Recently in Sports Category

Huntington Beach Oilers' Sean Guite tries to escape the tag of Yucaipa's Matt Davidson during a run down between third base and home.
By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - Check out the photos of the Yucaipa Thunderbirds and Huntington Beach Oilers CIF playoff baseball game on Friday.

Click Here For Photo Gallery

By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

HUNTINGTON BEACH - The 2009 Thunderbirds baseball team shattered school records, won the Citrus Belt League Championship, won the prestigious Millington, Tennessee and Chino tournament championships, and attained lofty state and national rankings.

But the one prize they had their eyes firmly fixed on all season long - a California Interscholastic Federation Championship - will forever remain an unrequited dream. The Huntington Beach Oilers made sure of that by defeating the Thunderbirds, 10-2, on Friday in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs.

Yucaipa simply did not play its "A" game by committing five errors that helped pave the way to victory for the 18-12 Oilers, who finished third in the Sea View League with an 8-7 record and entered the playoffs as a wild card team.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds, one of the finest teams in coach Jeff Stout's 33 years, finish 27-3 and as the Citrus Belt League Champions with a 13-1 record.

"We were ready, but for whatever reason we didn't make the plays," Stout said. "Five errors aren't going to win you too many ball games. Errors have been kind of a nemesis with us all year long, but we've been able to make up for it with our bats."

Photo By Doug Earnest / www.inlandsportsphotography.com

YUCAIPA - Doug Earnest's shot was right on the nose during Yucaipa's 15-7 win over Cresenta Valley in the second round of CIF SS Div. 2 Playoffs. But CV's third baseman paid a price by taking a shot to his nose as Thunderbirds' Matt Davidson slides in to the bag.

Vista Murrieta's Taylor Edwards slides in to third base as Yucaipa third baseman Courtney Brown gets ready to receive the throw.
By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - The Vista Murrieta Broncos defeated the Lady Thunderbirds, 6-2, in the quarter finals of the CIF Southern Section Division II Softball Playoffs on Thursday.

Check out the photo gallery to see the girls in action

Yucaipa finished its run in the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs with a 6-2 loss to visiting Vista Murrieta on Thursday. The Lady Thunderbirds finish their season with a 23-9 overall record, and as the second place team in the Citrus Belt League with a 11-3 record.
Photos By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

J.P. Hoornstra, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/29/2009 12:17:25 AM PDT

YUCAIPA - The best season for softball that anyone seems to remember at Yucaipa High could have been over after one at-bat Thursday.

Vista Murrieta's leadoff batter, Alexis Villamor, wasted no time introducing herself to Thunderbirds pitcher Jessica English by sending a pitch over the right-field fence.

Unfazed, English settled down and kept her team in the game until the end - longer than expected, but not long enough - in an error-plagued 6-2 loss to the Broncos.

"I know my team can score runs," English said. "I thought we were going to come back and score five runs in the seventh inning."

Senior, Jessica English pitched one of her finest games of the softball season in holding Upland to three hits, along with nine strikeouts, and no walks in the Thunderbirds 2-0 victory, Tuesday, at Upland. The win raises English's record to 12-5.
File Photo / Bob Otto

By Clay Fowler, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/26/2009 11:38:41 PM PDT

UPLAND - Despite the box score semantics, Yucaipa High School's softball team earned a trip to the CIF-SS Division II quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.

Two unearned runs in the top of the first inning represented the only scoring in the Thunderbirds' 2-0 second-round victory over Upland that propelled Yucaipa to a quarterfinal meeting with the winner of No. 1 seed Vista Murrieta and Moreno Valley Valley View.

Yucaipa (23-8), the second-place team in the Citrus Belt League, took advantage of Upland fielding errors on the second and fourth batters of the game. Pitcher Jessica English took it from there.

The senior scattered five hits over seven shutout innings, squashing threats in the fifth and sixth innings to knock out an Upland team that finished second in the Baseline League to No. 2 seed Etiwanda.

