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Show Monday, April 5, 2010 Page 9 MondayS110 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com s Softball sweeps Friday doubleheader vs. Nevada By LANDON HEMSLEY sports senior writer SENIOR PITCHER KATE GREENOUGH winds up for a pitch during a game last season. Greenough picked up two wins during Friday's doubleheader against the University of Nevada. PATRICK ODEN photo USU softball batted down the Nevada Wolf Pack and swept out a doubleheader Friday afternoon to open up its home schedule on the good end of 12-4, 11-7 scores. With these wins, the Aggies improve to 14-15 on the season. These wins are especially sweet considering the pounding USU took at the hands of UVU three days prior. Head coach Carissa Millsap-Kabala said she was very pleased with the pair of wins. "We finally played like the Aggies I've seen the whole entire time," Millsap-Kabala said. "We're starting to get that calmness that we had when we played Washington, and that was nice to see." Aggie catcher Shasta Tyteca said the team has really grown a sense of belief recently and that it showed in the weekend wins. "We have confidence in ourselves," she said. "You have to believe in yourself and that's what we're doing, stepping up and producing. We're keeping it simple and sticking to fundamentals, and it's showing on the field." The first game didn't start so well for USU. Kate Greenough, the senior pitcher, got the first out in the top of the first inning, but then allowed three straight singles, and Nevada took advantage to go ahead, 1-0. Just as she did earlier in the week against UVU, Greenough made the adjustments and didn't allow another run until the fourth inning. Millsap-Kabala was complimentary of her senior pitcher. "She's our senior leader on the mound," MillsapKabala said. "We look to her to open up the gaps and close the gaps as well, both on the mound and as a leader on the team." Meanwhile, the USU bats began the arduous process of regaining the lead, which they did in resounding fashion in the third inning of the first game. Nevada got the first out on a pop-fly, and then allowed six Aggies to reach base on a combination of errors, base hits and hitby-pitches. USU took the lead when Kali Kaneshiro scored off an Emily Reilly single into I See SOFTBALL, page 11 Athletes help business school, give back to community By CONNOR JONES sports editor While the snow fell Friday night, people hid under their hoods, rushing from building to building, trying to hide from the cold wind that found them anyway. But inside the Nelson Fieldhouse, they saw something else, a warmth, not only from the furnace that kept spring's winter storm out, but from the hearts of Aggie athletes and the smiles of elementary school children from across Cache Valley. Twenty-eight athletes from volleyball, soccer, hockey, men's and women's basketball, gymnastics and football took their Friday night free time to coach and mentor 36 children as part of the Future Aggie Athletic Benefit Clinic and Dinner to benefit the SEED program. The SEED (Small Enterprise Education and Development) program, part of the Huntsman School of Business, works to "provide Utah State students with a hands-on, once-in-a-life time learning experience while simultaneously educating people in developing economies in new business creation and development skills." "What we wanted to accomplish with this event was to get these elementary school kids excited about coming here in the future," said Chelsea Fowles, junior liberal arts major and three-year starter for the Aggie women's volleyball team. "We wanted them to be able to interact with the athletes and learn a little bit about each sport. We know that the kids in the valley love Aggie athletics, and we thought this would be a great event for everyone involved." There were six stations set up across the floor of the Fieldhouse, one for each sport. The 36 kids were split into six groups and rotated between stations. Almost the entire women's volleyball team showed up to support their teammate and play with the kids. Christine Morrill, Whitney Mendivil, Katie Astle, Shay Sorensen, Josselyn White, Shantell Durrant, Laurel Bodily and BASKETBALL FRESHMAN PRESTON MEDLIN signs the shirt of one of the participants during Friday's Future Aggie Athletic Benefit Clinic and Dinner. Medlin was one of 28 athletes to participate in the event to benefit the Small Enterprise Education and Development program. CONNOR JONES photo Danielle Taylor showed the excited youngsters, ranging from 5 to 12, how to bump, set and spike. Jason Moore and Dave Wyman showed the kids how to hold a stick and shoot, for the men's club hockey team. Senior safety James Brindley and star running back Robert Turbin played two-hand-touch with the kids, as well as taught them how to throw and catch a football. TJ Goddard, from the women's basketball team, joined up with players from the men's team — Jaxon Myaer, Preston Medlin and Tyrone White — to work on dribbling and shooting with the kids. "Lots of the kids were so We always enjoy it," Brindley small all we could really work said. "They come out to our with them on was dunking," games so this is something we White said. "We'd just life them can do to give back to them." Brindley's teammate Turbin up there and let them go at it." Heather Pond, Stefani agreed, saying, "To them we're Shiozaki, Marissa Shanchez just big guys that they idolize, and Natalie Norris from the and I remember being in that women's soccer team worked same position. It would have on headers and proper kicking been amazing for me to be able form. to hang out with players from CAL, where I grew up, when I The kids worked on cartwheels, handstands and back was young. Just being able to rolls with Heather Heinrich, see the smile on their face when Jackie Dillon, Rebecca they hang out with us is a lot of Holliday, Erica Huelsmann, fun for me." Diana Karavida, and Amanda Madison Olsen, a fifth grader from Wilson Elementry, Watamaniuk. "Anytime we get to work said her favorite part of the day with the kids and give back to was hanging out with all of the the community is a great time. players. When asked which sta- tion was her favorite, she said, "That's hard, they're all so fun!" Olsen wasn't the only one who had a good time. Freshman forward Tyrone White said, "I think it's more fun for us to interact with the kids and see that they're having a good time than it is for them interacting with us." As there will be with any group of kids, there were some accidents: balls hitting kids in the face, kids falling over or, in one girl's case, getting tripped. "Jaxon went to go give this kid a high five and on his way back he tripped this girl," Medlin said. "She fell over and just started crying." Myaer said, "She was bawl- ing, and I didn't know what to do. I felt so bad. I'm so glad her dad was there so he could chill her out because I had no clue what to do." Fowles said overall it was a great experience for everyone involved and she hopes to be able to do something similar in the future. "Their (the kids') eyes light up when you teach them something," Fowles said. "They get so excited. They think you're the queen of the world, and they're just so cute and excited about everything. I'm so happy this turned out well and look forward to doing something like it again soon." — c.h.j@aggiemagusu.edu |