schmidt, this is the first year the club has had so many participants with 63 total in the class. The club is broken into several age brackets that include two teams in the 18-year-old age division, one team in the 16-year-old division and a younger team of sixthth through eigth grade girls. As part of club volleyball, Schmidt works with players from the freshman, JV and varsity teams of Lassen High School, as well players from Lassen Community College and younger players who attend schools throughout Lassen County. This year she has three Lassen High School seniors who will go on to play volleyball under coach Glen Yonan at Lassen Community College next year.

Schmidt is thrilled to see players from so many different age groups and skill levels participating this year. “It’s nice seeing different levels … we’ve never had so many young girls, so we’re building them younger and getting them ready for the next level,” she said.

Schmidt is also excited to see Lassen Club Volleyball competing at a high level and believes the club and its players are improving every year. Last year was the first time the club won a league title.

The 16-year old age group team recently competed in a tournament and won the silver bracket for the first time. The two 18-year-old teams are also making their mark at tournaments. In its last tournament, one of the 18 age group teams made it the semi-finals of the gold bracket, while the other went to the finals in the silver bracket.

“It’s just exiting to see how far everyone’s come … we’re getting there. We’re improving every year,” Schmidt said about the club’s recent success at tournaments.

Lassen Club Volleyball teams compete against teams from all over California and Oregon at tournaments.

For more information on club volleyball, call Julie Schmidt at 257-5173.