No. 20 CAL Baseball Sweeps the No. 3 Oregon State Beavers

Campolindo HS grad Matt Ladrech threw 7.2 innings of no-hit relief to beat OSU. (photo via calbeaers.com)

No. 20 Cal baseball sweeps No. 3 Oregon State behind stellar pitching (The Daily Californian)

"The Sunday Section" - Selected Stories From Around The Bay

Andre Ward on the Oracle Arena canvas Saturday night (photo by Ezra Shaw)

Andre Ward tops Sullivan Barrera in a unanimous decision (SF Chronicle)
Former Saint Mary's player shaken but safe after Brussels terrorist attack (CC TImes)
After USA’s loss to Guatemala, margin for error is slim (Sports illustrated)
Bill Walton’s Long, Strange Tale of N.B.A. Survival (New York Times)
Ron Washington calls defensive malaise a matter of focus
Into the NFL's Heart of Darkness (Sports Illustrated)
Warriors are the no-nicknames gang that shoots straight (Scott Ostler)

Section925 Podcast Ep 98 - Basketball Insider Jon Wheeler

Former CAL basketball player/coach and Section925 Hoop Insider Jon Wheeler joins Tripper to dissect the controversy surrounding the Bears' basketball program. The two also touch on St. Mary's season and spend time "getting to know the Insider."

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Section925 Podcast Ep 97 - "The Battery" Featuring Thomas, Tully & Jensen

For the sixth edition of “The Battery,” Brett Thomas welcomes back battery partner Alex Jensen (The voice of the St. Mary's Gaels) as well as spot starter Scott Tully. The trio discuss a wild first weekend of the NCAA's, CAL basketball's sudden collapse, the Warriors' run at the Bulls' record, and much more.

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"The Sunday Section" - Selected Stories From Around The Bay

(photo by Darren Abate via NYTimes)

Golden State And All That Glitters (The Classical)
Gregg Popovich's Scheming Threw The Warriors Off Their Game (Deadspin)
Draymond confident Warriors will win 73: 'We're going after it' (CSN Bay Area)
A’s Danny Valencia works way up from bit player to cleanup man (SF Chronicle)
Butler swinging for fresh start with A's (CC Times)
How A Summer in Oakland Propelled Gary Payton II To Stardom (Sports Illustrated)
"My Toughest Out" - Vallejo Native CC Sabathia on Alcoholism (The Player's Tribune)
"Still Shooting" - CAL's Talia Caldwell Writes about her basketball career (The Player's Tribune)

(Highlights) Miramonte Women's Basketball Beats Bishop O'Dowd For NCS 3-Peat

Over the weekend, the Miramonte women's basketball team won their third straight NCS title. Led by 25 points from McDonald's All-American Sabrina Ionescu, the Mats beat Bishop O'Dowd 82-67 at McKeon Pavilion. The undefeated (29-0) ladies from Miramonte will compete in the CIF State Tournament beginning on Friday when they host Brookside Christian of Stockton at 7pm. The #2 seed Mats will likely have to get through #1 seeded St. Mary's of Stockton in order to make the state final.   

"The Sunday Section" - Selected Stories From Around The Bay

The San Jose Earthquakes during Sunday's season opening win versus Colorado. (photo by Nhat V. Meyer) 

FOR ST. MARY'S BASKETBALL, SHARING IS WINNING (Vice Sports)
DAVID ROTH'S WEAK IN REVIEW: GROWING UP IN A GOLDEN STATE (vice sports)
Cal has several candidates in running to replace Jared Goff (Contra Costa Times)
How Stephen Curry got the best worst ankles in sports (ESPN)
The NBA Stars Who Still Live With Mom (The Wall Street Journal)
Steph Curry plays golf inside the Warriors' practice facility (Golf Digest)
The 2016 Golden State Warriors Versus The 1996 Chicago Bulls, A True Tale Of Time Travel (The Classical)
Conor McGregor paid heavily for his hubris against Nate Diaz (The Guardian)
MLS Season Preview: Earthquakes use decision-day disappointment as motivation (Goal.com)
Northern California high school basketball playoff pairings (SF Chronicle)

Zach Kline Returns Home To Play For The Bears

(Zach chats with CAL beat writer Ryan Gorcey during a high school appearance at the Oakland Coliseum) 

By Connor Buestad | Connor@Section925.com

If we learned anything from watching Zach Kline play the quarterback position as a high school star in Danville, it’s that the kid is a gamer. Kline had all the tools to light up East Bay scoreboards while at San Ramon Valley, attracting the attention of QB guru Jeff Tedford enough to garner a PAC-12 scholarship in 2012. He played the game at the prep level with the type of competitiveness and excitement that players and fans alike want to be a part of. Zach Kline passed the QB1 eye test, if you will.

Today, Kline is 22-years old and has spent four years in college, on three different campuses. He redshirted his first year in Berkeley, taking time to learn Tedford’s system. The following year, Kline found himself in a heated battle for the starting quarterback job with true frosh Jared Goff. Well, despite Section925’s fearless endorsement, Goff would win that position battle and, well, Goff turned out to be pretty darn good at throwing touchdown passes in Sonny Dykes’ Air Raid operation.

So Kline did what gritty gamers do, he found a place to play starting quarterback. That quest took him up to Butte Community College in Chico, California. A campus best known for Sierra Nevada suds and a man named Aaron Rogers.

Kline used a successful season at Butte as a stepping stone back into the NCAA (FCS 1-AA) ranks where last year he suited up for the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley Conference. Kline’s pit stop in Indiana did not exactly go as planned, as he wasn’t able to secure the starting job and only appeared in three games.

Naturally, Kline has boomeranged back to Berkeley where he hopes to find his way into a graduate school program while simultaneously suiting up for his hometown D1 team. Yes, what a long strange trip it’s been.

In order for Kline to get time as the Bears’ signal caller, all he has to do now is beat out four other capable QB’s including Chase Forrest, Luke Rubenzer, Ross Bowers, and Max Gilliam. That being said, Kline still has a shot. After all, he was highly touted across the board out of high school and went neck and neck with Goff for an entire spring. Kline also has game experience for the Bears, as he completed 43 passes with three TD’s as Goff’s backup in 2013.

No one knows what’s in store for Zach Kline over the next year in Berkeley, hell, he probably has no idea either. But we can all agree he’ll keep the journey interesting for us followers. Someway, somehow, perhaps the final destination will be the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. 

Jared Goff Shows Out at NFL Combine

Goff looked good. He was the standout,” said Bill Polian, an ESPN analyst who entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year for his front-office expertise. Polian didn’t hold back in praising Goff.
“He rose to the occasion,” Polian added. “Everything he does is athletic. The ball came out on time. He throws a nice ball. His feet are really good. His balance is good.
Goff throws with ease in front of attentive 49ers brass at combine
Section925 Podcast Episode 63 - CAL Football's Jared Goff & Griffin Piatt