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July 16, 2009
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July 16, 2009 |
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sports Yellow Springs Youth Baseball Twins still undefeated
in Majors The Twins went on to a 14–4 victory over the Cardinals on Monday, July 6. Liam Weigand led the way with three runs scored, while Reigelsperger, Aakeem Truss, April Riddell and Kaner Butler all added a pair of runs. The Cardinals started off strong when Brianna Ayers knocked in Ethan DeWine and Keanan Onfroy-Curley and then later scored herself on a called balk. But the Twins’ strong pitching and tough defense held the Cardinals to one more run when DeWine singled, stole second and was sent home on a hard-hit triple off of an Ayers hit. The third Twins victory came on Tuesday, July 7, in a 12–0 shutout of the Royals. After three straight batters struck out in the first, the Twins exploded with runs from eight of their nine players as the Royals struggled from the mound, at the plate and on defense. The Twins’ run was highlighted by a three-run homer from Truss. The same Royals players, but clearly a much different team, showed up the following evening on Wednesday, July 8, and seemed to take out their frustrations in a 16–2 win over the Cardinals. The Royals bats pounded out 11 hits for three runs each by Nathan Miller, Joe Thorpe and Devon Perry. Aaron Sherwood scored twice, as did Colton Hicks, while Adrianne Beer scored once and added 4 RBIs. Jake Savage added a run, as did Nathan Hardman while knocking in six others to earn a game ball. The Royals defense returned as well, with Beer throwing out the runner on an attempted steal at second and putting out two runners at the plate before the Cardinals could score on long throws from the outfield. Rookie Nate Gillman Baggett also made a pair of consecutive outs at third. Taran Pergram got the Cardinals on the scoreboard with a run in the second and Liam Creighton scored after his triple. On Sunday, July 12, the Royals again beat the Cardinals 23–10. The Royals, already up 15–10, soared in the fourth inning with eight runs from as many batters. Nathan Miller hit a pair of doubles, scored four times and knocked in six RBIs, including four on a second-inning grand slam home run. Joe Thorpe hit a single, a double and two triples that also resulted in four runs scored. Nathan Hardman crossed the plate three times, as did Adrianne Beer and Jake Savage. Ahmad Wagner pitched well and scored a pair of runs, while Sam Crawford hit a pair of strong singles that resulted in two runs scored and three RBIs. The Reds’ Ian Chick led his team in scoring with a pair of singles, three runs scored and two RBIs. Ethan DeWine doubled and scored twice, and Fielding Lewis also scored twice. July 18 and 19 will be the final weekend of play, when the Twins and Royals meet on Saturday at 5 p.m., and the Cardinals and Twins play on Sunday at 5 p.m. The Royals and Cardinals square off for the season’s final game Wednesday, July 22, at 7 p.m. There will be no post-season tournament. See www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb for the latest information. Reds, Indians fight for Minors The Reds narrowly defeated the Indians 1–0 on June 29. Travis Scarfpin scored the only run needed by hitting a lead-off single and then scoring on a Sulayman Chappelle base hit. Both teams made some tough defensive plays, such as Colton Hicks’ double play off a catch in centerfield. Dylan Rainey proved why two hands are better than one when he caught a pop-up at shortstop, dropped it, then caught the ball again in his free hand. The Indians notched their win on July 1 against the Pirates 11–1. Fisher Lewis, Hayden Orme and Eric Romohr each scored twice, while Tony Marinelli, Keldon Harker, Emily Pollock, Raven Campbell-Knowles and Evelyn Orme all scored once. Kenny McKinley smacked a home run for the Pirates. The Reds added a second win on Monday, July 6, with a 17–5 defeat of the Pirates. Colton Hicks led all scorers with a single, two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored. Sulayman Chappelle scored twice and knocked in four others, while Travis Scarfpin, Cameron Haught and James Fulton both scored a pair of runs, with Fulton adding two RBIs. Nate Gillman-Baggett led the Pirates with two runs scored, including a home run. The Indians kept pace with a 5–2 win over the Dragons on Wednesday, July 8, and then added a second win later in the week by a Dragons’ forfeit. A pair of games rained out last week will be made up on Saturday, July 18. The Indians and Pirates will face off at 10 a.m., followed by the Reds vs. Dragons at 11:45. The post-season tournament has been moved to Sunday, July 19. The pairings will be determined by the regular season’s final standings after this week’s games. Two games will simultaneously kick off at 2 p.m. on both the minor and major league fields. The winners of the first two games will compete for the championship at 7 p.m. that evening on the Minor league field. See www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb for the latest information. The pleasures of Perry League t-ball There are so many pleasures in this t-ball. I am sitting in the dirt around the pitcher’s mound on the small diamond. Liam McClean, 4, is in front of me sweeping the dirt into a pile with my blue-handled umpire’s broom (the little whisk brooms they have for dusting off home plate). Aidan Schindler, 4, is right next to me tamping his pile of dust with my orange-handled umpire’s broom. Eliza Gilchrist, she’s almost 5, and I are just scooping the dust into piles, luxuriating in that soft, silky, pour-through-your fingers Gaunt Park baseball diamond dust. I invite Russell Besson, 4, to join us, but he’d rather chase after a baseball just hit into the infield by 5-year-old Hayley Partee — “I’m getting better,” she says. Her dad, Pat Partee Jr., proudly tells me she’s been practicing on a t in her backyard. From where I sit here in the dust, things look great over on the big diamond. It’s so organized over there it looks like a little league game on a Saturday morning: there are 10–12 kids on the bench, 10–12 more kids in the field, and a half dozen adults shepherding and protecting these rambunctious, precocious darlings. Matt Minde’s tending home plate, bringing kids up, helping them hit