Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 12, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 23 March 2006 — Page 7

Team gears for second season undo* Davis

By Anthony Godson Editor After one full season as the head coach of the North Wood Panthers, Nick Davis hopes to continue making positive gains in his second season. "The kids know our expectations," Davis said about the team coming in during his, and his staff's, second season at North Wood. "They have worked extra hard in the preseason. Their attitudes, and everything else, is in place to have a good season." From last season's 10-17 team, which went 4-10 in the Northern Lakes Conference, only the graduated Andy Flickinger is missing from the starting line-up. "He led us in hitting, RBIs and just about all of our offensive categories," Davis said of Flickinger. Flickinger may have taken some of the offense with him, but the North Wood pitching staff returns all of its members. "All of our pitching is back, so our defense will definitely be important," Davis said. North Wood fans will see senior Kyle Lehman and juniors Jay Sheets and Adam Mast on the mound. "Our pitching is what we see as our strength," Davis said. When the opposition does get the bat on the ball, many of the

Softball team looks to continue on last year’s improvement

By Anthony Godson Editor Coming off one of North Wood's best regular (10-13) and conference (5-9) seasons, North Wood softball coach Mike Hochstetler is hoping the improvement continues into 2006. "They know how to win now," the coach said about this year's team. "Now, instead of losing their confidence, they are able to stretch a game out and win." While the Panthers try to continue their success, they will be doing so without any returning pitching from a year ago. "Pitching is the question mark right now," Hochstetler said. "It's so young and untested. The girls we do have, have an ability to go with a change-up (pitch), so they have a couple pitches to go with." Last year, Hochstetler relied on Brooke Casteel and Shae-Lynn Hoffer to shut down batters, but with the two now graduated, the third-year coach is looking to others. "The only player with any experience is (senior) Amanda Sumpter, and she only pitched about 12 innings as a sophomore," Hochstetler said. Sumpter may be the only girl with experience, but with her playing first base, Hochstetler will look to sophomores Alyssa Bates and Holly Schutz to handle the pitching duties. Each comes into the varsity season with little experience, but the coach believes they'll be fine. "Alyssa got hurt before her first start last season," Hochstetler said about Bates' freshman season, which was affected by an early season injury. "Holly had starts with the junior varsity last season." If Bates or Schutz do find themselves in trouble, Sumpter, junior Katherine Cripe and senior Lana Hartman could also pitch. "With the work these girls put in during the fall and winter, I'm not really all that concerned," Hochstetler said. With inexperience in the pitching circle, the North Wood infield may be tested, but with an experienced four girls, Hochstetler isn't too concerned. "Our strength is our infield, and the experience there," he said. As Sumpter patrols first base, Hartman will return to shortstop, while senior Rachael Ramer goes back to her familiar third base. "All of the girls have made starts in the past three years," the coach said. The only non-returning starter to the infield may be junior Bethany Ramer, who could be the player to fill in for the graduated Natalie Reinhardt at second base. Once past the infield, the inexperience once again pops up in the outfield, but once again, Hochstetler is happy with who he can put

Winter Sports Awards Basketball BOYS Co-MVPs: Zac Lechlitner and Ryne Lightfoot. Co-Captains: Zac Lechlitner and Ryne Lightfoot. Mental Attitude: Paul Schmucker. Most Improved: Ben Bemiller. Most Improved JV: Aaron McDowell. Most Rebounds: Zach Troyer (114). Free Throw Award: Zac Lechlitner (75/92,82 percent). Assists Leaden Ryne Lightfoot (52). Outstanding Defensive Player Zac Lechlitner. All-NLC: Zac Lechlitner and Ryne Lightfoot. All-NLC Honorable Mention: Zach Troyer. Single Season Scoring Leader Ryne Lightfoot (547). All-Time Leading Scorer Ryne Lightfoot (1,673). GIRLS MVP: Mandy Yoder. Co-Captains: Amanda Bechtel and Mackenzie Lechlitner. Mental Attitude: Jen Kurtz. Most Rebounds: Mandy Yoder (111). Free Throw Award: Mandy Yoder (92/114,80.7 percent). Outstanding Defense: Heather Stutsman. Most Improved: Laura Schiefer. All-NLC: Amanda Bechtel and Mandy Yoder. All-NLC Honorable Mention: Mackenzie Lechlitner. Cheerleading Co-MVPs: Jessica Combs and Chelsea Hahn. Co-Captains: Chelsea Hahn and Amy Zeltwanger. Mental Attitude: Allison Bomtrager. Most Improved: Krista Bontreger. Outstanding Tumbler Award: Whitney Frantz. Outstanding Jumper Award: Jessica Combs. Overall Spirit Award: Whitney Kirkdorffer. 4-Year Cheerleader Awards: Jessica Combs, Chelsea Hahn, Courtney Sheet, Kelsey Sheets and Haley Yoder. Swimming BOYS Swimming MVP: Todd Byrket. Diving MVP: James Woolley. Co-Captains: Todd Byrket and Jarron Lincoln. Mental Attitude: Kenny Beachy. Most Improved: Zach Slabaugh. All-NLC: Todd Byrket. State Qualifier in 50 and 100 Freestyle: Todd Byrket. GfltLS MVP: Asha Holsopple. Co-Captains: Asha Holsopple and Tiffany Lehman. Mental Attitude: Shantel Gamer Most Improved: Tiffany Lehman and Savannah Smith.

