March 22, 2019
VOL. MMXIX, No. 2
RAM’S EAR R I O V I S TA H I G H S C H O O L
Spectacular Walk-off for JV Followed By Dominating Performance for Varsity
photo by: Ashley Weller
by Henry Rossi, Assistant Editor
Third baseman Zach Davi mobbed by his teammates after his walk-off hit.
Scholarships for Seniors by Henry Rossi, Assistant Editor
Seniors, it is that time of year! Applying for scholarships is essential for those planning to attend college this fall. Recently, all seniors received a packet that included many local scholarship opportunities. It is best not to wait on starting these as I remind you that most of these are due sometime in April. When completing some of these local scholarships, make sure that you are following specific instructions, such as the parameters for the essay, as these will vary from scholarship to scholarship. With all scholarships, make sure that you are aware of the date that they are due, and submit them where it is specified; given to Ms. Alduenda, mailed to their address, etc. Apart from these local scholarships, Ms. Alduenda also posts scholarships that seniors can apply for on the Class of 2019 Google Classroom. If you have forgotten about about these scholarships, it is not to late, but you must act fast. Some of the scholarships’ deadlines have passed, but there are still plen-
ty that you can apply for. Here are a few of these scholarships and who can apply for them; Automotive Scholarships open to anyone planning to attend an accredited U.S. college or university or an ASE/ NATEF Certified post-secondary automotive, heavy duty, or collision repair school, Cal Aggie Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship for students planning to attend a UC, Women’s Cyber Security Scholarship for students pursuing a degree with a focus on cybersecurity or information assurance, Allan Olvera Memorial Scholarship for American Indian students, La Raza Scholarship for students of Latino/Hispanic ancestry, California Judges Foundation Civic Essay contest open to all students, Society of Women Engineers Scholarship for women planning to declare an engineering major, AVID College Horizon Scholarship for students who were enrolled in AVID for three years, and Ligurians in the World Association Scholarships for students of Italian descent.
The Rio Vista High School baseball program kicked off their season with their first game on Friday, March 8. The game was a special one; it was played at the reputable Raley Field, home of the Sacramento River Cats. The JV team would face off against Bradshaw Christian in an afternoon game that started at 3:00 p.m. Varsity would play under the lights versus their rivals, the Delta Saints, as they have done for the past few years. In the varsity game, the Rams offense that was so good last year showed their dominance. The Rams jumped on the board early; Junior Ethan Medders lead off the first inning with a shot over the head of the left fielder, which he managed to turn into an inside-the-park homerun. The team scored five more runs in the inning and followed it up with another two runs in the second inning. They continued to run up the score, and by the end of the fifth inning, the Rams’ offense had scored seventeen runs, which was plenty enough to activate the ten run rule that ends the game if the winning team is up by ten runs or more. On the mound for the Rams was their best pitcher, Ethan Medders. He had found himself in a similar position two years ago when the Rams had played the Saints at Raley Field in 2017. That game was one of the best that he has ever thrown. He had shutout the Saints for seven straight innings allowing the Rams to win by a narrow margin, but he had also not allowed a single Saint’s batter to reach base on a hit. A no-hitter is a feat rarely achieved by baseball pitchers, and Ethan looked to follow up on that outing to show that it wasn’t a fluke. In Friday’s game, Ethan flew through the Saints lineup as he showed just how dominate he is, and by the end of the fourth inning he had yet to give up a hit to the opposing batsmen. However, his pitch count was running high, and Ethan was relieved by senior Chris Kimbrow who continued the excellent performance. Chris pitched the fifth and final inning of the game, and he too did not give up a single hit. It was a combined no-hitter for Chris and Ethan in which they held the Saints to just one run. Overall, it was a great win for the varsity team. It was a combined effort with each of the eighteen athletes playing and contributing to the victory. With the offense and defense performing well, the Rams defeated the Saints by a final score of 17-1 in their first outing of the season. The varsity performance may have been dominate, but the slow paced game was not nearly as exciting as the nail biting JV game which seems to steal the spotlight. Coming into the game, the JV Ram’s squad and their opponents Bradshaw Christian seemed to be evenly matched, and the result of the game would prove this to be true. To those watching, it seemed like it was going to be a high-scoring bat-
Varsity catcher Bryce Ciaramitaro rockets a double into the left-center gap for a double.
tle, as in the top of the first inning Bradshaw Christian led off the game by driving in two runs. The Rams quickly responded with a run of their own in the bottom of that inning to bring themselves within one. The starting pitcher on this day for the Rams was sophomore Eamonn Drury. After the rocky first inning, where he had given up two runs, he quickly adjusted and started to get batters out in rapid succession. He held the Rams scoreless for the next few innings while Bradshaw Christian’s pitching did the same, both team’s defenses playing well behind them. In the fifth inning, the Rams finally broke through, scoring one more run and tying the game at 2-2. Eamonn proceed to throw the final two innings of the game before extras in which he keep the game tied. He finished the seventh inning barely under the pitch count limit, and throughout the seven innings pitched, he gave up only five hits and one walk. His dominance kept the Rams in the game as they headed into the bottom half of the seventh and final inning. This was the Rams last chance to take the lead and win the game before heading into extra innings. With the bases empty, freshman Sam Esperson started the rally by rocketing a pitch into the gap, which he turned into a double. The Rams now had a batter in scoring position just like that, and Sam scoring would mean victory for the Rams. Eamonn then followed up Sam’s hit with a single that moved Sam over to third, a position from which he could score much easier. Next up to bat was Grant Baldwin, who struck out swinging. However, the catcher did not catch the ball, which meant that he had to throw to first in order to get him out. Grant reached base safely after the catcher did not throw to first in fear that doing so would allow the fast runner Sam on third to score the winning run. Up to bat next was the Ram’s third baseman, Zach Davi, who had already knocked in one of the Rams’ earlier runs. With the bases loaded in the last inning and the winning run on third, all of the pressure was on him. Zach hit a bullet to the shortstop, who managed to get glove on the ball but could do nothing with it. With that, the winning run touched home as the team swarmed onto the field in celebration of Zach’s walk-off. And just like that, the Rams had won the game.
