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1937: Local boxer Tillie Delnero wins two bouts
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One hundred years ago, on June 5, 1917, Gilman invaded Manteca. Gilman is a small town about six miles south of Modesto on the Crows Landing Road. They brought about 13 ball players and beat Manteca, 14 to 4. The game had one sensational feature in the sixth inning when Elmer Blodgett, playing center, went through the barbed wire fence which restricts the outfield. He made a flying catch and, Trojan-like, hit strands of wire with a bang. He was found lying on the other side, safe with the ball. His escape from injury was little short of miraculous.

 

In other sports stories from

the Bulletin files:

90 years ago: June 9, 1927 – The Manteca Maulers, under the management of “Dusty” Miller, defeated the Escalon Giants in one of the hardest-fought games of the season on the latter’s diamond Sunday  afternoon by the close score of 4 to 3. Escalon had the lead in the Sunday game until the seventh inning when Manteca scored three runs. Tom Washington pitched eight innings for the Maulers when he was relieved by Clarence Flores. Benny Hooper caught the entire nine innings. Joe Bianchi and Lyle Percival each got two hits for the locals.

 

80 years ago: June 10, 1937 – Scoring five runs in the first inning and holding a safe lead throughout the remainder of the game, the Manteca Belles won over the “J” Girls of Modesto 14 to 0 in the first softball game Thursday night at Recreation Park. In the second game, fans saw plenty of scrappy playing, with the Spreckels Honeydews matched against the Dutch Toast Bakers of Modesto, 1936 Regional champions. The visitors won, 2 to 1, scoring both runs in the fourth inning.

Scoring five runs in the first inning and four runs in the second, the Laetare Club won over the Manteca 20-30 Club 12 to 10 in a return game played on the high school diamond here Sunday afternoon. Fred Theiler pitched the final six innings for Manteca, holding the visitors to two more hits. Charley Percival and Ernie Theiler led their teammates with three hits each.

Tillie Delnero, Manteca’s up and coming middleweight, added two more scalps in his long string of victories in the prize-fight ring. Friday night in San Francisco, he won a decision in a four-round battle with “Cowboy” Jack Potter. In Stockton Tuesday night, Tillie kayoed Jack McDaniels of Sacramento after 21 seconds in the first round.

 

70 years ago: June 12, 1947 – The Junior Legion baseball team will play its first game this Saturday at the local high school diamond. The team is sponsored by Hope McFall Post, American Legion and is managed by Frank Laurentzos and Tony Cotta.

 

50 years ago: June 9, 1967 – The McFall-Grisham Post Legion baseball team scored three runs in the top of the tenth inning Tuesday evening to take a 5-3 win over Atwater in a practice tilt. In the top of the tenth, John Tubbs walked, followed by Buster Scharmann and Tom Murphy to fill the bases. Jack Able’s sacrifice was successful and all runners were safe and one run was in. Bob Egusa walked to force Scharmann in from third and Kent Hinton’s sacrifice sent Murphy across with the third run of the inning.

 

40 years ago: June 10, 1977 – Gonzalo Aguilar and Renee Sutti were named best all-around senior athletes at the Manteca High School spring sports banquet held last week at Dawson Center. Sutti excelled at three sports during the 1976-77 season. She was named MVP of the basketball team and the volleyball team, where she was named to the all-Valley Oak League team. She was also the MVP of the badminton team. Incidentally, she is also valedictorian of her graduating class. Aguilar is best known as a distance runner on the MHS track team. He qualified for the State meet in Woodland and the award capped four years of track for Aguilar, who ran on the cross-country team in the fall. Other MVP awards went to: Javier Castillo, tennis; Darrell Womack, baseball; Steve Cimoli, Lori Watson, Andrea Negley and Aguilar, track; and Tony Horton, golf.

 

30 years ago: June 7, 1987 – The Manteca Dolphins swim team went stroke for stroke with Hughson at Lincoln Park’s pool Saturday, but it was the visitors who took the three-way meet. Hughson edged the Dolphins 762-751 as Escalon-Linden was a distant third with 151. Strong efforts from Josh Greiman and Brian Ivie in the 11-12 division, Lisa Pendexter, Jennie Wheeler, Suzi Clark and Sondella Waddle in the 9-10 division, from James Harvey in the 13-14’s and Matthew Gouaux in the 7-8’s paced the Dolphins.

Robbie Woods shook off a five-run uprising by Sonora in the third inning and propelled Frank’s Exxon to a 10-7 Babe Ruth 16-18 Baseball win Sunday. The win, combined with an earlier 4-1 triumph, completed a doubleheader sweep. Eric Hill pitched a five-hitter in the opener for Exxon, fanning seven batters and walking just one. He got hitting help from Donnie Hall and Gary Mills. Hall and Steve Clark had triples for the winners in the second game.

Hafer’s swept a doubleheader from Sierra in Sunday’s Babe Ruth 16-18 Baseball play at Sierra High. Doug Callaway’s two-run single in the fourth inning snapped a scoreless duel as Hafer’s held on for a 3-1 win in the opening game. Dan Almeida drove in Sierra’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning. Hafer’s bats came alive in the second game to post an 8-5 win. Don Gemmell hurled five innings and Carlos Herrera tossed two innings of relief to lead Hafer’s.

Most valuable players chosen at East Union High’s spring sports social include: Silke Bradford, swimming; Ryan Tarr and Jessie Hardcastle, track; and Chad Hagglund, Andy Walker and James Lewallen, baseball.

 

10 years ago: June 13, 2007 – Nobody roots for a tie. But when it came to decide the Bulletin’s All-area Most Valuable Golfer, there was no choice. The decision had to be split. Ripon High’s David Kukesh and East Union High’s Jay Brink were so impressive in their separate, but similar, roles as senior No. 1 golfers that it would have been an injustice not to award either with this year-end honor. This year, the Ripon High golf team breezed through Trans-Valley League play undefeated at 15-0 before winning both the TVL and the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V tournaments. This year, Brink led the Lancers (12-2) to their first Valley Oak League championship in eight years and he won his second straight VOL MVP. In the classroom, he also excelled, graduating with a 4.07 grade point average.