Somewhere out there, in one of California's largest bodies of fresh water, it swims. And a whole lot of people are trying to catch it.

"It" is a randomly-tagged trout worth $20,000 to any of the 6,294 anglers who can land it before 6 p.m. today. The fish is the unseen and elusive star of the Isabella Lake Fishing Derby, a massive three-day fishing contest that began Saturday and ends today. As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the big winner is Lake Isabella local Walter Manwell, who hooked one of 10 fish worth $10,000 on Saturday. There had also been four $1,000 fish, four $500 winners, with most of the tagged trout bringing awards of $100 or $50.

Cal State Bakersfield ended their recent hitting slump, and battling the elements, rattled off 15 hits in an 11-4 win over Sacramento State in Game 2 of a three-game series Saturday night at Hardt Field.

On a cold and windy night, the 'Runners improved to 10-15, scoring seven runs with two outs.

On Thursday night, the Bakersfield Blaze opens the California League season at Sam Lynn Ballpark against Visalia.

My question: Is that going to be the final home opener played by the Blaze at Sam Lynn or the next-to-last?

Baseball

Visalia-Tulare Invitational

Isaiah Turner was 2-for-4, including a go-ahead RBI-double in the seventh to lead Bakersfield College to a 6-5 victory over L.A. Valley in Saturday's Western State Conference South baseball game at Gerry Collis Field.

Turner's double scored Jake Verdugo, who led off the inning with a walk, and Tyler Painton followed with an RBI-single to give BC (17-8, 8-5 WSC) a much-needed insurance run.

Life is full of surprises. Some are joyous blessings while others can be truly heart breaking. A birth in the family, graduation from college or a wedding engagement can all bring extreme joy and happiness to a family. On the other side a death in the family or loss of employment can be a humbling and difficult situation to cope with.

Yesterday was the first day of cuts at Spring Training. While I was fortunate enough to not be one of those cut, a few of my friends that I have made while here were. Just as with anything in life we can become "comfortable" with the environment around us. We lose sight of the fact that nothing is forever.

The Utah Grizzlies were playing for playoff positioning Saturday night at Rabobank Arena. The Bakersfield Condors, for pride.

Playoff positioning won out as the determined Grizzlies sent the Condors into the offseason with a 4-0 loss before 6,556 in the final ECHL game of the regular season.

Baseball

Delano 20, Kennedy 2,6 inn.

The 61st verson of the Central California Junior Tennis Championships comes to the Bakersfield Racquet Club this weekend, and while Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi -- two former participants -- won't be playing, there are plenty of locals to keep an eye on.

They include East High senior D.J. Johnson, who is the top seed in the boys' 18-and-younger singles bracket. His brother, Kaleb Johnson, is the No. 2 seed in boys 14U singles. Both Johnsons won titles at this event last year -- D.J. in 18U, Kaleb in 12U.

Californian editors on Friday determined that an item in Friday's Outdoors column, by Steve Merlo, was a complete fabrication.

The item -- "Foreign trout species to be planted in Isabella Lake" -- has absolutely no basis in truth and should be disregarded by anyone who read it.

Frontier's baseball team rode the best senior class in program history to a share of last year's Southwest Yosemite League title.

This year's young Titans have no plans on giving it back.

Baseball

Garces 10, Mira Monte 4

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: Major trout plants over the past week for the 23rd Annual Isabella Lake Fishing Derby held Saturday through Monday. The plants this week have included DFG fish, Mt. Lassen trophy rainbows, and the release of all the penned fish that were reared in the lake. The action has been good to excellent. The fish are showing in very good numbers at the auxiliary dam for bait anglers fishing floating baits, Power Mice Tails, or inflated nightcrawlers. The catfish bite has also picked up with most of the action in the bays in 10 to 15 feet of water on clams and cut baits. Few reports on crappie, and the bass and bluegill action turning around.

Don't forget the 23rd annual Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce Isabella Lake Trout Derby this weekend, March 31-April 2. More than $250,000 is up for grabs for anglers managing to catch specially tagged trout worth from $50 to $20,000 each. The lucky angler wearing one of the Chamber of Commerce 2012 tee or hoodie sweaters and catching the specially marked $20,000 fish will double his award to $40,000. At least 10 tagged fish will also be worth $10,000 each, so don't miss this fun-filled event. Cost is $20 per angler and only $45 for a family. Contact Derby Headquarters (866) 578-4386 or (760) 379-5236. No entries will be accepted after 7 a.m. Saturday.

The popular event, known as the world's largest amateur trout derby, draws contestants from far and wide. Last year, some 6,700 people vied for the tagged fish swimming in the lake, each one worth from $50-to-$10,000 or more for a total payout of $250,000. The derby is sponsored by Berkely Fishing and Shakespeare products, as well as over 100 local businesses.

IMCA Modifieds, Sport Mods, American Stocks, Mini Stocks and Mini Dwarfs will be in action Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway.

Brad Pounds raced to victory in the season-opening IMCA Modified feature March 3, and will be looking to make it two in a row. Gary Dutton, Robby Sawyer and Larry Hood, as well as Brad's father, Scott, are among those expected to compete.

Stockdale sophomore Blake Haney took an important step last weekend toward qualifying for one of high school track and field's most prestigious races.

Haney won the mile race at the Best in the West meet at the Azusa Pacific Meet of Champions on Saturday, clocking a personal-best 4:11.55 (also a personal-best 4:10.04 at 1,600 meters, the traditional high school distance).

No one in the high school golf community disputes that the Southeast Yosemite League still belongs to Garces.

But at Haggerty-North Kern Golf Course for Wednesday's mini-tournament, the fifth of the SEYL season, the spotlight shifted to Highland senior Ryan O'Leary and the fast-improving Scots.

By the time the Alaska Aces get back to Anchorage early next week they'll have spent more than two weeks on the road.

But they'll have plenty of time to rest up for the playoffs.

Hoffmann Hospice's flagship fundraiser, Voices of Inspiration 2012, which will feature New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow as keynote speaker, has been rescheduled from April 26 to June 19, to accommodate a change in Tebow's itenerary.

Tebow, who was traded form the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets last week and now has a mandatory Jets training commitment April 26, informed Hoffman of the change in his schedule on Monday. He offered Hoffmann the alternate date and the two parties worked out the new date.

Baseball

West 7, Foothill 1