Published 2011-04-05T21:52:00Z”/>
Thomas Lawrence
The absolute bliss of baseball’s Opening Day makes one realize something – the national pastime is most definitely Chico’s transcendent sport.
At all levels of the game, taking part in some modern rounders in the blooming green fields and calming sunny skies of spring is a signature Chico experience.
In every corner of town, in every age group and at every talent level, baseball trumps all other athletics in this Northern California mecca for the game.
<strong>Put me in, coach</strong>
How else can you start off a small town’s baseball discussion but with little league? Offering three different main leagues, the Central, Eastside and Westside leagues, Chico starts its young off early in a big way with baseball.
From the fields at the entrance to Upper Bidwell Park to the hallowed grounds of Hooker Oak, the presence of youth and baseball is present throughout town.
<strong>Pulse of the preps</strong>
After the little league ballers’ eventual jettison into manhood and out of little league, Chico’s two major high schools – Chico High School and Pleasant Valley High School – both provide quality prep-level baseball for the community and the players.
The Chico High Panthers are just above .500 this season, but Aaron Rodgers’ alma mater, Pleasant Valley, has been exceptional this year, with a 10-2 mark overall and a 7-0 record at home in Chico, according to the MaxPreps high school sports website.
<strong>Perennial powerhouse</strong>
Two national title banners only scratch the surface of how impressive Chico State baseball has been year after year. From this year’s fifth-ranked Wildcats making noise every weekend, to the champs of 1997 and 1999, baseball is not just Chico’s signature sport as a town, but our college’s athletic trademark historically, and popularity-wise.
‘Cats of the past like Drew Carpenter and Kyle Woodruff are fighting hard in major league organizations to shine in the show one day.
<strong>Outfit of Outlaws</strong>
In January, the Chico Outlaws and Chico State extended their lease together and with Nettleton Stadium. That’s only a good thing for a community with overwhelmingly hot and sticky summers, and a depleted student population that leaves the town a little flat from June to mid-August.
Last year the Outlaws caught fire under manager Garry Templeton and took home the Golden Baseball League title. The stands were also much fuller after the inclusion of female Japanese knuckleballer Eri Yoshida – the first foreign woman to pitch in U.S. professional baseball.
The Outlaws are now part of the massive North American Baseball League, and will head back to the Nett in late May as defending champs.
<strong>Thomas Lawrence can be reached at</strong>
<em>[email protected]</em>
