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Monday, August 8, 2022 SECTION B

League City, Texas claims Regional title

Daily repuBlic Staff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — League City, Texas, picked up two victories Sunday at Yarbrough Field in Laurel Creek Park to claim the American Legion Western Regional baseball tournament title.

League City beat Honolulu 6-2 and closed out the championship with a 3-2 win over California champion Petaluma. The Texas champion has earned the all-expenses-paid trip to Shelby, North Carolina, for the American Legion World Series and will compete against seven other regional winners from across the country for the national championship.

The Texas team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally for the win and the title. They were held scoreless for six innings by Petaluma before breaking out and scoring the gamewinning runs.

Tristan Zarella hit an RBI triple in the seventh to score Jeron Peterson. Kyeler Thompson had an RBI single that plated Zarella. Brandon Vassallo followed with a RBI single that scored Thompson.

Zarella went 3-for-3 for League City. Thompson had two hits. Vassallo, Samuel Lampson, Jose Rodriguez and Peterson also had singles. Kameron Hardebeck kept them close in the game on the mound with 6 1/3 strong innings.

Wesley Allen went 2-for-3 for Petaluma.

Against Honolulu, Thompson and Logan Silvertooth had two hits apiece. Zarella and Travis Brag delivered triples. Jacob Cyr pitched 61/3innings and allowed only two eared runs to go with four strikeouts.

Jeremiah Lono had two doubles for Hawaii, the team that knocked out the Fairfield Expos early in the tournament. Dallas Alapai also had two hits..

UC Davis football coach eyes another Big Sky crown

By Joe DaviDSon THE SACRAMENTO BEE

DAVIS — Dan Hawkins doesn’t hide his affection for his football team.

“I love our team,” the UC Davis football coach said this week on the eve of fall camp. “I love our dudes. We have a lot of good football players.”

Make that a lot of good players to go with a cast of good coaches, and that generally translates to success. Hawkins lived out that experience as a gritty fullback for the Aggies in the early 1980s and he’s lived it even closer as the UCD head coach since 2017. UCD won its first Big Sky Conference championship in 2018 and reached itssecond FCS playoff in 2021.

With a host of returning starters in the backfield, in the trenches and on defense, UCD expects to be in the championship chase again. The Aggies have won 31 conference championships since 1929, their first in Division I coming in 2018.

“Seems like every year we have an audacious statement that this is the best team in Aggies history, all the skill and experience,” Hawkins said. “I think we can be equal to last year or better. I can see the level continue to rise.”

UCD doesn’t have a for-sure starting quarterback at this point. The camp’s most interesting competition starts there to replace Hunter Rodrigues, but there is no shortage of options or talent. Each guy in the running has a unique skill set, UCD offensive coordinator Cody Hawkins said. His father, the head coach, said he likes it

See UC Davis, Page B8

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS

San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski connects for a two-run home run in the fifth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum against the A’s in Oakland, Sunday. Yastrzemski hit two home runs in a 6-4 Giants win.

Yastrzemski homers twice as Giants sweep series from A’s

By Shayna ruBin BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

OAKLAND — A two-game sweep of the A’s was just what the Giants needed to regain a little grip on their postseason hopes.

Their playoff viability was thrown further into question after suffering a four-game sweep series to the juggernaut Dodgers at Oracle Park earlier this week, extending their losing streak against Los Angeles to eight for the first time since 1979. They’re still technically in reach of a wild card spot, and a little momentum created with a 6-4 win on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of around 31,000 in Oakland doesn’t hurt.

Starter Logan Webb was strong in his outing against an A’s team in complete rebuild mode. He held Oakland hitless until the fifth inning, when Vimael Machín laced a double down just inside of the third base line. It led to a run scored on Skye Bolt’s RBI single up the middle, a rally aided by Brandon Crawford’s 12th error of the year on Nick Allen’s ground ball.

But Webb’s stuff was crisp in his seven innings. He generated plenty of ground balls, but the Giants’ iffy defense couldn’t guarantee those grounders would get him out of innings. The A’s scored their second run in the seventh inning on a series of ground balls that could have been turned for double plays. He gave up just four hits and struck out five with three walks.

The Giants’ bats had his back.

