I am going to make no attempt to explain away the scarcity of my posts, other than to say this is a slow time of year anyway and I've been hammering out All-Area teams for winter sports (for whatever reason, it seems like they're taking a lot longer this year than last).

OK, so I actually did just offer you a couple of excuses. But I'm back, that's the point. And I'm going to make an effort to post more often this month, especially as things get going with spring sports. Next week is spring break for the Kern High School District schools, but I've got a variety of topics I want to talk about anyway. One of them will be the Arena Bowl, which takes place at the end of April. The annual Kern County senior football all-star game is quite a hit, and when I hear info on it (rosters, time, tickets, etc) I'll be sure to pass it along.

In the meantime, here's a look at what's gone on in a couple of the spring sports in the non-conference and early league portion of the schedule, as well as a look at what I think might be coming next (we'll do two sports a day, starting today with baseball and softball):

Baseball
Ever since a season-opening doubleheader sweep at the hands of Clovis, Stockdale has been rolling as was expected. The Mustangs are 12-2, 2-0 in the SWYL and boast an embarrassment of riches. Six regulars are hitting better than .400, including all-world (actually a Baseball America preseason All-American) K.C. Hobson, who's at, for him, a relatively modest .417 with five home runs and 23 RBIs entering Tuesday's game against Frontier. The Titans are an up-and-coming player in Kern County — they own a couple of non-league wins over Liberty — but have hit the skids in the SWYL, losing their first three games, including Tuesday to Stockdale. The rest of the western side of town is loaded again, with Ridgeview an upset winner over 2007 section champ Centennial already. The Golden Hawks are formidable and so is North, which has beaten Frontier and Ridgeview in close games to open league play. The Stars face Centennial on Thursday.
As for the SEYL, it's another year of playing second fiddle. That might be especially true this year, with even Liberty seemingly down a little bit with two losses apiece to Centennial, Stockdale and Frontier (though I will say Tony Mills has a knack for having his teams play better at the end of the year). Apart from that, there are no proven teams in the SEYL. East went 7-3 in its non-conference season, but it was blown out by both Frontier and Ridgeview in non-conference play. Bakersfield has opened SEYL play 2-0 but did it against bottom-feeders after going 4-7 in non-conference play. The Drillers and Blades play Thursday in a tell-tale game.
As for the South Sequoia League, it looks like it'll again be Bakersfield Christian's to lose. The Eagles are 4-0, with Taft at 2-1 and Tehachapi at 3-1 after a wild 28-10 shellacking of Shafter on Tuesday.
Prediction: Stockdale continues to play solid ball and is able to finish a rare sweep of Centennial to go unbeaten in the SWYL. The two early losses to Clovis, though, will hurt. The Central Section seeding committee will send a two-loss Stockdale team on the road in the playoffs, where they won't be able to win all the close games this year. Centennial, though, might turn around and make a run, like North will in Division II.

Softball
Like many of the spring sports, the SWYL looks like another Stockdale-Centennial supremacy battle, though I'd not sleep on Frontier, North or Ridgeview. The Stars have already beaten the other two, so start with them. I watched them beat Ridgeview 6-0 today, an impressive victory for a team that didn't even seem like it was playing its best. What the Stars lack is a dominant pitcher like Centennial's Ensley Gammel. Gammel and the unbeaten Golden Hawks face North on Thursday. Frontier shook off the loss to North by beating Stockdale 2-1 on Tuesday, showing that the Titans are a league player too. And don't count out Ridgeview, especially if the Wolf Pack can get ace pitcher Carly Hummel back from injury.
A year ago, Liberty and Garces split the SEYL championship. It looks like the Rams are a bit younger this year and might just have slipped a little. That opens the door for a team like Golden Valley to slip in and challenge Liberty for the title. The Bulldogs are 10-4 and 2-0 in the league. Expect a three-team battle to the wire here.
Wasco flew under the radar last year and won a surprise South Sequoia League title over traditional power Tehachapi, and the Tigers and Warriors look to be the championship contenders in that league again. They're the only two teams with winning records. Last year, Wasco won up on the mountain and had the title wrapped up by the time Tehachapi returned the trip. The Warriors won that game and then Wasco bowed out in its first playoff game as a No. 1 seed. We'll see if Wasco can surprise the league again, and if the Tigers can take it further in the playoffs this time.
Prediction: Centennial's too good for everyone else in town this year, with a host of returners from their powerful team of a year ago. The Golden Hawks just might lose another game along the way, but they'll steamroll to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and back it up with championship No. 2. North will finish a surprise second in the league and reach the Division II finals. Tehachapi will do the same in D-III after taking back the SSL.