"It's a bad way to lose," Upland coach Bubba DeJournett said. "But we can't say much because we didn't score either."

Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - See the Yucaipa Thunderbirds and Cypress Centurions baseball teams in action during the second round of CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs, Tuesday, at Thompson Field in Yucaipa.

Click Here For Photo Gallery

By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - For most Thunderbirds games, Yucaipa Head Coach Jeff Stout keeps Matt Davidson patrolling third base. But if the pitching falters, Stout points his big 6-foot-4 right hander toward the mound.

And that scenario played out on Tuesday in the Thunderbirds, 10-4, victory over the visiting Cypress Centurions (19-10) in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs at Thompson Field.

Davidson made the trek from third to the pitchers mound in the top of the fourth inning in relief of starter Pedro Cota with no outs and runners on first and second. And Yucaipa clinging to a 3-2 lead. Davidson pitched out of the jam yielding but one run, and went on to finish the game allowing 1 earned run, 4 hits, 1 walk, along with 2 strikeouts.

And not to forget his bat in the #3 spot, Davidson (2-for-2) hit a monster three-run home run deep over the left-center field fence in the sixth inning to give the Thunderbirds their final three runs.

So how did Davidson who was a starting pitcher since his freshman year in 2004-'05 (10-1, 0.76 ERA, 60 strikeouts in 64.2 innings), and the Citrus Belt League's Most Valuable Player, become the team's closer in his senior season?

By simply being asked.

YUCAIPA - We can rest easy. The protest filed by Crescenta Valley coach Frank Torres claiming that Yucaipa catcher Cody Meservey didn't leave the premises promptly after having been ejected in the top of the second inning has been rejected by the CIF Southern Section.

Read SUN sports reporter TJ Berka's entire story about the incident that had Yucaipa baseball fans fearful that the Thunderbirds would be disqualified from the Div. II playoffs...

Click here to read TJ Berka's blog about Yucaipa's continuation in the Playoffs

Photos By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

By J.P. Hoornstra / Staff Writer

YUCAIPA - They made even a CIF-SS playoff game look like batting practice - as they always do - by scoring 15 runs on 16 hits and nearly blowing Crescenta Valley out of the Inland Empire.

But the Yucaipa baseball team might be derailed by something that didn't make the box score in its 15-7 win Thursday. Catcher Cody Meservey was ejected in the second inning but didn't immediately leave Thompson field. That drew a protest from Falcons coach Phil Torres that will be reviewed by the Southern Section.

If the protest is upheld, the Thunderbirds would have to forfeit the game and any hopes of winning a division title.

"We're the fourth-ranked team in the country, No. 1 in the state, we've never had problems before," Yucaipa coach Jeff Stout said. "I hope CIF shows compassion toward us."

By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - Slower pitchers tend to give the Lady Thunderbird hitters trouble. And for five innings, right-hander Katherine Flores of the El Rancho Dons of Pico Rivera (13-13) had Yucaipa out in front of her slow drop and change up, but in the sixth the slow stuff didn't fool Yucaipa anymore and they erupted for four runs to defeat the Dons, 6-3, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs at home on Thursday.

"The off speed slower pitches kill us," said Yucaipa Head Coach, Dave Kivett. "They have a hard time sitting back and waiting for the ball to get in their zone, but they made the adjustment and stayed within themselves and then we started hitting the ball."

Yucaipa (22-8) held a slim, 2-1, lead heading into the sixth - on the strength of shortstop Megan Allen's bat. The #4 four hitter in the lineup gave Yucaipa a 1-0 lead in the first inning by lacing a single to center-field to score Shelby Vanderwall, who led off the inning with a double. And then in the fifth her rocket into the shortstop-third base hole chased home Vanderwall again with the second run.

Yucaipa held on to that slim 2-1 advantage thanks to the solid pitching of Jessica English. The senior right-hander with an explosive rise ball came on in the third to relieve starter Tracy Hampton with two outs and El Rancho threatening with runners on first and third.

