The heat will be on at Bakersfield Speedway, and throughout Kern County, on Saturday, which comes as a warm relief to race fans, drivers and yes, track owners.

Soaking rains last Friday forced Bakersfield Speedway owner Scott Schweitzer to cancel last Saturday night's planned races -- the third time weather has derailed action over the past five weeks.

Nick Mears got off to a hot start in the SCGA's 28th Mid-Amateur Championship at the Rancho Sante Fe golf course this week.

Mears, a member at Bakersfield Country Club, shot a 1-over 73 in the opening round Monday and found himself in 8th place in a stellar field.

Jazmine Irvin went 6-for-8 with eight RBIs as Bakersfield College swept a Western State Conference softball doubleheader, 10-1 and 8-0, Tuesday over Santa Monica College at BC.

Kara Frankhouser went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored in game 1.

The defense was no friend of Cal State Bakersfield pitcher Spenser Messmore on Tuesday night.

The Roadrunners had four errors, which led to five unearned runs. Coupled with woeful hitting with runners in scoring position meant an easy win for USC, 11-2, at Hardt Field.

Baseball

Centennial 15, Independence 0

Boys tennis players from Liberty and host Stockdale peered into the near darkness on Tuesday, rooting on their respective doubles team in a third-set tiebreaker that might break the teams' season-long tie.

How else did you expect a Liberty-Stockdale boys tennis match to end?

Bryson Smith and Travis Mattair each hit solo home runs, and Devin Lohman had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Bakersfield Blaze to an 8-5 victory Tuesday over the Visalia Rawhide.

Reliever Michael Griffin (1-1), the third of five pitchers for the 5-7 Blaze, earned the win. He struck out four, walked one and allowed one hit in 1 2/3 innings.

In its final home games of the 2012 season, the CSU Bakersfield softball team fell to Saint Mary's  7-0 and 12-3 in a doubleheader on Sunday in Pacific Coast Softball Conference action, leading to a four-game sweep of the season series by the Gaels.

The 'Runners (10-34, 3-9 PCSC) were outhit by Saint Mary's 25-10 in the two games.

Baseball

Golden Valley 8, West 1

VISALIA -- Daniel Renken pitched seven strong innings Monday to lead the Bakersfield Blaze to a 4-2 victory over the Visalia Rawhide.

Renken (2-0)struck out eight and walked just one. He allowed a double to Mark Freeman and a two-run homer to Chris Owings in the first inning, but had no trouble after that, retiring 14 in a row at one point.

Football

Spartans Golden Empire Youth Football (tackle) tryouts. Ages 8-14, in Frontier High School area. April 17, 19, 24, 26, 5:30-7 p.m. at Almondale Park. Contact: Darryl (661) 333-2548

Cory Lange had no idea his senior basketball season would end up like this. Neither, apparently, did anyone else.

Lange went from receiving no special attention on defense early in the season -- whoops -- to being Kern County's leading scorer and the focal point of Tehachapi's unbeaten South Sequoia League season.

When looking at Erica McCall and Alyssa Shannon, one could think it's one extreme to another.

McCall, a junior at Ridgeview High School, was the tallest girls basketball player in Kern County last season at 6-foot-3.

2011-2012 Boys Basketball All-Area Team

Player of the Year
Cory Lange, Tehachapi
6-foot-2 • senior • guard
Led the county with 25.3 points a game, an average boosted by five performances of 30 points or more; also had 6.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.7 steals a game for SSL champions.

First team
Brock Martin, Ridgeview
6-1 • senior • guard
Coach Dave Purdy calls Martin the best on-ball defender he’s ever coached; he shut down each opponent’s best guard during Ridgeview’s run to the Division III section title.

Tyrone Wallace, Bakersfield
6-4 • senior • guard
Two-time All-Area Player of the Year ended his career as the leading scorer in Bakersfield High’s storied history with 1,767 points. He averaged 20.2 points and 8.1 rebounds as a senior and has signed with Cal.

Britton Williams, Liberty
5-10 • senior • guard
Leading the SWYL champions in scoring (18.0 points a game) only scratched the surface of Williams’ game: The CSUB-bound point guard had 7.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 steals a game, too.

Tyler Harris, Bakersfield Christian
6-4 • senior • forward
The do-everything wing averaged 23.9 points on 49 percent shooting and also grabbed 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.9 steals a game for the Eagles. He’ll attend the Air Force Preperatory Academy.

Jake Martin, Liberty
6-4 • junior • forward
A terrific shooter who had the stats (17.1 points, 9.2 rebounds) and the timing (big-time points in several different games, Martin was named the SWYL’s most valuable player.

Chris Sterling, Delano
6-3 • senior • forward
His 24.3 scoring average was second in the county to Lange, and his 14.5 rebounding average was first. The Fresno City College-bound Sterling led the Tigers to an 11-5 mark in the East Yosemite League.

