We finally kicked him out. It was the hardest decision of my life. He lived with various relatives and friends until he started lying to them about work. Nick is now at his father’s, who lets him stay rent-free, contributing nothing.

I managed to get Nick to see a psychiatrist briefly. I went along to make sure he told the truth, but as soon as the therapist wanted him to continue on his own, he canceled the next appointment, saying the therapist didn’t do anything but ask him questions.

I am concerned that Nick will do something drastic, like harm himself. When I brought it up, he said he would never do that. But he’s alone so much and seems so aimless. Is there anything I can do besides pray?

— Worried Mom in Alabama

Dear Mom: There are a lot of possibilities to consider: Might Nick be drinking or using drugs? Is he addicted to video games and cannot tear himself away? Is he depressed? And, of course, there is the “lazy” factor, in that he has a place to stay, rent-free, and is not required to do anything at all, including grow up.

The fact that Nick is alone and aimless does not make him suicidal, but it can feed on itself and make him more lethargic. And the longer he is without work, the harder it will be to find the next job. Please see whether you can get Nick to see a physician for a checkup. Then talk to your ex-husband about your next step.

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Dear Annie: I am very frustrated. My daughter is graduating soon, and I sent out invitations for a party, leaving an RSVP with my phone number. Catering is expensive, and I was hoping the guests would call me to tell me whether they are able to attend. So far, only two people have responded. Out of 40.

A few years ago, I ordered food for 300 guests, only to have 70 people show up, resulting in a lot of food being thrown away. But another time, I ordered for 100 people, and we ran out of food because 150 came. Please tell your readers not to ignore an RSVP. It’s there for a reason.

— Frustrated

Dear Frustrated: This is an ongoing frustration for many of our readers. Of course people should have the decency to respond to invitations in a timely manner. Your only recourse, sorry to say, is to call each person and ask whether he or she is planning to attend.

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Dear Annie: I read the letter from “Perplexed,” who wanted to get his parents to stop bothering him by incessantly calling or visiting. I liked your answer, suggesting he call for five minutes every day to reassure Dad that he is OK and to make sure that Dad is OK, too.

My mom was my best friend, and I loved her very much. After my partner and I were in a bad automobile accident, we recuperated at Mom’s home. When we left, she cried and asked whether I would do something for her: call once a day to let her know that we are OK.

I did that and then began to call her at night, too, just to say, “I love you, Mom.” About a year later, I called in the morning, and there was no answer. She had passed away in her sleep. My consolation was that the last words I said to her were “I love you.” There is nothing kids can do to make up for the times that they avoided their parents and complained that they were such a “bother.”

— Louisville, Ky.

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Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Email your questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. To find out more about Annie’s Mailbox and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

— Creators Syndicate Inc.

Dan Boyle scored a power-play goal early in the first period and Antti Niemi made 26 saves for the Sharks, who got the penalty calls to go in their favor down the stretch in this game.

Rookie Tyler Toffoli scored the lone goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings, who had won six straight games since dropping the first two in the opening round in St. Louis. Jonathan Quick made 38 saves.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in San Jose.

Two nights after losing 4-3 on a pair of late power-play goals by Los Angeles in Game 2, the Sharks took advantage of their late-game chances on the power play. Tommy Wingels drew a hooking penalty on Robyn Regehr with 41.7 seconds left in regulation, and the task got even more difficult for Los Angeles when Trevor Lewis was called for goaltender interference when he crashed into Niemi with 4.5 seconds remaining.

That gave San Jose a 5-on-3 advantage for the first 1:19 of overtime. The Sharks couldn’t convert with two extra men, but got the winner after Regehr came back when Patrick Marleau set up Couture in front.

Couture’s first career playoff overtime goal came after he missed most of the second period with an injury when he crashed into the boards. He returned in the final minute of the second and then got the Sharks back into the series.

The Sharks survived a scoreless second period in which they played with a short bench for much of it. Marty Havlat, back for the first time since being knocked out of Game 1 in the first round because of a lower-body injury, left after the first period and didn’t return.

Defenseman Scott Hannan missed time early in the period after sliding face first into the boards, and Couture was also out.

