Lodi grad playing in world championships
Nic Carniglia helped the California Golden Bears win a water polo national championship last fall. Now, he’s on the other side of the world hoping to help his country win a world title.
Carniglia, an incoming senior who had one goal on two attemps in Cal’s 11-8 victory over USC in the NCAA championship back on Dec. 4, was named to Team USA for the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Team USA began the tournament Monday with a 12-7 loss to Croatia.
Carniglia, who barely missed out on going to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games last year, is the third water polo player from Lodi to play for Team USA in the World Championships. Chris Humbert and Todd Hosmer both played for coach Courtney Porter at Tokay High — the same coach Carniglia played for at Lodi High.
Hosmer played for University of the Pacific and was inducted intot eh UOP Athletics Hall of Fame, while Humbert went to Cal before playing in three Olympic games and winning two FINA World Cup titles.
Carniglia didn’t tally any stats in Monday’s game. He scored 21 goals for Cal last year.
Lodi 9s open regional with a win
A little closer to home, the Lodi Boosters of Boys/Girls Sports 9U all-star baseball team topped Eagle Mountain 17-4 in opener of the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in West Valley City, Utah. The Pacific Southwest Region consists of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii and Guam.
Rylan Takahashi led the explosive Lodi offense with a grand slam during his 2-for-5 day, while Noah Hufford and Haiden Edwards added three RBIs each. Edwards went 3-for4 with three runs. Andrew Plath went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs, Juan Ulloa-Ceja went 2-for-5 and Tanner Grove went 2-for-3 with two runs.
On the mound, Grove pitched two innings and allowed two runs while striking out three, Quinton Salustro pitched two innings and allowed one run on no hits while striking out three, then Eric Munoz and Takahashi finished with an inning of work each.
The Lodi squad is back in action at 11 a.m. today, playing against Southern Utah, with a third pool-play game at 2 p.m. on Thursday against Rohnert Park Blue.