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March 22, 2019
RAM’S EAR
EDITORIAL
A Fake Emergency at the Border
By Aiden Mayhood, Editor-in-Chief
As partisanship in American government is at an all-time high, the American people were politically held hostage in order to cash in on a campaign promise by President of the United States Donald Trump. With the federal government shut down for 35 days, a record-high time, federal employees were forced to work without pay, including our military servicemen and women. Regardless of political preference, pay, social security, and welfare benefits should not be exploited for political purposes. A fabricated story, our country is supposedly in a “state of emergency” as a result of the “imminent threat of illegal immigration at our border.” As Trump calls it, it is an “invasion” of drugs, sex traffickers, gangs, and criminals. Trump and Republican leadership have invoked hyperbolic and inflammatory rhetoric as to provoke public response that illegal immigrants are damaging to the American economy and society, and that, because illegal immigration reportedly comes with drugs and crimes, a wall along the southern border would be the best way to solve all these problems. This is far from the truth. Emergency action would allow Donald Trump to divert taxpayer dollars to pay for the wall without congressional approval. Presidents have used emergency action in the past during times of war and crisis, but does illegal immigration at the border constitute a crisis? For example, President George H. Bush used emergency powers two weeks after the September 11th attack in order to block any transactions of those who have threatened to commit terror, committed terror, or support terrorism. Even though President Donald Trump claimed there was prayer rugs at the border, does that mean that there are terrorists at the border? Is he insinuating that people who use prayer rugs following the Islamic faith are terrorists and
therefore a wall should be built because Muslims are crossing the southern border? Americans don’t need to be concerned with the border. It seems that at every election, politicians use immigration as a scapegoat for economic and social issues in America rather than facing the real issues that plague the United States and tackling them. For example, the United States is $22 trillion dollars in debt. Written out in numbers, that’s 22,000,000,000,000 dollars. Or, politicians could use the money wasted on the wall and fund some education bills that look to tackle student debt or improve K-12 education. Don’t let the loudest voices drown out the needs of the American people. Remember, if we were in a state of emergency right now, all Americans would know and would be able to feel it. We’re not. Politicians, in order to compromise at the border, have looked for other solutions to make pro-wall or anti-illegal immigration voters happy or content at the least. Some politicians have proposed remote-controlled drones that monitor the border from the air, but this is sure to be costly and may be ineffective. Other politicians have suggested an increase in border patrol agents, which would create more jobs for Americans while at the same time increasing the amount of people patrolling the border to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing. However, this would be a continued cost for all taxpayers, as they would be paying the wages of all the newly-added agents. I do not know the best way to tackle illegal immigration, but I do know that the United States has never been and is not in a “state of emergency” at the border. Americans are safe and will stay safe without a wall and without anti-immigrant rhetoric. As Congress is divided by a president with opinions of his own, this issue is likely never to be solved in a way that everyone agrees upon. If the wall gets built, protests are sure to ensue, and the United States will enter a divisive path worse than it has ever experienced before as ideologies clash and violence occurs.
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
~Aristotle
RAM’S EAR Published byby Rio Vista HighHigh School, Digital Publications Class Published Rio Vista School 410 South 4th Street, Rio Vista, CA 94571 410 South Fourth Street | Rio Vista, California 94571 (707) 374-6336 ext. 1224 email: rvhsramsear@gmail.com
Printed by School Paper Express, Wappingers Falls, New York Letters to the Editor: To be published, letters must have the author’s name, address, and telephone number.
Editor-in-Chief Aiden D. Mayhood Assistant Editor Henry Rossi Adviser Julie Griffin
Ram’s Ear Staff Conor Cline, Jacob Kinser, Jaden Lira, Isaiah Mendola
Calendar of School Events
March
March 1 - JV & Varsity Baseball Scrimmage @ Liberty Ranch, 3:30 p.m. March 1 - 2 - JV & Varsity Softball Linden Tournament March 4 - Booster Club Meeting @ 6:00 p.m. March 4 - Winter Sports Awards @ 6:00 p.m. March 6 - Coffee w/ RVHS March 8 - JV & Varsity Baseball @ Raley Field, 3:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. March 11 - JV & Varsity Softball vs Dixon, 3:30 p.m. & 4:30 p.m. March 11 - Swim SDL Center Meet #1 @ Home, 3:30 p.m. March 12 - 9th Grade PSAT March 13 - JV & Softball vs St. Helena, 3:00 p.m. & 4:30 p.m. March 14 - 16 - Baseball Gridley Tournament March 14 - Golf @ Highlands, Cherry Island Golf Course, 3:00 p.m. March 15 - 16 - JV Softball Rio Linda High School Tournament March 18 - Swim SDL Center Meet #2 @ Linden, 3:30 p.m. March 19 - JV & Varsity Baseball @ Winters, 4:00 p.m. March 19 - JV & Varsity Softball vs Winters, 3:00 p.m. & 4:30 p.m. March 21 - Golf vs Vacaville Christian, Trilogy, 3:00 p.m. March 22 - Varsity Baseball vs Esparto, 4:00 p.m. March 22 - 23 - Swim Invitational @ DeLaSalle March 22 - Mini Day March 23 - JV Baseball @ Durham, 2:00 p.m. March 25 - Swim Center Meet #3 @ Highlands, 3:30 p.m. March 26 - Golf @ Golden Sierra, Cold Spring Country Club, 3:00 p.m. March 27 - Varsity Baseball vs Vacaville Christian, 4:00 p.m. March 27 - Varsity Softball vs Vacaville Christian, 4:00 p.m. March 28 - Varisty Softball @ Highlands, 4:00 p.m. March 28 - Golf @ Linden, Elk Horn Golf Course, 3:00 p.m. March 29 - Varsity Baseball @ Vacaville Christian, 4:00 p.m. March 29 - Mini Day - End of Semester
