The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 19, Milford, Kosciusko County, 8 May 1985 — Page 9

Sports

From the Toy Department/ by Chris cauiey

First-year head coach Scott Siler and the Wawasee Warriors are working on a long season with the hope that next year or the year after will also be a long season — but a different kind of long season. The Warriors are 6-15 (1-9 NLC) after dropping an 11-8 decision to North Wood on Monday night. The catch is that the varsity has nine sophomores playing on a regular basis. Only three juniors and three seniors see frequent playing time. So while the Warriors are enduring a “long” season so far this year, the hope is that they’ll have “long” seasons next year and the year after — long as in playing in late June long. That may be in the back of Siler’s mind, but that’s not what he talks about now. In fact, now is what he’s talking about. He’s looking ahead to the Warriors’ nine remaining games: Plymouth, Warsaw, North Side (2), Goshen, Rochester, West Noble, Central Noble and Whitko. “Looking at the nine games we’ve got left, we’ve really got a shot at going into the sectional hot,” Siler said. “We could have a nice winning streak going... I think the possibility is certainly there for us to come away with the sectional. If the bats are there and we can close people down, who knows?” Indeed, the bats have usually been there this season, but the pitching and the defense have at times not been. That’s a reversal of what Siler was figuring on before the season started. The emphasis in the Warriors’ pre-season practices was on pitchers throwing the ball over the plate and on fielders being able to field. “We’ve had breakdowns defensively and we’ve had trouble finding people to get anybody out,” the coach said. Warrior moundsmen have surrendered 100 earned runs in 135 Vs innings for an E.R.A. of 5.16. But 66 errors by the defense have also led to 91 unearned runs. I, Another statistic is revealing: Warrior pitchers have walked 119 batters while striking out only 74, and Wawasee batsmen have drawn only 63 walks whild striking out 120 times. It is a ratio that the team must reverse in order to win. ♦♦♦ ♦ * I, Os course, when the pitcher is giving up a lot of walks and hits, it usually affects the defense aversely. One, when there are runners on base the chances of throwing the ball away or to the wrong base multiply in what might be called the “Pinball Machine” effect. Secondly, when the pitcher is constantly behind in the count 2-and-0,3-and-l, fielders begin getting lazy after the first few innings. They start playing on their heels instead of their toes and sometimes

Lady Warriors tie for 2nd in NLC meet

By CHRIS CAULEY The Wawasee girls’ track team has traditionally saved its best for the last, so it came as no surprise to Coach Barb Brouwer that the Lady Warriors would finish tied for second at Tuesday night’s NLC girls’ 'track meet — even though they could have finished as low as fifth according to the pre-meet seedings. "This has always been our best meet of the whole year,” Brouwer said. “It doesn’t matter what year it’s been, we’ve always peaked for this meet.” Warsaw repeated as- conference champions, running away from the field with a team score of 94 points. Wawasee and Goshen tied for the runner-up spot with 64 points, and Plymouth finished fourth with 53 points. Bremen (46 points), North Wood (34), Concord (30) and Rochester (18) finished fifth through eighth.

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The Warriors finished the spring season with only a 4-3 duel record in the NLC and had run sluggishly in several recent meets. The coaches’ seedings were based on regular season bests of conference athletes. The only Wawasee girl seeded first Tuesday night was Sandy Payne in the 100 meter hurdles, but the team recorded three firsts, and several other girls performed above expectations. “We were only supposed to score, according to the seedings, 47 points during the meet, and we scored 64,” Brouwer said. “So we had some people do some things that they weren’t expected to.” Payne, expected to win the 100 meter hurdles, did just that. Her time of 16 seconds enabled her to edge Andrea Halpin of Warsaw by a tenth of a second in a finish just as close as it sounds. Payne also scored with a third place in the 300 meter hurdles. The Warriors also got a strong 1-2 finish in shot put where Christy Speicher won and Michelle Harter finished second. “The shot putters were seeded second and fourth and we went 1-2,” Brouwer said. “When you can go 1-2 in any event, that tells you you’ve got a lot of strength." Speicher was strong enough to throw the shot an even 36 feet. Ironically, her winning throw came on her first attempt in the trials. It did not match her season best of 37-1 set last Thursday, but it was more than good enough last night. Teammate Michelle Harter, a junior, earned a runner-up finish with her toss of 34-11%, about a foot shy of her personal best (35-10) set against Plymouth two weeks ago. Harter’s best toss Tuesday night, like Speicher’s, came during the trials for the shot put event. Gunn Blazes Another junior, Jeanine Gunn, had a very good night. “Gunn had a great’ night,” Coach Brouwer said. “She was

