The Southwest Voice

larger view larger view

Hey everybody, do you know how the Major League Baseball team from Tampa Bay was able to rid themselves of the devil? They simply dropped “devil” from Devil Rays and became the Rays!  And a special ray of light has shone on these “boys of summer” as they have advanced to the American League Championship Series versus Boston. This special baseball team is being mentioned in this column due to the fact that the team has on it a sprinkling of former Bakersfield Blaze players, most prominently Rocco Baldelli, who has played on a limited basis due to illness. The Rays are perhaps the most anonymous team in all of baseball as they play before very sparse crowds at home and possess one of the lowest payrolls in the majors. They finished last in all of baseball last year! Manager Joe Maddon booms out The Rolling Stones to get his vibe on prior to crucial games. As well as they have played to date you can be sure that Joe hasn’t been playing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”!

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more intense high school rivalry, in any sport, than that of Stockdale High School versus Centennial High School! And it continued as the Mustangs from Stockdale nipped the Golden Hawks 45-44 in prep football. SHS ran their overall record to 4-0 and garnered their first SWYL victory as Malik Henderson pounded out 130 rushing yards and found pay dirt for two touchdowns. Simply another classic between two proud programs.

Bakersfield High scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to stun Liberty High 17-10 in their SEYL opener.

Liberty’s varsity volleyball team swept Golden Valley, East and Highland high schools, all in three sets, to advance their SEYL record to 4-0.

In girls tennis Stockdale edged Liberty by a 7-5 score in a match-up of top tennis teams in town.

The Ridgeview boys cross country team ran their SWYL record to an unblemished 4-0 via a 16-45 victory against Frontier. The score sounds strange, eh? But then again, less is more when it comes to cross country!

Quote of the day: “I shall stand at the corner of Truxtun and Chester avenues from 8 a.m. ‘till noon on Nov. 4 passing out issues of The Voice with The Stones playing from my boom box if the Tampa Bay Rays win the ‘08 World Series!”