Tyler Orsburn

Richmond Grinders prepare for meet in Berkeley

Kiome Davis of Grant Elementary School wasn’t convinced she’d like track. She didn’t like training because it was too hard. On her third day of conditioning she said she heard her teammate use bad language. “I thought [the Richmond Grinders] was one of those bad teams that cusses a lot,” the nine-year-old said. She was panting from sprinting 200 meters in khaki pants and a white short-sleeve polo shirt. “[But] now that I got to know everybody—it’s good. We [train]…

Memorial Day weekend at the beach

Memorial Day has been observed for more than 140 years. Since soon after the end of the Civil War it has been a time to remember those who have given their lives while wearing a U.S. military uniform. According to the non-profit Civil War Trust, more than 1,200,000 American soldiers have died in battle. On Sunday, families gathered at Keller Beach in Point Richmond and honored those fallen soldiers and sailors by celebrating family. We at Richmond Confidential would like…

Full UC college scholarship awarded to Kennedy High student

Kennedy High School senior Kelssie Sontay has a hero, and it’s not Wonder Woman. It’s Sontay’s dad, a man who she said didn’t get the opportunity to finish elementary school. Sontay recently won a full scholarship to UC Santa Cruz, and says her father was her inspiration. “He’s been my motivation for everything he went through in his childhood,” she said. Her father, she said, taught her that “it doesn’t matter what I have right now.” Now, what the 17-year-old…

Chevron and Oakland A’s promote science education at Stege Elementary School

Oakland A’s mascot Stomper and second baseman Eric Sogard  made a special appearance at Stege Elementary School Friday before their game against the Kansas City Royals. The floppy-eared mascot and spectacled major leaguer were in town to celebrate the academic fields of science, technology, engineering and math. This is the second year the Oakland A’s have partnered with Chevron to promote the oil refinery’s scholastic workbook the “Science of the Game.” Last year the dynamic duo visited Lincoln Elementary School…

Richmond basketball star goes global, aims for Big East success

Jamaree Strickland sees the world differently. Some may even say the Richmond native has his head in the clouds. If anyone would know it’d be his mom, Stacey Strickland, who recalls that even back in preschool, when her son stood behind his friends they just reached up to the top of his stomach. “I don’t remember ever being average height,” Jamaree Strickland said upon his recent return from playing basketball in France for the USA Elite Under-23 team. “In the…

Kennedy High School powerlifting enthusiast claims world records

A 17-year-old powerlifter overtook his 71-year-old mentor Saturday. And he did it with ease. It may have taken the Kennedy High School special education junior three years of teeth-grinding training to accomplish the feat, but it was well worth the wait. “Today I got depressed,” special education teacher Salvatore Morabito said with a big laugh recounting how student Ryan Palmieri pushed and pulled more weight than his own bones could handle, 25 pounds more, in fact. “My glory days are…

Oilers go out swinging, end season with summer plans

The Salesian Pride defeated the backyard rival Richmond Oilers 11-2 in the first round of the high school baseball playoffs Wednesday evening, ending the Oilers’ season. The Pride scored six runs in the first two innings off eight walks, seven stolen bases and one hit. After scoring one more run in the third, Salesian’s coaching staff stepped off the gas pedal and played several junior varsity players. After the game Oilers’ head coach Deryk Hudson told his lineup of 10th…

Eagles lose season finale, look towards future

After the Kennedy Eagles’ last batter struck out looking to end the game against divisional rival St. Joseph Notre Dame on Friday, Eagles’ senior third baseman Luis Martinez sat in the dugout by himself. His gaze was long and lonely as nine other teammates picked up equipment around him. For Martinez and three other seniors it would be the last time they donned the “K” uniform. But instead of walking back to the yellow bus for the long ride home,…

Hercules takes care of business, defeats Kennedy 11-1

The Hercules Titans’ baseball team pounded out 11 hits in five innings Wednesday evening to defeat Kennedy, 11-1. The win moved the Titans into a first-place tie with St. Joseph Notre Dame in the Tri-County Rock Division. The game was almost like a home game for the visiting Titans as there were no Eagles’ fans in the bleachers. Titans’ followers, meanwhile, lined the third base line with folding chairs and umbrellas and enjoyed watching their freshman pitcher Justin Mahley throw…

Appetite a must for Point Richmond’s Brazilian restaurant

Pikanha’s Brazilian Steak House in Point Richmond knows meat. In fact, they know beef, pork, lamb and chicken so well that their waiters just keep bringing the grilled morsels out one after the other. Thais Silva, the restaurant’s owner, calls the meat her “show.” But it wasn’t until her mother’s death that the Brazilian native, and her brother, decided to pursue a family dream—to open a family restaurant. Located just down the street from the Richmond Plunge, the restaurant is…

De Anza splits season series, defeat Kennedy 12-4

Kennedy Eagles’ head coach Tim Logan sat on a milk crate near first base during the top of the third inning Friday afternoon and watched his team fall behind 10 runs to the visiting De Anza Dons. While Logan sat outside the dugout keeping the book, no permissible players sat in the dugout with rally caps on rooting for their teammates to make a comeback. Fragmented by poor academic achievement, the first-year head coach now faces a different kind of…

Oilers take season series, defeat Eagles 7-6

The Richmond Oilers’ baseball team has two wins this year and they’re both against their crosstown rival, the Kennedy Eagles. On Wednesday the lineup with “R” on their hats used eight walks and one hit-by-pitch to squeeze out a 7-6 victory. Eagles’ head coach Tim Logan said he pitched first-time player Gerald Cannon because five of his regulars had to hang up their cleats for academic reasons. “I like what I saw,” Logan said of Cannon’s two-plus innings of curveballs,…