June 22, 2006

sports

Bulldogs baseball update

By Karen Wintrow

The Bulldogs traveling baseball season started on a rough note Monday, June 5, with a 13–0 loss to the Huber Heights Warriors. With several new faces and a wet spring limiting practices, the team hadn’t quite come together. To add to that, three of our first four games were rainouts.

Things began to look up on Monday, June 12, when we played the Drennen Dragons at Kettering Field in Dayton. A fine complete game pitching performance by Jarrett Moon kept the Bulldogs in the lead the entire game. Shaky pitching by the Dragons and strong offense from Jamie Kitzmiller, Ben Clonch and Jeremy Paul gave the Bulldogs a 9–7 win.

Tuesday found the team at home against Pinewood. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead, scoring 5 in the first two innings on a double and single from Conor Stratton, two singles from Jamie Kitzmiller and singles from Chris Johnson and Brandon Semler. A great starting pitching performance from Lucas Donnell kept Pinewood scoreless until the sixth inning when a tired Donnell was replaced by Tarren Finch, pitching for the first time ever. After a few walks and shaky defense, the Bulldogs were able to finish the game with a nail-biting 5–4 victory. Alexis Onfroy-Curley helped with three incredible catches in center field.

The third game in a row on Wednesday at Bethel gave several new pitchers an opportunity, including Finch as starter and Asa Casenhiser and Onfroy-Curley in relief, all of whom performed well. Bethel was in a similar situation with pitching, so this became a long game, with many walks and fielding errors and an extraordinary final score of 18–15, giving the Bulldogs their third win in a row.

After a few days’ rest, the Bulldogs came back ready to play Pinewood again on a steaming hot field in Belmont on Saturday afternoon. Jarrett Moon got his second complete game win and the Bulldog bats were out in force. Chris Johnson was responsible for 4 RBI’s and made five excellent plays at short stop. Matt Rowe-Jones had two singles on the day and Stratton, Kitzmiller, Finch, and Donnell each had one. Moon helped his own cause with two doubles giving the Bulldogs an 11–2 win.

The Bulldogs spent Fathers’ Day at the Oakwood High School field fighting off the Patterson Park Wildcats. Base running errors and good pitching from Patterson Park kept the ’Dogs to only 2 runs scored by Onfroy-Curley and Kitzmiller. Starting pitcher Donnell took the loss with a final score of 8–2.

Major League season begins

By Bob Morrison

The first weekend of Major League youth baseball was a washout — all four games were cancelled due to rain. The season, then, began inauspiciously on Wednesday evening, June 14, under clear skies with the Red Sox beating the Athletics 10 to 6.

Sam Morrison started and pitched five strong innings for the win; Kyle Click got the save with one shutout inning. Standouts for the Red Sox were Cody Caupp, Nick Sontag, and Michael Keller. Bryon Smith made a very nice catch in the outfield saving two runs and Robbie Marion made his debut as starting catcher.

The two Austins, Bailey and Pence, were the battery for the A’s. Jeremiah Stubblefield hit a mammoth shot to right-center field for a home run. Katie Triplett, Dan Danis and Audrey Fletcher made their major league debuts. John-Michael Malone and Aaron Fletcher both doubled in the losing effort.

On Saturday, June 17, the Athletics beat the Yankees 19 to 8. Austin Bailey showed his 2005 Rookie of the Year honor was no fluke by hitting his first home run of the year — a solo job. He also excelled behind the plate, as usual. Rookie Dan Danis had a 2 RBI triple; Andrew Sherwood, Katie Nickels, and Alex Nickels all had base hits in the team effort.

Katie Triplett and Audrey Fletcher contributed defense and each scored a run. The Yankees have some promising young talent that will no doubt be in most every game this season. Sam Vanarsdall gave the team some quality innings on the mound and hit the ball with authority. Austin Cole, Zyrian Arnett, and Alex Beer had outstanding games for the Yanks.

The roster-depleted Reds forfeited two games this weekend but the ones that showed up came to play. Marty Scherr was at times brilliant on the mound; Rookies Cal Skwirsky and Zac Kimmet proved to be a formidable battery. Skwirsky gave the Redlegs two solid innings as pitcher and seems to be able to play any position with alacrity. Mario Cosey had his usual very solid game.

The A’s and the Indians wrapped up the week for the majors with a definitive win by the Indians, 15 to 3. The A’s got into trouble early, allowing 15 passed balls during the game, negating a superb pitching performance by Austin Bailey. Too many dropped third strikes caused Bailey to reach his pitch count early and gave the Tribe an easy victory. Jacob Kintner doubled and singled for the A’s; Austin Pence pitched very well in relief, striking out three; Jesse Jewell made his debut for the A’s; Patrick Adams played excellent defense in left field.

Jake Trumble was the star of the game for the Indians, with two hits, a bunt single with an RBI on a double-steal, and a SportCenter highlight 5–3 putout on a blistering shot to the hole at shortstop. Tony Parker pitched the complete-game victory; -Addison Winslow and Ahmad Wagner played outstanding baseball.

There are two double-headers every weekend beginning Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. and a Wednesday night game at 6 through July 19. Come on out to the ballpark and have some fun watching these youngsters play. See you there.

Soccer, coaches clinics offered

Yellow Springs Soccer, Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes the enhancement of soccer in the Yellow Springs community, will host two Challenger Sports British Soccer Camps for kids ages 9–14, beginning Monday, June 26, through Friday, June 30.

The first session is 9 a.m.–noon, and the second is 5:30–8:30 p.m. Preregistration is required and only a few spots are open. The cost is $100 for each week-long session which will be at the boys soccer practice field located behind Yellow Springs High School.

YSSI will also host a free coaches’ clinic, July 1, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the same location. For registration info for the camps and coaches’ clinic call the coordinators, Lauren Miller and Hans Jacobson at 767-2072.