OCR Text |
Show Thursday, March 30, 2006 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Rewind Continued from Page 6 The win concluded American Fork's preseason schedule. Region Re-gion 7 play begins tomorrow at Mountain View. In pitching all six innings, senior Hap Holmstead scattered seven Spartan hits as his teammates team-mates dominated the game by c ranking out 11 hits. 1e first Caveman hit was a one-out double hit by Austin Haws in the top of the first. He soon came home on a passed ball thrown by pitcher Josh Elder. In the bottom of the first, Josh Sturges and Sean Morysh each slugged a single off pitcher Holmstead. Before the Spartans could start a rally, shortstop Haws turned a double play that ended the inning. The next inning, Colby Zim Baseball Continued from Page 6 team's outlook in what is generally gener-ally believed to be the toughest baseball region in the state. Spanish Fork Is it really possible for this team to improve on last year-s 22-5 record? No doubt. The Dons return the top pitcher in the county and one of the top in the state in Jace Brinkerhoff. There's no reason to expect he won't continue his dominance. He'll be joined by Nelson Castleberry, who signed with Central Arizona. Nelson says Castleberry 's velocity has jumped from 77 to 87 over the past year. Castleberry will battle freshman Brock Duke for the second starter spot. Duke already throws in the mid-80s and turned some heads in the summer. Corey Grover, who has already al-ready been clocked at 87 this spring, is in place to be the team's closer. The offense will be led by Aaron Binks, who moved from the outfield back to his best Softball Continued from Page 6 is the best team in school history. his-tory. Timpanogos returns seven starters from last year's team that went 20-5 before losing in the semifinals. In addition to Bramwell, Timpanogos Tim-panogos can also throw Tejia Law, a junior, who was 1-1 last year. Shortstop Chelsey Brown returns along with her team-leading team-leading batting average of .348. Jenn Harris (first), Rachel Hecker (catcher), Whitney Roee (outfield) and Megan Bishop Bish-op (outfield) are all back. Kalee Gonzalez saw some time last year as a freshman. She should take the other outfield out-field spot. Angie Larson, Kelsey Belliston, Ashley Duke and Chelsie Laird should all find time somewhere in a young, yet potentially powerful, lineup. Spanish Fork The 4A runners-up from last year appear to have a strong enough cast for an encore, but to do, it the Dons will have to use pitching by committee. Instead of having one ace, the Dons are prepared to use three different pitchers. Whitney Robinson and Ginny Stahle are seniors, and Whitney Holm is just a sophomore. "Lone Peak and Timpanogos both have more experienced pitchers than we do," said Spanish Span-ish Fork coach Don Andrews. VI '. Si M Or. ta araolu il ruipmg many today. Witk rton-ol-Hwati tquipfiwi' and o tptcioHy trained .tfi k. .. . .1 "I tV; METAL ROOFING fit SIDING! SAVE $$ - SPRING FEVER BARGAINS! ..A Galvanized ZyS. 2'x8'-$4.64ea sqft r2' x 10'-$5.80 ea Will Call Uhl. UT Subject to Prior hti and h D I I Stt merman and Gentry Bean each singled off Elder, then moved into scoring position. After Zimmerman Zim-merman had raced home on a passed ball, Haws doubled in two runs with a left-field fly, then came home on a Steve Parker single to complete the Cavemen's four-run tally for the inning. The bottom of the second opened with Haws grounding out Nash Nordin. After catcher Ryan Payne lobbed a throw to first baseman Bean to nail Darin Da-rin Marx, second baseman Josh Jones grounded out Joe Anderson, Ander-son, ending Murray's chance at putting men on base in the second inning. Though the third inning opened with Taylor Mangum doubling into left, the Spartans held the Cavemen scoreless in the inning. With one out in the bottom of the third, Nate Nilson got on base via an American Fork er position catcher. That's bad news for opponents who like to run. Brinkerhoff will play third when he's not pitching, Casey Carling is at short, Seth Spain-hour Spain-hour is at second and Colby Bird at first. Rhett