April
April 1 - Swim SDL Center Meet #4 @ Home, 3:30 p.m. April 1 - Golf SDL Tournament #1, Davis Muni, 12:00 p.m. April 2 - Varsity Softball vs. San Juan, 4:00 p.m. April 3 - JV & Varsity Baseball @ Golden Sierra, 4:00 p.m. April 4 - Golf vs Highlands, Trilogy, 3:00 p.m. April 5 - JV & Varsity Baseball vs Golden Sierra, 2:00 & 4:00 p.m. April 6 - Swim Rio Linda Relay Invitational @ Rio Linda April 8 - Swim SDL Center Meet #5 @ Linden, 3:30 p.m. April 9 - Varsity Softball @ Golden Sierra, 4:00 p.m. April 10 - JV & Varsity Baseball @ Linden, 4:00 p.m. April 11 - Swim SDL League Championships @ Highlands April 11 - Golf @ Vacaville Christian, Cypress Lakes Golf Course, 3:00 p.m. April 11 - JV & Varsity Softball @ Linden, 4:00 p.m. April 12 - JV & Varsity Baseball vs Linden, 4:00 p.m. April 15 - 18 - Varsity Baseball Sutter Spring Tournament April 22 - JV & Varsity Baseball @ Dixon, 4:00 p.m. April 23 - JV Baseball vs Dixon, 4:00 p.m. April 23 - Golf vs Golden Sierra, Trilogy, 3:00 p.m. April 23 - Varsity Softball vs Highlands, 4:00 p.m. April 24 - Varsity Baseball vs Highlands, 4:00 p.m. April 25 - Varsity Softball @ San Juan, 4:00 p.m. April 25 - Golf vs Linden, Trilogy, 3:00 p.m. April 26 - 27 - Varsity Softball Ramsey Classic @ Modesto Christian April 26 - Varsity Baseball @ Highlands, 4:00 p.m. April 29 - Golf SDL Tournament #2, Cherry Island Golf Course, 12:00 p.m. April 30 - Varsity Softball @ Vacaville Christian, 4:00 p.m.
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March 22, 2019
RAM’S EAR
The Academic Decathlon team this year consisted of Martin Magana, Aiden D. Mayhood, Fisher Lyon, Aidan Rosen (top row), Eamonn Drury, Izzy Hernandez, Suheng Chiv, and advisor Mrs. Stark (bottom row).
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California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) boasts amazing views, scenic hiking routes, and year-round warm weather as well as highly-respected academics.
Academic Decathlon College of the Month: Repeats Successful Run Cal Poly SLO
by Aiden D. Mayhood, Editor-in-Chief
The Sacramento County Academic Decathlon is held the first Saturday of February every year, with schools from Yolo County, Placer County, and Solano County invited to join, like Rio Vista High School. This year, it was held at Folsom High School for the 39th Annual Academic Decathlon when it had been previously held at Inderkum High School. The theme of this year’s event was “The 1960s: A Transformational Decade.” Students take 30-minute multiple choice tests over the course of the 1-day event in language and literature, economics, music, science, art, mathematics, and social science. Each team member also gives an impromptu speech, a planned speech, and conducts an interview in front of judges. Teams are broken into three categories with three students each: honor students (3.75 - 4.0 GPA), scholastic students (3.0 - 3.74 GPA), and varsity students (2.99 and below GPA). At the end of the day, each team representing every high school compete in a super quiz, where each team of students competes in the varsity, scholastic, and honor decathlete super quiz. All teams and students are gathered in a gymnasium to cheer on their teams and school, making the super quiz the most competitive and loud event of the day, a change from the quiet test-taking classrooms. This year, Rio Vista High School’s academic decathlon team consisted of 15 members: Per Andersson, Fisher Lyon, Eamonn Drury, Henry Rossi, Wyatt Hagan, co-presidents Suheng Chiv and Martin Magana, Colin Lira, Sam Esperson, Sophia Saldana, Jorie Forbes, Erick Galeno, Aidan Rosen, Aiden Mayhood, and vice president Izzy Hernandez. Only seven members attended this year’s academic decathlon: co-presidents Suheng Chiv and Martin Magana, vice president Izzy Hernandez, Fisher Lyon, Eamonn Drury, Aiden Mayhood, and Aidan Rosen, along with advisor Mrs. Stark. Vice president of the club Izzy Hernandez said on this year’s academic decathlon, “This year’s academic decathlon was so much fun because we got to be a little competitive while still enjoying ourselves and cheering each other on.” Rio Vista High School’s stacked Academic Decathlon team was able to compete at a higher level as they had more time available to study, and many of the students were familiar with the 1960s time period, especially in regards to music, as some members of the team are fans of The Beatles and Jefferson Airplane. Meetings this year were at lunch on every other Wednesday, with members like Henry Rossi presenting math and Izzy Her-
by Aiden D. Mayhood, Editor-in-Chief
nandez presenting science. Club members weren’t required to take notes, but they were encouraged to. Meetings could be described as relaxed but also informative and respectful, as each student made their presentations on their concentrated topic. As this year’s senior members of the club graduate from RVHS, new members will be needed and wanted to diversify the club’s academic levels for teams. Co-president Martin Magana says, “Not only will you have an amazing time, but you will receive amazing experience in knowledge.” Other co-president Suheng Chiv says, “Join ACDC because being in a room where one can feel so welcomed and supported in their community is an important asset to have in one’s high school career. The club elevates its members through teamwork and much fun!” Remember, at next year’s club rush, make sure to sign up for Academic Decathlon (ACDC) and represent RVHS at the 2020 Sacramento County Academic Decathlon!