North Wood pitchers may also be in the field, when not on the pitcher's mound. On his offdays, Mast will take over first base duties, while Sheets will also be spending some time at second base, along with junior Shawn Yoder. The rest of the North Wood infield will be occupied by senior Brock Armington at shortstop, senior Kiser Chamberlin at third base and sophomore Chase Estepp calling the pitches behind the plate. Only Armington's move at shortstop will be something new this season, as he was patrolling left field last season. "He played this fall up in South Bend, and he played a lot of shortstop there," Davis said about the senior. "I went up and saw him, and he looked pretty good there." In the outfield, Lehman will be covering center field when he's not pitching, while senior Austin Yoder takes right. Davis commented that several players could be used in left field, with sophomore Dustin Bussard currently leading the pack of candidates. With most of the defense returning, and a formidable pitching trio taking the mound, Davis sees North Wood's offensive game being the most intricate. "It comes down to us scoring more runs, and giving the pitch-

ers more room for error," he said. Last season, Davis witnessed too many games end up in defeat after his pitchers did well, but the offense did not. "Our offense was lacking," he said about last year's team. "So far this year, we have put a lot of hard work in, trying to work on that." One way Davis hopes to score more runs, is to use get a bit more aggressive this season. "Being aggressive on the base paths is a mindset we are trying to instill," the coach said. "At the end of last season' it was beginning to sink in, so hopefully it continues into this season." According to Davis, becoming a better team will take all of its components working towards the same goal, not just a few. "Our captains are Kyle Lehman, Brock Armington and Jay Sheets, so those are the three that have the responsibility of being captains," he said. "But we look at it as if all 14 people on the team are equally important." If the team does work together, Davis hopes his team will be geared for a postseason run. "We don't really have a winloss goal," he said. "We really want to focus on playing better ball at the end of the season."

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/A.W. GADSON Retuning letter winners to the North Wood softball team are (front, left to right) Lana Hartman, Bethany Ramer, (back, left to right) Heather Cripe, Rachael Ramer, Amanda Sumpter and Calley Tucker. Not pictured: Alyssa Bates.

out there. "The outfield is inexperienced, but I certainly think we'll be okay," he said. Patrolling the outfield could be junior Amanda Bechtel, seniors Emily Andrews and Heather Cripe, junior Becky Hess or junior Calley Tucker. "Calley Tucker is one of those players, who wherever you put her, you know she'll do what the position asks," Hochstetler said. Behind the plate, North Wood will see junior Ashlae Green catching the pitches, replacing the graduated Anne Hochstetler. "She is the first catcher we've had, who has done nothing else besides catch," Hochstetler said. Once the Panthers defense records its three outs, that's when Hochstetler believes the strongest part of his team will be showcased its offense. "Offensively, this is the best balance we've had since I've been

Sports

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/A.W. GADSON Returning letter winners for the baseball team are (front, left to right) Austin Yoder, Jay Sheets, Brock Armington, Kyle Lehman, (back, left to right) Adam Mast, Chase Estepp, Kiser Chamberlin and Travis Ecklebarger.

2006 ROSTER Seniors: Brock Armington, Kiser Chamberlin. Travis Ecklebarger, Kyle Lehman. Austin Yoder. Juniors: Chase Estepp. Chris Hines. Chris Hoover. Adam Mast, Corey Reinhardt. Jay Sheets, Brady Shively. Shawn Yoder. Sophomore: Dustin Bussard. 2006 SCHEDULE All times at 5:30 p.m.. unless noted. Home games in hold.

