Vanden High School – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Days numbered for ex-Viking

This is not how Armon Bailey envisioned his football career at Sacramento State coming to an end. The 2018 Vanden High School graduate expected the Hornets to beat UC Davis in the Causeway Classic, win the Big Sky Conference and host an FCS playoff game.

Bailey had every reason to believe the Hornets could achieve all three. Sacramento State beat UC Davis and won or shared the Big Sky championship in each of the past three seasons. And the Hornets began each of their three playoff appearances with a home game.

**UC Davis running back Lan Larison could not get away from Sacramento State’s** **Armon Bailey on this play in the Causeway Classic.**

Two out of three would have been fine with Bailey. One out of three would have been acceptable – especially if that one was another victory over the Aggies. Going 0-3 left the linebacker to wonder how a season with so much promise fell short of his expectations.

At least the Hornets are in the playoffs. Sacramento will face North Dakota in Grand Forks on Saturday. The Hornets are 2-4 against the Fighting Hawks, but Sacramento State won in each of its past two visits, most recently in 2017. Bailey had seven tackles when the Hornets lost 41-15 at home to North Dakota in 2018.

UC Davis was left out of the playoffs despite a 31-21 win over Sacramento State last week to finish 5-3 in the Big Sky. The Hornets were 4-4 and would have also been snubbed if not for their 30-23 win against their former coach, Troy Taylor, at Stanford on Sept. 16.

Sacramento State also received credit for three of its four Big Sky losses coming against ranked FCS teams – Montana, Idaho and Montana State. UC Davis did not play Montana State or Idaho. The Aggies lost to Montana, Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington.

**Armon Bailey leads the Hornets in tackles with 82 as a senior.**

Falling to 0-11 against Eastern Washington cost UC Davis after the Eagles finished 3-5. The Aggies would not have merited any consideration if they had lost to Sacramento State. Bailey did all he could to prevent that by leading the Hornets in tackles with nine.

“For me personally, it really sucked. I didn’t want to go out on that kind of note,” said Bailey, who had eight or more tackles in seven games this season. Bailey leads the Hornets in tackles for the second consecutive year with 82. He had 88 as a junior in 2022.

Marte Mapu finished second to Bailey in tackles last season with 76. Mapu was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and the New England Patriots selected him in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft. He now starts at linebacker for the Patriots.

The 23-year-old Bailey believes Mapu has paved a path for other Hornets to have an opportunity to play in the NFL. One such player for the 2024 draft is Bailey, who is a two-time All-Big Sky selection after missing a total of 13 games in 2019 and 2021 with injuries.

As a “humble kid,” Bailey will not come out and say he believes he deserves a shot. As a “resilient guy,” he would welcome the challenge of proving he can compete against the elite.

“I feel like it’s right around the corner,” said Bailey, who has earned a degree in criminal justice and is thinking of applying for law school. “Everything is starting to fall into place.”

Little suspense in MEL football

Features

Welcome to the annual race for second place, otherwise known as football in the Monticello Empire League. Let’s cut to the chase and concede the 2023 championship to Vacaville High without making the Bulldogs play five games.

Vacaville has won six consecutive MEL titles, so the only suspense each season is which team will take second. And even that has not been exciting with Vanden finishing as the runner-up in each of the past five seasons.

**Tanner Donaldson contributed to** **the Bulldogs’ success as a player and now hopes to do as an assistant coach.**

Will C. Wood was second in 2017, the first season after Napa and Vintage left the league. Vanden and Fairfield joined the MEL when the Superior California Athletic Conference folded.

Vanden is the only MEL team to come within 20 points of Vacaville in three of the past four years. The Vikings lost 35-17 to the Bulldogs two years ago, their last loss on their way to the state 3-AA championship.

If Vanden lost twice to Vacaville with Tre Dimes at quarterback, what chance do the Vikings stand without him?

Will C. Wood lost 34-31 to Vacaville in 2018, three years after the Wildcats humbled the Bulldogs in a 49-26 victory. The Bulldogs’ last MEL loss was 28-21 to Napa in 2016. Vacaville has won 27 consecutive MEL games since then.

Vacaville’s average margin of victory during that winning streak is 33.6 points. That includes a 40-10 victory against Napa in 2017, a parting gift for the only team that could give Vacaville a run for the money.

The 2023 MEL season kicks off Friday night with Vacaville welcoming Rodriguez to Tom Zunino Stadium, Fairfield traveling to Wood and Vanden visiting Armijo. The closest the Mustangs have come against the Bulldogs was a 49-42 loss in 2008.

Rodriguez has come within 30 points of Vacaville twice in 14 meetings since then. The Bulldogs’ average margin of victory against the Mustangs is 40 points, including three games decided by 50 or more .

