As the calendar gets ready to turn over to a new year, 23ABC Sports Director Stephen Hicks documented the busy year in local sports.
Just a call away from the NHL, the Condors season brought the best batch of talent Bakersfield has ever seen including a brief stint from one of hockey's stars, Connor McDavid.
But as the Condors have grown, the local landscape has contracted.
After 75 years of baseball in Bakersfield, minor league baseball announced that based on a lack of appropriate facilities 2016 would be the final season for the team.
However, Dedrick Basile's game winner in the WAC tournament cemented his place in Bakersfield history and sent the runners to their first ever NCAA tournament.
But Basile wasn't the only runner with a big shot.
Jo Larios' first home run for CSUB softball could hardly have been bigger. Like Basile, it won the WAC tournament and sent the team to its first ever NCAA tournament.
While both teams were knocked out in the first round, 2016 showed the country that CSUB has finally arrived.
While CSUB helped put Bakersfield on the map, two local guys took that to another level and made it nearly impossible to not hear about Bakersfield when watching the TV on Sundays.
NFL starting quarterbacks are quickly becoming one of Bakersfield's top exports.
After getting drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of this year's draft, Centennial and
USC grad Cody Kessler started eight times before injuries sidelined his season.
Meanwhile Derek Carr jumped into the conversation of being the league's best.
Carr lead more fourth quarter comebacks than anyone else in the NFL and has the silver and black back in the playoffs in search of their first trophy since 1984.
The end of 2016 was all about high school football. The Drillers extended their state record of section titles to 37, while Bakersfield Christian's comeback in Selma brought the city of Bakersfield its first state title game in almost 92 years.