Nelson and John Wessell join Grover in the outfield with Eric Whiting. Jordan Smith has been the designated des-ignated hitter while he recovers from a shoulder injury he suffered suf-fered in football. "On paper we're better than last year, but we had a lot of things fall into place last year," Nelson said. "I really like this team." So does everyone else. Lone Peak The Knights have plenty of returning pop back from a ream that finished second in state to Timpanogos. Bill Burgess and Ammon Zit-ting, Zit-ting, who both hit above .400 last year, are back, along with catcher Zed Mendenhall, who hit above .350 last season. Junior first baseman Max Harris continues to be one of the team's toughest, most clutch hitters. Leadoff batter Nate Newman has been tough to keep off base, and players "For us, it's the year of the committee. com-mittee. We're hoping the committee com-mittee can be one." All-state shortstop Jessica Anderson (who hit .387 last year) returns along with Stahle, Lorin Thurgood and Whitney Holm. Ashley Chappel will be at second, sec-ond, Holm will play third when she's not pitching, and Stahle or Whitney Robinson will play first when they're not pitching. Susan Cole will be behind the dish. Tina Ferguson, a freshman,' will play left, Thurgood is in center, and the right field spot is still up for grabs. Spanish Fork went 3-2 in its first five games. Lone Peak The Knights are in good shape to improve on last year's 17-7 season and third-place finish in the state tournament. Tami Peterson, the top pitcher from last year, is back for her senior season. A strong cast of returning starters will join Peterson to help make Lone Peak a region title contender. Alicia Trujillo (catcher), Rachael Steineckert (shortstop), Laura Goodrich (outfield) and Kelsey Johnson (first base) are all returning starters. Other players that first-year coach Janae Forsey is counting on include Rebecca Vincent (outfield), Katie Schoepf (infield), (in-field), Bailie Hicken (outfield), Janae Webber (third base) and (toping wall. Ot. track tncMt . and Udnmt to hsoltri car . Uh that plogu. u! X ' 0 Iriand tw any TMD today, ttwu ymptom may indudo TU vfmfAom, txyour igraiMi, btoaaeWt, txuiofi in phyiicion tint, tntn giw ui a tW flock omd ihattlcWii, and not call (of a ffe conization. o -m: -v.. Corrugated Galv. 5 2' x 8' -$5.60 ea 2' x 10' -$7.00 2'x14'- $9.60 sqft 2'x16'-3-$11.38 ea Sal Call for Availability fOTTOIDe! ' ror. It did not tip the inning to Murray's favor. As scon as the Cavemen had pinched Nilson in a fielder's choice play at second, third baseman Parker grounded out Sturges to retire Murray into the field. In the top of the fourth, Parker doubled in Kyle Parkinson and Haws. Parker's two-run hit caused Oder to be replaced at the mound by Nilson. The pitching change didn't stop Holmstead from singling in Parker. Shortstop Short-stop Sturges turned a double play that shut down the rally. In the bottom of the fourth, Holmstead gave up left-field singles to Morysh and Chris Grandinetti. Grandinetti tried turning his hit into a double, but he got thrown out at second. After third baseman Parker had grounded out Nordin, Holmstead Hol-mstead retired Darin Marx for a third out. Nilson held the Cavemen like Derek Wood, Kellen Leavitt and Tim Garlick have given the Knights a spark on offense. Pitcher Alex Hesterly, a lefty who is a two-year starter, returns re-turns to anchor a staff that also includes Burgess, Daniel Welch and sophomore Daniel Sechrest. Pleasant Grove The Vikings are building on last year's surprising state tournament tour-nament where they shocked Springville and finished third. Already the team has wins over 4A No. 1 Cottonwood, plus Alta and Viewmont. Pleasant Grove's bread-and-butter is Smith-and-Smith. That's not a law firm, that's the team's two aces. Justin Smith, a senior righty, has arguably the best curveball in the state and throws in the mid 80s. Egan Smith, a junior lefty, throws in the high 80s and uses a variety of pitches to dominate. Both pitchers are undefeated this season. The offense is off to a fast start. Leadoff hitter Jake Rickenbach already has two home