May 10, 2007

sports

Bulldog sports roundup

Tennis wins 3, loses 1
On Tuesday, May 1, the Bulldog tennis team beat Xenia Christian 4–1 for the second time this season, then took Stivers 5–0 on Wednesday, May 2. The team took a 3–2 loss to Waynesville on Thursday, May 3, but beat Fairborn even worse on Monday, May 7, to close its regular season 11–3.

Against Xenia, Olivia Chen took the first court in straight sets, as did third singles player Eduardo Gallifa. At second singles, Alex Turner lost 6–4, 6–2. The first doubles team of Erin Silvert-Noftle and Kyle Buchwalder won 6–2, 7–6, while Zeke Hardman and Emile Fleming gave up only three games on the second doubles court. Zac Katz-Stein won a reserve pro set match 8–0, and Aiysha Walker and Max Fleishman teamed up for reserve doubles.

The first singles player at Stivers put up a fight, but Chen cleaned up in three sets, while Turner and Gallifa took charge for two clean, commanding straight set wins at second and third. Hardman and Silvert-Noftle put together good team work for a 6–2, 6–2 sweep, and Raphael Allen and Katz-Stein came back from 0–3 in the first set to win 6–3, 6–2.

Waynesville fielded a strong squad to give Yellow Springs its third loss this season. Turner and Gallifa again pulled out straight set wins, the day’s only Bulldog victories.

Against Fairborn, Chen had a clean sweep, while Gallifa toughed out a three set victory 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 at second singles. Katz-Stein also fought a long hard battle on court three to win 6–2, 5–7, 6–4. Doubles teams of Turner/Silvert-Noftle and Allen/Hardman won easily.

Tough week for softball team
The YSHS softball team took three hard-fought losses to Troy Christian, Greenon and Springfield Catholic last week.

The girls lost 16–3 against Troy Christian on Monday, April 30. The Yellow Springs defense struggled the first three innings, allowing Troy to score 6 runs on two hits. Pitcher Lauren Miles struck out three Lady Eagles. YSHS’s Ashanta Robinson caught Troy’s defense by surprise by managing to score the first of her two runs on a steal of home. Kristen Foster reached base twice on two base hits, and Jessica Kellar scored on two wild pitches.

Against Greenon on Wednesday, May 2, the game got out of hand quickly for Yellow Springs, though the Lady ’Dogs never gave up. Greenon scored 12 runs in the first inning and ended the game ahead 24–5 after just over four innings. Kristen Foster had two hits and a walk, scoring once, while Allie Moran had a hit and a walk scoring on a base hit by Bailey Linse, who had 2 RBIs by driving in both Foster and Moran. Bailey also had a double in the fifth inning and scored on a single by Alisha Walker, proving that the Bulldogs might have lost the game, but they weren’t beaten.

At the final game of the week against the very strong-hitting Catholic Central on Thursday, May 3, Danielle Fulton got one hit, and Kellar scored the only run on a walk, a steal of second and third, and finally crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Miles struck out three in the losing cause.

Baseball sputters to an end
The Bulldogs’ baseball bats slumbered this week, and the locals squandered good pitching and good fielding to drop three well-played games against Dayton Christian and Middletown Christian on the season schedule and against Cedarville in the first round of the Division IV tournament. The JV game with Troy Christian was cancelled.

Against Dayton on Tuesday, May 1, the ’Dogs scored first on an error, a walk and Jamie Kitzmiller’s hit. The Warriors tied it as the ’Dogs came back to score again on a walk, and two hits, with Andrew Ferguson getting the RBI. Meanwhile Ben Armstrong made some spectacular plays in centerfield, but by the fourth the Warriors had solved Ferguson’s pitching style and piled up 13 hits enroute to a 12–3 victory.

Against Middletown on Thursday, May 3, Yellow Springs fell behind early and trailed 4–1 going into the seventh inning. A late rally with hits by Kitzmiller and Ethan Brown gave the team life, but the bats fizzled in the clutch.

At tournament against Cedarville, the Dogs jumped to a 1–0 lead before Kilan Brown singled to send in a second run. In the third, four walks plated another run for the Bulldogs, who held a 3–2 lead into the fifth when Cedarville battled back for the win.

Major League Youth Baseball sign up at Gaunt

All interested girls and boys ages 11–14 may sign up for major league recreation baseball on Saturday, May 12, 3–6 p.m., at the Gaunt Park baseball field. The fee will be $30 this year, which will include a cap, shirt, and pants as well as bats, balls and catcher’s gear. The games are Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in the late afternoon/evening. All the games are umpired and are player-pitch. Official baseball rules apply. Players should bring their glove to the sign-ups. Call Bob Morrison with any questions at 903-0696.

Signup for minor league baseball

The final signup session for the 2007 Yellow Springs Minor League Youth Baseball Program will be this Saturday, May 12, 1–3 p.m., at Gaunt Park. Boys and girls ages 7–11 are eligible to participate. This is a coach-pitch league and no experience is necessary.

A free skills clinic for all first year players will be held at 3 p.m. following the signup session. New players who were not on a team last year are encouraged to attend, should bring a glove, and will be assigned to a team following the clinic.

Fees are $20 per child, and $10 for each additional player for those families with more than one player. The season will begin June 9 and run through late July.

Anyone with questions or an interest in volunteering can contact Tim or Jennifer Sherwood at 767-8702 or sherwt@woh.rr.com.

Baseball alumni game

The Yellow Springs High School varsity baseball team challenges all YSHS baseball alumni to an alumni game on Thursday, May 10, at 5:30 p.m. at Gaunt Park.