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Show Sentinel Guardian of Your Community News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010 • A13 ALA baseball preview Riley Lewis STAFF WRITER As spring approaches in Spanish Fork, that means one thing; baseball. That is no different for the American Leadership Academy Eagle baseball team. This upcoming season is going to be an exciting one for the ALA Eagles Baseball Team and their first year coaching staff, headed by Coach Cory Hoisington. After finishing 10-11 last year, finishing third in Region 14, the team is confident they can improve under the new leadership. Hoisington plans to be a team that executes and plays hard. "Some of the things that will be key to our success this season will be the attention to the small yet important details, execution, and especially finishing games. The team will be known for our execution, our sportsmanship, and our hard work and hard play. We will have a fairly young team, yet one that is experienced and that will be hard to beat," said Coach Hoisington. They have a few key players that will be seniors, along with some supporting younger players. Some of the players to watch are Tyler Roberts, Jared Reynolds, Kenion Harvey and Second Team All-State pitcher Seth Anderson, just to name a few. There are a number of players to watch that will get even better and be the heart of the teams to come, these players are Sage Anderson, Hunter Morley, Riley Lewis and Kyle Van Winkle along with a few other young players. The team is excited for the season. "We are excited to continue our previous success and build upon the successes of the football and basketball teams. I think we can be a good team," said Seth Anderson. The Eagles will play in Region 10 with Union, Carbon, Wasatch and Park City. Region play will begin Mar. 30, 2010 but the Eagles will open their nonregion season at home on March 8 with North Sanpete at 3 p.m. Barry Da lion / The Sentinel EXTRA MILE: The Dons and Golden Eagles both went the extra mile when they faced off to finish the regular season. Pictured above Maple Mountain's Jace Edmunds tries to block Spanish Fork's Nate Russell. Dons best Golden Eagles in hard-fought contest Jeril Bills STAFF W R I T E R Local rivals Maple Mountain and Spanish Fork faced off for the second time on Friday at Maple Mountain High School in the final game of the boys basketball regular season. While the two teams kept things interesting to the end, as they did in their first meeting, it was Spanish Fork who emerged victorious once again, 52-43. Spanish Fork, with the win, capped off their season at 10-10 overall, and 6-4 in region, tying Payson for third, and qualifying for state. Maple Mountain, meanwhile, finished 0-10 in region and 2-19 overall in a difficult first season. Wednesday's game was senior night for the Golden Eagles, who honored Zach Johnson, Chris Clark, Duncan Graham and Cameron Starr in the last game of their high school careers. The Golden Eagles energized the home crowd in the opening minutes with fiery offensive play, jumping to a 12-4 lead early on, and leading 18-13 at the end of the first quarter. Spanish Fork came back stronger in the second, taking their first lead of the game on a Hayden Nielsen fast-break layup that made it 24-22. But Maple Mountain regained the lead by halftime, 25-24. The Dons came out more determined in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 12-1 run to put them up by 10. Recovering from a Duncan Graham three at the end of the third, Spanish Fork eventually built their lead up to 11 before Graham struck again, nailing two three-pointers to put the Golden Eagles back in the game. Maple Mountain eventually cut the Dons' lead to three with under three minutes remaining, but finally went cold in their frantic attempts to take the lead in the closing minutes, as Spanish Fork held on for the win. Travis Still contributed a game-high 18 points to the Dons' victory, while teammate Ren Williamsen added 11. Duncan Graham led the Golden Eagles with 12 points. Spanish Fork coach Jeff Cook applauded Maple Mountain's effort, especially their first-half shooting, but was less impressed with his own team's performance. While he admitted that it's tough to win a road game anywhere, he wanted to see a more consistent effort from his team. "We've got to put it together the whole game if we're going to have a chance [in the state tournament]," Cook said. Meanwhile, Maple Mountain coach Johnny Averett was pleased with his team's performance. "What a good game that was," said Averett. "We came out finally in the first quarter and started to make some shots, and the crowd was into it, and we fed off of their energy and their excitement." As he looked back on the season, Averett said, 'Tin proud of my guys. I'm proud of my seniors, especially. They kind of know we were laying the foundation for a good program here at Maple Mountain High School, and they have been absolutely first-class ballplayers, and I'm proud of them." The Sentinel ; ! J, \ "Guardian of Your Community .; News" ALL STATE: ALA Pitcher Seth Anderson will be returning to the mound for the Eagles. He was named Second Team All State last year. SAM'S PREP OF THE WEEK Erin Redd • Senior • Basketball • Center Erin Redd is the daughter of Bryan and Annette Redd. The 6'2" senior led the Lady Dons in scoring, averaging over 14 points per game. She and Haileigh Emerine led SF in the heartbreaking loss to Pine View with 10 points each. Redd said despite the disappointing loss, the post had a breakout game. She felt like the Lady Dons had a great season, taking second in region and making state for the first time in four years. "We grew so much as a team," she said. the Oil Change -7877 72 N. Main, Spanish Fork 798-3587 Your source for Sports News Narnon Bills / The Sentinel SPORTS SWING IN FOR GREAT SAVINGS ON EVERYTHING FOR BASEBALL £ SOFTBALL! ALL CLEATS 20% OFF ALL TRACK SPIKES 20% OFF DON'T FORGET, WE ALSO DO UNIFORMS 266 Main Spanish for an appointment or information, |