runs and six doubles. Tyson Weber, Austin Chris-tensen, Chris-tensen, Kyler Drew, Sterling Turley and Devin Walker are all swinging the bat well. Jaxon Mehlhoff went 4-f or-4 Jill Alger (second base). "Spanish Fork, Timpanogos and Lone Peak have similar pitching," Forsey said. "I think it's going to come down to whoever who-ever hits the ball the hardest that has the least amount of errors er-rors will end up on top." Mountain View The Bruins are looking to recover re-cover from last year's 3-16 season sea-son and appear to be ready to hit their way back into playoff contention. "In just three games, we've already scored as many runs this year as we did in all of last year," said first-year head coach Mack Fieldsted. "I dont think people expect us to be very good, but 1 think we'll surprise sur-prise some people." Fieldsted believes this team is ready to be competitive again in the new Region 4. If Saturday's 5-0 win over Lone Peak is any indication, he could be right. After opening the season with a 7-4 loss to Dixie, the Bruins have already won more games (four) this year than they did all of last year. Holli Cotant could be an all-state all-state catcher. Gentry Dabling is a returning starter at first and Meisah Loveless is a returning starter at second. Alyssa Olsen, CT Diamond Back Cadillac Ellsworth Fuji LIMITED TIME SPECIAL : Cadillac Road Blk. j BuV yur bWct j . here, and we'll put it (M) L::!:::j j Bicycle J iMmiostucu.. ; Tune-ups ; Everything You Need Metalmart Lehi 181 South 1200 East Immediate Will Calls 768-3332 Immediate Cutting Services 7:00 am Service Mon.-Fri.. Sat. 8:00-Noon scoreless in the fifth. Murray Mur-ray then tried capitalizing on singles hit by Ryan Matson and Brad Smith. Though the Spartans Spar-tans loaded the bases on two outs, Holmstead grounded out Morysh to avert a rally. In the sixth's top half, Parker singled in two runs to open a four-run spurt for the Cavemen. After they had picked up their 11th run on an error, the Cavemen Cave-men loaded the bases on a Kai Bagley single, and Nilson accidentally acci-dentally hit Parkinson, bringing Holmstead home from third. In the bottom of the sixth, Nordin hit a one-out double into left, but he got thrown out in a fielder's choice play at third. Murray couldn't put any more men on base after that. The game was called after the sixth inning. Steve Parker was 3-for-3 with five RBI for American Fork. Holmstead was 2-for-4 with two against Alta and Tyson Willis went 3-for-3 against Faith Lutheran Lu-theran (Las Vegas), proving the Vikings are tough throughout the, lineup. Heath Stevenson and Randy Hansen givethe team enough depth at pitching for this team to make a run at the state title. American Fork The Cavemen are capable of winning this region if everything every-thing goes right. American Fork has a nice mix of pitchers, led by senior Hap Holmstead, who has been dominant. Gentry Bean is a curveball specialist who is sneaky fast and junior Taylor Mangum is a rising star. He's already been clocked at 88 mph. Austin Haws was voted the region's second-toughest out last year. He returns in the infield. in-field. Steve Parker could be this region's diamond in the rough at third base. He had 15 RBI in the first three games. . T.J. Spencer at lead off will cause opposing teams trouble. Colby Zimmerman is another player you must be careful with and the team got a boost when Josh Jones returned from an injury. a sophomore, led the team in hitting last year. She returns at shortstop and Hailey Bradshaw, a sophomore, is at third. The outfield looks like it will be Tara Allred and Megan Goodman in left, Haley Johnson in center and freshman Britney Carlson, who is already hitting over .500, in right field. Much of the pitching should fall on the shoulders of Brittany Brit-tany Mikalauski, a senior, who missed all of last season with an injury. Mikalauski logged 16 innings in the first three games and has just three walks. Sammi Jenkins and Hailey Bradshaw, a pair of sophomores, sopho-mores, will both be available for Fieldsted. Pleasant Grove The Vikings started the season with a 4-1 record and shocked