But English blew away Kristina Hernandez with a letter-high inside riser to escape the inning.

"Their pitcher (English) did a great job and had us swinging under her rise ball," said El Rancho Head Coach, Stephanie Senteno-Tapia. "Our biggest problem was we left too many on base when we had the chance to take the lead. "

Ellery Buck, left, and Garrett Barham try and block a shot during Yucaipa's CIF Playoffs game with Montebello on Tuesday.
By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - See the Yucaipa Thunderbirds in action in their match with the Montebello Oilers in the CIF Southern Section Division IV Playoffs on Tuesday.

Click Here To See Photo Gallery

By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - The Thunderbirds boys volleyball team ran into a couple of big roadblocks, by the names of Rene Anaya and Hasani Gladney, and those two middle blockers for the Montebello Oilers were big factors in the Oilers three-game victory over Yucaipa in CIF Southern Section Division IV Playoffs Tuesday at Yucaipa High School.

Montebello (17-6, 9-1 Almont League, #2 seed) swept Yucaipa 25-15, 25-22, 26-24, to knock the Thunderbirds out of the playoffs and end their season with 15-4 record.

"Hasani (Gladney, 15 kills) is the MVP of our league and he and Anaya (12 kills) played well tonight," said Montebello coach, Greg Ng. "I thought if we kept up our intensity tonight and played defense and played smart that we would win."

Yucaipa Head Coach, Gail Diliberto acknowledged that Montebello has talent, but she added that the Thunderbirds simply did not have a good night.

YUCAIPA - The Thunderbirds boys volleyball team hosts Montebello Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV Playoffs.

Both teams swept aside their first-round opponents by 3-1 scores, and come into the match as the #1 teams from their leagues.

Yucaipa won the Citrus Belt League with a 12-2 record, 15-3 overall, while the Montebello Oilers claimed the Almont League championship with a 9-1 record, 16-6 overall.

Yucaipa met Ganesha in the first round on Friday and the match proved a thriller with Yucaipa prevailing 26-24, 25-19, 24-26, and 26-24.

What: Yucaipa Thunderbirds meet Montebello in the second round of CIF Playoffs.
When: Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Where: Yucaipa High School.

YUCAIPA - The #1 seed Yucaipa Thunderbirds (25-2 overall, 13-1 Citrus Belt League Champions) representing the Citrus Belt League drew a home game on Thursday in the CIF Southern Section Division II Baseball Playoffs against the winner of the wild card game between Righetti and Crescenta Valley on Tuesday.

Righetti (13-13 overall, 10-8 league) of Santa Maria plays in the Pac-7 league where the Warriors finished in fourth place. Crescenta Valley of La Cresenta competes in the Pacific League where the Falcons placed third with a 9-5 record, 16-9 overall.

Game time is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. at Thompson Field, Home of the Thunderbirds.

YUCAIPA - The Lady Thunderbirds softball team drew a first round home game on Thursday in the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs against the El Rancho Dons of Pico Rivera, the second place team out of the six-team Del Rio League. The Dons finished 8-2 in league, 13-12 overall.

A look at El Rancho's record reveals the Dons started the season slow with a 1-8 record, but came on strong at the end with an 11-2 record. The Dons are led by freshman pitcher Katherine Flores who has a 9-3 record with a 1.39 ERA.

Yucaipa comes into the playoffs with a 21-3 record overall, 11-3 in the Citrus Belt League where they finished second behind Redlands. The Lady T-Birds are led by senior pitchers Jessica English (10-5 record, 1.88 ERA, 134 strikeouts in 104 innings) and Tracy Hampton (10-3 record, 2.16 ERA, 75 strikeouts in 81 innings).

In the hitting department, Megan Allen was one of the Citrus Belt League's dominant players with a .444 batting average (#3) and 33 RBI's (#1) along with Ali Reykdal at .387 BA, and 20 RBI's; Katie Olinger, .332 BA, and 16 RBI's; and Payton Wood, .346 BA, 13 RBI's.