Despite having just 10 forwards for most of the period, the Sharks got the better chances with only a sterling pad save by Quick against Andrew Desjardins keeping the game tied at 1 heading into the third.

In making the Sac-Joaquin Section North playoffs, the Blue Devils had only allowed four or more runs in an inning twice this spring — both in back-to-back frames in a loss to Elk Grove on May 3.

So when DHS coughed up four Pleasant Grove tallies in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Eagles — leading to a trip to the tournament’s losers’ bracket — it was big news.

“We weren’t real sharp (Saturday),” Devil coach Dan Ariola said after the game, played in brilliant sunshine at Sacramento City College. “The turning point? Obviously the big inning. Pleasant executes really well … they hit behind the runner and made it happen.”

Now, Davis (22-7) gets its old Delta Valley Conference pal Franklin (17-13) on Monday (7 p.m.), with the loser going home. The locals swept the Wildcats in their three league outings this season as Franklin finished third in the DVC. FHS also lost Saturday, 9-6 to Elk Grove.

So what do the ’Cats have going in their favor? They’ve won six of their last seven games and are the Northern Division’s defending diamond champs. And they would like to be the one that sends the Blue Devils packing after those three regular-season losses.

On Saturday, at least for a while, it looked like DHS was on a collision course with Elk Grove, which will instead play PG in a Tuesday contest.

Devil starter Bobby Young had a 2-0 lead and had held Pleasant Grove scoreless through three.

Although he was asked to wiggle out of second- and third-inning jams, Young was living by the Davis creedo: Limit the damage.

Davis’ early runs came in the home half of the second when Trey Golston led off with an infield single. Catcher Hayden Duer followed with a blast to right-center, and as the ball rolled to the fence, Golston scored and Duer headed to third …

Eagle second baseman Spencer Jemes’ relay throw in an attempt to get Duer was late, bounced and soared into the visitors’ dugout. Duer, standing at third with a triple, was awarded home.

But Pleasant Grove answered. Austin Friello’s fourth-inning triple to center field stopped rolling 415 feet from the plate. He scored on Matt Stafford’s sacrifice fly (more about winning pitcher Stafford in a minute).

An inning later, a single and an error set up the Eagles’ game-tying run (Nicco Toni’s sac fly to right brought in Bronson Grubbs).

However, in the bottom of the fifth, DHS’ Chris Daunt singled, then scored when Pleasant Grove threw wildly to first on Joe Murray’s grounder. For the usually slick-fielding Eagles, it marked their third error of the afternoon.

Then came the anomaly: Davis allowing four runs in an inning.

Third baseman Friello, a .318 hitter with four homers, opened the sixth with a ringing double to the fence in left. That would be Young’s last pitch. He gave way to Jake Miille, a senior reliever with a you-can’t-find-it 0.34 earned run average.

On this day, the Eagles (24-7) solved the senior closer with an RBI single from Nick Doyich, a single by Stafford, a two-run double from Jemes and another RBI hit by Josh Adams.

When Adams reached, Miille turned the mound chores over to Brett Bloomfield and the last four Eagles were retired.

But the damage was done and Stafford wouldn’t let the locals back in.

The junior righty got six of the final seven Devil hitters. For the game he gave up but four hits, struck out three and walked one, and only one of the three runs he allowed were earned. Stafford ran his record to 8-1 and his ERA fell to 2.55. Miille (2-1) was the DHS pitcher of record.

Ariola, while not happy with the result, knows all is not lost.

The Blue Devils will hand the ball to Adam Inouye (4-0, 0.63) Monday and recall that the last time they won a section crown (2004) they came back through the losers’ bracket.

In fact, Ariola is positive in his outlook — provided Davis gets past a motivated Franklin.

“We’ll have Tuesday and Wednesday off (to) get some rest,” the skipper told The Enterprise, knowing he now has to win four straight to advance to the finals.

If his guys are still around Thursday, Matt Trask (7-2 and coming off a shutout over Jesuit) gets the call against the loser of the Elk Grove-Pleasant Grove meeting.

But first things first — Franklin vs. Davis IV.

