Ex-Viking now inflicting pain

Armon Bailey (30) relied on his teammates for support as he battled injuries.

Most of Armon Bailey’s teammates bolted to the locker room once practice ended Tuesday at Sacramento State. Bailey remained on the field for extra work as if the senior was a freshman or sophomore trying to impress the coaches in hopes of earning playing time. Bailey starts at inside linebacker for the Hornets, so his playing time is a given.

Northern Colorado will see plenty of Bailey on Saturday when the Bears pay a visit to Sacramento to battle the Hornets at 6 p.m. The Bears may be in for a long night because they are 2-3 and have allowed an average of 44 points in the three losses. The Hornets are 4-0 and ranked fifth in the latest FCS poll. They are averaging 45 points a game.

Bailey does not take any game for granted. The Vanden High graduate has come too far and endured too much to think he has got it made. Injuries forced Bailey to miss four games in 2019 and nine last season. The Hornets opted not to play in the spring of 2021 when COVID-19 led to the 2020 season being rescheduled and reduced to five spring games.

Spending a few minutes after practice to sharpen his skills is nothing compared with all the Saturdays he spent in street clothes on the sideline. Bailey is majoring in criminal justice, but he has already earned a degree in perseverance. It would have been so easy to toss in his doo rag and limp away with little to show for his college career.

Defensive coordinator Andy Thompson never lost faith in senior Armon Bailey.

Defensive coordinator Andy Thompson never lost faith in Bailey because Bailey never gave Thompson a reason to do so. Bailey attended all team meetings and studied film with his teammates even when he was a bystander at practice and games.

“You have to keep yourself engaged with the team,” said Thompson, who coaches the linebackers. “When you’re connected with the team, when you know your coaches and teammates care about you, you can get through the tough times. (Bailey’s) injuries were setbacks. They were bumps in the road and he had to overcome them.”

The support of his teammates was all Bailey needed to push through his injuries in hopes of rejoining them on the field one day. Injured players are easy to dismiss when they have nothing to contribute, but Bailey’s teammates never turned their backs on him.

“I had dark days, but my teammates were always there to pull me out of it,” Bailey said. “I tried to stay with my teammates as much as possible. I tried to stay inside the game.”

His days are much brighter this season. Bailey leads the Hornets in tackles with 25 after having a total of 16 in victories over Colorado State and Cal Poly the past two weeks. In each of those weeks, he was named the Defensive Player of the Week in the Big Sky Conference. Bailey is just the third defensive player in school history to earn the award twice in a season. Anybody want to bet he will be the first to do it three times?

The awards are a testament to Bailey’s commitment to the Hornets. He strived to come back as much for his teammates and coaches as he did for himself. “That speaks to his character,” Thompson explained. “It’s easy to coach kids who work real hard and are unbelievable people off the field. Armon is an unbelievable kid.”

Bailey believed in himself even in the darkest times. So did Thompson. “He never gave up on me,” Bailey said. “I never had a doubt that I was going to make it back.”

UC Davis gets kicked around

UC Davis coach Dan Hawkins admitted Monday to asking too much of kicker Isaiah Gomez in Saturday’s 17-12 loss to Weber State. Gomez set a school record for field-goal attempts in a game with five. And all five came in the first half. The senior made two, shanked two and Weber State’s Maxwell Anderson got a hand on the fifth to send it wide right.

Each miss came from 50 yards. It was surprising that Hawkins called for a field goal from that distance because Gomez has never made a field goal longer than 45 yards. And Gomez has been inconsistent this season, missing as many field goals (six) in four games as he did in 12 games last year.

“I really trust (Gomez) a lot,” Hawkins said, “so I probably put him in some bad situations.” Those situations may have been born out of desperation because the offense scored more touchdowns (six) in defeating San Diego 43-13 on Sept. 17 than it has in three losses (five).

UC Davis tight end McCallan Castles is stopped just short of the goal line after catching a pass from Miles Hastings.