Armijo is the only unbeaten team at 5-0, but three of the Royals’ victories have come against teams with a combined record of 1-14. Fairfield’s five opponents are a combined 7-16. The Falcons did manage to beat Davis 27-26, but let’s not forget the Blue Devils were routed 43-0 by the Bulldogs in the first week.

Two of Wood’s three victories have come against 0-6 Sacramento and 0-5 Dixon by a total of 14 points. Armijo routed Dixon 42-7 two weeks after the Rams gave the Wildcats all they could handle in a 19-8 loss.

Vacaville can afford to look ahead to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs because no MEL team will pose a threat to the Bulldogs’ reign. The playoffs have not been kind to the Bulldogs, who are 6-9 in the postseason since winning the section Division II title in 2011. They have reached the semifinals once in 10 years since then.

Two section championships in a span of six years (Vacaville won its first in 2006) raised the bar for the Bulldogs. MEL titles are nice, but they lose their luster when they become as certain as death and taxes.

Vanden QB saves best for last

Features, Photos

Tre Dimes would like to apologize to Vanden High School football fans for taking so long to get his act together Saturday night. Adrenaline and nerves got the best of the quarterback through the first three quarters of the state Division 3-AA championship game. And Aquinas did not do the junior any favors by flushing him out of the pocket and forcing him to throw on the run.

His yellow mouthpiece with black fangs absorbed the brunt of Dimes’ frustration. He chewed on it like a cow chomping on cud. The Vikings trailed 13-0 entering the fourth quarter after averaging 58 points in four playoff games. Dimes had thrown four or more touchdown passes in six consecutive games.

Vanden did not need 58 points or four touchdown passes from Dimes to win its first state championship. All the Vikings had to do was keep the faith in their quarterback because he has rarely let them down. Dimes regained his mojo in the final seven minutes to lead Vanden to a thrilling 14-13 victory.

“He’s our No. 1 on offense,” guard Blake Waldrop said of Dimes. “He gets us going.”

**Tre Dimes got a pep talk from coach Joel “Blue” Isaac and erased a 13-0 deficit.**

Vacaville has been the only team to hold Vanden to fewer than 20 points this season in posting a 35-17 victory Oct. 15 that propelled the Bulldogs to the Monticello Empire League title. Once that crown slipped through the Vikings’ fingers, they set their sights on bringing home the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV title. They got it by mauling Merced 49-21 in Stockton and then rolled to a 56-21 rout at Windsor in the Northern California Regional.

Nothing was that easy against Aquinas.

Time was running out on the Vikings when Dimes broke the goose egg by lofting a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jamai East with 6:31 to play. Aquinas was forced to punt on its ensuing possession after Vanden linebacker Orion Null broke into the backfield to take down Jusyis Solis on third-and-7.

“The pressure was on,” Null said as he was mobbed by his family on the field after the game. “I had to do my job and make a play.” Not only did his play force Aquinas to relinquish the ball, but it also allowed Vanden to avoid using its last two timeouts on defense to save precious seconds for the offense.

East’s first touchdown came on a fade pattern to the right corner of the end zone. His second with 1:08 to play epitomized his connection with Dimes. East drove cornerback Cesar Fernandez into the end zone, stopped on a dime as Fernandez was still backpedaling and broke left. Dimes rolled to his right, planted his back foot and fired a strike to East to tie the score.

Diego Nunez-Smith followed with the biggest extra-point kick in the history of high school extra-point kicks to put Vanden ahead. East sealed the deal for the Vikings with an interception. And by the way, he also blocked the Falcons’ extra-point attempt after their second touchdown in the third quarter.

Dimes is at his best when he can set his feet and unleash his right arm. The Falcons made every effort to not let that happen during the first 36 minutes by putting pressure right in Dimes’ face. Dimes showed signs of panic by not keeping his eyes on his receivers and instead looking to see what trouble was coming his way. Dimes was sacked six times in the first three quarters and bounced a few passes as if he was playing point guard in basketball.

Offensive coordinator Joel “Blue” Isaac had to find a way to snap Dimes out of his funk, so he took the quarterback aside on the sideline for a face-to-face conversation. Had Isaac been chewing gum, Dimes would have known the flavor.

“I told him there’s 11 guys on the field. It’s not all on your shoulders,” Isaac said. “I knew he knew it, but I just reiterated it.”

A 13-0 deficit in a state championship game is nothing compared to the loss the Vikings suffered last April when junior Daniel Hughes died after a shooting. The Vikings will never forget how hard Hughes worked and how he demanded everyone else wearing a jersey to do the same. There was no quit in Hughes, so the Vikings refuse to surrender even when it appears all is lost.

“Daniel never stopped fighting no matter what the score was,” Dimes said. “We had to fight through this game. He would be so proud of us.”

That he is.

