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Show A I V i ) UINTAH BASIN STANDARD. April 7. 1998- - PlK 15 ESCAPING nt's Wyann Wicdman sends the softball on a trip to home plate and hopes that a Union batter misses during a swing at the plate. Wiedman struck out two Cougars, which were the first and second ever strikeouts for the Longhorn team. However, Union won the game vs. Altamont. BALL-Altamo- ' First Year For AHS BAG BATTLE--Lad- y Cougar, Kara Taylor, right, gets her foot back on the base in time as Altamont first basewoman snares the softball. Altamont is competing in the sport of softball for the first time in the history of the school. Taylor was safe. a photograph. Second was better than taking third, fourth or fifth, byAldon Rachele Second place isnt the top prize, but it still is super! The University of Utah ended up among the Top Two in the nation, and finished ahead of 62 out of 64 squads in the i f! I1 i' NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament, plus close to 200 more who didn't even qualify for the meet. Kentucky is No. 1, and Utah is one spot back at No. 2. Utah finished ahead of highly ranked powerhous- es, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Arkansas, UCLA, Stanford, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple. Utah lost 78-6- 9 in the 1998 NCAA title game. The sad thing is that in order to place second a team has to lose the Arizona, championship game. There can only be one first place team. Finishing second is also a great accomplishment. Unfortunately nobody is satisfied with garnering second. Ask the Atlanta Braves who placed second to the New York Yankees in the 1996 World Series after jumping out to a 0 lead and then losing four straight. People dont brag about taking second place. Maybe they should, because the losing team is among the best I had a rough time convincing Tabiona that they should be proud of taking second place at the 1996 State Basketball Tournament, and getting them to smile for 2-- A but the Tigers felt they had died. Tabiona led with two minutes left and could almost taste the championship milk or root beer. Sadly, Piute rallied to take the title. I told them the fallowing: This is the best (second place) that Tabionahas ever done in the history of basketball!" However, they had a tough time being happy about setting history by losing. Finally, I got my picture when the disappointment of the title loss eased off, and the Tigers realized what a great season they had experienced. Tabiona reached its championship dream when they won their first ever state crown the next year in 1997. The Tigers have placed first, second and third over the past three yean. Last year, Duchesne finished Chamsecond to Tabiona in the pionship Game, which made it an 1-- A County Final. Duchesne as well as Altamont moved into the class this past season and thus a title battle beis No tween Morel Duchesne didnt reach its 1997 goal of becoming No. 1. The Eagles still had a successful season, snd Tabiona got most of the glory because they took first place. Congrats should go to all teams involved in the title game because they both made their fans proud. 2-- A Gines, right, dribbles down the court. Gines was recently. Sorry, but the wrong photo was used. Sam Rhoades was actually the one pictured in last weeks Standard. ALL-S- ATER-Le- vi T named a first-tea- m all-stat- The Atlanta Braves are called the Team of the 1990s and have played in four World Serin. However, they have won only one World Series and placed second to the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Bluej ays and New York Yankees. The Braves have also lost National League Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies and most recently to the Florida Marlins last year. They have won six NL division crowns, which should mean a pat on the back, but sadly everyone recalls their 3 record in the World Series with some rooters wanting to kick them in the You Know What"! It should be Baseball Caps Off To Hie Braves-Might- y Fine Team of the 1-- - 'j Lady Longhorns give up runs, but score first run in loss i TOP HOOPSTER-Jere- my Stringham, Tabiona, is surrounded by two Emery cagers during a recent game. Stringham was named an recently. Unfortunately the picture in last weeks newspaper wasn't Stringham, but teammate, Sam Rhoades. Sorry about the goof. all-stat- er The Altamont Lady Longhorns, who are playing the sport of softball for the first time ever, achieved a number of Firsts for the brand new program, but unfortunately one oftheir achievements didnt include a win over U nion High School sophomore team (actually mostly freshmen), Wednesday in Roosevelt. The Cougars picked up a lopsided 28--4 triumph. Altamont scored its first ever run when Tiffany Lindsay crossed home plate, and gained its first as well as its second strikeout when hurler, Wyann Wiedman whiffed two Union Cougars. Altamont was shutout by Uintah in its first game of the season, March 23 in a three-innin- g contest. Members of the Altamont soft-ba- ll team are: Michelle Brotherson, Trad Burdick, Kacey Fields ted, Lizzie Fisher, Kenna Fisher, Amber Gilbert, Sara Grant, Shaun Jessen, Tiffany Lindsay, Ashley Mathews, Ashly Olsen, Dazee Peck, Michelle Roberts, Jackie Rudd, Randi Smith, Jentri Sorensen, Deedra Tew, Merri Tew, Wyann Wiedman and Lynly Wilcox. Coaches are Brian Gibson, Greg Miles and Barbara Lindsay. Union has had a high school softball program for more than five years, and the Lady Cougars pointed out their strength by jumping outtoa 14-- 0 lead. It should be noted that when Union first started its program several years ago the Cougars had a rough year with just one win, but they improved with the net result two state crowns in a row in 1995 and 1996. The Lady Longhorns did jumping for joy in the top of the third when Lindsay was walked and then scored on Brothersons single with two outs. Lindsay produced Altamonfs first run ever in the history ofthe sport, and the team celebrated with high fives plus pats on SJ Uintah All-Uni- inning was just like the rest. Jackie Labrum was walked and Kara Taylor singled. J.C. Taylor followed with hit that scored Labrum. a one-baMichele Nielsen ripped out a single and drove in K. Taylor. Kelly Gardner was walked to load up the bases. J.C. Taylor scored on a wild pitch, but Wiedman, who struck out lead off batter, Cortney Larsen, for the first ever Altamont strikeout, tagged Nielsen at the plate to end the inning. Altamont shutout Union in the bottom ofthe fourth inning. Andria Aland got on base on an error, and then was tagged out a few minutes later at third base. Wiedman struckout her second batter and then Union grounded out to enable Altamont to give Union a zero for the inning. However, the pitching success was shortlived when Union scored 11 runs over the next two innings with five in the fifth and six in the sixth. Also working on the mound for Altamont was Lizzie Fisher. Altamont gave up a bunch of runs, but the Longhorns wanted just some game time and the score wasnt a major concern. Altamont will have a rematch with Union, Thursday, April 9 and then will start region play in Moab vs. Grand, April 17 and at Monticello, April 18. Altamont will host Grand, April 23. se Basin STANDARD CLASSIFIED ADS! Call loll Free : 5 BAT MOVES-Altamo- nts Randi Smith puts all of her strength into her swing during a game last week vs. Union. 1800427-867- 9 Or 722-- 5 13 1, V;-'- r West Highway 40 Top Stop - s- t COPY, However, they were happy just to gain a filled-i- n diamond in the scorebook. Altamont didnt have to wait long for its second run when they scored another counter in the top of the fourth. Wiedman singled and did a home plate dance that had the Longhorns doing lots of leaping up and down due to scoring Run No. 2". Altamont had more to get excited about They had three more runners reach the base paths on an error, hit batter and walk. However, one runner was forced out and a strikeout ended fourth inning hopes for the Longhorns. The Lady Longhorns were behind by a ton of runs, and refused to quit or throw in the towel. They scored single runs in the sixth and seventh inning. The game could have ended early due to the ten run rule, but Altamont played the entire seven innings so everyone would be able to bat and gain some softball experience. Longhorn No. 8 scored for Altamont in the sixth and then Lizzie Fisher doubled to send home Ashley Mathews with the fourth and final Longhorn run in the seventh. The game was pretty much and most of the innings featured run scoring action. The third 14-- 1. 1990s. Second place teams should be praised for their excellent seasons. Unfortunately everything is first place focused. Ask George Steinbrenner (club owner) if he is proud that his New York Yankees took second place in the 1981 World Series after taking a two game lead and then losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lastly, I say, Go, Utes. You had an outstanding year. the back. The Longhorns were down By Aldon Rachele Roosevelt 1355E.Hwy.40 Vernal Good Through The Month Of April |