the ball. I realize I am duty-free sitting here in the dirt, so I do something I’ve thought about a lot, but never found time to do: I count the adults who are in attendance, the adults who come to watch, who “fill the stands,” who make this program such a significant community event. There are 40 t-ball adults sitting along the third base line. A trio of our t-ballers — Eliza Minde-Berman 3, Max Banaszak-Moore, 5, Jonah Kintner, 5 — are chasing each other in and out, round and about, this coterie of seated adults. I have to move to the bigger diamond to finish my count. There’s a row of adults sitting in a half moon-shaped crescent that wraps itself around the big diamond’s sky-high backstop — that cyclone fence backstop must be 30–35 feet high. A dozen adults make up this crescent. To my left, behind the big diamond’s bench that runs parallel to the third baseline, sit another dozen adults, on the grass, on lawn chairs, on a pile of something that looks like tractor tires. “There were 70 adults out there tonight,” I tell my wife when I get home. And that’s on top of the 40 kids who stayed till the end-of-the-evening race-to-the-outfield. Tonight everyone was having so much fun and things were running so smoothly on the big diamond — • with Jeff Jones and Bill Slattery throwing balls out to the kids after the child at the plate hits the ball off the t (so every kid gets a ball: we do so love getting one of those balls); • with Maria Slattery, our bench coach, keeping track of kids and ensuring everyone gets his or her turn at bat — “Five or six times at bat for everyone of them!” she said joyfully when I went over to see if they might be ready to call it a night; • with the patient, loving David Bansz in the on-deck, warm-up circle, helping every kid learn how to swing well; • and with the affable Jason Newsome, our home plate coach, having as much fun as any kid — that I didn’t think they’d stop at 8 p.m. And they didn’t. It was about 8:10 before we got them to give up the diamond and “line up” (a euphemism if ever there was one: you must come and see the jagged, ragged, straggling all over the place, array of children we have when I ask them to line up) for our end-of-the evening run to the outfield —“Are you gonna come back next week?” I ask them. “Yesssssss!” they scream. “I can’t hear you,” I say, cocking my ear. “Are you gonna come back next week?” “YESSSSSSS!” Seventy adults. At 8 p.m. Now that is really something. And that’s our Perry League, Yellow Springs’ t-ball program for girls and boys 2–9 years of age — and for every adult who cares to come and watch. We welcome all our community’s children and all our children’s adults regardless of race, color or creed. You or your child can begin at any time (it’s free) and there’s no requirement to play (or come) every week. We’ll be out there at Gaunt Park for four more Friday nights from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Having a good time and wishing you were there. So why don’t you come on out? We’d love to have you. July track finale The Miami Valley Track Club, based here in Yellow Springs, will host the 19th Annual Miami Valley All-Comers Track & Field Meet on Thursday, July 23. Attracting athletes from the Dayton-Springfield area, the meet will feature Yellow Springs High School alumni Sam Borchers and Jacob and Brock GunderKline, as well as 2008 Olympic trials silver medalist Matt Boyles and javelin professional David Dierecks. The meet will also feature the fun 100-meter marathon for runners aged 4 and under. Every finisher receives a ribbon. Local athletes from the host club include Antone Truss in the jumping events, Mitchell Brickson in the distance events and Austin Baily in the javelin. For the girls, Reini Brickson will compete in the walks, the steeplechase and the sprints, along with Africa Strodes. Local youngsters competing include Madison Robinson, Anndee Pettiford and Elliot Wiggins, who won the 400 and the 1500 at the recent Ohio Junior Olympic Championships in Trotwood. The entry fee for the July 23 meet is $4 per event. Day of meet registration starts at 5 p.m. Awards are presented to the first three finishers in each event. Field events begin at 5:30 p.m. with track events starting at 6:30 p.m. Entry forms are also available online at http://www.miamivalleytrackclub.org. Volunteers who wish to help with the meet are asked to contact Jennifer Peters at 767-7424. Refreshments will be available. Women’s run set YS Girls Running will host “Simply Women,” a 5k run/walk for women and girls to be held at Yellow Springs High School on Saturday, Aug. 8. The event is to create awareness about the benefits of running sports for young women and to build broader local support for girls sports. The entry fee is $15 (t-shirt guaranteed with preregistration by July 24.) On-site registration and check-in for participants begins at 8 a.m. and the race/walk begins at 9:15 a.m. Registration forms are available at Living Green, the Chamber of Commerce and at www.ysgirlsrunning.com. Footballers to meet The Yellow Springs High School football program will hold a mandatory meeting for parents and players interested in participating in the upcoming season. The meeting will take place on Sunday, July 19, at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Bryan Community Center. The meeting will cover the season schedule, as well as any concerns from players and parents, who are especially urged to attend. Players must attend so that coaches can get an accurate count of equipment that will be distributed for the year. Head Coach Craig McCann and Assistant Coach Michael Spencer are working to increase the number of players to create a strong team for the upcoming season. Bulldog football practice officially begins on Aug. 3 at the high school fields. YSHS golf swing practice On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, July 20, 22 and 23, from 9 to 11 a.m., “swing sessions” will be held at the Young’s Jersey Dairy driving range. All Yellow Springs High School students planning to participate in varsity golf are invited to begin preparing for the upcoming season. Meet at the grass teeing area of the driving range or the covered tees if raining. Parents are welcome. For more information contact Mike Reichert, YSHS varsity golf coach, at 767-1073. |
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