In the third inning, Mike Yastrzemski hit a solo home run, his 10th, off an 0-2 sinker from A’s starter Adrian Martinez. He hit his second home run in the eighth inning to extend a Giants’ lead, a two-run home run off Austin Pruitt.

Hits from Yastrzemski and Joey Bart got Martinez out of the game for left-handed reliever Sam Moll, who gave up an RBI double to pinch-hitter Austin Slater on a misplay by left fielder Tony Kemp to make it 2-0 before the A’s answered. Bart has been on a roll over his last eight games, as he went 1-for-3 and entered Sunday’s game batting .346 with 3 home runs and a 1.039 OPS since July 28.

In his first game back from the concussion injured list, Thairo Estrada hit a two-run home run off A.J. Puk to make it 4-1 in the fifth.

But the A’s fought back after Yastrzemski’s second home run. Seth Brown’s two-run home run off Dominic Leone in the eighth closed the Giants’ lead to two. They had the game-winning run at the plate in the ninth inning against Camilo Doval, who worked out of the self-made jam to secure the win.

A’s Hall of Famers watch team try to reinvent itself once again

By Jerry McDonalD

BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

OAKLAND — The A’s passed out six more green jackets Sunday at the Coliseum and the newest members of the team’s Hall of Fame are curious to see where the franchise is headed at the latest fork in the road.

Six new members of the Athletics Hall of Fame were honored in a pregame ceremony before the Bay Bridge Series finale against the Giants: outfielder Joe Rudi, third baseman Eric Chavez, third baseman Sal Bando, catcher Ray Fosse, player development executive Keith Lieppman and longtime clubhouse manager Steve Vucinich.

Among those who served as presenters included Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart. All are among the 28 members of the franchise Hall of Fame that was started in 2018.

The new class encom-

See A’s, Page B8

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group Carol Fosse speaks about her husband Ray Fosse during a pre-game ceremony at the Coliseum in Oakland, Sunday. Fosse was one of six inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.

Aiyuk defends ‘even-keel’ Lance after rough 49ers practice

caM inMan

BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SANTA CLARA — Let it be known that Brandon Aiyuk had Trey Lance’s back after a bad day, not that the 49ers’ young quarterback appeared desperate for a morale boost Sunday.

“He’s just a level, evenkeel dude,” Aiyuk said. “We don’t worry about him at all, really. He’ll come in, say, ‘Let’s look at it later today,’ we do so, and then we move on. That’s what practice is for.”

Practice No. 10 of training camp was arguably Lance’s worst, and it was not a startling plot twist in his up-and-down camp as the new starting quarterback.

He aced his first three passes – highlighted by completions over the middle to Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel – but then Lance got wild with multiple passes soaring high and out of bounds.

A high throw to his favorite target, Aiyuk, allowed safety Jimmie Ward to defend that ball while Aiyuk landed hard on his back. The next snap, Lance’s pass to tight end Tyler Kroft got cut off and intercepted by linebacker Fred Warner. Lance completed just one of his final nine throws, finishing 4-of-12.

Aiyuk suggested Lance’s wild pitches could be a toll from his volume of throws this camp, and although he did not outright cite “arm fatigue,” that is a concerning storyline that surfaced last month in regards to Lance’s rookie season.

“One thing I’ve learned is you never know what these guys arms feel like,” Aiyuk said. “We go out there some days our legs are tired and they may expect us to break a route and come out a lot faster than we did. Same thing for them. It is something I’ve learned. You never know what their arms feel like when they’re coming out here throwing a bunch of balls.”

Those misses could not be fully blamed on the first-string offense lacking tackles Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey, nor tight end George Kittle. Before Warner’s interception, Lance’s two preceding throws were off the mark toward Aiyuk, with Charvarius Ward dropping a potential interception and then Ward breaking that high throw over the middle.

“(Lance) talked about to us after a couple of plays he wishes he had back,” Aiyuk said. “He talked to us the same way as if he were to hit a play: what he did see, what he didn’t see, what he liked, or, ‘That was on me.’ ”

Lance was 8-of-12 a day earlier and finished that session with an impressive touchdown drive. The only practice as dismal statistically as Sunday’s was Practice No. 3, when he completed just 3-of-10 throws. Unofficially, he’s 67-of-128 in this camp’s full-team drills (52 percent).

Center Jake Brendel added of Lance: