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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 7 COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Thursday, March 6, 2008 Utah Valley All-Star game wraps up action-filled season of prep hoops Darnell Dickson NORTH COUNTY After one of the most exciting two weeks of state basketball tournaments ever, everybody probably needs a 30-second timeout. But gear up for one more super night of basketball. The 2008 Utah Valley Ail-Star Basketball Classic has been set for Tuesday at Timpview's Thunderdome Arena. The game brings together 48 of the top senior girls and boys basketball players play-ers from Utah County for one last game in their school's uniforms. More than 500 local athletes have participated in the game over the past 12 years. Last year's boys game produced the highest scoring contest ever (the North beat the South 127-124 in overtime) and the top individual scoring performance perfor-mance as well Springville's Preston Eaton scored 32 points for the South. This year's girls game begins be-gins at 6 p.m. and the boys game follows at 8. A girls 3-point shooting contest will be held at halftime of the girls game with projected participants Gabrielle Pinegar (Timpview), Whitney Giles (Pleasant Grove), Megan Bishop Bish-op (Timpanogos), Amy Krom-menhoek Krom-menhoek (American Fork), Jenna Brown (Springville), Kaitlyn Bateman (Payson), Aly Tingey (Spanish Fork) and Cassandra Ascencio (ALA). A slam dunk competition will be held between the girls and boys games. A partial list of those expected to participate par-ticipate include Tyler Haws (Lone Peak), Josh Sharp (Lone Peak), C.J. Wilcox (Pleasant Grove) and Brandon Davies (Provo). Neil Warner of the Daily Herald will coach the North boys teams while Payson assistant as-sistant coaches Phil and Jimmy Jim-my DeGraf fenried will handle the south squad. Glenn Larson of Pleasant Grove will skipper the North girls, while Provo's Cory Green will handle the South squad. A family pass can be purchased pur-chased at the game for $10. Students are $2 and adults are $5. The game is sponsored by The Daily Herald, Karl Thai-man Thai-man and Check City. Proceeds from the game benefit the Crandall Printing Museum in Provo. m m " red; it ?' V jrj FILENorth County Greg Meacham will represent American Fork in the Utah Valley All-Star Classic, 2008 REGION 4 BASEBALL PREVIEW fo)o) 0 it. A '' i V(S 'tV v f; 'Vt'nn-.iir I mi - T - j w', '. . .-. -mmr.,- j v.- I -- V . MS-" .., v V 0?. . . '"' ". RLENorth County American Fork second baseman Andy Lewis, right hit .454 for the Cavemen last season and is expected to be a strength on offense again this year. American Fork will try to overtake favorites Spanish Fork, Timpanogos as region top dog Neil K. Warner NORTH COUNTY The Region 4 baseball coaches have spoken. Spanish Fork has received three preseason first -place votes. Timpanogos has received three preseason first-place votes. It looks like the two teams will have to decide who is No. 1 on May 5 and 7, when they play each other in the final two region games of the year. As the 2008 season opens this week, it's hard to blame Region 4 coaches for their split decision. These two teams are so close they may have to be surgically separated. sepa-rated. The arguments on both sides are so compelling that after hearing the case for each team, there could be a hung jury. "I think it will be our pitching pitch-ing depth and our overall pitching as opposed to can you get to one of those two guys (Gentry Croft and Rhett Nelson) they have," said Spanish Span-ish Fork coach Jim Nelson. "I'm not saying they don't have anything after that, but they don't have anything as close to those two guys." Some favor Timpanogos because of its lineup. The T'Wolves return the All-Valley Player of the Year in Bret Lopez, along with two other starters in Rhett Nelson (.362) and Taylor Lyons (.360) who are proven run producers. Nelson and Croft are also two of the top pitchers in the state. Add Lyons and the emerging Tanner Wolfe to the mix and it's enough to make Timpanogos fans start thinking about another state title, something Timpanogos has done three times in the p ast six years. But Spanish Fork also has plenty of support. "On paper, they have the pitching and we have the hitting. I think most people believe that it will be us and Spanish Fork (in Region 4)," said Timpanogos coach Kim Nelson. "They've (Spanish Fork) got guys who might not throw any varsity innings who would be the best pitchers pitch-ers on other teams by far." The Dons have their share of starters back that include last year's leading hitter in See BASEBALL, Page 8 RECREATION Registration open for AF youth baseball NORTH COUNTY American Fork Youth Baseball for players ages 7-12 as of May 1 is now registering until March 8. No late registrations will be accepted. ac-cepted. All players need to register regis-ter even if they played last year. The preferred signup method is online at www.afbaseball.com. Fees for the Rookie League (ages 7-8) are $60, and for Majors and Minors (ages 9-12) $80. Send mail-in registration to A.F. Youth Baseball, 371 S. 410 West, A.F., UT 84003. Fees are Rookie League $70, MajorsMinors $90. For more information, leave a message at 770-2826, or e-mail infoafbaseball.com. AMERICAN FORK RECREATION PROGRAMS Fees are $90 resident, $110 