The game included talent such as Bryce Harper, who has earned national praise for his play as a sophomore at Las Vegas High School and attention for landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in June. He was selected for the game because he is planning to obtain his GED and play for the College of Southern Nevada this upcoming season.

Sanchez took the mound in the fourth inning, faced five batters, allowed one run and struckout one batter.

Family and friends gave him a loud reception once he took the mound.

His family printed and sold more than 100 “Sanchez” T-shirts for the game.

The West took an early 2-0 lead, but the East came back to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning.

The West tied the game in the 9th, the teams traded runs in the 10th and the game ended in a tie due to predetermined rules.

Following the game, Sanchez signed autographs for fans around the West dugout.

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

Can you believe we’re already 1/6th of the way through 2009?

Neither can we.

As we enter March, our 2008 year in review podcast is finally ready to go. Even though we already have a couple of solid candidates for stories and games of the year for 2009, a promise is a promise. We were not about to not get this thing up.

We hit some major technical snags and then time restrictions in getting this up. The final step was getting the files hosted somewhere. It turned out be a long podcast, so there were some challenges there, which is why you see it in so many pieces. Finally, we found the site webng.com to host the podcast.

Again, we apologize for the delay. I hope people get some use and enjoyment out of listening to it.

On the podcast, which was recorded on New Year’s Eve, you’ll hear Sports Editor Matthew Peters and photographer Steve Saenz discuss 2008’s sports stories and games of the year for Barstow and the surrounding areas.

First the 10 best stories …

And finally, the 10 best games.

Phew … it feels good to finally get 2008 off our back.

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

We continue to hit problem after problem, and each potential solution just sends us down another unending road. Trust us, we had no idea getting a podcast together would be this hard in 2009 but for us it has been. If anyone’s still sitting on the edge of their seat for this podcast, come down to the Desert Dispatch offices and we’ll play it for you straight from our computers (how Web -2.0 of us, right?). Until then, we’re still trying to find the best way to get it on the ‘Nets.

In the meantime, we’ve put together a little poll where you can vote for your favorite story of the year. Click here if you need a little more info to make up your mind.

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

As you may have noticed, the podcast isn’t quite up yet. This is the first time the Desert Dispatch is attempting a podcast (I know, we’re like three years behind the times), and it appears we’ve hit a few snags.

Rest assured, the audio has been recorded, and we’re just trying to figure out how to get it to the blog now.

We’re hoping those will be resolved soon. Until then, Happy New Year!

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

Until now.

Here’s a selection (that’s right there’s even more) of what we didn’t print in 2008.

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

(AP Photo)

If you’ve watched the Barstow High School football team in recent weeks, then you know this isn’t the same-old double-wing team from a year ago. The Aztecs first-year coach Jose Rubio as made a point of opening up the run-based offense.

One of the ways the Aztecs have done that is by lining up in a shotgun formation and directly snapping the ball to one of their running backs. This is often referred to as a single-wing formation.

These types of plays are typically used on the high school and collegiate level, however, on Sunday the Miami Dolphins used it to upset the New England Patriot, ending the Pats 21-game regular season winning streak. Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown ran for four touchdowns and threw for another out their version of the single-wing formation called Wildcat.

Were the Dolphins taking notes from Barstow’s version?

Probably not. The Aztecs are still struggling through the air. In a 34-6 win Friday they attempted four passes with no completions, although they had open receivers most of the time.

Running backs DaMario Webb and Curtis Webb disagreed on whether the Aztecs attempt to spread out and some trickery to the double wing has given them more space in the running game — DaMario said no, Curtis said yes. However, coaches are beginning to take notice. Whether it’s successful or not, teams are spending time preparing for it.

“They do their power stuff really well, and then they make you prepare for when they spread out,” said Antelope Valley coach Brett Pape after Friday’s game.

Perhaps Miami’s win is a sign of things to come for the Aztecs though?

Here’s a look at what the Dolphins did so well (and what the Pats did so bad):

The history of single-wing football goes way, way back.

