July 24, 2008

sports

Meet our promising future at t-ball

By Jimmy Chesire

A couple of years back, Steffi Cooper, 8, was distressed about our races to the outfield and back at the beginning and ending of the evening. “Someone always loses,” she said. And so, always looking for ways to be more child-friendly, ways to be more welcoming, more inclusive, ways to be more loving, we stopped calling them races — I call them “runs” now — and we added a twist, a new Perry League rule: the one who comes in last, wins.

Two weeks ago, Anneliese Fisher, 7, reminded me of this rule, her eyes shining rapturously.

“I’m going to win,” she announced, as proud as a tiger-lily. When I — “Ready, set, Go!” — blew my whistle, she and her radiant, laughing friend Cierra Richeson, 6, barely moved a millimeter.

“We’re going to be last,” Cierra said as the two of them began inching their way across that great expanse of green known as right field, one meager toe length at a time.

The sun had set, the cattle were in the barn, and the hens were in the hen house long before these two dear darlings even made it to the infield.
Then last Friday, there is a gang of them determined to be last, determined to win. It’s Anneliese again, only this time she’s with the beguiling and marvelous Emma Romohr, she’s 10 now and nearly as tall as her mother Elizabeth (who wouldn’t give her age). These two beauties were accompanied by Emma’s little sister, Krista, 6, Amani Wegner, 8, and Mahlia Baggett. They began their trek shuffling slowly, lugubriously, barely a half an inch forward at a time. You take 10 steps and you’ve left them in the dust.

Four hours later, the sun’s coming up, and here they come, the whole gang of them, only now they’re carrying Krista. There’s a kid gripping, hanging onto each arm and each leg. Krista is stretched like a piece of taffy, face down, her belly almost dragging on the ground. It looks like they’re carrying a hammock full of sand, and Krista, of course, is that hammock.

“That ought to get us in the paper,” Emma, the apparent ringleader, says. Gary, her dad, was within earshot: “Working every angle,” he says with a shake of his head and a grin on his face.

In other late breaking news, William Grey, 7, 6-year-old Peyton’s big brother, bangs into Jayden Shular, who has been 8 since the 15th of June, as they chase a ball shooting through shortstop. They collide and William drops to the rock-hard turf like a bag of cement tossed off a truck. Tears flow. The boy’s sprawled face and belly down in the dust. Jonathan Richeson, the very cool hip hop dad of that “the-girl’s-always-in-motion” Cierra Richeson, comes quickly to William’s rescue, squatting, then kneeling next the boy, patiently comforting him. Jonathan encourages William to get to his feet, telling him two or three times, “You’ll feel better then.” William finally stands up and almost immediately feels better. Jayden cracks a joke, makes him laugh, and we’re back to business as usual.

And there’s the apparent prodigy, Nina Lawrence (who I think is 6). She’s distinctive, looking right at you, her intelligent eyes watching your every move. She’s small, compact, not obviously athletic, but when she hoists her bat I know. She holds it in a way that made it clear she was feeling every muscle in her hands, arms, and shoulders, and that it was a happy, strong feeling. Then she’d swing, her eyes always on the ball, and connects, usually on that first swing, and in a very solid way, sending that ball zooming right through the legs of the children close to and around the pitcher’s mound. But what was truly amazing was when she came to bat late in the evening. Our on-deck coach had left to watch his other child play on the little league diamond about 200 yards south of us.

“You’re up,” I say, but she shakes her head, No.

“I haven’t had any of my warm up swings yet,” she says.

She was dead serious. She could not, would not, come to bat until she’d had her warm up swings.

She stood back, away from the plate, got into a near perfect batting stance, looking like Barry Bonds. She took a couple of swings. Strong, complete, full bodied swings. I felt my own muscles ripple just watching her.

And then she did it again, the next time she came up, again refusing to come to the plate until she’d had her warm up swings. Whack. Whack. Whack.

You see this sort of clarity of purpose, this sort of dedication to one’s work, this sort of self-possession, and you marvel. This is the kind of kid who could grow to — you name it: to invent a new generation of computers that make it possible for us to control all the electricity in the house with a blink of our eyes. To write a book, a novel, a history, a scientific treatise, that changes the world. Amazing. Simply amazing.

And that’s our Perry League. Yellow Springs’s t-ball program for all our community’s children ages 2–9 regardless of race, color or creed. We’ll be out at Gaunt Park for the next three Friday nights — July 25, Aug. 1, and our final, wiener roast, potluck trophy night, Aug. 8 — from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Children can begin to play at any time and there is no requirement to play every week. So why don’t you come on out, have a vision of your own. Or meet the next Elie Wiesel, or the next A-Rod, our future. You won’t regret it, I promise.

Indians follow Pirate lead in minors

While the Pirates still dominate league standings, the Indians have reclaimed second place by overtaking the Yankees to start the final week of the season. Early last week the Indians took a pair of games from the Yankees, beginning with a 14–10 win on Monday, July 14. Fisher Lewis and Liam Creighton both went three for three and scored three runs each, while Nathan Hardman and Theron Orme each scored twice. Despite their loss, Yankee Joe Thorp also went three for three and scored three runs, including a home run, with Ian Chick and Chandler Holmes each scoring twice.

