Bulldog Scoreboard

SPORTS

YSHS boys win Bulldog Invitational
The YSHS boys track team topped nine other teams to win the Bulldog Invitational last Friday.
After finishing in second place during the last two years, the boys relished their win, scoring 124 points, 25 points ahead of runner-up Troy Christian and third-place Jefferson, which had 78.
The YSHS girls team finished in sixth place, netting 41 points, behind Xenia’s 89 and Troy Christian’s 86.
Track coach John Gudgel said that while he was surprised by the boys team’s margin of victory, he attributed the win to more team members realizing their potential to perform at a high level.
“It served as an indicator of the potential they have at the league and district meets,” he said. “We’re capable of finishing in the top two at the league meet and the top three in the district meet with several kids moving on to further competition.”
The 1600-meter relay team of Brent Robinson, Dylan Borchers, Andrew Richlen and Anthony Brandon set a meet record, 3:33.9. The previous record was set two years ago by Xenia, which ran a 3:36.1.
Two other distance runners finished in first, David Warren in 4:45.9 in the 1600 and Rory Hotaling in 10:22 in the 3200. In the 400 meter dash Travis Dean hit the tape in 53.3 seconds, securing the boys’ fourth first-place finish.
Borchers finished in second in the 1600 meter run in 4:47.6 and in the 800 at 2:01.3. The middle- and long-distance relay teams finished in second place: Robinson, Richlen, Bradley Benning-Clark and Brandon Frye in the 800 and Borchers, Brandon, Warren and Dean in the 3200. Clayton Wolfe placed second in the discus.
Richlen finished third in the long jump, Robinson garnered third in the 200 meter dash and Benning-Clark won third in the 300 hurdles.
In the girls’ competition, Evin Wimberly took first in the long jump just a hair ahead of a Miami Valley jumper who reached the same distance of 15' 11/2". Wimberly finished first by having a better second jump. Tina Peters finished first in the 3200 with a time of 13:04.1.
Third place finishers were Peters again in the 1600 meters and Sarah Finn in the high jump. Other scoring performances and strong efforts were earned by Amanda Bush, Markii Freeman, Anna Kyaio, Tricia McLinden and Becky Pasch.
The Bulldogs will compete in the Metro Buckeye Conference League meet at the high school on Saturday at 9 a.m. The district meet will be held at Welcome Stadium on the University of Dayton campus next Tuesday, May 20, and Saturday, May 24.

High school baseball—
Wild week for Bullogs
The extreme highs and lows experienced by the YSHS baseball team last week reflected the team’s erratic performance all season.
The Bulldogs started the week with a strong 17–9 win against Jefferson last Tuesday. The team then played one of its worst games of the year on Wednesday, losing on the road, 16–6, to Springfield Catholic. But the Bulldogs turned things around the following day, playing their best game of the season against Xenia Christian, winning 10–0 at home.
The Bulldogs’ record at the end of the week was 6–6 in the Metro Buckeye Conference, and 8–9 overall.
Walt Beer’s strong pitching performance on Tuesday started the week off well. Beer struck out 17 Jefferson batters in six innings and allowed only four hits.
Sam Jacobs had four hits, including two doubles. Kyle Truitt had three hits, one of which was a triple, and Dustin Rudegeair had 2 RBI.
The next day the Bulldogs traveled to Springfield Catholic and played their ugliest game of the season. The ’Dogs committed seven errors, allowing Jefferson to score 14 unearned runs.
Rudegeair had a single and a double.
It was good to be back home the following day. Rudegeair silenced Xenia Christian’s bats, pitching a one-hit shutout, and the defense sparkled with no errors for the first time this season. Noah Woodburn had two hits to pace the offense.
The Bulldogs played their last game of the regular season home games Tuesday, May 13, against Miami Valley, and will play their last game of the year tonight (Thursday) at Cincinnati Christian.
The team started the season with 25 players, including 13 to 15 rookies, coach Chris Rainey said. With the season coming to a close, the team has 19 players.
“We’ve been erratic. We have wonderful days, and we have atrocious days,” Rainey said. “There’s a lot of guys who would want our record.”
The Bulldogs played the winner of the Bethel/Franklin Monroe game yesterday (Wednesday), in the Division IV Dayton sectionals. “If we play to our potential we can compete with both of those teams,” Rainey said.
If the Bulldogs won (not know at press time), they play in the sectional finals tomorrow (Friday), at 5 p.m.

Netters split 2
The YSHS tennis team fell 4–1 to Springfield Catholic on Wednesday, May 7, and knocked off Xenia Christian 3–2 on Monday, May 12, to improve to 9–6 this year.
The second doubles team of Mike Gordon and Lucas Chard earned the team’s only win against Springfield Catholic, winning 6–3, 6–3.
The four other matches ended in straight set losses. Emma Robinow went down 6–0, 6–1, at first singles, Duncan Silvert-Noftle lost 6–1, 6–4, in second, and Scott Keyes took a 6–3, 6–1 loss in third. Wes Richeson and Matt Carr lost the first doubles match 6–3, 6–2.
The team fared better five days later against Xenia Christian.
Richeson took second singles 6–3, 6–2. After losing the first set 3–6, Carr came back to win 6–1, 6–3. The team of Carey Dixon and Chard had an easy second doubles win, 6–0, 6–1.
Amy Price lost at first singles and Scott Keyes and Gordon drew their first doubles match out three sets before folding under a third-set tie break.

Softball team still learning
Despite the YSHS softball team’s lack of history and experience, the Lady Bulldogs play with fire.
From her shortstop position, Alix North calls, “one out, play’s on first,” while Emma Robinow leans on her knees near first base. Nikki Daegele stares out behind dark sunglasses at third base, and Rose Blakelock guards the plate like it’s hers, daring anyone to try and pass over it. The outfielders’ gloves are ready to catch fly balls, and all eyes are on pitcher Janell Martin.
Even if the umpire doesn’t show a few times, even if the boys team doesn’t watch when their own game finishes early, and even if the softball players are still learning the game, the team has a firm grip on improving by going out and keeping their eyes on the ball.
Over the last few weeks the team has gone 1–3, losing two games by a run. The team lost soundly, 16–2, to Ridgeville Christian on Thursday, May 1. The next day they were edged by Troy Christian, 7–6, and then again by Jefferson, 10–9, in similar fashion on May 6. The Lady Bulldogs came back to defeat Emmanuel Christian, 3–1, Monday, May 12.
The Lady Bulldogs’ game against Troy Christian was evenly matched, featuring a back-and-forth battle in the bitter cold. The game was tied in the bottom of the seventh when Troy scored the winning run.
Jennifer Starbuck hit two singles and a double for YSHS, Heather Wagers had two singles, and Blakelock and Katie Lovering each had a single.
The following week Wagers pitched a strong game against Jefferson. Lilith Claire led the Lady Bulldogs with a single and a double. Starbuck and Blakelock each singled.
Martin struck out six batters in the showdown against Emmanuel Christian. Starbuck continued to hit, collecting a single and a double, while Robinow had a single.