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, or Cal Poly SLO as it’s known, has long been known as a well-respected engineering school, but there are so many majors at this unique school that are world-renowned. Cal Poly SLO is far enough from Rio Vista to get out and explore as a young adult, but it is close enough to home where visiting family is not a hard task to achieve. Being a well-known and top notch school, the Cal Poly SLO admissions process can be rigorous and very selective, so a well-rounded application with high grades and high test scores may be necessary. Cal Poly SLO admission officers want hard-working students who can work well in a fast-paced environment, and where the campus runs a quarter schedule rather than a semester schedule. As a result, classes are only 10 weeks long, so there is more curriculum in a shorter amount of time to go over. The average applicant to the state school have a 4.0
March Birthdays March 2nd Owen McDonald March 3rd Liseth Mendoza Carla Navarro March 5th Per Andersson III La’Kenthia Landers March 6th Nicholas Bowen Gary Tonnesen March 7th Muguel Quiambao Peter Rossi March 8th Kyra Atkinson Kaitlyn Du Bois Preston Ebert Everardo Ordonez March 9th Jose Gutierrez Jr. March 11th Zachary Davi Drew Mackey March 12th Jose Hernandez
Adrian Zapien March 13th Karina Romero Valencia Joseph Solis March 21st Jacqueline Lopez March 22nd Alicea Gonzales Aidan Walker March 23rd Bryan Romero March 24th Andrew Harper Jessica Mingay March 25th Jarrod Burgess March 26th Ashton Frazier-Roberts Donald McNabb Megan Ross March 28th Maria Segoviano March 30th Jaimie McDowell
GPA, which is comparable to ivy league schools, but at Cal Poly SLO, test scores aren’t anywhere near as high as what they need to be at old institutions like Harvard and Princeton. At Cal Poly SLO, composite ACT scores fall between 26 and 32. For the SAT, reading and writing scores are between 620 and 700, while for math, scores fall between 620 and 730, making the average combined SAT score fall between 1240 and 1430 for the average applicant. One unique thing about the admissions process at Cal Poly SLO is that they accept superscoring on both the SAT and ACT. In other words, you can combine scores of multiple tests to increase your overall score. If you score a 25 on the math section on one ACT but 29 the next time, your math score on the ACT will now be a 27. So, in effect, if you only focus on one section of the test each time you take it, you could very easily achieve a perfect or near-perfect score on the test through superscoring, boosting your application. However, this comes at a price, as the tests are costly. Cal Poly SLO doesn’t just boast great academics. It also stresses an outdoor culture, with hiking, the beach, and tons of hills to offer to bike and walk. Students brag about the large calves they develop just by walking around campus to class and the dorms and back. The climate is warm, so bring your summer clothes year round! Tuition plays a big role in whether a student attends a college or not. Tuition for California residents for an academic year runs at about $27,225 before financial aid if applicable. Financial aid may include scholarships, grants, loans, workstudy, or other sources. The average needbased aid a freshman receives is around $3500. Freshman are usually required to live on campus unless you have circumstances that allow you to live off campus. Overall, Cal Poly SLO is a great school to attend. It boasts a student body that is extremely hard-working with beautiful views and places to spend time outdoors. It allows superscoring on standardized tests, bumping up your chances of achieving high test scores. It is close enough to home but far enough to broaden your horizons and experience different people and cultures. Cal Poly SLO is a school that high-achieving students should consider as they enter the college application process. And don’t forget, study for SAT’s, ACT’s, and SAT Subject Tests if required for the college of your choice. These are highly valued in the college application process, and many students don’t realize the importance of them. Even if you’re only a freshman, study up!
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March 22, 2019
RAM’S EAR
New Battle Royale Apex Legends Tops The Charts
Winter Athletes Honored at Sports Awards Night by Isaiah Mendola, Staff Writer
The Winter Sports Awards were held on March 4th, 2019 in the theater to honor athletes playing soccer, wrestling, and basketball. The sports coaches all
gave out awards to the athletes who showed the most talent, hard work, or improvement. The following students received awards:
-Boys Varsity Soccer-
Most Valuable Player- Alex Tejeda Players of the Year- Alex Tejeda, Anthony Ornelas Most Improved - Henry Rossi The newest battle royale out right now succesfully rises to the top of the charts.
By Jacob Kinser, Staff Writer
Apex Legends Tops The Charts 2018 brought out a new wave of battle-royale style games for millions to play worldwide. The biggest trend all year long was Fortnite and all of the dances that came along with it. However, in 2019, a new challenger has surfaced to take Fortnite’s spot as the #1 game in the world. Apex Legends is the new game that everybody is talking about. With 25 million unique players in its first week of launch, Apex is looking to be the new top dog in the gaming community. Apex Legends is the newest installment in the battle-royale trend in which players can queue into matches with up to three friends and try to last long enough to be the last squad standing. Apex is a freeto-play game but offers in-game currency that players can purchase to earn cosmetics for their characters. Along with being the newest battle-royale game out right now, Apex Legends brings along some unique features to the table that make it stand out amongst the others. Apex has a brand new “ping” system in which play-
ers can communicate with their teammates without having to connect a microphone and speak audibly to them. Currently, there is only one playable map called “King’s Canyon”, which is incredibly detailed and holds 60 players per game. The environment ranges from desert wastelands to multi-layered military bunkers in which players can drop in and loot up to try and survive the match. Apex Legends includes eight “Legends”, which are characters with unique abilities that players can choose as they load into the lobby. These legends go by the names of Wraith, Bangalore, Pathfinder, Caustic, Mirage, Lifeline, Bloodhound and Gibraltar. Each legend provides the player with a unique experience, which allows consumers to experiment with different legends to find which one suits them best. No other battle royale game has this option right now, which sets Apex Legends apart and has put it at the top of the charts, surpassing Fortnite.