On Monday the Indians won again, 7–6. The Indians took an early lead on runs from Hardman, Liam Creighton and Fielding Lewis, all of whom scored again in the third, along with Grant Reigelsperger. The Yankees pulled within two by adding three runs by Ben Croft, Ian Chick and Joe Thorp. After holding the Indians scoreless in the fourth, the Yankees narrowed the lead to only one in the final inning with a run from Kenny McKinley, but the Indians’ infield defense was too strong.

The Cubs defeated the Reds 9–6 on Tuesday, July 15. The Reds led 3–1 in the first after runs from J.T. Clark, April Riddell and Christian Werner, while the Cubs scored off doubles by Evan Pace and Kaner Butler. The Cubs were held scoreless in the third, but then exploded with four runs in the last two innings. Sage HaleWolfe, Kennedy Harshaw, Cameron Haught, and Sulayman Chappelle all crossed the plate in the fourth, while Harshaw, Haught, Sawyer HaleWolfe and Ethan Perkins all scored in the fifth.

Other games last week saw the league-leading Pirates take the first of two games from the Reds, one on Wednesday, July 16, by an 11–1 margin. Nathan Miller, Jared Scarfpin, Isaiah Taylor, Jacob Whetsel and Joey Plumer all scored twice for the Pirates, with Augie Knemeyer and Aaron Sherwood each adding a run. The Pirate defense started with Scarfpin’s first inning fly ball catch and then his throwing out a runner at first. The Reds’ J.T. Clark hit a triple and then scored the team’s only run when he was knocked in by Tom Amrhein’s single.

Wednesday’s other game saw the Yankees defeat the Cubs 8–3. Ben Croft, Ian Chick, Joe Thorp, Liam Weigand and Evelyn Greene all scored early and often. The Cubs rallied in the fourth when Kennedy Harshaw knocked in brother Kaner Butler, then scored on Evan Pace’s double. Defensively, Sulayman Chappelle stole the show by catching a pair of foul tips.

It was a different story on Thursday when the Pirates overpowered the Yankees 17–5 in a make-up game. The Pirates’ offense dominated with six runs in the first, including a hard-hit line drive down the third base line for a three-run home run by Nate Gillman-Baggett. The Yankees, short several key players, had runs by Chandler Holmes, Tyler Restau and Joe Thorp.

A last inning rally by the Reds fell just short, and the Indians escaped with a 9–7 victory under the lights on Friday, July 18. The Reds’ J.T. Clark smacked a first-inning triple that scored Christian Werner, April Riddell and Ethan DeWine, with Clark then scoring off Keanan Onfroy-Curley’s sacrifice. Fisher Lewis led off the Indians half of the inning with a home run that was followed by runs from Nathan Hardman, Liam Creighton and Fielding Lewis. The Indians jumped out front to stay in the fourth, but Jakob Woodburn began a last inning Reds rally that sealed the win.

The full slate of games on Saturday, July 19, began with the Dragons pulling it all together to defeat the Yankees 7–2. The Yankees sent the first three Dragon batters back to the dugout, followed by Ian Chick’s early home run. But the Dragons roared back in the second inning when Jake Savage and Tony Marinelli scored on a triple by Olivia Greco, who then scored on Desiree’ Clark’s single. Danny Grote’s double and a sacrifice grounder from Kylie Arnett also knocked in two. The Yankees, several players short, managed just one run on Liam Weigand’s double.

Also on Saturday the Pirates took their second game of the week from the Reds 10–2. Aaron Sherwood, Nathan Miller, Joey Plumer and Jasmine Davidson all scored twice, with Davidson hitting her first-ever triple. Jared Scarfpin and Isaiah Taylor had the two other Pirate runs. The Reds’ April Riddell and Ethan DeWine each scored in the first.

Back to back first-inning home runs from Liam Creighton and Fielding Lewis powered the Indians to a 10–4 win over the Cubs in Saturday’s final contest. The Cubs tied it up in the bottom of the first when Evan Pace scored on Kennedy Harshaw’s double. The Cubs took a second-inning lead when Sulayman Chappelle scored off Yousef Reed’s double. The Indians added a run in the second when Grant Reigelsperger knocked in Maya Creighton. Edward Johnson added a run for the Indians, while Liam Creighton scored four runs total and knocked in two others. And Fielding and Fisher Lewis each finished the game with a home run, two singles and a double.

The season wraps up on Saturday, July 26, with a post-season tournament with at least two games for each team. See the league Web site at www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb for more information.

Football workouts begin
Yellow Springs High School and McKinney School football conditioning for the 2008 season will begin on Thursday, July 24, at 5 p.m., at the practice field located behind the high school. Players should wear tennis shoes, shorts and t-shirts.