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Spring Teams Split Contests In Game, Tournament Action
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Track and field, soccer and softball programs at Riverbank High saw both wins and losses last week in a busy run of action in their respective Trans-Valley League fields of play.

Track

Hughson claimed the TVL lead in varsity girls track by edging the Lady Bruins by only a few points, but saw Riverbank boys return the favor with a narrow meet win on Wednesday, in Hughson.

The JV teams both traveled to Escalon for the JV TVL championships on Thursday and came home the champions, the girls totaling 81 points to top Hughson and third place host Escalon for the JV crown. The boys tallied 80 points to earn league honors, outdistancing second place Hughson and Ripon, who tied at 64.

The Bruins will take on Hilmar on May 4 to conclude league meets.

Soccer

A pair of untimely injuries to Celina Lopez and Andrea Harvey hobbled Riverbank in a 2-0 loss to TVL power, Hilmar, but the game was 1-0 until the final 10 minutes and represented one of Riverbank's best efforts in a 4-6 TVL season.

The Bruins have two games left on the league docket, and can certainly influence the tight conference race by topping playoff hopefuls Ripon and Hughson next week.

"We are looking to be spoilers right now," Riverbank coach Martin Gonzales said. "If we can reconfigure the team a little bit, it might give us a chance to do that."

The Bruins went 2-2 in their last four games, landing shutouts in a 3-0 win over Modesto Christian (April 7) and 4-0 decision over Orestimba (April 14).

Lopez, Ruby Albor and Kaitlynn Deabenderfer scored one goal each in both wins and also saw a shot from Chrystal Perez find the net. Martha Aguniga landed both shutouts after some sharp help from a strong collection of Riverbank defenders.

Alisha Borges, Maria Ramos and Mariela Hernandez also played key roles in the one-sided wins.

"We are looking more and more like a team that knows how to play and how to win," coach Gonzales said. "We are no longer at the bottom of the league."

Softball

A devastating 12-7 loss to Hilmar all but decided Riverbank's fate last week, and now the Lady Bruins must win both of their final two games, and also see Hilmar drop their last two if the Bruins are to snare the third and final seed from the Trans-Valley League into the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

Riverbank had stayed alive in the playoff hunt with a 5-3 vengeance win over Orestimba on May 20, but a costly sixth loss of the season went Riverbank's way the following day.

Carlye Avey dominated with a no walk, eight strikeout, two-earned run performance over Orestimba and belted one of 12 Bruin hits.

Amy McDonald (3 for 4), Raine Gallagher (2 for 3), Toni Adams (2 for 3, two RBIs) all landed multiple hits in the win while Aimee Lopez stole two bases.

The Bruins host Ripon on May 6.