-Girls Varsity Soccer-
Honorable Mentions - Betty Romero, Destanie Rendon, Greta Dole All League - Brooke Okamura Team Spirit - Zoe White Most Improved - Diana Bernal All Around player - Destanie Rendon Ms. Soccer - Betty Romero
-Wrestling-
Most Valuable- Jesus Rivas League Champion - James Blake Most Outstanding Wrestler MVP - Brennen Bellante
-Junior Varsity Boys Basketball6th Man - Sam Esperson Defensive Player of the Year - Art Weller Offensive Player of the Year- Carter Lira Most Valuable Player - Ben Sisneros
-Varsity Boys Basketball-
Offensive Player of the Year - Jacob Kinser Most Valuable Player- Conor Cline Defensive Player of the Year- Jaden Lira Post Player of the Year- Brady Bowers Honorable Mentions - Brady Bowers / Jaden Lira All League - Conor Cline / Jacob Kinser
-Junior Varisty Girls Basketball-
Most Valuable Player- Josie Preston Defensive Player of the Year - Isabella Saldana Best Free Throw - Timbe Kelepily Team Captain - Devon Peterson
-Varsity Girls Basketball-
All League - Mercedes Roberts / Kaylee Kitchens Swiss Army Knife Award - Jessica Mingay Honorable Mentions- Olivia Roberts / River Billoups
Academic All League Players 3.5 GPA or Better! Varsity Boys Soccer Jose Chavez Adrian Tejeda Alex Ornelas Henry Rossi
Girls Varsity Basketball Bailey Adgate River Billoups Kaylee Kitchens Amaya Frisbie Olivia Roberts Mercedes Roberts Jazalyn Blalock Kaitlyn O’Connor
Varsity Girls Soccer Ingrid Gallardo Brooke Okamura Araceli Elisea Greta Dole Marivella Torres Zoe White Andrea Villasenor Lily Griffin Yocelyn Corona Caroline Upham
Wrestling Jesus Rivas Jacob Rivera Emma Bellante Brennen Bellante
Varsity / JV Basketball Jacob Kinser Conor Cline Brady Bowers Richie Zamarripa Preston Ebert Logan Boothe Kawika Makua Tuck Forbes Ben Sisneros Art Weller Sam Esperson Eamonn Drury JV Girls Basketball Devon Peterson Isabella Saldana Brook Summit Dallas Haley Josie Preston Jessica Mingay
March 22, 2019
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RAM’S EAR
Photo by: Brooke Okamura
Varsity Boys Basketball Positioned Varsity Girls Cap Off Successful Season with Playoff Run for Sierra Delta League Playoffs
The varsity boys team up together to surprise Coach Baldwin on senior night with some new shoes.
The varsity girls going over their game plan before their first playoff game.
By Jacob Kinser, Staff Writer
The 2018-19 varsity boys basketball season was one for the RVHS record books. The boys fought hard all season long, which has successfully earned them a playoff spot for the first time in fourteen years. Over the 26 games of the regular season, the boys varsity basketball team has averaged an impressive 45.3 points per game and racked up a record of 17 wins and 9 losses (6-4 in league). With a new first-year coach at the helm, Lubertus Baldwin, the boys have had to make some adjustments to their playstyle. A few of these changes include a more rigorous practice schedule, a large set of new plays to learn, and man-to-man defense. The boys have proven through hard work and dedication that they are now a team to fear whenever they step on the court. The first playoff game was held on Wednesday, February 13 at Woodland Christian. The Rams faced off against this team earlier in the season at the Vacaville Christian “Christmas Classic”
By Jacob Kinser, Staff Writer
tournament, in which the boys suffered a 74-54 loss. The second match up was a much different story because everything was on the line for both teams. The varsity boys fought extremely hard until the final whistle but unfortunately came up short in a devastating 60-53 loss on the road. Coach Baldwin said after the game, “I am extremely proud of these young men and the work that they have put in every day throughout the season. These boys paved the way for the future of the RVHS basketball program, and I am very excited to see what next year has in store. We plan to be back in the playoffs without a doubt.” This season will be remembered for years to come, and hopefully it marks the start of a new chapter for Rio Vista basketball. The boys left their mark on the school, but now it is time for some new players to show what they are made of. With nine seniors hanging up their jerseys for the final time, the team will have plenty of room for fresh talent next season.
2018-2019 was a solid year for RVHS varsity girls basketball. The Lady Rams worked hard all season long to earn a 8th seed playoff spot, which secured them a first-round home game against the 9th seed Aspire Langston Hughes Academy Titans. The game started off rough, but Kaylee Kitchens was able to lead a huge comeback rally with 21 points, a majority of those points coming in the fourth quarter. This is the first home playoff win that the RVHS girls basketball team has seen in a very long time, so the girls have a lot to be proud of as their season comes to a close. After their incredibly exciting win against the Aspire Langston Hughes Academy Titans, the Lady Rams traveled two hours to the foothills of Mariposa to face off against the Grizzlies. Mariposa was the number one seed in this year’s playoff bracket, so the ladies knew that they were going to have their work cut out for
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them if they wanted to come home with another win. It is safe to say that the game didn’t go as planned, as the girls lost by a score of 64-22. Despite the loss, the ladies were proud of the progress that they made throughout the season. With five out of the twelve players moving on to college next year, the coaches will have to do some recruiting in the off-season to fill their shoes. This should be a fairly easy task since the JV team had enormous success this year and some of those ladies will be moving up to varsity next year. Senior captain Anna Ramirez said, “It’s always a bummer to say goodbye to a sport and hang up your jersey, but I believe that next year’s team will carry on our legacy and get us back to the playoffs.” This season may be over, but we expect to see many more great things come from the Lady Rams in the years to come.
Artist
of the Month By Jaden Lira, Staff Writer
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PURCHASE YOURS IN THE OFFICE!
The winning poster of the Unprom design contest on display.
Photo by: Brooke Okamura
Designed by: Megan Ross
Scarlett dole
Richie Zamarripa going up for a lay-up in warmups.
