Saturday’s deadly crash at Marysville Raceway Park which
killed two spectators brought back memories of the multi-car pile-up three
weeks ago at Daytona Motor Speedway in Florida. Several fans in the stands were
hit by flying debris, mostly from the airborne car of Elk Grove driver Kyle
Larson.
Despite the fact that the entire front end of Larson’s car
was sheered off the vehicle came to rest in the Daytona infield and Larson
walked away unharmed.
Larson rebounded quite well in last Saturday’s Nationwide
race at Bristol, Tenn., by finishing in second place, only .023 of a second behind race winner Kyle Busch.
He told reporters following the race that he is still
getting used to stock cars after starting his career in sprints, the same
vehicle that crashed at Marysville on Saturday.
"I think I have pretty good feedback, but I don't have
the confidence in myself to tell them what to change," Larson said.
"This is only the beginning of my second season in stock cars. There's a lot
more adjustments you can make in stock cars than you can on sprint cars, so I
kind of have a decent understanding of sprint cars. I just have to get used to
the stock cars.”
Larson has drawn positive comments from several top NASCAR
drivers like Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart recently who have said
that the 20-year-old will be NASCAR’s next star.
Freitas Wields Hot
Bat For A’s
In his first spring training with the Oakland A’s, former
Elk Grove and Cosumnes River College catcher David Freitas has done quite well
at the plate. He went eight-for-17, hitting at a .471 clip. He had a double, a homer and has struck out
only once in the A’s Cactus League games.
We will once again get the opportunity to see Freitas play
regularly. On Sunday he was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and will be a part
of the River Cats this summer.
Also sent to the River Cats were outfielders Michael Taylor
and Michael Choice, infielders Grant Green, Scott Moore and Darwin Perez and
relief pitcher Brian Gordon.
The River Cats have an April 2nd exhibition game
against the Ports in Stockton and then open the 2013 season on Thursday, April
4 at Raley Field against Las Vegas.
Freitas’ high school coach Jeff Carlson is quite proud of
his former player, who led Elk Grove to three consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section
championships between 2005 and 2007.
“Very proud of both David's,” Carlson wrote in an email,
referring also to Arizona Diamondbacks’ relief pitcher David Hernandez who led
the Herd to the 2003 Section title.
“It takes great work ethic and ability to play at the level
they are playing,” Carlson continued. “Been able to watch both a few times on
TV past few weeks and they both have performed well.”
Hernandez, who was a part of Team USA, appeared in two games
during the World Baseball Classic, threw one-and-two-thirds innings of relief
work. He struck out two, surrendered one run and gave up four hits.
Elk Grove, which is ranked in the top ten in the state this
spring in baseball, lost its first game of the year last Saturday, 4-2, at
Campolindo, a school that is also highly-ranked in California.
“Their pitcher did outstanding job locating fastballs and
curveballs and keeping our hitters off balance,” Carlson wrote. “(It was a)
well-played game on both sides. We just did not do little things to get win. (It
was an) evenly matched game.”
The Herd will host the inaugural Boras Baseball Classic next
week at McAuliffe Fields, near Sacramento State University. Elk Grove will open
play Monday against Excell Academy, a private school in Stockton, at 10 a.m.
Pleasant Grove will face off against Rodriguez in the opening round that day at
4 p.m.
Sixteen teams will compete in the four-day tournament. The
winner of the event will take on the winner of a similar tournament that will
be played April 2 -5 at JSerra Catholic School and Mater Dei Catholic School in
southern California. The two regional tournament champions face off for the Boras
Baseball Classic title April 13 at University of the Pacific.
Brackets for both the north and the south tournament are now
posted online at Borasclassic.com.
“The primary objective of the Boras Baseball Classic is to
give back to youth baseball,” tournament organizer and professional sports
agent Scott Boras wrote in a news release. “We want to provide outstanding high
school teams a chance to participate in an elite competition, while at the same
time giving them a world-class venue to showcase their talent in front of
collegiate-level coaches and professional scouts.”
Boras graduated from Elk Grove High School and represents
currently baseball stars such as Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder.
Abrams Pitching at
Mendocino JC
Former Laguna Creek High School pitcher Cameron Abrams has
found a home apparently in Ukiah. He’s attending Mendocino Junior College and
is a middle reliever on their baseball team.
In the school’s first ten games, he has a 2-1 record.
Young Wrestler
Competes in Michigan Event
Justin Wells was selected to be part of an All-Star
wrestling team from California that competed recently in the Age 8-and-under
Nuway National Duals in Battle Creek, Michigan. Wells went undefeated with a record of 6-0. He
had three pins, two decisions and a forfeit at 52 pounds.
Wells is a third grader who attends Roy Herberger Elementary
and practices with Toby Johnson Middle School under coach William Calvert.
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