top-ranked Murray, proving they are a Region 4 title contender. First -year head coach Lori Beutler has a solid pitching staff back from last year's 6-14 team. Heather Christiansen, a junior who pitched a shutout against Grantsville, along with senior Mckell Wilson, Torrey Best and Kayloni Mikalauski, a freshman, fresh-man, give the Vikings a deep ! " - Ulr ' V RBI and Austin Haws went 3-for-3 with two RBI. Dean Von Memmott filed this report. I March 18 American Fork 12, Skyline 4: In a game not previously previ-ously reported, the Cavemen beat the Eagles to win the Red Rock tournament for the second sec-ond straight year. Skyline got the initial advantage ad-vantage with three runs in the first inning, but American Fork came back to tie in the second and took the lead for good in the third. Austin Haws went 4-for4 with a triple and scored three runs to lead the effort. "Gentry Haws pitched four good innings in relief," said coach Jarod Ingersoll. "He gave up only one run, threw strikes and hit his spots." Zach Laycock finished out the game on the mound for the Cavemen. Timpanogos The thought of last year's state champions missing out on this year's playoffs is about as difficult to imagine as it is envisioning Pete Rose in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it may happen. The T"Wolves may be good enough to win Region 1, but in Region 4 they are clearly on the playoff bubble. Pitching is the team's biggest concern, yet pitching has been a pleasant surprise so far. The team used a combined effort to limit Jordan to one hit and Austin Heaps threw four perfect innings in his last start against Lehi. Has the rest of the region overlooked the Timpanogos arms? Senior Garrett Argyle could catch other teams by surprise. The 6-foot -3 righty figures to be the No. 2 starter behind Heaps. Matthew McKnight, a senior lefty, gives teams a different look. Catcher Kelsey Ericksen could be headed for a breakout season. The rest of the lineup that includes Heaps, McWhorter, Nash Fowler, Josh Benson, Robbie Carter, Brett Lopez, staff. Nikki Parry and Kirsten Logan have two of the outfield spots covered. Leah Stoker is a returning starter at third. Allyce Wilson returns at shortstop short-stop and Amber Nielsen returns at first base to give Pleasant Grove a solid cast of returning players with experience. American Fork First -year coach Matt Deitz will have his hands full helping PJi fW Si m. mm , '. a. ,. 4fc ahaV"aJaWaaaaMataHMMafcaaF lt JtT & " I ' -TT MARIO RUIZ North County lehi's Brooks Royall, left, runs for the bull with Anwncun Fork's Jordan Johns heluiul on Tuesday in Amerkun I ork. Steve Vincent and Taylor Lyons Ly-ons is so powerful it borders on illegal. Mountain View With big wins over Murray and Payson already ihis year, the Bruins are protest mg their projected exclusion from the playoffs. The Bruins were voted last by the region coaches. 11 they are to prove the coaches wrong they will need to get the best out of a pitching staff that includes Joel Hovey, Colin Young, Corban Carlson and Jordan Gillespie. They must step up and keep 1 his 1 earn close. The offense will also be on the spot. Gillespie has one of the team's best bats. Put Carlson Carl-son and Scott Ford around him and the Bruins could be dangerous. dan-gerous. Markie Peterson is off to a hot start, both offensively and with the glove at third base. Matt Diaper (left field), John Bennett (center field) and Trent Call (catcher) round out the Bruin starters. Sophomores in Marcus Draper and Mark Garrett give Mountain View a pair of strong bats off the bench. the Cavemen be competitive after last season's last -plac e finish. Deitz expects Tara Rawing; a senior, and a pair of juniors in Kelsie Brimhall and Marsi Kruger to make an impact. Lisa Paxman, a sophomore, will be joined by Kayla Sorensen, a freshman, in providing t he Cavemen with a young nucleus. Another player Deitz will be looking for fug things from is sophomore catcher Sandra Nessler. -Ml IT S"t &fli$1 - Si i- 3;i (- . 11 ,1 6 ... 1 . .j 1 IM1! 181 South 1200 East lehi . u . . , ... " ' " ,; Store Hours: M-F 7-5 SAT B-NOON rnetalmart.bir COPY |