Scarlett is a freshman at Rio Vista High School who is very involved in the Art department. She is extremely dedicated to improving her art, even at the phenomenal level that she is able to already. Scarlett has a great future ahead of her.
Page 6
The Lady Rams getting fired up after a huge team win. (Photo by Aiden Mayhood)
Swim Team Hopes to Return to Playoffs and Beyond
Photo by: Ingrid Gallardo
Photo by:Jessa Majors
Varsity Boys Soccer Continues Successful Season in Playoffs
Izzy Hernandez warming up in the pool.
The Rams come together after a huge team win.
By Jacob Kinser, Staff Writer
By Henry Rossi, Staff Writer
The Rio Vista High School boys soccer team continued the momentum that they obtained from their successes at the beginning of the season into the second half and until the 2018-19 season came to an end. Halfway through the season, the team had played five games in league and boasted a record of 3-2. They were in a good position to make it to playoffs if they could continue their winning record throughout the season. Their biggest competition was the Highland Scots who were looking along with the Rams to take the third place spot in the division behind the dominant San Juan Spartans and Linden Lions. Their next two games would be against the Scots so they didn’t have to wait long to know their playoff fate. They would need to win both games to be in an advantageous position for making it, while winning one game would leave the Ram’s and the Scot’s tied. It was not easy for the Rams as they played both games with only eleven players, but in the end they came out on top winning the series against the Scots with a win and a tie. The Rams finished off their season by playing three more games against Golden Sierra, San Juan, and Linden, and they managed to keep their winning record alive. Because of their success, the boys made it into the playoffs. The opponent they were up against was a familiar face, the school rival Delta Saints. The two teams had battled it out twice in the preseason where the
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Saints had beaten the Rams both times. However, the Rams looked to show that they had improved since the teams had last seen each other in early December. Senior Erick Galeno said, “This was a very meaningful game for the whole team. We all knew what was on the line and played our hardest every second.” The Rams and all of their supporters traveled to Delta High School on February 12 for the first rounds of playoffs. In the game, the Saints struck first as they made three early goals. The Rams retaliated with a goal of their own before the end of the half, but it was not enough to catch back up with the Saints. The final score of the game was 4-1 with the Saints beating the Rams. Although they lost, the team had accomplished something big as it had been the first time since 2014 that the Rio Vista boys soccer team had made it to playoffs. After the conclusion of the season, a few of the team’s players were awarded for their performance during the season. Alex Tejeda, Anthony Ornelas, Jose Vega, and Erick Galeno all received AllLeague awards. These players are picked by the coaches from the league and there are only a limited number given out, so it’s quite impressive for the Rams to receive four of them. On top of this, the future is looking good for next season as the team maintains most of their core players. We are looking forward to seeing them follow up on this year’s success next season.
The Rio Vista High swim program has been a constant powerhouse over the last few years, as they have dominated the league and made it to championships for three years in a row. The Rams are looking to head back to the championship this year, keeping their four-year streak alive. Last season, our foreign exchange student Samuele Franceschetti won All-League MVP and will have his name on the MVP banner forever. There are a few candidates on this year’s team that are looking to bring this award back to Rio Vista. There are a lot of high expectations that this team is being held to, but we believe that they can exceed them with no problem. This year, Sophia Saldana is the frontrunner to take the League MVP crown back to RVHS. Saldana has been swimming for as long as she can remember and has even tried out to qualify for the Junior Olympics. We had the time to sit down and talk with her about the tryouts today and were able to learn some new things about the talented young athlete. She said in the interview “The tryouts went very well, I dropped lots of time in all of my events, and I was actually able to qualify.” She achieved an impressive 1:03 time in her 100 Meter Fly which was her best time of the weekend and helped her qualify. At an
extremely young age, Saldana already has some huge plans for her future, which showcases the amount of talent that this team consists of. She will be a force to be reckoned with over the next four years. The first swim meet will be held on Monday, March 11 at home and will include all of the teams in our league. We talked to the boys team captain Fisher Lyon about his expectations for this season. Fisher said, “Sections is an achievable goal for this season, and as captain, I expect to set an example for my team by trying to get the best times I can. As a team, winning league is our main focus. This season we have a lot of new swimmers, but they all seem very capable, so I think that’s why we are going to win league this year.” Coached by Toni Tucker and Dan Mahoney, this season’s team is expecting great things that are all familiar territory for the returning swimmers. Even the new swimmers on the team are expecting big things to come in the remaining few months of the season.
In-n-Out Vs. Chick-fil-A
Photo by: Maddy Myer
“Un-Prom” Design Contest Was a Major Success
Design contestants presenting their lovely submissions.
By Jacob Kinser, Staff Writer
Over the last 3 years, Mrs. Griffin’s students have been invited to design a poster for the Deven Davis Memorial UnProm event. The UnProm is a dinner, dance and raffle held in May to raise funds for the Deven Davis Memorial Scholarship at Rio Vis-
ta High School and in memory of Deven who was a student at RVHS when she passed away from cancer in 2014. This is a popular event in the community with the theme changing from year to year. This year’s theme is Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is an
annual horse race held the first in May in Louisville, Kentucky and has been running every consecutive year since 1875. This year, the Digital Imaging II and III students designed posters to enter into the contest. Three students’ work stood out from the crowd and were awarded prizes by the event committee. Freshmen Melissa Torres Camacho and Jorie Forbes were awarded second and third places, respectively, while Junior Megan Ross’ design was chosen to represent this year’s event.
Megan’s poster features a black and white photo of Deven and a transparent duotone of the Kentucky Derby’s famous grandstand in the background. Megan’s work will be featured all over town on posters, social media, and on the tickets. “We had a really hard time choosing this year because there were so many great designs,” added Joanna Myer, Deven’s mother. Congratulations go out to all the designers.
