Sports

The beginning of March means baseball and softball teams at local high schools are finishing up non-league games and getting ready to start the league seasons.

A potent running game and a short field was all the Coalinga High Horned Toads needed to defeat the Gonzales Spartans on Friday at Dick Force Stadium. Coalinga improved to 2-0 after the 48-14 win and Gonzales fell to 0-2 in non-league play.

The high school football season began last Friday at Dick Force Stadium in Gonzales with the South County Football Jamboree.

Track and field teams from Gonzales and Soledad competed in a cluster meet at Pacific Grove and the Greenfield and King City teams completed in a cluster meet at Carmel on March 29.

Alexis Lopez scored on a pass from teammate Alexis Sanchez in the 12th minute of the second half as the host Soledad High Aztec boys soccer team defeated the Menlo School Knights 1-0 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Division III Playoffs.

The King City boys won 10 events and the girls team won eight events in victories over South County opponents at Thursday’s Daines-Stireman Track and Field Meet at War Memorial Stadium.

Needing a win to snap a seven-game losing streak, the Soledad Aztec football team was up to the challenge this past week.

A packed house of athletes and their families gathered last Wednesday at the Gonzales High School cafeteria for the track and field awards night and dinner.

Gonzales High School and Hartnell College graduate Norma Verduzco will be attending Cal State Monterey Bay to continue her studies and pursue a spot on the Otter women’s soccer team.

Frankie Berlanga completed his goal by fighting in Stockton in an MMA event.