STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

It took a pop fly single, a bad throw on a bunt, 10 innings and a bunt that rolled foul, but the Palo Verde Yellowjackets are on top of the Imperial Valley League.

The Yellowjackets scored a run in the 10th inning last night at Stark Field to nip the defending champion El Centro Spartans 4-3 and raise their IVL record to 2-0. El Centro shares second with Calexico with a 1-1 record.

The victory also snapped a six-game Spartan winning streak and left El Centro with a 7-5 season record.

Reggie Smith, Palo Verde’s left fielder who was the starting pitcher last night, holds his hands about six inches apart while batting. But Smith sliced a short pop fly into right with one out in the top of the 10th. Rick Dalton made a good try, but couldn’t quite reach the ball.

Rich Gamley then sacrificed Smith to second. But Reggie had a good jump and was on his way to third by the time Gambley was out at first. Mike Fisher saw Smith pulling for third and threw past Larry Eyer, allowing Smith to score what proved to be the winning run.

40 years ago

IMPERIAL — It was a day for politicking at the Democrat barbecue in the Casa de Mañana building at the California Midwinter Fairgrounds.

Even Gov. Jerry Brown flew in on a chartered plane Sunday to “press the flesh” and drum up support.

Brown said Imperial County should be exempted from the 160-acre limitation and he would send the director of agriculture (Richard Rominger), to Washington to say so.

Brown said Imperial County should be exempted because of the longstanding exemption that the county has had.

Dr. Ben Yellen, who fought to have the acreage limitation imposed, gave the governor a “yellow sheet,” and snapped a few minutes later, “I hope he (the governor) can read.

Brown, Yellen, mariachis and belly dancers were welcome relief in an afternoon of mostly earnest, usually dreary political speeches.

The audience, perhaps a 1,000 people who stopped by during the afternoon for carne asada survived by ignoring the speakers.

30 years ago

For months, the off-and-on pollution at Sunbeam Lake has left county recreation officials scratching their heads. And when the state Water Quality Control Board stepped in to test the water, the mystery seemed to deepen.

When the water board tested the lake water, the fecal coliform count was smaller, almost non-existent at the non-swimming lagoon area, then rose at the lake’s southeast inlet, soared in the swimming area, and dropped again at the outlet.

Charles Springer, the water board’s environmental specialist, said swimmers might have been suspected since the two septic tanks in the area had been ruled out as contamination sources. But there were no swimmers.

The lake had been posted with a “no swimming” sign for weeks. On Springer’s first visit to the lake March 18, the county’s solution of flushing the lake with an increased water flow seemed to be working.

20 years ago

COACHELLA — When it comes to establishing momentum, Sergio Rubio will take a win anyway it comes.

So when Aldo Silva stretched the ideal of taking one for the team to extreme measures, the Calexico High baseball coach wasn’t about to complain.

Silva picked up a game-winning RBI when he was hit by a Ricky Guzman pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, lifting the Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory over Central to wrap up fifth place in the Coachella Valley Rotary Baseball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

“We talked about what it was going to take to get some momentum going and two wins today will definitely do that,” Rubio said.

Silva’s RBI scored Carlo Cota from third base with the winning run.

Calexico started the day with an 11-3 victory over Coachella Valley.

Cota was Calexico’s only selection to the all-tournament team after finishing with eight hits in 11 plate appearances over three days of competition.