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Photo by: Jaden Lira
Photo by: Ingrid Gallardo
JV Baseball Team Back Again Wrestling Season Ends In Success
Senior Jesus Rivas pins his Golden Sierra opponent on his back.
by Henry Rossi, Assistant Editor Pitcher Grant Baldwin mid-windup looking to strikeout his opponent.
by Jaden Lira, Staff Writer
players so they are at their max level when they reach varsity. Essentially, I want to help build a stronger baseball program at RVHS that will continue year after year.” The team has had some problems with the rain interfering with the first few games, but it seems that they are through the thick of it. They have a big upcoming game at the Sacramento River Cats Raley Field on Friday March 8th vs. Bradshaw Christian in which they want to show their team’s strength against a tough opponent.
vera, who is a first year wrestler. On top of this, two Rio Vista wrestlers were awarded All-League MVP awards for placing first place. These two were brother and sister Brennen and Emma Bellante. Both had amazing seasons, especially Emma, who is the only girl who wrestles for the Rams. They leave their mark as their names will be posted on the gym wall with all others who have accomplished this feat. The Rio Vista wrestling team also had some successes in the postseason. A few of the Rams’ wrestlers made it to sections, which is an honor in itself, but Brennen Bellante’s performance stands out the most. Coming out of the regular season as League MVP, he continued his success into the playoffs. Here Brennen competed so well that he even made it to masters, which shows just how dominant he was when wrestling.
JV Softball Starts Off Season By
Proving Themselves With Win Photo by: Jaden Lira
The Rio Vista high school JV boys baseball team is looking forwards to having a great season for the first time since 2013! With new head coach and history teacher Mr. Sherman, the team is trying to get in shape for their first game on Friday, March 1 at Liberty Ranch. They are struggling with having little equipment as well as trying to fit in practices. Not only does the team have to work around the schedule of the varsity team as there is only one field, but the constant rain that has occured for the past few weeks have really limited the team’s practice time. The JV boys have been working with the varsity boys in order to get the field ready for the upcoming season. Despite all of this, the JV team has gotten a decent amount of practices in. There has been a large number of kids who have come to try out for the team in the hopes of having an amazing season. Varsity is doing everything they can to try and help the JV team become better, like giving tips on how to improve on their positions when they practice together. The team is hoping to repeat the successes that the varsity team has been having over the past few season. Coach Drake Sherman, when I asked about his goals for the 2019 season, stated, “This is the first time in about 5 years that Rio has had a JV team, so ultimately my goal is obviously to win games. But in addition to that, it is to make sure I help build the varsity program by making sure my JV players understand the expectations of Coach Corey and the varsity squad and help get them to become better
The Rio Vista High School wrestling team’s 2018-2019 run came to an end in February after a long and hardfought season. This season was a rollercoaster of highs and lows for the Rams, having a tough time competing with other teams in the league but also having talented individuals show their own potential. The Rams wrapped up the regular season by hosting the last league tournament at home. This was a big deal for the Rio Vista High School wrestling program because it was the first time that they had ever held a league tournament at the high school. It was also the senior’s last match, not counting potential playoffs matches, and friends and family came to watch and support senior wrestlers Brennen Bellante, Jesus Rivas, and Gabe De La Rosa. After the event, league awards were given out to wrestlers who excelled this season. AllLeague awards were given out to James Blake, who continued to improve his game all season, and freshman Jacob Ri-
Shortstop Sam Esperson awaits the oncoming pitch which he looks to turn into a hit.
Golf Team Back In Full Swing by Isaiah Mendola, Staff Writer
The Rio Vista golf team is back in full swing for the upcoming season. There are a few players returning from the previous season that are expecting to have another great season this year. They have had some troubles trying to fit in practices during the unusual large rainy season. They have been restricted to practicing hitting balls in the gym, but they are hoping to move onto full practices once the rain passes. Last year, the team held some respectable achievements but also their fair share of hard roads. Last year, the Rio Vista varsity golf team placed 3rd out of 5th at their conference match, the first Sierra Delta league match. The team is currently still practicing in the gym and is using every second they can get to get to prepare for this promising upcoming season. The returning players are the core of the team and are expecting to do exceptionally good and assist newer players with anything that will help the team as a whole. Last season’s star player, Blaine
Dart, was a huge asset to the team, a very competitive player, and motivated the team during every game and practice to play with their full potential. “He made it to sections last year and did extremely well. I’m very proud of him,” said student athlete Conor Cline. If the team keeps up the hard work, then it’s starting to look like a very promising season for the Rio Vista golf team. I talked to fellow player Trevor Gomes about the upcoming season. He responded, “We’re looking good. We got our main four players, and duck hunt Chris is going to carry us forward. We’ve been practicing for three days a week in Trilogy and hoping to do even better than last year.” Their first upcoming game is March 14th against Highlands, and they replay the team April 4th. They hope to start off the season on a strong note and show the other teams in our league that they are a force to be reckoned with.
The JV softball team poses as a group before their game against Chavez High School.
by Jaden Lira, Staff Writer
Rio Vista High School softball is once again back in full swing. Last year was the first time in over a decade that there was a JV softball team at Rio Vista High School. They had a short season due to lack of other schools with a JV softball program to play. They still worked hard and practiced everyday. Their overall record in four games was 3-1. This year’s team is loaded with new and returning talent. Due to a new rule in the Sierra Delta League, juniors may now play on JV. Coaches have taken advantage of the new rule, recruiting four juniors on their roster. The team has been practicing hard for all of February to get ready for this year’s season. On February 22, the Rams kicked off the preseason by traveling to Stock-
ton to play Chavez High School for their first game. The game was tough, but in the end, the Rams won in a high scoring battle 21-16. Rio put up some impressive stats as the team totaled 15 hits, with 5 of those being extra base hits. Chosen by her coaches, Ashlee Weller was selected player of the game. Coach Mingay remarked on her performance, “Ashlee Weller led the Lady Rams offense in the victory over Chavez on Friday, amassing five hits, including two doubles and three singles. Ashlee knocked in three runs and scored twice in the 21-16 road win. Ashlee also closed out the win with the final putout of the game from her second base position. The sophomore slugger will look to continue her hot hitting in the away game at Will C. Wood on Wednesday.”
