Bulldog sport round-up
- Published: April 24, 2014
TENNIS
Tennis starts its season 2–4
The Yellow Springs High School varsity co-ed tennis team opened play this season losing against three tough opponents at home before winning two of their last three matches last week.
The highlight from the team’s first week of play was a first singles two-set win by freshman Augie Knemeyer (6–2, 6–4) against a top opponent from league rival Xenia Christian. Last week the team played three more matches, prevailing in two. Yellow Springs took all courts from Spring Valley academy. Knemeyer commanded the first court with a 6–2,6–1 win.
At second singles, Nick Miller-Jacobson finished his opponent off in a three-set match serving up a blazing ace for the finale. Gabe Day dominated with a 6-1,6-2 win at third singles. At doubles, freshman Kasey Linkhart had her first high school win with partner Henry Potts-Rubin.
YSHS fell to Urbana but showed strong play in the match. Both Knemeyer (6–3, 6–0) and first doubles team of Potts-Rubin and Grant Riegelsperger (2–6, 6–2, 6–3) came away with victories.
Tennis standouts to watch
Bulldog tennis players to watch this year are Miller-Jacobson, senior and team captain, who covers singles and doubles courts and Day, sophomore, who keeps his opponents out on the courts for marathon battles, according to Silvert.
Potts-Rubin usually teams with Meredith Rowe at first doubles and the duo looks to compete. Reed Huston, senior, has paired with Kasey Linkhart to cover second doubles. Potts-Rubin and Huston have each taken a shot as singles players as well. Dylan Dietrich, a freshman, stepped up from reserves to play varsity doubles once this week and will certainly play more as the season progresses.
BASEBALL
Baseball wins its home opener
The Yellow Springs Bulldogs baseball team provided an evening of excitement for the many hometown fans that turned out to see them play their first home game last Thursday night. The Bulldogs fought hard the entire game behind the strong pitching of freshman Aakeem Truss, consistent hitting of co-captains Liam Weigand and JT Clark, the flashy outfield play of Fran Gelmi, and the staunch backstop support of Devon Perry.
Truss pitched a complete game in his first high school appearance, allowing only two earned runs while Clark led the way with three hits and two walks in five times at the plate. A rough fifth inning put the Bulldogs behind 9–7 as they attempted to avenge last year’s loss to the Ponitz Panthers.
The Bulldogs were up for the challenge as six hitters safely reached base in the final frame including a phenomenal at bat by Weigand who wasted pitch after pitch, fouling them away until finally earning a walk. Yellow Springs plated the three runs needed to pull out their first win of the season on a walk-off by Thomas Amrhein.
Later in the week, under the lights at Wright State University, YSHS fell to Newton 11–1 in five innings. Weigand scored the Bulldog’s lone run of the evening.
TRACK AND FIELD
Runners reach personal bests
The Yellow Springs High School track and field teams competed at the Washington Court House Invitational last Friday. Against an entire field of Division I and Division II teams, the Bulldogs achieved many personal bests.Winning fifth place in 2000-meter in 8:01 was Levi Brown. Sixth-place finishes went to the 400-meter relay team of Cameron Henderson, Bryce White, Hafiz Mensah and Ed Johnson (47.1 seconds) and the 3200-meter relay squad of Connor Gravely-Novello, Carter Collins, Alex Lugo and Cameron Haught (10:06).
The girls team was led by sophomore Charlotte Walkey and freshman Julie Roberts, who each reached a top finish of third place — Roberts in the 300-meter hurdles in 53.08 and Walkey in the 1600-meter run in 5:47. Coming in seventh place at the meet was the relay team of Walkey, Roberts, Olivia Brintlinger-Conn and Maya Creighton with a time of 4:45.47. And Kennedy Harshaw finished in eighth place in the shot put with a heave of 30´2˝.
Three new McKinney records
On April 17, the McKinney track team hosted its first home meet this season. The Bulldogs had a very strong night. Payden Kegley opened the fireworks in the girls pole vault where she broke Kaliyah Fulton’s 6´10˝ record and set the new mark to a lofty height of 7´6˝.
The boys 4×100-meter relay team (Eli Schell, Clay Looper, Dharma Crocker and Calum Siler) got close to breaking the school record at the last meet in Waynesville. On Thursday, the squad put on outstanding baton exchanges and as a result the new school record is set to 58.79 seconds. In the girls high jump, Brielle Willis tied the over 30-year-old school record from Heather Lamont with a jump of 4´6˝. She also won the long jump with a distance of 13 feet. Josh Williams flew 15´3˝ to win the boys long jump competition.
Samuel Wildenhaus won the 1600-meter race in 5:33.64 and placed third over 800 meters in 2:38.20. The Bulldogs dominated the throwing events. Amani Wagner (64´10˝) and Jasmine Davidson (62´10˝) went one-two in the girls discus. The duo also placed second (Davidson, 30´4.5˝) and third (Wagner 28´7.5˝) in the shot put. James Browning won the boys discus with a toss of 74´10˝. Zach Lugo won the boys pole vault with a jump of six feet.
Both the boys and the girl’s team placed second as a team behind Meadowdale.
SOFTBALL
Girls cream Ponitz 18–5
Sierra Lawrence drove in seven runs and Rachele Orme hit a homerun in the Yellow Springs High School girls softball team’s first victory of the season Friday night, an 18–5 win at Ponitz Career Center. The team improved to 1–2 on the season. Coach Jimmy DeLong was pleased with his team’s all-around play.
Orme, a senior, had a homerun and a triple with three runs batted in for the Bulldogs and Lawrence, also a senior, was a hitting machine as she went 4–4 with seven RBI’s to lead the offense.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early 9–1 lead, stretched it to 11–3 and then put Ponitz away with a seven-run outburst in the fourth inning that was keyed by the Orme homerun.
Meanwhile, Lawrence was nearly unhittable on the mound as she struck out six and scattered two harmless singles in pitching the complete game victory. The hard-throwing Lawrence now has 19 strikeouts on the mound in 11 innings.
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