2023 Rio Linda High School Sports Hall of Fame Members to be Honored

2023 Rio Linda High School Sports Hall of Fame Members to be Honored

At halftime of this week’s Rio Linda Vs. Dixon football game, the 2023 class of the Rio Linda High School Sports Hall of Fame will be honored.

The induction ceremony will take place on Friday September 29th, at Rio Linda High School when the Rio Linda Knights take on the Dixon Rams. Game time for JV is 5pm, Varsity is 7pm. The ceremony will happen at halftime of the varsity game.

The panel that selected the Hall of Fame entrants is made up of educators, coaches, players and boosters, including Larry Bibayoff, Jarrett Black, Mike Fox, Jerry Huffines, John Todd, Rebecca Salaices, and Mike Morris.

This group of inductees includes three exemplary athletes, two legendary coaches, and the best men’s basketball team ever to play at Rio Linda High School.

Rachel Mendez – Softball

  • 1997 SacBee All-Metro Honorable Mention as a Sophomore
  • 3-time Capital Valley Conference all-conference player
  • At the end of the 1999 regular season, The Lady Knights had claimed the CVC title behind Rachels’s regular season batting average of .542
  • In that year she hit .515 with 11 doubles, 45 RBIs, and 44 runs 
  • 1999 Capital Valley Conference MVP
  • Rachel was awarded the honor of being named SacBee All-Metro 1st Team.
  • Played in the 1999 Optimist All–Star game
  • In the Sacramento Bee, Coach Terry Ray was quoted as saying “She’s probably the best player I’ve ever coached.”
  • Rachel accepted a scholarship to play at Texas A&M

Shawn Scobee – Baseball 

  • 3-time CVC conference MVP 2000, 2001, 2002, winning three CVC League titles 
  • As a Sophomore playing on the Varsity team in 2000, Shawn hit .419, with 7 Home Runs and 42 RBIs
  • Shawn was a career .438 hitter, and hit 27 home runs in 3 years including 10 home runs in 2002, a school record that still exists to this day
  • In 2002, Shawn was a 1st team All-American selection
  • Shawn was the first player from the Sacramento area taken in the 2002 MLB draft, Drafted in the 5th round by the Chicago Cubs
  • Shawn opted to go to the University of California at Fullerton where he won a National Championship with the Titans in 2004
Shawn Scobee, 3rd from left

Bob McKenzie – 3-Sport-Athlete 

  • Bob was a tremendous athlete who excelled in all 3 major sports, baseball, basketball, and football. 
  • Bob was the Sacramento area leader in combined passing and running yards for the Knights football team. This accomplishment helped him earn the MVP most valuable player of the all-north Metro Conference. 
  • Bob was also selected to be the quarterback in the 1970 Optimist game. 
  • After high school, Bob accepted a scholarship to play for the Oregon Ducks. 

Coach Rich “Moose” Musillami – Baseball 

  • Coach Rich Musillami, or Moose as he is affectionately known, has spent 36 years coaching baseball in the Grant and Twin Rivers school districts.
  • Moose began coaching at Rio Linda with the JV team in 1973 and took over the Varsity team in 1983, spending 26 years as head coach. 
  • During that time Moose compiled 14 conference championships and competed in five section title games including winning the only Division 2 Sac-Joaquin Section baseball Championship in school history in 1985.
  • Moose compiled just under 500 total wins in his career including a school record 25 wins in a row in 2002.
  • Over three decades, five of Moose’s players were named to the SacBee All-Metro First Team, including standouts such as Atlanta Braves minor-leaguer Jason Mikels, and two other RLHS Hall-of-Famers, Chicago Cubs draftee Shawn Scobee, and Texas Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver.

Coach Richard “Dick” Seward

  • Coach Seward is being inducted into the RLHS Hall of Fame posthumously for his contributions to the cross-country and track-and-field programs at RLHS. 
  • He coached the 62-63 season at Don Julio before coming to RLHS 
  • Coach Seward helped to start the track and field and cross country programs at RLHS before an actual track existed at RLHS. 
  • Seward coached track for 30 years from 1963 until 1993, and coached Cross Country for 36 years from 1963-1999.
  • During his time as coach, his teams won a number of league titles, and his athletes went on to Section and State meet appearances including Olympian, World-Record holder, and 2022 HOF inductee Sheila Hudson.

1979 Men’s Basketball Team 

To this day, the 1979 men’s basketball team is the only men’s basketball team to win a section title. This team was coached by Hall of Fame coach Terry Ray who is also in attendance tonight.

The members of that team are:
Mike Hall
Ron Jones
Kevin Ford
Richard Moore
Todd Roome
Keith Beam
Kevin Monday
Michael Bastain
Calvin Carmichael
Doug Kassebaum
Buster Madding
Fred Solis

Editor’s note: This article is the result of a long process of research and information gathering. I thank all of those who contributed; Jerry Huffines, Mike Fox, Mike Morris, Larry Bibayoff, Jerrett Black, Rebecca Salaices, all of our inductees, Maxpreps.com, and Newspapers.com.

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