Second team
G: Rashad Jackson, 6-2, soph, Garces
G: Rob Johnson, 5-11, sr, East
G: Michael Marcus, 5-8, sr, Frontier
F: Derrick Brown, 6-5, sr, Bakersfield
F: Chris Bedke, 6-6, sr, Frontier
F: Derek Check, 6-1, soph, Independence
C: Fatai Eke, 6-7, soph, East

Honorable mention
Bakersfield: Landon Goesling, Chris Hannible, Kevin Hayes
Centennial: Chad Elmore
Desert: Khris Nelson
East: Tevin Beasley
Foothill: Ryan Rangle
Frontier: Justin Cash
Garces: Dominic Carlson, Sheldon Croney
Highland: Caleb Richmond
Independence: Wes Brown, Braylon Lejander
Mira Monte: Braxton Huggins
Mojave: Cleo Brown
North: Chigora Jones
Ridgeview: Tyler Ferguson, Javier Kirksey, Jeremy Lee, Kenyon Ross
Rosamond: Gary Lux
Shafter: Tyler Gonzalez, Cyrus Parsons
South: Ryan Reagar
Stockdale: Keith McCants, Chris Ross, Alex Williams
Taft: Caleb Lopez
Tehachapi: Justin Hedberg, Darren Smith
West: Deountay Wright

Val Mancera's recipe for coaching success is simple: discipline.

He expects if from his players -- in the classroom and on the court.

This season ended up perfectly for Ridgeview coach Dave Purdy -- buzzer-beaters in championship games will do that for you -- but it sure didn't start that way.

With the Wolf Pack already missing two starters because they were deep into the Central Section playoffs with Ridgeview's football team, it took nine minutes for another key player, Javier Kirksey, to go down with a strained hip.

2011-2012 Girls Basketball All-Area Team

Co-Players of the Year
Erica McCall, Ridgeview
6-foot-3 • junior • center
Another eye-popping season produced McCall’s third straight Player of the Year award. The No. 16 recruit nationally in the class of 2013, according to ESPN, McCall averaged 25.8 points, 16.7 rebounds and 7.1 blocks.

Alyssa Shannon, Stockdale
5-1 • senior • guard
Shannon’s size belied her game, which included averages of 16.7 points, 5.9 assists and 5.4 steals for the county’s best team. She scored 28 points to help Stockdale down Buchanan and reach the section Division I final.

First team
Vanessa Mancera, Independence
5-6 • senior • guard
The leader of the Division III section champions, Mancera averaged 9.2 points and 4.4 steals a game. She also hit game-winning free throws in Independence’s section final and first-round state playoff game.

Hannah Ramirez, Shafter
5-5 • junior • guard
One of just four local players to average 20 points a game, Ramirez helped the Generals to an undefeated SSL season and the Division III quarterfinals.

Lisa Marie Sanchez, Centennial
5-3 • senior • guard
Another of Kern County’s crop of guards who could fill up the box score, Sanchez recorded 15.7 points, 6.2 assists and 4.5 steals for the 18-10 Golden Hawks.

Leigha Moland, Stockdale
5-9 • junior • forward
A key cog in the Mustangs’ pressure defense and transition offense, Moland averaged 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 steals for the SWYL champions.

Rachol West, Garces
5-9 • junior • forward
A repeat All-Area selection, West showed off an inside-outside game for SEYL co-champion Garces. She led the Rams with 19.3 points and added 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.7 steals.

LaShay Alexander, Foothill
5-11 • senior • center
Like Erica McCall lite, Alexander dominated the east side, averaging 21.9 points, 15.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the Trojans, who went 12-11 for the second straight year after four seasons in which they were a combined 21-69.

Second team
G: Erin Cantrell, 5-8, jr, Independence
G: Brooke Helms, 5-5, sr, North
G: Claesy Tarver, 5-8, sr, Arvin
F: Paige Bennett, 5-9, sr, Tehachapi
F: Taylor Carter, 5-9, sr, Liberty
F: Rosebrooke Hunt, 5-10, sr, Frontier
C: Cara Clayton, 5-11, sr, Garces

Honorable mention
Arvin: Jenni Mendez
Bakersfield: Tiana Henry
Centennial: Rhiana Dougan, Alyssa Gonzalez, Taylor Humecky
Frontier: Katie Davis
Garces: Rachel Aguilar, Lulu Flores
Golden Valley: Jackie Ramos
Independence: Kayla Polman
Mira Monte: Ramonique Redding
North: Chenoa Berumen, MacKenzie Odle
Ridgeview: Zarreah Brown, Alex Green, Nichole Martin
Shafter: Yoemma Esparza
South: Christina Mendoza
Stockdale: Asia Cooks, Juliah Kim, Dakota Oliver
Taft: Sissa Rivas
Tehachapi: Meagan Kilchrist, A.J. Snider
West: Bailee Brown

BISMARK, N.D. -- Juan Pattillo made the go-ahead slam dunk with 43 seconds left and the Bakersfield Jam advanced to the second round of the NBA D-League playoffs with a 93-91 victory Sunday over the Dakota Wizards.

The Jam swept the best-of-3 series, marking the franchise's first playoff series victory. Bakersfield will play the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the second round, with the Jam hosting Game 1. Dates for the series have not been announced.

SAN JOSE -- Bakersfield's offense scored two runs over 15 innings Sunday as the Blaze was swept in a doubleheader with the San Jose Giants.

San Jose won both games 2-1, extending Bakersfield's losing streak to five after starting the season 3-2.

The Bakersfield College softball team was in desperately needed a spark Sunday afternoon at the Dean & Adah Gay Sports Complex.

The Renegades had lost four straight, including an 8-1 loss to Mt. SAC in the opening game of a doubleheader just hours before, and were trailing 3-0 heading into their final at-bat in the finale.