His first 50-yard try Saturday was in the first quarter after quarterback Miles Hastings’ 3-yard pass to running back Ulonzo Gilliam on third-and-12. That was after a 1-yard pass to wide receiver Justin Kraft on second down at the Weber State 36-yard line. The Aggies seemed intent on keeping a tight leash on Hastings, who completed 39 of 57 passes with 21 going for 5 or fewer yards.

Gomez bounced back with a 41-yard field goal with 7:47 to play in the first half to leave UC Davis trailing 14-6. His second miss from 50 came four minutes later. The Aggies gave Gomez one more opportunity by forcing the Wildcats to punt with 1:50 to go. Hastings completed seven consecutive passes for 59 yards to give UC Davis a first-and-goal at the Weber State 1. Hastings made it eight in a row with a pass on first down to tight end McCallan Castles, but Castles was tackled short of the goal line.

That left Hawkins with a choice of going for a touchdown or settling for a gimme field goal from 18 yards. To put that in perspective, an extra-point kick is 20 yards. Hawkins opted for a field goal, but Weber State’s Maxwell Anderson came around the left side to deflect the kick and send it wide right.

Hawkins defended his decision to go for three points because “you don’t want to chase points. It was too early to chase points. If we got that field goal, we’d be down by one score coming out of the tunnel (for the second half).”

Weber State’s Maxwell Anderson (3) celebrates with his teammates after deflecting a short field-goal attempt.

Gomez’s right leg got a break in the second half. He was needed for one kickoff after Hastings’ 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver C.J. Hutton with 5:33 to go in the third quarter. The Aggies went for a two-point conversion, but Hastings’ pass to wide receiver Lance Babb fell incomplete.

The loss was difficult for Hawkins to accept because he believes his team outplayed Weber State. The statistics bear that out. The Aggies outgained the Wildcats 417-356, ran 21 more plays, had a six-minute edge in time of possession and forced three turnovers without once giving the ball away.

“You look at the stats and you’d think ‘Boy, the Aggies won that game,’ but we didn’t,” Hawkins explained. “Anytime you get three turnovers and you don’t turn it over, you’re probably going to win that game. “

Hawkins stuck out his neck earlier this month when he proclaimed his 2022 team will be the best in history. The Aggies are 1-3 and likely will be 1-4 after playing Montana State in Bozeman on Saturday. Montana State is ranked fourth in the latest FCS poll and has won six in a row against UC Davis.

Saturday’s game will be on ESPNU at 7:15 p.m.

Baseball is his career, life

Rule No. 1 on a road trip for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats is no coach or player can go No. 2 in the bus bathroom. Jim Czajkowski has been on more buses that he would care to count in his 22 years as a minor-league pitching coach, including the past two with the Fisher Cats. The 1982 Fairfield High School graduate would much rather have a 10-hour trip stretch to 12 if a few extra stops will keep the bus smelling as fresh as a daisy.

Czajkowski speaks from experience after spending 34 seasons in professional baseball, including 12 as a player. The Fisher Cats ended their season at home Sunday when four pitchers combined on a shutout in a 1-0 win over the Harrisburg Senators. With a one-year contract, Czajkowski has no idea if the Fisher Cats or any other team will offer him a job for a 35th season. This is his second stint with the Fisher Cats. His first was in 2014. 

His 59th birthday will arrive Dec. 18, so more than half of his life has been spent coaching in Georgia, Virginia. Florida, Canada and New Hampshire. “I used to think I should get a 9 to 5 job so I could be home and play with (sons Josh and Zak),” Czajkowski said. “As long as there’s a place for me, I’m going to keep doing it.”

Jim Czajkowski

There is no way Czajkowski could do it without the support of his wife Cheri. He recalled how the couple relied on loans to make ends meet when he was pitching in the minor leagues and was not paid for going to spring training. All those years of living with a tight budget paid off in 1994 when he made it to the major leagues. Czajkowski made his debut with the Colorado Rockies on July 29, 1994, two weeks before a strike by major-league players halted the season.

