A group of Bakersfield youth bowlers recently bowled well in the Pepsi District Finals and will compete in the Pepsi State Finals May 5-6 at Fountain Valley Bowl.

They are Danielle Looney, Tyler Samora, Paul St. Laurent, Nicole Tweedy and Adam Waybright. Looney and Samora, both seniors, are the oldest of the group going.

SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State rallied for eight runs in the final two innings to beat the Cal State Bakersfield softball team 12-4 on Sunday to complete a doubleheader sweep.

The Hornets won the first game 7-1 and took three of four games in the weekend series. The Roadrunners have lost 11 of their last 12 games overall.

It's a fact that Bakersfield speed freaks love their hot rods and vintage race machines.

And taking into account the popularity of the quarter-mile nitro-burning madness that goes down every year at the legendary March Meet, along with the annual NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion at nearby Auto Club Famoso Raceway, it's no surprise Bakersfield would be the likely choice for the Fifth Annual Bakersfield Vintage Kart Shootout.

It's going to take more than this country can offer to stop Jake Varner. And he doesn't plan on letting anyone else do it, either.

The Bakersfield High graduate saw his wrestling career reach dizzying new heights Saturday night: He won his weight division at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa City, Iowa, and is off to London in August for his first Olympic Games.

GLENDALE -- Bryan Haney went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored to lead the Bakersfield College baseball team to a 6-5 victory over first-place Glendale in Western State Conference South Division play.

The Renegades (23-11, 11-8 WSC) led 4-1 heading into the eighth, but the Vaqueros (23-10, 14-5) rallied for four runs to take a 5-4 lead.

EL SEGUNDO -- Bakersfield's playoff run came to an end Saturday night as the Jam fell 109-90 to the Los Angeles D-Fenders at the Toyota Sports Center.

Elijah Millsap and Mardy Collins each scored 23 points for Los Angeles, which swept the Jam in the best-of-3 series.

The Bakersfield Blaze continued its winning ways Saturday night with a 4-1 defeat of the San Jose Giants at Sam Lynn Ballpark thanks to six scoreless innings from starter Kyle Lotzkar and and a two-run home run by fill-in catcher Tucker Barnhart.

After going down 1-2-3 in the first two innings, Bakersfield got its first run in the third after a single by Bryson Smith and a walk by Barnhart put a runner in scoring position for leadoff man Billy Hamilton. Hamilton singled home Smith.

The third annual Night of Champions benefit dinner that raises money for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Kern County scholarship fund will be held Friday at Riverlakes Community Church, 4301 Calloway Drive.

Bobby Bowden, former Florida State football coach, will deliver the keynote address. Former Cal State Bakersfield wrestling standout Stephen Neal, who played on three Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots teams, will participate in a question-and-answer session.

Baseball

East 9, Highland 4

Tonight's Cal State Bakersfield men's soccer spring game won't count in any statistics, but that doesn't detract from the significance the Roadrunner coaches place on the game.

"A lot of people say spring games don't count," said CSUB assistant coach Keith Costigan, who has overseen most of CSUB's recent practices while head coach Simon Tobin was on a recruiting trip to England.

Bike riders have the opportunity to ride like a pro, or at least ride the same course as the pros, on April 29 in the Bakersfield Time Trial Course Ride.

World class riders will take to the streets of Bakersfield when the Amgen Tour of California rolls into town on May 17 for Stage 5 of the race -- an 18.4 mile time trial pitting riders against the clock.

Bakersfield native Jake Varner has long been considered one of the United States' best medal threats in freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games in London this summer -- but first he has to get there.

Today is Varner's chance to take care of that not-so-small caveat.

It was the sort of onslaught Stockdale is used to delivering to other teams, but this time, the Mustangs were the ones left stewing on the outfield grass while Liberty sauntered out with a statement baseball victory.

The Patriots scored an 11-4 victory Thursday, but that doesn't even tell the whole story: They scored 11 runs before Stockdale had its third hit and finished off a week in which they scored 25 runs off of the Mustangs' talented pitching staff.

It wasn't a lack of effort that beat Bakersfield College's baseball team Thursday. It was a lack of scoring.

The Renegades were officially eliminated from first-place contention in the Western State Conference South Division when they lost 2-1 to first-place Glendale College at Gerry Collis Field.

The Bakersfield Blaze finally ended its one-run-game woes. And it couldn't have happened in more dramatic fashion.

David Vidal, a late-game replacement, drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Jose Valdez in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Blaze to a 8-7 victory over the San Jose Giants Thursday night at Sam Lynn Ballpark.

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: The crappie bite broke wide open last week. One group of anglers reported catching 25-fish limits in an hour in Kissack Cove on small, live minnows. The bite remained simply exceptional until the storm hit on Friday and that pushed the fish back out. The bite should be snapping back on this week. These fish all mostly 1- to 2-ound crappie. Very good bite on channel cats on frozen shad, and lots of trout are showing off the points and at the auxiliary dam. Quite a few bass being caught and the bluegill bite is also just starting.

GLENDALE -- Julie Estep pitched a five-hitter and helped herself with a first-inning grand slam to lead the Bakersfield College softball team to a 9-4 victory Thursday over Citrus College in a Western State Conference Blue Division contest.

Estep (11-5) struck out four and walked three. She had two hits and five RBIs. Jazmine Irvine went 3-for-4 and Brittany Messer and Sarah Smith added two hits apiece for BC (26-7, 10-6 WSC).

Baseball

Liberty 11, Stockdale 4

The 11th Arena Bowl, set for 7 p.m. Friday, has a new twist.

This year's version of Kern County's indoor high school football all-star game will involve more local seniors, because organizers will restrict players to either offense or defense.

Baseball

Garces 10, Highland 4