non-resident. Registration is now being conducted for spring sports programs at the American Fork Fitness Center, 454 N. Center Street in A.F., or online at www. afcity.org (forms are available to download and mail in also). For more information, send a message to recreationafcity.net or call 763-3080. Resident costs are for residents of Am. Fork, Highland and Alpine. Al-pine. The non-resident fee applies to those residing in all other cities. I Baseball for boys grades 9-12: Deadline April 3. Register as an individual or as a team. Fees are $90 resident, $110 non-resident. I Baseball for boys grades 7-8: Also open to boys in sixth grade who turn 13 by May 1. Deadline March 20. Teams are selected by draft. Fees are $90 resident, $110 non-resident. I Baseball machine-pitch for boys ages 9-12: Age as of May 1 or finishing third grade. Deadline March 27. Fees are $35 resident, $50 non-resident. Softball for girls currently enrolled in grades 3-12: Deadline March 27. Fees for grades 3- are $35 resident, $50 non-resident; for grades 5-12, fees are $40 resident, $55 non-resident. I Tee-ball and coach pitch for boys and girls (coed teams) ages 5-8: Deadline March 27. Fees are $25 resident, $40 non-resident. Mens softbalL Registration begins March 3, limited to first 24 teams. Cost is $550 per team plus $25 USSSA fee. I Volleyball camp for boys and girls in grades 5-8: Registration begins March 3. Games during April and May. Fees are $35 resident, resi-dent, $50 non-resident. I Golf lessons: Registration begins May 1 for Am. Fork, Highland High-land and Alpine residents; others may sign up starting May 27 on a space-available basis. Lessons are Wednesdays during June for these four classes: 7 and under, beginning, intermediate-advanced and mothers. I Tennis lessons & tennis league: Registration begins May 1. Soccer for age 4 through grade 8, boys and girls: Fall sport registers between April 14 and June 5 for games in August and September. Fees are $30 resident, $45 non-resident. Cavemen softball hits the road to open season Dean Von Memmott SPORTS CORRESPONDENT The American Fork softball team is spending the first two weeks of the 2008 softball season playing away games in Salt Lake County. American Fork won't play its first home game until March 13, when the Kearns Cougars come into town for a 3:30 p.m. showdown with American Fork's varsity. The Cavemen have almost of all of their players from last year's team back this year. American Fork has a new coach, though. His name is Duke Sorensen, but he isn't unfamiliar as he has coached them on the American Fork Titans, a 16-under fastpitch softball team that plays every summer in an Orem City girls league, "I have coached these girls for four or five years," Sorensen So-rensen said. "They did well in the Orem league. In one spring season, we took second in that league. Timpanogos beat us for the league championship." Last year, Sorensen said, American Fork had two seniors. This year's team includes in-cludes five seniors. "The juniors are going to be the core of this year's team," the coach said. "We have a lot of juniors on this year's team. We also have a sophomore on the team: Amy Krommen-hoek." Krommen-hoek." As a ninth-grader last season, sea-son, Krommenhoek was a varsity starter. Also, she is one of four varsity basketball players who made the final cut on the softball team. The other three are juniors Haley Holm-stead, Holm-stead, Cydne Mason and Kayla Sorensen. All three of those 1 lth-graders received varsity softball experience last year. "Sandra Nessler and Haley Holmstead will be taking turns at playing catch," Sorensen said. "Our two main pitchers for this year are Kayla So rensen and Annie Christensen. We have a large staff of JV pitchers." Sorensen is stepping into a program that has had a hard time making the state playoffs for the past eight years. Winning Win-ning more games last year than they did in all of the three prior season, the Cavemen missed making the state tournament tour-nament by one game. "We're going to seek to improve upon what our girls had accomplished last year," Sorensen said. "We can play great defense. Offense is where we've been having trouble trou-ble for these last few years. We're going to be working on hitting and pitching." American Fork is scheduled to show its hitting and pitching skills at West Jordan today. Tomorrow, American Fork will be away at the St. George Invitational. Sorensen said, "This year, , we'll be playing in the tournament's tourna-ment's 5A division. Last year, the girls played in a division filled with 3A and 4A schools. We want to play in the 5A division, divi-sion, so we can be ready for region re-gion in April. Our region is one of the toughest leagues in 5A. "The league is even tougher this year, because Lehi has taken Mountain View's place in Region 4. We would have an easier time against Mountain View than the other schools in the region. Lehi has a strong program, so we're going to have a tough challenge from them." Sorensen's assistant coaches this year include Becca Mur-dock, Mur-dock, Dennis Romboy, Lindsey Phelps and Kim Lang. American Fork will play preseason pre-season games .until March 25. Region 4 play will start with a road game at Lehi on March 27. FILENorth County Haley Holmstead will split time at the catcher pt)sition this season for the Cavemen. r f ao N .. x r A ' J'i P - -J . Ili.. .. |