Notes: Ariola said “we made some good plays (Saturday).” Among them, the eye-popping Bloomfield-to-Ryan Kriedler-to-Duer relay that nailed Adams at the plate in the third inning. With Adams on first and two outs, Beau Boyle doubled to the wall in left. Bloomfield’s on-the-money strike to shortstop Kreidler was instantly fired to Duer, who fielded Kreidler’s delivery while blocking the plate and tagged out Adams. On Thursday against Jesuit, several other solid outfield plays were turned in at a windy, chilly Union Stadium. Ariola praised his outfielders for playing well in a cavernous stadium, especially in last week’s conditions. … Pleasant Grove was the Delta River League’s No. 2 team, behind Oak Ridge and in front of Jesuit. … PG coach Rob Rinaldi is a 1982 Davis High grad. He and Ariola (Class of ’80) played summer-league ball together as youths.

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8047.

On Saturday at Cosumnes Oaks High, the Davis High girls were the ones with that sour taste. The Blue Devils fought Franklin through scoreless regulation and overtime periods in the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship Contest, only to lose 4-3 in PKs.

With Franklin forwards Lauren Williams and Tatyana Garrett putting the pressure on, the DHS defense needed to be at its best all game long.

The Devil back line, however, got off to a bit of a shaky start with Garrett giving the locals a scare in the 14th minute. But when she mishit a volley that spun out of bounds, Davis had its wake-up call. After that, the defense that has been the Blue Devils’ strength all year — including a playoff run that featured zero opposing goals — was back on track.

DHS had its first good chance in the 23rd minute, when sophomore Jaha McClean found Sophia Hernandez off of a Wildcat turnover. Hernandez performed a nifty touch over FHS center back Aleah Kelley to find a trailing Kalani Ratnasiri, who flicked the ball over Wildcat goalkeeper Marcela Young.

The ball bounced once and Devil fans got to their feet ready to cheer. The second bounce landed tantalizingly close to the Franklin goal, but the ball traveled about a yard wide.

Davis fans stayed on their feet after Brooke Palmer intercepted the ensuing goal kick. Palmer played the ball to Ratnasiri, whose give-and-go with Hernandez got her open for a shot. Ratnasiri got too much of the bottom of the ball however, and her shot skyrocketed over the goal.

As they had in each of the two regular-season matchups — which the two Delta Valley Conference co-champs split — the two heavyweights traded blows throughout the half to enter the break in a scoreless deadlock.

After intermission, the Blue Devils’ came out firing.

In the 45th minute, Palmer won yet another tackle, and hit a left-footed laser that went just a touch too high. Sophomore Renee Schumann then used her athleticism to get into a position to cross, but her pass just missed Ratnasiri.

FHS tried to gain momentum themselves, but were stopped by DHS goalkeeper Maddy Purves, who was phenomenal all night long.

“She had a lot of momentum in goal (Saturday),” said Devil coach Sara Stone. “She had some key saves … She played great.”

In the 50th minute, the Wildcats served up a corner toward Williams, who stands nearly 6-feet tall. But Purves was there, courageously charging out to snatch the ball as soon as it came off of Williams’ head.

It was a similar story on both ends of the field as neither team could convert before regulation time expired. For the Blue Devils, it was often Purves making a nice play to prevent a Franklin finish.

As the teams continued to trade blows in overtime, one was nearly fatal for Davis. Williams headed a ball toward the goal and it got past Purves on the far left post. Local defender Megan Casey jumped up and used her chest to save the goal, but was unable to clear it, leaving it inside of a mob of players from both teams.

Again, it was Purves who swooped in and saved the day for the Devils, as she dove headfirst into the swarm of white and black to pounce on the ball.

As the second overtime period came to a close without a goal to be found, the dreaded shootout followed. Stone selected Jenna Farboud, Casey, Ratnasiri, Clara Goin and Gaby Herrera to take the penalty kicks:

Ratnasiri stepped up first, but her low shot was saved by the long and athletic Young.

After Julia Alltop put one past Purves, and the squads traded two more makes, the Blue Devils found themselves in a 2-1 hole.

Casey next shot seemed perfectly placed to the low left corner, but Young got to the ground quickly and used her fingertips to push the ball just wide.

Still, DHS got a sliver of hope when Garrett missed the following try just wide, but after Farboud and Goin converted, tying the shootout at 3-3, Franklin’s Christiana Atteberry stepped up to the mark.