“I prayed and asked God to give me just one day in the big leagues, I got 15 times what I asked for. I kept thinking, ‘Why didn’t I ask for five years?’” said Czajkowski, who had one memorable moment during those 15 days.

Czajkowski joined the Rockies in San Francisco for a four-game series with the Giants. He managed to get 75 tickets for each game so his family and friends would be on hand if he happened to pitch. The call came in the seventh inning of the second game with Barry Bonds, Matt Williams and Darryl Strawberry to bat for the Giants. Each hit a single to produce a run, but a double play bailed Czajkowski out of the inning with no more damage.

His second opportunity came in the series finale. The Rockies were fuming after accusing Giants pitchers of throwing beanballs earlier in the series. An inside pitch to Andres Gallaraga left the Colorado slugger with a broken hand. Having Czajkowski settle the score would have made sense because the no-name rookie had nothing to lose.

That was not Czajkowski’s intent after allowing home runs to Bonds and Williams. Pitching inside got him to the major leagues and he figured he had to stick with that strategy if he was going to survive. The Giants thought otherwise after he plunked Royce Clayton and Kurt Manwaring to ignite a bench-clearing brawl.

“I faced Royce in Double A and I knew he liked the ball out over the plate. I pitched him in,” Czajkowski said. “I would throw my fastball on guys’ hands and they would hate it. I knew if I was going to stay in the league, I had to pitch how I pitch. I had to own the inside.”

Czajkowski was fearless to the extent of balking at an order from manager Don Baylor to issue an intentional walk to Bonds. “I would have rather thrown four pitches inside,” Czajkowski said, “and maybe even hit him.”

His time in the major leagues amounted to 8 2/3 innings in five appearances with the Rockies. His duty now as a minor-league coach is to develop pitchers so they will make it to the major leagues and last longer than he did. 

“I play a part in getting them to where they’re going and they all want to get to the next level,” Czajkowski said. “With the technique these guys have, it’s easy to throw hard. It’s still not easy to throw strikes.”

Making a living as a minor-league pitching coach is not easy, but there is nothing Czajkowski would rather be doing. “It’s been a long road. I stuck with it even though it was tough at times,” he said. “I get to watch a baseball game every night. That’s a pretty good gig.”

Cal holds off UNLV for victory

Jayden Ott gets away from UNLV’s Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen on his way to scoring the second of his two touchdowns as Cal pulled out a 20-14 victory on Saturday.

Wood senior cast as starter

Mason Sayre is not to be touched during football practice at Will C. Wood High School. The senior quarterback wears a red vest over his jersey to remind his teammates that he is off limits. And if the vest is not enough of a deterrent, the black cast on his left forearm will surely do the trick.

All of that does not prevent Sayre from initiating contact. He did just that last Friday on one play during an intrasquad scrimmage. Sayre was flushed from the pocket, scrambled to his right and decided to make a run for it. With a defensive back pinning him to the sideline, Sayre could have easily stayed out of harm’s way by simply stepping out of bounds.

Sayre instead lowered his shoulder and delivered as much of a hit on that defensive back as his 6-foot, 160-pound body could generate. It would be safe to say Sayre will not earn his keep this season by trying to plow for three yards and a cloud of synthetic turf. He will be better off trying to steer clear of defensive players instead of testing his luck against them.

If Sayre gets the itch, however, there is a good chance he will scratch it. “Getting hit is not my favorite thing, but it is fun to hit someone,” he said. “They don’t allow quarterbacks to hit, but let me get in on some of the fun.”

Fun became a habit for Sayre last spring with Wood’s baseball team. The shortstop led the Wildcats in batting average (.392), hits (31) and runs scored (18). Sayre also plays for the Admirals Baseball Club. The cast is a souvenir from an Admirals game during which he tagged a runner at second base and his left thumb became acquainted with the runner’s helmet.

