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Show Sentinel Guardian of Your Community News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010 • A l l Kayla Neves / The Sentinel STRIKER: Ben Scott scored the lone goal for the Eagles when they hosted Cedar on Saturday, March 6. ALA soccer vs. Cedar Mike Richardson STAFF WRITER Samantha Beck / The Sentinel TEAM LEADER: Spanish Fork will look to pitcher Dezlee Roberts, shown above in last year's state tournament, to help lead a young team. Lady Dons ready for new challenges in Region 8 Brent Thurgood STAFF WRITER Coach Andrews and the Spanish Fork Lady Dons Softball return to the 4A classification after spending the last four years in 5A. The 2010 season and return to 4A bring both new and familiar challenges to Coach Andrews and his team. One of the familiar challenges will be competitive matchups with old rivals Springville and Payson. While the Lady Dons have continued to play Springville over the last few years, it will mark the first time in three years that SF and Payson renew theirrivalry.All three teams should compete for the region title. The move also brings newrivalrieswith familiar faces as the Dons will face neighboring schools Maple Mountain and Salem Hills in Region 8. Splits and boundary alignments significantly reduced the number of girls trying out for the team; however, Coach Andrews is confident in his team's talent and ability. This year will be a different team than what Coach Andrews has had the last few years. Af- ter enjoying strong senior leadership and experience for the last several seasons, coach Andrews will have a slightly younger and inexperienced team in 2010. The Lady Dons return only two starters from a senior-laden team in 2009 that finished third in state. Senior Dezlee Roberts, one of last year's two starting pitchers, along with junior Lindsey Healey, are the only two returning starters for the Dons, while Janessa Nielsen and Jaden Clayson round out the only two other seniors on the team. The Lady Dons will look to the team's three juniors, Brooke Thurgood, Brooke Kramer and Sydney Fryer; and sophomores Kelli Hales, Kailey Christensen, Kylee Wolf and Sydney Butler to step up this season and help the team. Despite their inexperience and youth Coach Andrews is impressed with his team's work ethic and determination. He believes this team can be successful with continued hard work and effort. Pitching should be one of their strengths as senior Dezlee Roberts has two previous years of experience, while sophomore Kailey Christensen saw considerable time last year as a freshman. The Dons will, however, need to rely more on their speed and quickness instead of power to score runs, which is a change from previous years. Coach Andrews will look to Thurgood, Kramer, Hales, Nielsen and Wolf to get on base, allowing his power hitters Roberts, Healey and Fryer to drive in runs. Defensively, Andrews has the flexibility to move players around to several positions on the field. They Lady Dons schedule this season is one of the toughest they have ever faced, with matchups against several of the state's top teams, including Pleasant Grove, Lehi , Riverton and Tooele, who boast four of the state's top pitchers. Other preseason contests with Olympus, Bear River and Syracuse will also test the Lady Dons before they enter one of the state's strongest regions with Springville, Payson, Salem Hills, Maple Mountain and Uintah. However, Coach Andrews and his Lady Dons are excited to get things started in 2010. 72 N. Main, Spanish Fork 798-3587 Your source for Sports % News The S^ritinel "Guardian • S '•"' of Your ^Community SPORTS SWING IN FOR GREAT SAVINGS ON EVERYTHING FOR BASEBALL £ SOFTBALL! ALL CLEATS 20% OFF ALL TRACK SPIKES 20% OFF ft; • •: News" DON'T FORGET, WE ALSO DO UNIFORMS \; a few minutes later. Soon the Eagle defense was able to pick up the pace and On Saturday, March keep the Redmen from 6, the ALA Eagles boys scoring for the rest of the soccer team hosted the half. Cedar High School RedThe Eagles continued men. It was a tough game. to hold the Redmen off, The Eagles fought hard but they were having a throughout, but the Red- hard time scoring. Midmen ended up winning way through the second the game 3-1. half ALA's Cobi Warren In the first half, both brought the ball down the teams struggled to score field and passed it off to for a while, but eventually Nick Rekow, who took Cedar managed to make a shot, but missed. ALA the first goal of the game continued to come close 10 minutes into the half. to scoring, but they had a Two minutes later Cedar hard time penetrating Cehad brought the ball back dar's tough defense. and scored again, making With just a few minutes the score 2-0. left in the game, the Eagle ALA was able to hold defense was still strong. Cedar off for a while, but They had kept the Redmen despite their efforts the from scoring since midway Redmen managed to score through the first half. The frustrated Redmen continued to attack the Eagles' goal, but ALA kept them from getting a good shot off. With two minutes left in the game, Benjamin Scott scored the first goal for ALA, and the last point of the game, making the final score 3-1, with Cedar in the lead. ALA head coach Steve Solen was slightly disappointed in the way the Eagles played in the first half, but very proud of the team's performance in the second half. "In the second half we came back and did really well," said Solen. "If we would have played that well in the first half, it would have been a much closer game." Baseball: From PREVIEW • A12 a region and state championship,'1 he said. "I believe that's every team's goal, and that's why you compete." Salem has eight juniors, two sophomores and a freshman who could contribute on this year's varsity squad. Pitchers Buddy Adams and Taylor Peterson return on the hill with quality experience as the one and two. They will be relied upon heavily for the Skyhawks to reach their goals. Weston Talon will be in the mix as well. Calling the signals behind the plate will be newcomer I^ler Argyle. Brett Carter returns to put out runners at first, while Jason Snyder and Jordan Jepson are both juniors who play middle infield. Tanner Raulston and Joseph Mohrman will roam the outfield, while the third spot is currently undecided. Haney would like to have a great experience in the Skyhawks' inaugural season of Region 8 baseball, full of old school and new rivalries. But he's focused on building a solid program. "We're real excited for this season in our program," he said. "We redid our infield because we had a tough problem with drainage, and we're building dugoutsrightnow." Haney talks very highly of his coaching staff, which includes assistant coaches Clay Cushman, Chad Fishback and Cory Snyder. As any head coach, he will count on their baseball experience and coaching knowledge throughout the season to help the Skyhawks soar into action. Maple Mountain Coach Gary Miner was unavailable for an interview prior to press time. SAM'S PREP OF THE Adam Duke • Senior - Baseball • Pitcher Adam Duke is the son of Alese and the late Dev Duke of Salem. The Dons will look to the senior for leadership this year as they attempt to repeat as state champions. Duke has three years as a starting pitcher and was recently named a pre-season Ail-American by Collegiate Baseball. He knows the Dons will have a target on their back the entire season. He said they will have to prove themselves and being returning state champs gives them something to shoot for. the Oil Change 552 N. Main • 798-7877 |