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Show The Emery County Review, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 B1 SPORTS Softball team splits last two regular season games Josie Luke Without their usual offensive production, the Emery Spartans softball team split their last two regular season games last week, beating North Sanpete 3-0 on April 29, and losing a close game to Carbon 5-4 on May 1. Emery began the game against the Hawks well defensively in the first inning with two solid defensive plays and a strikeout by pitcher Leslee Lake to send the first three North Sanpete batters back to their dugout. The Spartans then faced only four batters in the second inning and three batters in the third, only allowing four base runners in the game, while Lake struck out seven more opponents. Continued solid defense and pitching brought Emery the 3-0 win. Coach Beau Stoker summed it up saying, “Leslee Lake was pretty much flawless at North Sanpete, and our defense played great. Our offense battled some tough conditions and ground out the win.” The Spartans managed seven hits in the game, with Candace Norton and Jalee Jensen each connecting twice, and Chelsea Skinner, Lake and Whitney Allen each connecting once. Allen hit an RBI double in the third inning to score Skinner and Lake, and Lake’s hit was an RBI single in the fifth inning, which brought in Adrienne Weihing. Softball team seniors Jalee Jensen, Bailey Kay, Chelsea Skinner, Leslee Lake and Whitney Allen. Emery’s game against Carbon looked like it would end in another win for the Spartans, with Emery playing all of their seniors, leading the Dinos by three after the third inning, but Carbon didn’t quit. They scored one run in the fourth inning and then opened up the game in the fifth. After a leadoff walk, two Dino batters reached base on errors by the Spartans, scoring the first run for Carbon. Then with those two runners on base, Carbon’s pitcher pounded a three-run homer over the left-center field fence to put the Dinos in front of the Spartans 5-3. Lake whacked a home run of her own in the seventh, but Emery fell to Carbon 5-4. “Things didn’t go our way against Carbon, but that’s going to happen. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and move on,” Coach Stoker said. One issue for the Spartans in the game against Carbon was stranded runners. The Spartans had 11 hits in the game, and only scored four runs. Another was that two of the runners who scored on the Carbon home run reached base on Emery errors. Although Carbon won Photos by Josie Luke Leslee Lake is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run in the sixth against Carbon. the game, Emery’s strong effort this season cannot be discounted. With Lake consistently providing brilliant pitching and great hitting by the team, Emery ended the regular season with the best record they have ever had. “I would have laughed at anyone who told me we’d finish the season at 17-5. The girls deserve all the credit in the world. They reached the goals I set before the season, and I think we surpassed almost everybody’s expectations. They were receptive to our coaching staff, and they worked hard every day. I couldn’t be happier with their effort,” concluded Stoker. The team begins the state tournament on Saturday. Spartans lose one, win one in doubleheader against North Sanpete Josie Luke In what was to be their last week of the regular season, the Emery baseball team won one game, 5-1, and lost one game, 10-8, in a doubleheader against North Sanpete on April 29. Their final game scheduled for May 1 against Carbon was postponed until May 5. The Spartans first game against North Sanpete was low scoring. Emery didn’t allow the Hawks to score in the first three innings, and after conceding one in the fourth, they held their opponents scoreless for the final three. One double, one single, a batter reaching base on an error and a batter hit by a pitch, comprised the Hawk’s total offense. The Emery offense was much more effective in the game. The Spartans scored one run at a time, getting one run in each of the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Ryne Jones scored in the first on an RBI double by Blake Mortensen to start the scoring for the Spartans. Colby Snow scored in the second inning after hitting a triple. Gatlan Huntington gave the Spartans their third run in the sixth on a single by Jason Giles. The fourth run came when Snow scored on a sacrifice bunt by Derrick Allred after Snow hit his second triple of the game. In the seventh inning, Huntington scored the Spartans final run, coming home on Mortensen’s second RBI of the game. The second game of the doubleheader featured more scoring from both teams. North Sanpete jumped on Emery in the first inning. The Hawk’s first batter pounded a double to right field, the second batter connected for a single, and then the fourth batter slammed a home run to bring North Sanpete a 3-0 lead. The Hawks scored another run in the second, before Bret Mecham and Tayler Tanner scored the Spartan’s first two runs in the bottom of the second inning. North Sanpete then scored one run in the third and two more in the fourth to bring the score to 7-2 and 10-2 after the top of the fifth. Emery rallied. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Skyler Jorgensen drew a walk and then scored on a triple by Huntington, who also scored in the inning. Nevin Jensen smashed a home run with two outs in the sixth inning, rattling the Hawks pitcher who walked the next two Emery bat- ters, and then gave up the second homer of the inning to Jordan Gee, to bring the Spartans within two runs. But, with the North Sanpete pitcher striking out nine Emery batters in the game, the Spartans couldn’t come all the way back, losing 10-8. Depending on the outcome of the game against Carbon, Emery will either play Judge Memorial or Bear River to begin the state tournament in Vernal on May 10. County Days Track Meet Nearly 250 students from Canyon View and San Rafael junior high schools competed in the County Days Track Meet, their final track event of the year, at Emery High on May 2.The annual County Days meet gives athletes the opportunity to face opponents of the same grade level in the typical events along with the 300-meter hurdles, 4x400 relay and the shuttle relay. Results: 7th grade girls, Canyon View won 256-167; 7th grade boys, San Rafael won 239-219; 8th grade girls, Canyon View won 240214; 8th grade boys, Canyon View won 255-216; 9th grade girls, Canyon View won 248-180; and 9th grade boys, Canyon View won 282-158. Photos by Josie Luke |
