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The Clovis High softball team recently won its 11th section championship for the Division I Central Section on May 28th. But this is not where the team intends to stop.

As of today June 2nd, they will be playing in the 2022 CIF NorCal Softball Championship semifinals for Division I. To reach this destination, however, Clovis High certainly had to fulfill a journey.

Finishing their regular season with a record of 22-6, they also boasted a 7-3 record in TRAC play. On May 20th, they advanced in the playoffs to the Division I semifinals after a 2-0 win over an impressive Paso Robles team.

The Cougars faced Buchanan softball on May 24th in the semi’s and were able to push across nine runs in a 9-0 victory. Senior pitcher Lauryn Carranco tossed a complete game, one hit shutout while also striking out nine Buchanan batters. Pitching both games of the playoffs, Carranco only allowed three hits total through the first two rounds.

Then came the Division I Championship set at Margie Wright Diamond on Saturday, May 28th where #3 ranked Clovis would face off against #4 ranked Central. In the bottom of the third, Ashley Rocha batting from the left handed batters box sliced a triple down the left field line scoring Sarah Azzarello for a 1-0 lead. Rocha would later score on a Kaylynn Munoz fielder‘s choice to push the lead to 2-0.

And it was these two runs that would prove to be the most fatal for Central, as Cal State Northridge commit Lauryn Carranco would continue her playoff dominance, finishing her third consecutive complete game shutout.

Upon winning their 11th school softball Valley Championship, Clovis softball would then move on to the Norcal playoffs to play Heritage on Wednesday, June 1st.

And can you guess who pitched?

Once again Lauryn Carranco threw another unsurprising shutout against Heritage, helping Clovis to win 3-0. Thanks to the help of an incredible catch by second baseman Ashley Rocha, Carranco was allowed to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th.

Clovis High would go on to play in the semifinals on June 2nd against Del Oro. For the first time in four games, a run was scored against Lauryn Carranco, two runs in fact. Heading into the 4th inning, and down by two, the Cougars put up a “five spot” on the scoreboard, sending five runners to score. This would prove to be all and more than the Cougars would need, as they ended up winning the game 6-2.

Lauryn Carranco earlier in the same day was awarded TRAC Pitcher of the Year honors for her efforts this season. The Cougars will play in the Division I NorCal Regional Championship this Saturday, June 4th at #1 ranked St. Francis of Mountain View.

Three candidates are running to become Fresno County’s new Superintendent of Schools.

Alphabetically by last name, Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher, Eliseo Gamino, and Daren Miller are all hoping to lead Fresno County’s 32 school districts.

Superintendent of Schools, Fresno County

Michele Cantwell-Copher currently serves as the assistant superintendent in the Office of Education Leadership and Development in Fresno County.

She said she started her career as a teacher in 1990, before going on to work in administration in Clovis Unified, Central Unified, and the State Center Community College District.

“I grew up in Riverdale and that’s important because I understand the rural perspective. And the role of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools influences all 32 school districts and I’ve had experience in our urban schools as well. So I really do have the depth and the breath of the experience to take on this responsibility” Cantwell-Copher said.

Cantwell-Copher said she has the relationships already in place to continue working on what Yovino has already built. She added she believes schools are community centers, and uplifting children helps communities prosper.

Eliseo Gamino is a Raisin City Dual Immersion teacher who also serves on Firebaugh-Las Deltas School District Board. Now, he’s running to be the top educator in Fresno County.

“From being teacher of the year in 2021, from being in the classroom to an administrator, to being an associate dean at the community college level, it’s given me the experience to lead us in the area of education,” Gamino said.

Gamino said a top priority for him is making sure all students can succeed. He said the pandemic highlighted many flaws in the system and showed who got left behind. Gamino said more needs to be done to help those struggling with reading and math, including special needs students and those whose first language isn’t English.

“I think we can learn a lot from the pandemic in hindsight but again, our most vulnerable groups are the ones that suffer the most,” Gamino said.