The cast will come off Friday, just in time for Wood’s scrimmage at El Camino on Saturday. The Wildcats will kick off the season Aug. 19 at home against Pioneer of Woodland. Wood has just four home games this season. The other three are Sept. 9 against Liberty of Brentwood, Oct. 7 against Armijo and Oct. 15 against defending state Division 3A champion Vanden.

Baseball may be Sayre’s future, but football is the present. More and more high school athletes are being sold on the idea that putting all their eggs in one sport is the golden ticket to college. Sayre does not buy that. Walking away from football never entered his mind, much less crossed it.

“I love playing football with my friends. That’s what keeps me going,” Sayre said. “It’s fun to represent my school and play under the Friday night lights.”

His first opportunity to take the stage as Wood’s starting quarterback will come Aug. 19 at Wildcat Stadium. He will be just fine without the red vest and black cast.

Gonsolin’s success no surprise

Eric Valenzuela had a method to his madness in 2016 as the baseball coach at Saint Mary’s College. He allowed his players to grow long hair and beards as long as they handled their business on the field and in the lecture halls.

Tony Gonsolin took full advantage of that freedom. The 2012 Vacaville High School graduate looked then as he does now with the Los Angeles Dodgers – long black hair that looks as if it has never met a comb and a scraggly beard that could make him a distant relative of the “Duck Dynasty” family.

Saint Mary’s started 3-0 in 2016, then lost four of its next six games. Trouble was brewing, so Valenzuela decided to put his foot down and restored order. The hair and beards had to go for the Gaels to stand any chance of salvaging the season. Desperate times call for scissors and shaving cream.

Eric Valenzuela

“We weren’t playing good baseball and we had a couple of meltdowns. There were some bad attitudes,” Valenzuela recalled in a recent phone interview. “That was it for me. (The players) had to be as clean shaven as a baby’s butt. It was just like the military. We had to change what we were as a team.”

Tony Gonsolin

Saint Mary’s ace in 2016 was Corbin Burnes, who went 9-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings. That led to the Milwaukee Brewers selecting Burnes in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Gonsolin went in the ninth round – surprisingly for his pitching potential.

Valenzuela might be the only person who was not surprised that the Dodgers took a chance on Gonsolin, especially as a pitcher. “With his work ethic and determination, the sky’s the limit for that guy. He’s super competitive. That’s why he is playing at a higher level,” said Valenzuela, who spent six years at Saint Mary’s and just completed his third season at Long Beach State.

Speaking of Long Beach State, Valenzuela lost his closer on Monday when Vacaville High graduate Devereaux Harrison was drafted in the ninth round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Harrison left Monday for Florida to sign his contract.

Gonsolin and Burnes were eunited as National League teammates in the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Saint Mary’s is the only college with two All-Stars this season, according to the college’s website. Gonsolin is tied for second in the major league with 11 victories and ranks fourth in ERA at 2.02. He has allowed just 55 hits in 93 2/3 innings.

Burnes is 7-4 with a 2.14 ERA after winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2021. Gonsolin and Burnes could have more in common than being former teammates at Saint Mary’s and 2022 All-Stars by the end of this season.

“Little Saint Mary’s could have back-to-back Cy Young Award winners,” Valenzuela said. That might be enough for Valenzuela to finally admit he is surprised.

Devereaux delivers for Dirtbags

She takes a parachute to class

Apples fall far from trees and then there is Hailey Brunkal. The 2019 Vacaville High School graduate could be on her way to becoming an Air Force pilot just like her stepfather and sister, but she would rather jump out of a plane than try to fly it. Apples do not have far to go when they drop. When Brunkal falls, it could be from as high as 17,000 feet.

At least the 20-year-old managed to stay aboard the plane that transported the Air Force Academy’s skydiving demonstration team to perform at Wings Over Solano at Travis Air Force Base. Brunkal and her Wings of Blue teammates were scheduled to jump Saturday and Sunday, but high winds on Sunday forced them to put away their parachutes.

