July 2, 2009

sports

Yellow Springs Youth Baseball

By Timothy Sherwood

Reds top the Minors

The Reds won all three games in last week’s Minor League play to pull into a tie for the lead with the Indians. The Reds notched their first win against the Pirates, 15–4, on Monday, June 22. Amanda Perkins, Travis Scarfpin, Cameron Haught and Mason Lindsey all scored a pair of runs, while Dylan Rainey, Colton Hicks, James Fulton, Ethan Perkins, Christian Elam, Sawyer HaleWolf and Jakob Woodburn all added one run each. The Pirates struggled at the plate, finally getting on the board in the third inning with runs from Kenny McKinley and Marya Weigand, who also scored again in the fifth, along with Lucas Hudson-Groves.

The Reds then went on to a 6–4 win over the Indians on Wednesday, June 24. The Reds scored early in the first, when Fulton doubled, scoring both Rainey and HaleWolf. The Indians came on to score a pair of runs in the first when Tony Marinelli smashed a home run with Romohr on base. Both teams held each other scoreless in the second. HaleWolf and Colton Hicks singled in the third, and both scored when Fulton tripled. He was then sent across the plate when Amanda Perkins hit her second consecutive RBI single. The Indians tried to rally in the fourth when Romohr and Fisher Lewis crossed the plate, but the Reds defense stiffened, and the team held on for the win.

The Reds took their second game from the Pirates on Saturday, June 27, by a score of 15–9. The Reds’ Jack Runyon led all scorers with three runs, while Rainey, Scarfpin, Hicks and Ethan Perkins all scored twice. Meanwhile, the Pirates’ hitting returned, with Caden Johnson scoring a pair of runs, while Weigand, Nate Gillman-Baggett, Jason Lansing, Jesse Linkhart, Gracie Price, Kenny McKinley and Aiden Cooney all scored one run each.

Saturday’s other game was a forfeit by the Dragons against the Indians. Both the Reds and Indians finished the week with records of 5–1, followed by the Pirates at 2–4 and the Dragons at 0–6

No games are scheduled for Saturday, July 4; however, games are normally played Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. at Gaunt Park. See the league Web site for more at www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb.

Twins undefeated after 4 weeks

The Twins continued to dominate the Major League by extending their record to a perfect 7–0 in the fourth week of play. The Twins opened the week by topping the Cardinals 12–2 on Wednesday, June 24. Kaner Butler, Eric Reimers, Carter Collins and Tom Amrhein all scored a pair of runs, including Amrhein’s first home run and three RBIs and Jared Scarfpin’s home run. The strong Twins pitching from Scarfpin, Reigelsperger, Truss and Liam Weigand continued to frustrate opponents with a total of 10 strikeouts. That helped keep the Cardinals scoreless in three of four innings, the exception being the second when Theron Orme and William Evans both crossed the plate off singles from Evan Pace and Cameron Croft.

The Cardinals went in for another exciting game against the Royals on Saturday, June 27, which the Royals won 22–16. The Cardinal bats were busy, with Liam Weigand and Fielding Lewis each scoring three runs. Then, down 15–8 at the start of the fourth, the Cardinals managed to tie the game after scoring seven runs, including a three-run homer by Ethan DeWine. Ben Croft and Evan Pace each scored twice. Meanwhile, the Royals’ Adam Greene led all scorers, crossing the plate four times and knocking in five runs, four of which came on a grand-slam home run in the first. Ahmad Wagner, Adrianne Beer and Devon Perry all scored three runs each, with Nathan Miller, Jake Savage, Aaron Sherwood and Nathan Hardman all scoring a pair and Gage Miller scoring once. The win advanced the Royals record to 4–3.

The week’s final game saw the Twins again dominate the Cardinals, 24–6. Scarfpin led the way with four runs and six RBIs, followed by Reigelsperger’s four runs. Truss knocked in two runs and scored three times, as did Kaner Butler, while Carter Collins scored twice. The Cardinals’ first run came when Ben Croft singled and sent brother Ben across the plate. The Cardinals had a five-run third inning, but the Twins pitching shut them down and sent their record to 0–8.

No Major League games are scheduled for Saturday, July 4; however, games are normally played Saturday and Sunday evenings at 5 p.m. and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. at Gaunt Park. The Twins will host the Cardinals on Monday, July 6, followed by the Twins and Royals on Tuesday, July 7. See the league Web site www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb for more details.

A lucky night at t-ball

By Jimmy Chesire

Evan Galarza started it. We’re doing our exercises. We’ve just sat down in the right-field grass.

“Put the bottoms of your feet together,” I say and do it myself. It’s a stretching exercise. “Now, see if you can touch your nose to your toes. Your nose to your toes.”

Nathan Schindler, 6, does it. Shaylee Smith, 6, does it. Her friend Sidney Smith, 6, does it. Sierra Smith, 7, does it. And so does Natalie Galarza, 6.

“Good work, Natalie,” I say. “Good work, Nathan. Good work, Shaylee. Excellent, Sidney. Nice going, Sierra.”

And then Evan, his blonde hair cropped short, his azure blue eyes glistening like Katherine Hepburn’s in The Philadelphia Story, places a small (about the size of my thumbnail) green and whitish-pink wildflower in the palm of my hand.

“It’s clover,” Kathleen Galarza tells me later.

The gesture is intimate. I see the wildflower first, then the small blonde fingers pinching it, and feel the boy’s physical presence — he’s three, he’s on his knees, he’s behind me and leaning into me. He’s no bigger than one of those heavy, old-fashioned, beach-ball-sized leather medicine balls that boxers have thrown at them, into their stomachs, when they’re training for a fight.