Daren Miller serves as the Vice Principal at Glacier Point Middle School in the Central Unified School District. He added, that he has worked in multiple other districts over the years as an educator and administrator.

“I think it’s a sum total of those experiences in education that I’ve had all here in Fresno metropolitan area that makes me a great candidate for this position,” Miller said.

He said a top priority if elected will be helping the school districts into a new era after the pandemic. He said they must address issues with how to move forward with online and remote learning.

“For us to have dead spots where you can’t get Wi-Fi accessibility in the city of Fresno, is embarrassing to me, and I know there’s a role the county superintendent can play by making sure that we’re bolstering our technological infrastructure,” he added.

Clovis East High School won its very first Valley Championship on Friday May 27th with a 4-3 score over Central in the Division II Central Section championship.

The “Wolfpack” faced Templeton at home in round one of the playoffs who they promptly beat by a score of 8-3.

This was the first baseball playoff win for Clovis East Baseball in ten years according to previous Clovis Roundup sportswriter Gabe Camarillo.

Clovis East then faced off against crosstown rival Clovis North and there was no love lost in this second-round matchup.

Playing at home again, trailing by four in the bottom of the 5th inning, after an RBI double by a Clovis East player, benches cleared towards second base where the batter turned base runner participated in an altercation with both the Clovis North second baseman and catcher.

Upon moving the score to 5-4 at that point, Clovis East would continue its comeback finishing off Clovis North 6-5 in eight innings after a controversial balk call in the bottom of the 8th.

Number six ranked Clovis East then traveled to number two ranked Arroyo Grande where they would face off in the Division II semi-finals.

After a two home run performance from Clovis East’s Dax Bolton, the Timberwolves would win the game 6-3.

Facing off in the D-II championship against Central, the game was set at Fresno State’s Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.

Clovis East would take a quick two-run lead in the first inning after an Erik Perez RBI triple. Perez would later score in the inning.

A scoreless four innings from Alex Righetti went a long way for the Wolfpack as they then turned the ball over to Tre Williams in the 5th.

Central would tie the score in the top half of that inning to the tune of back to back homeruns by Dallan Alles and Skylar Dwiggins.

Williams found himself in another jam in the top of the 6th after back to back singles led off the inning for Central.

However, he composed himself and would strike out the side to keep the score tied at two apiece.

That’s when in the bottom of the 6th, Carson Sandoval hit a go ahead solo home run that at the time looked to be the dagger to Central.

But as everyone in baseball knows, in a championship game, no team goes lightly.

Skylar Dwiggins of Central would score from first base on a Logan Pontecorvo RBI single with two outs in the final inning.

This is where the score would stay until the bottom half of the 7th inning with two outs.

Paul Martinez chopped a soft ground ball into no man’s land in between the third baseman and the pitcher for an infield single to load the bases.

The situation lined up for none other than Clovis East’s starting pitcher, Alex Righetti, to come to the plate and earn a bases loaded walk-off walk to win the game by a score of 4-3.

Clovis East would then go on to face Archbishop Mitty in the state playoffs on May 31st.

They were down early in the second inning 1-0 but battled to tie it 1-1 in the top of the 5th.

Archbishop Mitty took another lead 2-1 to which Clovis East responded once more tying the score at 2-2.

The game would go into extra innings where having home field advantage would prove all too dangerous for the Wolfpack.

Archbishop Mitty would win the game in the bottom of the 8th on a sacrifice fly to deep left center field.

This is where the run would end, but quite a run it was indeed.

No matter the results from the state playoffs, a Valley Championship is something this team will never forget.

Coming in as the sixth seed in the middle of the pack, the “Wolfpack” found itself in quite the predicament in multiple games, but proved that in any day, any team can come out victorious.

Headed in more than the right direction, Clovis East Baseball should look to enjoy its championship and the road of competition that lies in years to come.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- What was supposed to be a memorable day filled with reaping the rewards of hard work took a much a different turn for Buchanan High School graduate Jacob Brower.