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Varsity Baseball Looking to go Back-to-Back
Athletes of the Month
by Conor Cline, Staff Writer
Rio Vista High School’s varsity baseball team poses after their first game of the season, with Richie Zamarripa and Carson Spradling absent.
by Conor Cline, Staff Writer
The Rio Vista Rams baseball team is back in full swing for the 2019 season. There have been a few hiccups in the road to opening the season. The rain has been some of the worst, and it has limited the squad from practicing as much as they would’ve hoped in preparation for the season. This means that most of the team, which missed the first month of practices due them still playing a winter sport, have had very few practices before our first game. However, Rio is expecting big things again this season, coming off one of their most successful seasons. In 2018, the Rams held a record of 17-8 and 10-2 in league, winning the Sierra Delta League championship. The team’s excellence in the regular season led to them making the playoffs as the number 1 seed. They beat Le Grand 12-4 in the first round of the playoffs. After advancing further, Rio faced stiffer competition, losing tough games to Ripon Christian and Modesto Christian. Rio has seven returning starters from that league championship team, and they all are expecting this core to improve even more this season. As a team, their main strength is their senior leadership. They have six guys who joined the team three years ago as freshman and have played all four years. One of those guys is 4-year starting catcher Bryce Ciaramitaro. I asked him what the hardest part about catching was. He responded, “The hard-
est part personally is that you always have to be aware of everything that is happening on the field. It can also take a toll on your legs, especially after catching multiple games during tournaments.” These seniors have the extra job of teaching the underclassmen and new recruits to set up for this season and for seasons to come. I asked Coach Corey on what his expectations are for the season and what is it going to take for the team to take the leap and win a section title. Coach responded, “After the success we had last year, I expect this squad to take another step forward to an even better result. In order to do this, we are going to have to work ten times harder than we have ever worked. Overconfidence and complacency are issues which are very probable, and we simply cannot allow them to creep into our team mentality. Most people say practice makes perfect. However, I believe the saying is perfect practice makes perfect. If we practice in the manner we know we need to in order to breed success, this team will take the leap to the next level and be competing again for the league and section titles.” The team is gearing up for the season’s opening week for which they have a tough schedule. They play three games back-to-back-to-back, the first of which is away at Bradshaw Christian on Wednesday, February 27. The team follows it up with a game at Edison on Thursday, February 28 and a game against Liberty Ranch the next day, March 1.
Ethan Medders Varsity Baseball
“With the tremendous success of the basketball team, many of the returning players were not on the field for the first three weeks of practice. Ethan took on the leadership role making sure he, along with the rest of the team, was prepared to go when we were finally able to get on the field. This preparation was evident during our first scrimmage at Liberty Ranch where Ethan threw 3 scoreless innings, was on base twice, and scored the team’s first run of the season.”- Coach Corey
Bella Saldana Varsity Softball
Varsity Softball Prepares to Take League By Jaden Lira , Staff Writer
Photo by: Conor Cline
The Rio Vista High School varsity girls softball team is looking to get their revenge this season. They ended last year’s season after losing in the first round of the 2018 playoffs vs Argonaut 10-0 and have set a goal to make it back to playoffs again this year. Their overall record last year was 10-8, and they went 10-2 in league with there only two losses to Vacaville Christian. The Rams have only lost one senior from their playoff team last season, and they have gained a number of players from last year’s JV team as well as new students from different schools. The team continues to work hard in practice to get ready for their preseason games to make sure that they are ready to take over the league when the regular season starts. I talked to coach Ann Reidmiller about what their expectations are for the year and what their goals are for the
The softball field is back in use as softball season begins.
year. She responded, “Our stretch goal is to win league. My expectations are to play as a team and improve and learn from our mistakes as the season goes on. My main goal this year is to push the girls to play with their hearts and improve their individual and team abilities.” I also got the chance to talk to senior catcher Anna Ramirez. I asked her while being on varsity for 4 years and this being her final season what her expectations for herself and her team is. She stated, “I have high expectations for us this year. We have a good group of girls that work good together. Our plans are to go far this year.” The girls continue to learn all that they can from their early preseason games. They hope to be dialed in by league, which starts for the Rams on March 27 against Vacaville Christian.
Kaylee Kitchens Varsity Softball
“The varsity softball athletes of the month are Bella Saldana and Kaylee Kitchens. Both of these girls are always excited to fill in where ever needed and are positive examples of a team player. They never complain and always show respect to coaches and teammates. Whether at practice or during a game, they give 110% with a smile. What an honor it is to have these two on the varsity team this year.”- Coach Ann Reidmiller
Kawika Makua
Junior Varsity Baseball “I chose Kawika because he has demonstrated great leadership skills thus far. He has been a leader on and off the field, and his teammates naturally look to him for that leadership and guidance. He has shown incredible enthusiasmso far and is eager to participate in every practice and game. He has been an incredible asset to the JV team, and I look forward to his continued leadership all season.”- Coach Sherman
Greta Dole
Junior Varsity Softball
“JV softball has chosen Greta Dole for our athlete of the month. Greta has many great qualities that have earned her this honor. Her athletic ability and shining personality is always a blast of positivity for any team. She is always excited to fill in wherever she can by providing a positive example as a great team member. She is encouraging to other team members, always showing respect to all coaches, and both fun to have on the team and never disappoints in being a secret weapon when called on to perform on the field. You always know during a drill when her turn comes up that you will be met with a smile of enjoyment and confidence. Her smile can also be seen from across the field even through her batting helmet. Thanks for being so awesome Greta. -Coach Chris, Greg, and Jamie.”