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Show OREM TIMES Page 7 COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Expectations high for Mountain View football team mm ran Thursday, August 14, 2008 urp r o Owli second baseman Ivan Contreras throws to first base to make a double play after outing Brewers right fielder Cutter Dykstra during the Owlz game against the Helena Brewers on Aug. 7, in Orem. Owlz go on record winning streak to take over first place in the second half NORTH COUNTY After winning the first half title with a pair of clutch victories, victo-ries, the Orem Owlz struggled early on during the second half of Pioneer League play. It's safe to say that those struggles are over. After dropping four games in a row to drop to last place in the league, the Owlz have since gone on a nine game winning win-ning streak. The streak is the best the team has had since its move to Orem. The franchise record is 12 games. Here is a look back over the past week of wins for the Owlz: I Owli come from behind to beat Osprey: At Orem, Luis Jimenez returned to the Owlz lineup with a bang as he led the team to a 10-6 victory over the it ;. i t, m . 1 1 f ' ' I- 3 i : T i LI. I lliipju(iaii! 'flV - Uy flit till u i f.U! vi Hi M ' n ii i' t' fly ? - ' -! II - ) Ik " '" ? V-""' i. IH..TMM Missoula Osprey on Tuesday night and extended the season long winning streak to nine games. Jimenez had not appeared in the previous three games for Orem but the league leader in RBI's was ready to go. "I was going crazy on the bench," Jimenez said. "I wanted want-ed to get back into the line-up." His two-out double in the first inning gave the Owlz an early 2-0 lead and his three-run home run in the fifth pushed the team back in front for good at 74. Jayson Miller (5-2) pitched six innings allowing four runs on six hits. Missoula did hit two home runs off Miller, who had only allowed one long ball during the season. "I missed on a couple of pitches," said Miller smiling. "The way we're hitting, it Angus! Allium! Dental Sfiedci! f D All Denlet Procedures & Routine, CLertlng Includes! IV Catheter 'Fluids Anesthetic Cleaning Polishing Intertable Pain Medication Injectable Antibiotic (Not Included: Extraction$,Pre-operative Blood Work, Take Home Medication) (ta& (Ky f imx uo G ' 1 f II f Mir-h .flilf ' ' " " takes a lot of pressure off the pitching staff." The nine game winning streak is the highest in Owlz history. The franchise mark is 12 set by the 2003 Provo Angels. "We are not thinking about the streak," Manager Tom Kotchman said. "It's our job to get the team focused every day." I Orem downs Missoula: At Orem, Donato Gionvanatto went 3-for-3, hit a home run and scored three runs as the Owlz defeated Missoula on Monday. Jeff Boshers earned the win, striking out three and giving up just three hits and one run in six innings of work. I Owli blow out Missoula: At Orem, an early 2-0 deficit did Atone Pfdac ) . ItlLUIS 1 I ' Jil - i CELlA tOBINNorth County not phase the Orem Owlz as they extended their season long winning streak to seven games defeating the Missoula Osprey 174 on Sunday afternoon. after-noon. Jose Perez (5-2) pitched five innings, striking out 10 hitters while allowing only one earned run. It was the second consecutive con-secutive double-digit strikeout outing for the Pioneer League leader in the category. Orem scored in every inning but one as six players collected multiple hits led by Roberto Lopez Lo-pez who finished the day 4-5. Ryan Groth led the team in RBI with five, hitting his 3rd home run of the season in the eighth and a bases clearing triple in the seventh. "I left a lot of guys on in the previous at bat so I just wanted See OWLZ, Page 9 y-VNTI I AT PftfusS IW IM ir r "A" kJ A M With , AISIew Mattress T r.-. J i ! , naaga's iviauress tmMtJMnot)pfctvrad 1032 8. Stats, Orem C02-C0C0 Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY It only took one year for Mountain View coach Teko Johnson to create high expectations ex-pectations for his team. Now, instead of creating them, he hopes to help his troops live up to them. Last year, Johnson helped the Bruins recover from one of the worst stretches in school history to lead the team within inches of a second sec-ond place finish in Region 7 as well as a berth in the 4A state quarterfinals. Now with renewed optimism, Mountain Moun-tain View hopes to continue toward bigger and better things. "Expectations are good and bad," Johnson said. "When you create it, you can get people to be a little down if you're not meeting their expectations, but then again, that's what you're trying to do is raise expectations. To get to the point where kids expect ex-pect to do well, and expect to win, and expect to have some success." "It's not like we're going to sneak up on anyone this year. I think we proved that we can play with some good teams." Despite losing most of the starters off of last year's team, the Bruins are optimistic optimis-tic that another winning season sea-son is on its way. The primary reason for that optimism is that Mountain View returns two of its top playmakers Mountain View's T.J. Mounga (33) on Sept. 21, 2007. 1 II J. J 4 inr iiiii i i it i rriDn i (("(( 0 IndeDentiDftee XI from a year ago in running backs Anthony Heimuli and T.J. Mounga. The duo will be expected to carry much of the offensive load. "We probably won't change a whole lot," Johnson said. "I've been running this same offense for about 13 years. We'll be able to throw certainly, cer-tainly, but why throw if you don't have to? That's kind of my philosophy." Also returning another familiar face who will be playing play-ing an unfamiliar position. Nate Stroshine, who has been a defensive standout over the last two seasons, will get most of the reps at quarterback. Stroshine will bring good size and athleticism to the position. Stroshine will also anchor the defense at middle linebacker. Coach Johnson will also turn to junior Dust in Thacker at times to play quarterback to provide a change of pace and give Stroshine some rest. Stroshine and Thacker provide an interesting quarterback quar-terback tandem considering Stroshine is one of the biggest players on the team, while Thacker is one of the smallest. At the skill positions on offense, of-fense, Chris Wright and Wes Christensen will be the key receivers while tight end Jordan Jor-dan Smith should also have a big year. In the trenches, Anthony Rowley and Nick Zolinger will be the keys. See BRUINS, Page 9 MARIO RUIZNorth County rushes the ball against Provo aiimim mm |