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTOA.W. GADSON Winners of the Most Valuable Players award for North Wood winter sports are: Front, left to right; Jessica Combs (Cheerleading); Asha Holsopple (Girts Swimming); David Lopez (Wrestling). Back, left to right; Zac Lechlitner (Boys Basketball); Ryne Lightfoot (Boys Basketbal); Todd Byrket (Boys Swimming); Mandy Yoder (Girls Basketball). Not pictured are Chelsea Hahn (Cheerleading) and James Woolley (Boys Diving).

Wrestling MVP: David Lopez Co-Captains: Kyle Witmer, Trent Klotz and David Lopez. Steve Hazelwood Mental Attitude: Austin Hamsher. Most Pins: Trent Klotz (13). Most Take Downs: David Lopez (64). Most Improved: Ben Etsinger. Iron Man Award: Ryne Gamer, Trent Klotz, David Lopez, George Lopez. All-NLO Trent Klotz. All-NLC Honorable Mention: Ben Etsinger. Sectional Champion: Kyle Witmer (145). Regional Qualifiers: Ben Etsinger, Ryne Gamer, Trent Klotz, David Lopez, George Lopez, Tony Lopez, Chase Teska and Kyle Witmer. Semi-State Qualifier. Kyle Witmer.

Advance News • Thursday, March 23, 2006 •

March 3/25 - South Bend Riley, noon; 3/27 - Westview; 3/28 - Mishawaka Marian; 3/30 - Jimtown. April 4/13 - Fairfield; 4/15 - West Noble, 11 a.m.; 4/17 - Concord; 4/19 - Northridge; 4/21 - Wawasee; 4/22 - Angola (Doubleheader), 10 a.m.; 4/24 - Warsaw; 4/26 - Elkhart Memorial, 5 p.m.; 4/28 - Plymouth; 4/29 - Bremen, 11 a.m.

here," he said. Last season, Hochstetler saw his team leave a lot of base runners on base, but hopes those runners come across the plate a little more frequently this season. "A lot of it is run production," Hochstetler said about what he would like to see this year's team do more of. "This group (of pitchers) will throw strikes. We then need to be able to score more runs, to keep the pressure on the other team." With Hartman returning to her lead-off role, Hochstetler is looking to the Ramer cousins and others to help push the runs across. "Hartman will dictate at the top of the order, and then Bethany Ramer and Rachael Ramer will follow her," Hochstetler said. "They have both shown that they are capable of getting on base, and driving in runs." On the base paths, Hochstetler sees some added speed this year, benefiting the team. "(Sophomore) Briana Yoder and Alyssa Bates add a lot of speed," he said. It is now just a matter of time before Hochstetler sees how the 2006 team will perform, but right now, he's happy with the attitude of the team. "The attitude is just different this year," he said. 2006 ROSTER Seniors: Emily Andrews, Heather Cripe. Lana Hartman. Rachael Ramer, Amanda Sumpter. Juniors: Amanda Bechtel, Katherine Cripe, Ashlae Green, Becky Hess, Bethany Ramer, Calley Tucker. Sophomores: Alyssa Bates, Holly Schutz, Briana Yoder. 2006 SCHEDULE All times are 4:30 p.m., unless noted. Home games in bold. March 3/25 - Lakeland, 1 p.m.; 3/27 - Tippecanoe Valley; 3/28 - Fairfield; 3/30 - Lakeland. April 4/11 - West Noble; 4/12 - LaVille; 4/13 - Bremen; 4/17 - Concord; 4/19 - Northridge; 4/21 - Wawasee; 4/24 - Warsaw; 4/25 - Jimtown; 4/26 - Elkhart Memorial, 5 p.m.; 4/28 - Plymouth. May 5/1 - Goshen; 5/3 - Concord; 5/5 - Northridge; 5/8 - Wawasee; 5/9 - Bethany Christian; 5/10 - Warsaw; 5/12 - Elkhart Memorial, 5 pjn.; 5/15 - Plymouth; 5/17 - Goshen; 5/20 - Triton, 10 a.m.; 5/22 - Sectional. June 6/3 - Regional; 6-10 - State.

May 5/1 - Goshen; 5/3 - Concord; 5/5 - Northridge; 5/8 - Wawasee; 5/9 - Bethany Christian; 5/10 - Warsaw; 5/12 - Elkhart Memorial, 5 p.m.; 5/13 - Mishawaka, 10 a.m.; 5/15 - Plymouth; 5/17 - Goshen; 5/20 • Elkhart Central, 10 a.m.; 5/22 - LaVille; 5/23 - Triton; 5/29 - Sectional. June 6/7 - Regional; 6/10 - Semi-State; 6/17 - State.

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