“Oh, how sweet,” I say, looking at the flower in my hand. “Thank you.” And then Antonio Chaiten, 4, places a clover blossom in my hand. “Thank you,” I say, and then Henry Smith-Heston, 4, gives me one, and then Wyatt Layne, 4, gives me one, and Haley Partee, 5, and Simon Green-Thompson, 3-and-a-half, and Aidan Schindler, 4, all give me blossoms — and suddenly there are a dozen or more children converging on me as I sit in the grass, the bottoms of my feet together. Thirteen, 14 kids, they’re on their knees, they’re standing, they’re closing in, they’re looming over me, each child giddy with the joy of it, each with a clover blossom in his or her hand.

Thank goodness I am also surrounded by loving parents, because this giddy, joyful lovefest of children offering me clover blossoms quickly escalates into children plopping handfuls of grass into my hand, on my back, on my head — and those loving observant parents hear my pleas for mercy and call the horde of children off. Whew.

On the way back into the diamond after our exercises I tell Kathleen Galarza, Evan’s mom, how sweet her son was being, how loving it was, how loving he was.

“He’s like that,” she says nodding her head. “He just seems to know.”

“Know what?”

“Who needs a little tenderness, a little nurturing.”

Who? Me? Well, I guess so, seeing as how I was recovering still from a green light laser surgery but 10 days earlier, an outpatient procedure that forced me to miss the previous week’s Friday night t-ball program.

Back on the diamond, I cover third base. Matt Minde is at home plate helping kids bat. He’s 6-year-old Joseph’s dad — Joseph who had a four leaf clover for me last week, wishing me a speedy recovery; who also brought his mandolin and played a wonderful lick (which Chris Murphy, who coordinates t-ball with me, liked a lot — he plays one himself and performs with the Sinclair Community College Blue Grass Band).

Mike Duncan, who along with Jason Newsome led things last week in my absence, was the on-deck circle coach helping kids warm up and take a few practice swings. Mike’s athletically talented and movie-star beautiful daughter Riley, 7, was his helper — we see this a lot: as kids grow into their middle childhood years (6–10 years old), they become magnanimous and giving in a remarkable way and delight in helping others. It’s an awesome and inspiring thing to witness and experience.

Jason Clark, whose son, 3-year-old Brady, is a fairly serious ball player — the handsome boy intent, focused, fleet of foot — is our bench coach, making sure each child gets a turn to bat. Jason also gets each child’s name, passing it on to Mike in the on-deck circle, who in turn passes it on to Matt at home plate, so we’re all calling Callie Hester by name, calling Naveah Smith by name, calling Quinn Elfrink by name.

Melissa “Wonder Woman” Hester (she showed up one Friday night last summer in an authentic Wonder Woman outfit: was quite stunning, too), she’s throwing out balls along with Teri Elfrink. We learned many seasons ago that the children adore the baseball, are dying to get their hands on one, and often have their hearts broken if they don’t. Before we learned this, in our early years, we let all the children race and scramble after the single, solitary ball the batter had just hit off the T. It was fascinating and frequently hilarious to watch, this mob of marauding children flocking after that one ball, but it often ended in an emotional debacle; when the dust cleared, there’d be a child or two weeping because they had come up empty-handed. So now we have parent volunteers (and often older children volunteers like McKenna Banaszak, 8, as well) throwing out another half dozen balls every time a kid hits the ball, ensuring every child gets his or her hands on one of those most glorious of objects, the American baseball.

And that’s our Perry League, Yellow Springs t-ball program for girls and boys 2–9 years of age. We welcome all our community’s children regardless of race, color or creed. Your child can begin at any time (it’s free) and there’s no requirement to play every week. We’ll be out there at Gaunt Park for six more Friday nights, including this Friday night, July 3, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. It’s a wonderful, loving, frolicking time for most of us, kids, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, and those loving folks who just come out to watch — like my neighbor Sidney Welton, who donated a pair of authentic, child-sized, wooden Louisville Sluggers. So why don’t you come on out? We’d love to have you.

Volleyball to start

The seventh and eighth-grade Yellow Springs girls volleyball teams will begin July practice sessions every day of the week of July 6–10, and Monday through Wednesday the week of July 13–15. Practices run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and take place at the Yellow Springs High School/McKinney School gym. Athletes are asked to wear light weight clothing and knee pads. Regular practices for the fall season for these teams will begin Aug. 10. For more information, call Coach Parker at 767-1975.

Boys soccer notes

Boys fall soccer meeting Friday night
The annual players’ and parents’ preseason meeting for the Yellow Springs High School boys soccer team will be held Friday, July 3, at the high school at 7 p.m. Any student-athlete interested in playing for the YSHS boys soccer team this fall should attend this meeting with his parents. Also, each student-athlete should indicate his intention to play this fall by sending an e-mail to Head Coach Jim Hardman at james.hardman@sinclair.edu.

Super Scrimmage practice planned
Next week, Monday through Friday, the Yellow Springs High School boys soccer team will practice on the YSHS practice field behind the high school, from 7 until 8:30 p.m., in preparation for the Greeneview Super Scrimmage, Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12. All YSHS student-athletes who are interested in playing boys soccer this fall should attend the practice sessions. Players should wear shin guards and cleats, and bring a ball and drinking water.

For additional information on boys soccer, call coach Jim Hardman, 767-2200.

Summer open gym for girls basketball players

The McKinney Middle School and Yellow Springs High School girls basketball program is offering open gym sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 4 to 6 p.m. The sessions began Tuesday, June 23, and are open to any middle and high school girls interested in playing basketball. Players or parents with questions can contact Coach Duncan Thomas at 937-580-0152.