Blog post from Lauren LaGrande: Small Town, Big Story

The grass cut, the field set, the stands filled, and all the boys’ hair bleached... those were trademark signs of our high school baseball season that our entire community will remember for a long time!

Small town, big story is exactly the way I'd describe our Maxwell Panthers boys' baseball season. From Steven Perry's four consecutive no-hitters, breaking numerous records such as most consecutive shutouts, most no-hitters in a season, tying the state record of no-hitters, and he only gave up five hits throughout the entire season.

Tyler Wells also has broken the state record of most runs batted in career, tied at most consecutive wins, broke the state record for most doubles in a career, not to mention he has hit 13 home runs. Both of these boys are extremely talented and I congratulate them on their accomplishments. What’s also great is that they are sincerely humble and thankful. They also keep a friendly competition between each other.
The boys' season was truly unbelievable, as this weekend they completed a perfect 30-0 season and their second straight Division V Championship with an 11-0 win over Tulelake. I’m so proud of all that they accomplished and wish them much luck in the future.

As for what’s happening on the farm - did April showers bring May flowers? Well this year certainly wasn’t the case. It’s crazy to think that people are wearing winter jackets to school and the heater is on in May! But May does mean that rice planting in Maxwell is coming to and end. We've had good weather and good planting conditions up until these past few days.

The rice is starting to pop up from the fields in all different stages, from some starting to peek out from the water to some being two inches above. Also as of 5:30 pm last Monday, we finished fertilizing our last field.


The next few weeks of irrigation management will play a very important role in establishing the crop. Until then, were just hoping we see those May flowers soon!

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Lauren LaGrande is the latest in a family farming tradition that began nearly 100 years ago. She is a sophomore at Maxwell High School and is active in FFA, Future Business Leaders of America, volleyball, basketball and softball. When she’s on the farm, you’ll often see her with her trusted companion, Hank, the family dog. Lauren’s great-grandfather grew his first rice crop in the Sacramento Valley in 1916 and the family has continued this tradition ever since.