Hailey Brunkal

Her sister Melissa also went through the Airmanshop 490 class at the academy and became a certified jumpmaster. The 23-year-old was a senior when Brunkal arrived in Colorado Springs and helped her little sister understand why skydiving does more than teach a cadet how to overcome fear. It also turns a cadet such as Brunkal into a leader.

Brunkal has had to earn respect of her classmates so they will trust her with their lives. Skydiving has taught Brunkal how to conquer her fears. Serving as an Air Force officer will test her ability to keep those in her charge going when the going gets tough.

“You have to learn to do something uncomfortable,” Brunkal explained. “In Airmanship 490, you train 40 hours on the ground and then your first jump is solo. You have to pull the rip cord yourself. I can’t say I loved skydiving at first. It was terrifying. (Skydiving) demands respect. Now I can breathe and feel excited instead of being really, really scared.”

Fear struck Brunkal long before she received an appointment to the academy. She was afraid that following in her sister’s footsteps would make nothing more than a copycat. Her heart was set on attending the academy after touring the campus as an eighth-grader, but the thought did cross her mind that she might be better off by going her own way.

“I wondered if I should have had that moment – is this really for me?” she said. “I looked at West Point and the Navy, but I guess I’m a product of my environment. I came to the conclusion that the Air Force was for me. I wasn’t going to diverge from the family tradition.”

And now there is no place she would rather be. Her schedule is so demanding that she rarely gets to come home, but she is not without family. Cadets who jump out of perfectly good planes together also stick together when their feet – and nerves – are safe on terra firm.

“We’re tight-knit. This is my second family,” Brunkal said “I love being with them.”

Brunkal certainly spends plenty of time with her teammates. Start with six hours each weekday and another eight on Saturday. “It’s a big time commitment. That’s why so many people have reservations about doing it,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”

Something else is on the horizon for Brunkal, however. Her skydiving days are numbered. Her career as an Air Force officer will be in medicine. She will leave the skies to her sister, who was recently assigned to be a C-17 pilot at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu.

Brunkal’s final jump will be when she graduates from the academy with the rank of second lieutenant on June 1, 2023. Brunkal and the other senior skydivers will be wearing their dress uniforms – and parachutes – when they arrive from the sky to the commencement.

Now that’s going out in style.

Putting their best feet forward

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Hailey Wurzbach won the 800 and 1,600 to set the pace for Vacaville’s girls.

Raise your hand if you are surprised that Vacaville High School swept the varsity and junior varsity team competitions Friday at the Monticello Empire League track and field championships. Now take that hand and slap yourself across the face because you should have known better. The Bulldogs won the varsity boys title by 108 points and the junior varsity boys by 123. The girls competition was slightly closer with Vacaville claiming the varsity title by 86 points and the junior varsity by 90. So much for suspense.





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Vacaville High junior Lily Holman won the 100 and finished second in the 200.



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Wood freshman Michael Ferro swept the junior varsity 110 and 300 hurdles.

Who will be QB for UC Davis?

Miles Hastings (7) is one of six quarterbacks auditioning to start for UC Davis.

Dan Hawkins has no patience for quarterbacks who are careless with the football. His son can attest to that. Cody was the starting quarterback at Colorado in 2009 when he was benched by his father are throwing two interceptions in a 38-14 loss to Texas. Those turnovers contributed to the Longhorns outscoring the Buffaloes 35-0 in the second half.

Quarterback Miles Hastings has tested Hawkins’ patience at UC Davis. Hawkins had it easy in his first three seasons after returning to coach at his alma mater. His return coincided with quarterback Jake Maier’s transfer from Long Beach City College. Maier passed for a school-record 11,163 yards and 88 touchdowns in three seasons with the Aggies. He was the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2018 after leading UC Davis to a share of the conference championship and its first FCS playoff berth.

