The Pitman High flag football team nabbed their third consecutive victory to improve to 5-1 on the season by besting crosstown rival Turlock High at home on Wednesday night, 6-0.
The lone points came in the early stages of the first quarter, when Emily Martinez broke loose for a touchdown.
Wednesday’s contest was the third for each team in Central California Athletic League play, with the Pride — the reigning champions — taking early command of this year’s standings with a 3-0 record. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, suffered their first loss against a conference opponent, dropping to 2-1 in league play and 5-5 overall.
Martinez, a sophomore, has picked up right where she left off a season ago when she posted 540 receiving yards on 32 catches while rushing for another 313 on 29 carries, scoring 11 total touchdowns. Her efforts earned a spot on the All-CCAL First Team.
The latest clash between the two programs continued a trend set in last year’s inaugural flag football season in being a low-scoring, defensive battle. The Pride won their first ever matchup last year 13-6, and pulled out a similar 6-0 victory in their second clash. The Bulldogs avoided a season sweep with a 7-6 win in their final meeting.
Pitman will aim to build off the momentum when they travel to take on an 0-4 Modesto High team on Monday. Turlock will look to get back in the win column that same night when they host a 10-2 Gregori High team, which also sports a 3-0 record in CCAL play. Each game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Volleyball squads compete at Central California Classic
The Turlock High volleyball team made their presence known in Merced over the weekend by going 6-1 of the annual Central California Classic at Golden Valley High School. The efforts earned them the championship of the tournament’s silver division.
Pitman High also competed at the two-day event, with them finishing as a runner-up in the gold division, winning five of seven matches.
The Bulldogs went undefeated through Friday play, winning all three matches in straight sets. In the opener against Chowchilla, they won by 25-18 and 25-13 scores. They followed it up with a 25-15, 25-18 win over Tokay and capped off the first day with a 25-16, 27-25 thriller over McLane. They ran into host Golden Valley, losing in both sets, before rebounding with a 2-1 win over CCAL rival Downey and a straight set win over Buhach Colony to punch a ticket to the best-of-five set semifinal round. There, the Bulldogs defeated Sierra in straight sets, with junior Amelia Spaulding leading the way with 21 kills and an ace, while Noah Cook and Bella Green combined for 40 assists.
That win set up a date with Merced in the final, in which Turlock pulled out a win in five sets (20-25, 25-14, 20-25, 25-9, 15-9). Spaulding again led her team with six kills, followed by Isabella Macias with four.
For Pitman, they got off to a quick start to the tournament with a 3-2 (22-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 15-13) win over El Capitan of Merced and a sweep of Livingston (25-10, 25-4). They faced Mariposa in the nightcap Friday, where they lost 2-1 (20-25, 25-22, 16-15).
Like Turlock, the Pride were able to quickly get back on track with a string of four straight wins over the likes of Buhach Colony, Justin Garza of Fresno, Merced and, again, El Capitan. They dropped just one of nine total sets. The El Capitan rematch was in the semifinal. Maryn Hall led all players with 13 kills and added an ace. Izabella Ziencina posted a game-high 13 assists.
Their bid for the tournament title ended at the hands of St. Francis (Sacramento) in straight sets — 16-25, 12-25.
