Annual Nannini baseball game is Friday at Merced High

The 13th annual Nannini Game will be held Friday night at Merced High School. Fifteen seniors from the Golden Valley and Merced High baseball teams will receive $300 scholarships from the Kevin and Brian Nannini Scholarship Foundation.

Each scholarship Dave Nannini hands out is special to him because the scholarship is in the name of his sons, Kevin and Brian, who drowned in a boating accident in 2004.

The pregame ceremony is scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m., with the game starting at 7.

“It just means a lot to me,” said Dave Nannini, who started the scholarship foundation with his wife, Suzy. “I want to do this in their name. It means so much because of all the family and friends that they played ball with. We’re all still very close.”

Since starting the foundation, the Nanninis have handed out more than 150 scholarships for close to $42,000.

In 2004, it started with five or six players receiving scholarships. Now, every senior who fills out an application is awarded a scholarship.

“What we want to do is help these kids,” Dave Nannini said. “It’s not a big scholarship. It’s $300, but we want to help these kids get a better education.”

The Nannini Game has become a special night for the Nannini family. Dave Nannini has always involved his grandchildren in the pregame ceremony. He said it helps them learn about how their fathers were great baseball players.

There have been a few years when they have come in short on donations, but the Nanninis pulled money out of their pocket to make sure every senior received a scholarship.

“As time went on, people have been so generous,” Dave Nannini said. “It’s amazing that we’ve been able to come together and do this.”

Livingston tennis – The Wolves’ boys tennis team will add a title to its banner in the gym. It’s been a while.

Livingston finished the Western Athletic Conference season with an 11-1 record to tie Patterson for the championship. It’s Livingston’s first tennis title in 18 years.

The Wolves also won the coin flip and will enter the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs as the WAC’s top seed.

CCC Swimming Championships – The Central California Conference Swimming Championships will be held at 1 p.m. (varsity) Saturday at Pitman High in Turlock.

The Merced boys and girls teams are trying to extend their long CCC championship streaks. The boys team is vying for its eighth consecutive title and is heavily favored entering Saturday’s championship.

Merced went 5-0 in CCC dual meets to extend its winning streak to 42. The Bears are led by Ethan Eagleton, Abraham Santana, Nick Formby and Alex Vallejo.

The Bears’ girls team will have to edge out Pitman, which tied Merced this season. The Pride and Merced finished the regular season tied at 4-0-1 in the CCC.

The CCC trials and diving finals will be held Thursday.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Annual Nannini baseball game is Friday at Merced High."