Her shot went under the outstretched hands of the senior Purves to give the Wildcats their first section title in school history.

“ We’ve gotten here because of (the seniors),” Stone said. “They’ve been stellar this entire year, on and off the field. They kept the team in a positive direction and have gotten us to this point. It’s not the way you want to end your season, but we’re not going to hang our heads and get caught on things that happened.”

Notes: Former DHS boys coach Ashley Yudin was in attendance to watch Stone, his daughter, coach her first section championship contest in just her second year at the helm. Also in the stands was former standout Anna Maria Gilbertson, who plays at Notre Dame. … The Blue Devils will lose eight seniors — Purves, Natalie Ho, Emily Gao, Casey, Kylie Tierney, Farboud, Goin and Makenzie Delaughder — to graduation.

Jesuit, led by sprinter Austin Mitsch’s double and a handful of discus and shot put points, won its fourth crown in five years with 57 points — five ahead of the Blue Devils and Grizzlies.

What made DHS performance all the more remarkable was the Devils won not a single event. Close several times, yes, but never at the top of the podium.

That peculiarity was a double-edged sword for these boys, a young team that Elliott believes will only improve.

“We left some points out there. That was a disappointment,” said the veteran coach. “But guys like Alex McIntyre, Kyle Clancy and Blake Croft were solid. There were some unexpected points in there.”

The above-mentioned are all sophomores.

Clancy finished third in the high jump at 6-04, went 22-01.5 in the long jump (good for fourth) and his 15.78 came home 13th, just missing a trip to next weekend’s Masters in the 110-meter hurdles (the top 12 advance).

Croft’s 800 time of 1:55.17 took fourth in an 800-meter race that saw Davis distance specialist Paul Mohr take second in 1:54.70. Croft’s speedy leg — in teaming with Ben Salcedo, Maito Okamoto and McIntyre — in the 4×400 helped the Blue Devils finish second in that event (3:22.81) behind Sheldon (3:20.75).

But one of the evening’s most compelling efforts was turned in by McIntyre.

Qualifying for the 100-meter dash, McIntyre’s 11.07 on Wednesday put him solidly the finals. But a false start disqualified the sprinter as the gun was raised Friday.

Elliott said it would be hard to expect an athlete that young to keep his head in the rest of the night (the 100 was one of the earlier events) …

“But he stayed composed and ran a great 200 and had a great effort in our 4x4s,” said the former UC Davis sprinter. “It was really cool to see.”

McIntyre’s fourth place 22.51 in that 200-meter outing added much-needed points and when the meet’s final event rolled around, his leg helped the Davis relay squad advance to the Masters — certainly one of the favorite teams vying for a place in the subsequent state meet.

Elliott said he loved senior Mohr’s effort in the 800 — “He fought like crazy” — and expects a handful of his charges to step up in Masters competition.

As 12 athletes or relay teams advance from each of Friday’s events, the Devils will have some options at the next meet.

In addition to the four 4×400 flashes, Clancy and Mohr, DHS will send Jack Scranton, Jasper Laca, Brian Song, Spencer LaHaye, Victor Choi, Kunwoo Hong and Nick Denton on to the Masters.

Scranton, who qualified on his 4:24.05 sixth-place run in the 1,600, later made it in the 800 as well, thanks to a 2:11.60 (eighth).

Laca and Song rolled seven and 11s in their two distance outings. Laca’s 4:24.73 (1,600) and 9:38.28 in the 3,200 each captured seventh. Song finished 11th in each — going 4:25.97 in the 1,600 and a 9:40.67 doing the trick in the 3,200.

LaHaye’s 13-07 pole vault was good for 10th and veteran Denton earned himself a Golden Ticket with his shot put toss of 51-04 (good for eighth).

On Wednesday, Hong’s 42-10 was 10th in the triple jump while Choi was right behind in 12th (42-01.75), allowing both to advance.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” Elliott said. “We had a chance.”

Notes: After the Masters, in which the top competitors from every division of the Sac-Joaquin Section come together, the CIF state meet will be conducted May 31 and June 2 at Buchanan High in Clovis.

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8047.