Maier’s departure after the 2019 season left the Aggies in search of a new leader behind center. The search has continued into 2022 and through two weeks of spring practice. Hawkins and his son, who is the Aggies offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, will get their last look at the six quarterback candidates in Saturday’s scrimmage until the Aggies reconvene in August to begin preparations for the Sept. 3 opener at Cal.

Hunter Rodrigues would have been the seventh candidate had he not opted to graduate early with a year of eligibility remaining. He would have had the edge in experience over the other hopefuls after starting all five games last spring and six of 12 in the fall. There was nothing to suggest Rodrigues was in jeopardy of losing the job until he sustained a concussion on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter at Weber State on Sept. 25.

Trent Tompkins

Hastings came off the bench and to the offense’s rescue by playing with the poise of a senior despite being just a freshman. He completed seven of nine passes for 50 yards as the Aggies went 56 yards in 13 plays to take a 17-14 lead with 27 seconds to play. Trent Tompkins replaced Hastings and scored on a 1-yard plunge to cap the drive that lasted more than six minutes. UC Davis safety Erron Duncan sealed the victory with an interception on the first play of Weber State’s ensuing possession.

With Rodrigues sitting out the following week, Hastings started against Idaho and the offense sputtered with 13 points in three quarters. Tompkins took a few snaps in the first three quarters before taking over in the fourth. He accounted for every yard in a 62-yard drive that he capped by lofting a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Harrell. Tompkins completed all three of his passes for 34 yards and added two runs for 28.

UC Davis took the lead at 27-20 with 8:05 to play when wide receiver Carson Crawford took a pitch from Tompkins and tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end McCallan Castles.

As they did against Idaho, the Aggies scored 14 points in the fourth quarter at Idaho State the following week. Those points did nothing more than make the game appear closer than it was. Rodrigues started and struggled, completing as many passes to the Bengals (two) as he did to his teammates. Idaho State turned those two interceptions into 10 points in building a 24-3 halftime lead on its way to a 27-17 victory.

The game was intriguing if for no other reason than Hawkins’ decision to go with Tompkins’ legs instead of Hastings’ arm when Rodrigues was sent to the bench after throwing his second interception on the first play of the second quarter with UC Davis trailing 14-0.

Hastings got his chance on the Aggies’ first possession in the third quarter, threw an interception on second-and-9 at Idaho State’s 16-yard line after UC Davis marched 59 yards in 12 plays and was never seen again that day. At least Rodrigues got the opportunity to throw a second interception before he got the hook from Hawkins.

Such an exit was nothing new for Hastings. The difference was his departure against Idaho State was not scripted. Hastings was told last March that he would get the third possession against Cal Poly. “Whether we went down and scored or not, (Rodrigues) was going to go back in,” recalled Hastings, who did not keep Rodrigues out for long by throwing an interception that the Mustangs returned for a touchdown and a 10-7 lead.

“Obviously, that was not how I wanted it to go,” Hastings said. “It’s football. Bad plays happen. It’s a matter of how you come back from that and shake it off.”

Hastings did get a second chance, although getting his number called with UC Davis leading 59-17 was not the best situation to show what he can do. Hastings did complete all four of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, but you have to wonder if Cal Poly expected UC Davis would be throwing with such a lopsided lead.

There is nothing wrong with running the ball when a game is well out of hand. Four minutes after Hastings threw his first touchdown pass with the Aggies, Tompkins scored on an 86-yard dash to make it 73-17. Tompkins was the Aggies second-leading rusher last fall with 477 yards and tied Ulonzo Gilliam for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with six.

One can throw (hopefully only to his teammates). The other can run. And there are four other candidates, with the latest being transfer Jack Newman from San Francisco City College. All Newman did last fall was pass for 3,583 yards and 38 touchdowns as the Rams finished 13-0. He did throw six interceptions, so the other UC Davis candidates should never count themselves out.

In the words of Lloyd Christmas, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”