"The night that was meant to be the most important night of my life was something I will never be able to get back," he said.

On Tuesday night, in the final minutes of the school's commencement, Brower was escorted out of the ceremony.

His uncle recorded this video from the stands.

"A couple of members threw up their hats and caps and at that moment, I looked up and because of my fluffy hair, at that same moment, my cap fell off," Jacob said.

Brower says multiple people saw what happened and defended him, but some students accused him of being involved.

District officials say the Buchanan administration had to act quickly to address student misbehavior -- they removed Brower and other students they believed threw their hats and disrupted the ceremony.

But the district now says Brower was later found to have not been a part of the misbehavior

With dozens of family members in attendance to celebrate his achievements, he missed out.

"I didn't get to take pictures with my dad, I didn't get to take pictures with my friends, with my girlfriend," he said. "I didn't get to do any of that all because of something that I didn't even do. It's just unfortunate that people had to lie to put me in that situation."

Clovis Unified officials say the Buchanan's Principal offered to meet personally with the family to extend his apologies and had previously communicated via email with the student his regret over the incident.

Brower says the principal did send him an email as an apology, but he has not yet had that face-to-face meeting.

In a statement to Action News, the district said in part, "The words 'I'm sorry,' no matter how deeply felt, cannot return the final moments of the ceremony to this young man, and we regret that the actions of other graduates and the administration's efforts to address that bad behavior negatively impacted his experience and that of his family."

But Brower says that's not enough because it's an opportunity he won't get back. He says he wishes they did more.

"Just looking in my face and telling me what they did wrong, telling me that they feel remorseful for something, not that it was just a mistake to them, but that they actually feel sorry," he said.

A new bar debuting at the Crossroads Shopping Center on Friday hopes to bring a different spin to local nightlife.

Wilson Lin, 38, has been planning Beer for the Meeples since 2018. After pandemic delays, it opens this week at 50 W. Bullard Ave. Space 112, near Minnewawa Avenue in Clovis with snacks, local beers on tap and something unique to the bar scene: board games.

“Well, I love board games and I love beer, so obviously the two should mix,” said Lin, a native of Huntington Beach.

And what’s a meeple, you might ask? “A small figure used as a playing piece in certain board games, having a stylized human for,” according to the Oxford Dictionary.

After 10 years working in the local restaurant service industry, Lin said he has yet to see a bar that will offer what Beer for the Meeples will — the ability to enjoy local craft beer and board games.

The beer menu will consist of a variety of options.

“We’re definitely going to be getting beers from local breweries like Crow and Wolf, House of Pendragon and Tactical Ops,” he said, adding that they will also be offering snack foods like cheesecake and chocolate cake at the bar. Eventually, Lin hopes to offer creme brulee.

For customers looking for entertainment along with a cold brew, Beer for the Meeples offers a wide variety of board games for almost all interests — from classics to new releases.

“We have over 400 board games,” he said.

The bar also plans to host Dungeons and Dragons and other roleplaying games on Tuesday nights sometime in the future.

Despite being delayed by the pandemic, Lin said opening now is actually more beneficial than had he opted to open during the pandemic, citing the numerous businesses that attempted it and failed shortly after due to staffing issues, restrictions due to state mandates and even development issues.

“The landlord had to do some work before I could move in,” he said, adding that he was willing to give them extra time to work on the space during the pandemic.

He also added that several other businesses were in the process of moving into the Crossroads Shopping Center, including their neighbor Teppan Bowl, which opened during the pandemic.

Lin said that he plans to staff the bar primarily with college-aged students, adding that while they are currently fully staffed, applicants are always welcome to drop off a resume to apply for a position.

Lin says the bar has already garnered attention from local residents.

“While I’ve been making the place, people have been coming by seeing what’s going on; people are interested,” he said.

Beer for the Meeples is scheduled to open for business on Friday, May 13.