Standing on a corner on Waveland Avenue, Moe Mullins has seen them come and go. Sosa and McGwire. The Sandberg Game. Pujols. Young and old men alike. Summers full of blue skies, and a neighborhood changed forever. “You know, life is a big circle,” Mullins says. Like a baseball.
From La Casita to the Cowpoke to C-Punch, triple-digit temps have crowded out the coronavirus as a topic of conversation in Lovelock. Initially, the high school volleyball team began its conditioning sessions at sunset, but lately, the day’s heat lingers through the night. The coaches decided to switch to early morning practices. Now the girls meet on Joe Yanni Field Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 a. m. They took the change in stride.
On Thursday, the Lovelock Softball Association ended its regular season. So far, the top four teams are the Swingers, Sandlot Junkies, Thick N Wild and Thunder Ducks. Monday, they finished with make-up games to determine fifth and sixth place. Results were not available at press time. “This year our biggest challenge had to do with the coronavirus,” said Jared Jensen, the LSA president. “We had teams that are skidding to the end of the season due to players having to quit for various reasons.”
The Nevada football team announced the signing today of junior college quarterback Jacob Barlage to a scholarship agreement to join the Wolf Pack for the upcoming season.
The Nevada Valkyries competitive travel softball team is looking for a couple of players to fill out its roster. Any girls born in 2006 and 2007 are welcome to tryout.
Carlos Carrasco won his first start since his leukemia diagnosis, Yoenis Céspedes hit a home run in his return from major leg problems — and Daniel Bard had the longest road back of them all. This past week was obviously an emotional one for many people in baseball, and it was especially significant for players who had lengthy absences even before the coronavirus shut the sport down in March. Bard had not pitched in the major leagues since 2013, and after his control and confidence deserted him, his playing career appeared over before he attempted a comeback this year. He made the roster for the Colorado Rockies and earned the win in relief Saturday against Texas.
Bottom of the first, two out. Willson Contreras lines an RBI single against Corbin Burnes to give the Chicago Cubs an early lead over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. The crowd cheers and, just to be clear, it’s not one of those piped-in roars. Fans just beyond the ivy at Wrigley Field, up on the rooftops, are letting loose.
The NIAA just broke some hearts, but all is not lost. They also held out a ray of hope. On July 23, they released updates to the 2020-21 high school sports season. With luck, the Mustangs will rise again in January 2021, starting with six weeks of basketball and wrestling. The NIAA moved the fall lineup of football, volleyball and soccer to February. April brings the spring sports - track, baseball and softball. A couple of weeks of practice precedes each sport’s six-week season. Football gets an additional week of training.
Nevada junior defensive end Dom Peterson has been selected to preseason watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Outland Trophy. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top defensive player, while the Outland Trophy goes to the nation’s top lineman, either offensive or defensive. He is one of 98 defensive standouts to be selected to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list from 66 schools and is one of four to make the list from the Mountain West.
The University of Nevada football team has been picked second in the West Division in the Mountain West’s Preseason Poll, which was announced by the conference. San Diego State was picked first in the West Division and received 19 of the 21 first-place votes. The Wolf Pack received the other two first-place votes and was second, clear of Hawai`i (third) and Fresno State (fourth). San José State was fifth with UNLV placed in sixth place.
Battle Mountain’s Desi Coombs and Emma Lemaire competed in the National High School Finals Rodeo, which was held in Guthrie, Okla., from July 17-23.
Due to COVID-19 concerns and school districts around Nevada on different schedules with having students on campus to start the 2020-21 school year, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association announced that there will be no sanctioned sports played until Jan. 2, 2021. “The adjustments were reviewed by and have unanimous support of the NIAA Legislative Commission which is made up of the superintendents of each Nevada school district with an NIAA member high school,” said NIAA executive director Bart Thompson in the release by the NIAA. “The NIAA staff consulted closely with northern and southern league/region presidents of each of the classifications in crafting the adjustments.”
The Good Times Drag Strip was busy again this past weekend with two days of racing. Saturday featured a doubleheader race day and a King of Hill race as well.
Winnemucca Regional Raceway hosted the Wild West Modified Tour last weekend that brought in modified racers from around the west for two days. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Northern Sports Mods, IMCA Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, Min-Mods, Pure Stocks and GenX raced over the two days. Over 90 cars raced over both days.
A seventh-inning stretch without fans at Yankee Stadium was far from the oddest happening on the second day of summer exhibitions in the majors. The first inning ended at Dodger Stadium without Los Angeles making a single out Sunday night, a game went to the 10th inning in Philadelphia even with the Orioles leading the Phillies 4-1, and the Yankees hit in the bottom of the ninth with a 6-0 lead over the Mets. It’s not quite baseball like you’re used to seeing. Then again, we’d never seen baseball amid the COVID-19 pandemic.