Game time is 3:15 p.m. at the Yucaipa High School softball field.

The Thunderbirds defeated the Ganesha Giants, 26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24 in the CIF SS Div. IV boys volleyball playoffs, Friday, at Yucaipa High School.
By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - The Yucaipa boys' volleyball teams' jerseys bear the name Thunderbirds, of course, but after Friday night's opening round in the playoffs, it might be appropriate to add, "Comeback Kids."

Yucaipa dashed the hopes of victory of the visiting Ganesha Giants (5-5 Miramonte League, 12-6-1 overall) by staging a dramatic comeback in the first game of a four-game set to defeat the Giants, 26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24, in first-round play of the CIF Southern Section Division IV Playoffs.

Yucaipa (15-3, 12-2 Citrus Belt League champion and #1 seed) fell behind from the get-go with Ganesha jumping out to 6-2, 16-9, and 23-18 leads. But in the final stage of the game the Thunderbirds staged a ferocious comeback fueled by senior outside hitters Garrett Barham (20 kills), Ellery Buck (13 kills), and Casey Garrison (9 kills), along with some game-saving defense.

Barham and Garrison teamed-up to block a Giant's kill attempt and pull the Thunderbirds within, 22-23, then Barham tied the game at 24-24 will a kill, and his block produced the game-winner to pull out an improbable victory.

"Garrett played well tonight, he was really on," said Yucaipa Head Coach, Gail Diliberto. Barham led the way with his 20 kills, 8 ace serves, and 17 digs.

Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - The Thunderbirds clinched the 2009 Citrus Belt League Championship with 23-0 victory over the Eisenhower Eagles of Rialto on Thursday at Thompson Field, "Home of the Thunderbirds."

The 2009 title marks the 17th league championship the Thunderbirds have won in Head Coach Jeff Stout's 33 year career at Yucaipa High School. They finished the league season with a 13-1 record, 25-2 overall.

A recap of the Thunderbirds' Citrus Belt League scores:
1. 10-3 victory over Rialto.
2. 9-1 victory over A.B. Miller of Fontana.
3. 10-7 victory over Redlands.
4. 20-1 victory over Fontana.
5. 2-12 loss to Redlands East Valley.
6. 35-1 victory over Eisenhower of Rialto.
7. 13-2 victory over Carter of Rialto.
8. 7-0 victory over Rialto.
9. 9-5 victory over Redlands East Valley.
10. 16-7 victory over Carter.
11. 15-1 victory over A.B. Miller.
12. 16-3 victory over Redlands.
13. 12-1 victory over Fontana.
14. 23-0 victory over Eisenhower.

Yucaipa won the 2009 Citrus Belt League Championship with a 23-0 win over Eisenhower Thursday. It's was the Thunderbirds first outright league championship since 2003.
By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - They took second in 2008, third in '07, another second in '06, and they tied for the league title in 2005. But winning an outright Citrus Belt League baseball championship has been a slippery mountain to climb for the Thunderbirds.

But on Thursday the drought came to an end as Yucaipa overwhelmed the Eisenhower Eagles, 23-0, to claim the undisputed CBL Championship - a championship the Thunderbirds last held in 2003. The win improves Yucaipa's league record to 13-1, 25-2 overall, While Eisenhower finishes its season at 1-13 CBL, 2-19 overall.

"Our goal this year was that we wanted to start off with a league championship," said Jeff Stout, now in his 33rd year as head coach of the Thunderbirds. "We've not won league in the past few years and we've had to play a wildcard round (in CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs), or we've had to play a pretty formidable team early and we've been exiting."

By Bob Otto / Staff Photographer

YUCAIPA - The Fontana Steelers defeated the Yucaipa Lady T-Birds, 5-3, in Citrus Belt League play on Tuesday, May 12. See the teams in action.

Click Here To See Photo Gallery