Local sports roundup: Locals strong in Monache swim meet

Matlyn Morris continued her assault on the Porterville High School record book on Saturday at the Monache Invititational.

Porterville’s Kyle Grissom and Monache’s Zack Acencio and Elizabeth Jacobs also had impressive days during Saturday’s Monache meet, in which many of the top swimmers in Tulare and Kings counties competed.

In the team standings, the PHS girls swim team won the meet with 77 points, finishing ahead of second place Hanford West, which finished with 63 points. In the boys meet, Tulare Union won with 92 points while PHS was second with 56 points. Monache was at a disadvantage as it was competing in its first meet of the season in its own pool, but still had a sold effort, finishing fourth in the girls meet and fifth in the boys meet.

Morris broke two more school records and was part of breaking another school record in a relay race, giving her five school records already this season. Morris began the day along with Mikayla Scheer, Mikayla Balangue and Marnie Kavern to set a school record in the 200-yard medley relay, winning in 1 minute, 57.68 seconds. The foursome broke the old record by almost one and a half seconds.

Morris also lowered her own school record in the 50 freestyle, winning the event in 25.18. Jacobs was second in 26.52.

In addition, Morris shattered the school record in the 500 free by 11 seconds, as she finished second in 5:19.89. Hanford West’s Allyson Duffy won in 5:19.22. Morris finished her day by teaming with Kavern, Scheer and Balangue to win the 200 free relay in 1:44.73.

All of the times posted by Morris, as well as Porterville’s two relays, were Division I Valley automatic qualifying times.

Jacobs had an impressive swim in winning the 100 free in 58.01, a Division I automatic qualifying time. Right behind Jacobs was Strathmore’s Alyson Schultz, who took second in a Division I automatic qualifying 58.15.

Zack Acencio, a freshman, had an impressive effort in winning the boys 100 backstroke in a Division I automatic qualifying 59.43. Acencio also took second in the 200 individual medley in 2:16.59. Making Acencio’s effort impressive was the fact he wasn’t swimming in the fastest heat as he won his heat and he also had a problem with his goggles at the start of the race.

Acencio was also part of Monache’s 200 free relay along with Trevor Kroutil, Jon Davis and Caleb Parnell, which took second in a Division I automatic 1:37.16. The foursome was edged by Union, which won in 1:36.95.

Grissom had two impressive wins in posting Division I automatic times as he won the boys 50 free in 22.35 and the 100 butterfly in 53.48.

The girls 200 free was a fast race with the top five finishers posting Division I automatic qualifying times. Balangue was second in 2:08.48, Monache’s Shannon Kaye was third in 2:11.63 and Strathmore’s Olivia Vallejo was fourth in 2:12.20.

The girls 500 free was also a fast race, as Schultz was third in a Dvision I qualifying 5:49.28 and Kaye was fourth in a Division I qualifying 5:56.72. Other top local efforts include Parnell taking second in the 500 free and Balangue taking second in the 100 back in a Division I automatic 1:06.39.

BASEBALL
LEMOORE 3,
PHS 2
Tyler Davis turned in an outstanding effort on the mound for Porterville, but in the end it was a heartbreaking loss for the Panthers (3-2-1) to conclude the Central Valley Diamond Classic on Saturday.

Davis allowed just one run on one hit while striking out nine and walking one through five innings. PHS rallied for two runs in the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead, but Lemoore scored twice in the seventh.

Jordan Duran and Angel Flores each had a hit and an RBI and Nelson Roberts went 1-for-3 for PHS.

FRESNO 5,
PC 2
Porterville College tried to rally from a 5-1 deficit in the seventh before falling against Fresno City in a game that was delayed until Sunday due to the weather. Mitchell Villarreal walked, Christian Hamett singled and Kyle Verdegaal reached on a bunt single to load the bases. James Lopez walked to force in a run, but PC left the bases loaded.

PC took a 1-0 lead in the second when Bryce Telfer and Andrew Lopez singled to give Porterville runners at first and third. Tyler Czech followed with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Porterville received a strong outing in relief from Dakota Kirkman and David Allen, who combined to retire the final nine Fresno batters. Kirkman retired all six batters he faced, and Allen retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out one.

James Lopez had two hits, including a double, Verdegaal had two hits, Andrew Lopez doubled and Zack Watson added a hit for PC.