Managing twins and baseball

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This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is neg50-1024x617.jpg — **Vanen High graduate Kris Negron is in his first year as the Rainiers manager.**

Wednesday is hump day and time to travel for Triple-A West teams such as the Sacramento River Cats. For Tacoma Rainiers manager Kris Negron, those 24 hours often provide enough time for the Vanden High School graduate to take a detour and go home to Napa before rejoining the team at its next destination.

When the Rainers head home Wednesday after six games in Sacramento, however, Negron will be on the flight with his players. The drive to Napa is a little more than an hour from Sacramento, so the 35-year-old Negron raced home Monday after the Rainiers scored twice in the ninth inning to beat the River Cats 6-4.

The game ended at 10:39 p.m., so it had to be well past midnight by the time Negron showered and hit the road. Negron joked before Friday’s game that he went home after the Rainiers’ 10-7 win Thursday and did not get to Napa until 2 a.m.

That was just in time for Negron to assist his wife Allison in feeding their sons, Johnny and Lorenzo. The twins were born in June and spent two weeks in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. Negron was anxious to return to the Rainers once his sons could go home, but the Rainiers’ parent club – the Seattle Mariners – told him to take a third week off to help Allison adjust to being a mother.

“I couldn’t think of leaving (Johnny and Lorenzo) while they were in the hospital. That was something I was dead set on,” Negron recalled. “The Mariners organization is amazing. They’re really big on family. They were open with me and told me to let them know if I needed more time.”

Tony Arenich, the Mariners’ Minor League Field Coordinator, filled in for Negron. The Mariners acquired Negron from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash in August 2018. He appeared in 18 games with Seattle, hitting .207 with one home run and three RBI. Negron began the 2019 season with Tacoma and played in 82 games, hitting .310 and 12 homers and 61 RBI. His batting average was the highest at the end of a minor-league season in his career.

The Los Angeles Dodgers traded for Negron on July 29, 2019 because they were in need of a versatile fielder with Kiki Hernandez (sprained left hand) and Chris Taylor (fractured left forearm) on the injured list. Negron announced his presence with authority in Los Angeles by homering in each of his first two games.

Negron went from playing for a last-place team in the Northern Division of the Pacific Coast League to being doused with champagne after the Dodgers clinched their seventh consecutive National League West title Sept. 10. The Dodgers finished the regular season with a franchise-record 106 victories by winning their last seven games, including a 9-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the finale Sept. 29. Negron will never forget that game for one reason.

It was his last. Negron entered the game in the sixth inning, got an infield single in the seventh and then was replaced by Austin Barnes. That he managed to end his 14-year professional career with a hit was the perfect parting gift.

“We’re in San Francisco. My very last at-bat. It was just an infield single, but I had a feeling,” Negron said. “I was standing on first base. I could see all my friends and family in the stands. I just kind of knew right then and there. I could end my career on a single, so I thought that would be the way I ride off into the sunset.”

Retirement crossed Negron’s mind whenever he and Allison discussed starting a family. They have been together since meeting in 2005 at UC Davis. That would be Negron’s only year in Davis. He lost his baseball scholarship when he struck out with poor grades. Allison suggested he attend Cosumnes River College.

“We met only a couple of weeks before I had to leave Davis, so the timing wasn’t the greatest,” Negron said. “I tried to come up to Davis to see her as much as I could. With summer school and summer ball going on, she was by my side the entire time. She straightened me out. She was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Negron was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2006 and married Allison in 2010. He made his major-league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on June 6, 2012. He played in four games with the Reds before being sent to Triple-A Louisville. His season ended July 5 when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee.

His best season in the majors was 2014 when he played in 49 games with the Reds. He hit .271 with six homers and 17 RBI. Adversity struck again in 2015 when Negron tore the labrum in his left shoulder and fractured his scapula. There were plenty of times when he wondered whether he would make it back to the majors. a

“It was the vulnerability,” Negron said. “A lot of times you think you’re invincible, especially when you’re younger. The game can taken away from you at any second. You have to play like there’s no tomorrow.”

More tomorrows are in store for Negron now that he has traded his glove for a lineup card. He impressed Andy McKay, the Mariners’ director of player development, last year by running the team’s alternate training site at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.

“Andy McKay took me under his wing. I knew I could learn a lot. I had a blast at the alternate site,” Negron said. “About halfway through, he asked me I was interested in managing at Triple-A. It was intriguing, so I decided to go for it.”

Negron has no idea where he would be today without Allison.

“It definitely takes a special woman to deal with the lifestyle we go through. Baseball is tough, but it’s even harder on our significant others,” he said. “(Allison) means the world to me. Twin boys are no joke, but my wife is absolutely crushing it. I call her super mom. Without someone as strong as her, it would be impossible.”