Dolphins lesson learned: winning is fun

Maybe Bill Belichick should read more of his own books.

Could Miami use Wildcat more often? Maybe …

The single wing was nothing new for several of the Dolphins coaches

Dolphins quarterbacks coach David Lee, former Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator, used the single-wing formation to great success at Arkansas with current NFL backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Here he is explaining how it works during his days at Arkansas to CSTV (via NYT’s Fifth Down blog).

Click here to view the embedded video.

— Matthew Peters, sports editor

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

While reporting on the articles. I got to spend time in both the Rubios and the Campbells homes. First off, I can’t thank each family enough for allowing me watch them for a few hours.

As a reporter, I’m always taking notes. However, while I watched the Rubios and Campbell, I was taking mental notes more than anything. Someday I will probably have a family of my own. Watching the Rubios and Campbells gave me a good look at the challenges ahead as well the fun parts to having a family.

The way these families are able to balance time-consuming activities with other responsibilities is pretty impressive. You can see how the concepts behind football and family blend together with these two groups. Each uses teamwork to accomplish goals — just as if they were on the football field …. sort of.

There were many, many photos taken during our time with families and only a few ran in print. Here’s a sampling of other photos.

— Matthew Peters, sports editor

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(Photo Provided by Curt Mitchell)

Matt Mitchell’s dad, Curt, recently stopped by the Desert Dispatch office and gave us an update on his son.

The former Barstow pitcher has helped the Burlington Bees, the Kansas City Royals’ Class-A Affiliate in Burlington, Iowa, into first place in the Midwest League Western Division.

After spending a few months getting used to the Burlington, Iowa landscape, Curt said his son is settling in nicely. No one’s sure where he’ll end up next season, but he looks to be progressing pretty well. His numbers and wins have picked up as of late.

If you can’t get enough Matt Mitchell or Burlington Bees information and our Matt Mitchell update boxes aren’t enough, here are some other links to help you follow Matt and the team.

 The Royal Tower calls Matt’s selection by the Royals in the 14th round of the 2007 MLB draft a “steal.”

Check out what Baseball America had to say about him after a June start.

Minorleagueball.com gives Matt a C for his performance so far (none of the Royals top 20 prospect got higher than a B+).

Take a look all his stats, including that 1.79 ERA against left-handed hitters.

You can follow every Bees game on Web radio at the Bees home page.

… or you can check out the team’s official blog.
On a side note, isn’t the Bees’ logo one of the coolest logos in all of baseball?

— Matthew Peters, sports editor

Post from: Barstow Sports Blog

This week we did a Q&A with Frank Maldonado. Here is more what he had to say during his interview that didn’t make the published version in the Desert Dispatch on July 1.

Q: Talk about the difference between winning your first championship game and your second championship game.
A: When we won the first national title, it was like you are in heaven. It’s the greatest experience in the world when you look back at everything you did to get there. When we won the second one, it was the same type of enjoyment. You get greedy, it’s just that feeling that is so amazing. We don’t like to talk about it to our players, and we don’t want to put that kind of pressure on them.
Sometimes, we joke when we look at Bill Russell on the cover of Sports Illustrated. We will hold our hands out because we want to win 11 rings.

Q: Was it weird to not win the championship game this year after winning back-to-back titles?
A: It was a sad feeling. The disappointment was for our players, especially for the new guys that came in and were all excited. The bottom line was, we were not the best team there this year.

Q: What are some of your favorite memories at BCC?
A: I coached for three years at BCC from 1998 to 2001. Developing the players and moving them up where they could be successful were some of my favorite memories.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being a battling coach?
A: I enjoy the challenge and every hitter is different. I am not going to talk about any one hitter because they all have different styles. Being the hitting instructor, I am able to work with each player, and help them develop their swing and other mental aspects. It’s a challenge, and it’s up to me to develop them to become impact players. We want to win championships. I like being able to develop that young green hitter and see the results after that.

-Jason Blasco, Staff Writer

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