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Em I ’■« * ■j Jr . START LOOSENING — Warrior baseball coach Scott Siler signals to another Wawasee pitcher to start warming up in the bullpen. With the team earned run average standing at 5.47 after 21 games, this is a gesture Siler has made quite often during the 1985 season.

seeded tied for second in the high jump, and she won the high jump. She was seeded fifth in the long jump and ended up second in the long jump.” Gunn won the high jump in rather dramatic fashion with a leap of five feet, two inches. In doing so, she upset the pre-meet favorite, Tracey Streit of Goshen, who had jumpeeks-5 earlier this season. With the bar at 5-0, Gunn missed on her first two attempts but cleared the bar on her third and final attempt. She then cleared 5-1 on her first try. She appeared to have 5-2 cleared on her first try, but knocked the bar off with her feet on her way down. On her second attempt she hit the bar on the way up, then finally made it over cleanly on her third jump. Gunn also placed second in long jump with a leap of 16-5*4 feet, and both she and Sandy Payne scored in a third event, the 400 meter relay. The Warrior 400 team, which also included Belinda Whitridge and Raeni Rinker, finished fifth in 53 seconds. Wawasee’s other scoring Tuesday night came in three events. The 1600 meter relay team of Kristina Lange, Jeryln Sponseller, Julie Schmahl and Diane Hoover placed fifth in 4:25. And freshman Steffani Jamiel and junior Patty Routson finished fourth in the 400 meter dash and 800 meter run, respectively. “Routson wasn’t seeded in the 800 and Jamiei wasn’t seeded in the 400 and b< a finished fourth, so right there’t eight points that we weren’t supposed to have,” Barb Brouwer said. The Warriors’ second place finish at the conference meet capped what has apparently been a couple weeks of hard work in practice. After a lackluster showing at the East Noble Relays less than two weeks ago, Brouwer was saying that the team needed to buckle down for the stretch run. “They pushed themselves, and

I helped push them, this week,” the coach said. “We went at practice with a little bit different atmosphere. We’ve got some really good individual results from the meet tonight, and I think part of that is practicing harder during the week. I think another part has to do with the atmosphere of the conference meet in that it’s now or never, and they know that.” NLC GIRLS'TRACK Tuesday, May 7 At Warsaw TEAM RESULTS I.Warsaw (W) 94, 2.tie: Wawasee (WA) and Goshen (G) 64, 4.Plymouth (P) 53, 5. Bremen (B) 46, 6.NorthWood (N) 34, 7.Con cord (C) 30, B.Rochester (R) 18

Baseball team loses to North Wood

The Wawasee baseball team dropped an 11-8 verdict to the visiting North Wood Panthers Monday afternoon, the Warriors’ ninth loss in 10 conference games. The Warriors pounded out 14 hits in the contest, including home runs by Dave Kistler and Bill Hutchinson, but North Wood pitcher Scott Birk (1-0) somehow survived to go the full seven innings. He struck out two and walked none. Todd Roberts (2-6) took the loss for Wawasee. North Wood scored in all but two innings, highlighted by a four-run fifth. Scott Warren doubled twice and homered for the visitors, and teammate Todd Cleveland singled, doubled and homered to drive in three runs. The Warriors were led by Dave Kistler, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBl’s. Tracy Ryman, Bill Hutchinson, Todd Roberts and Chris Yoder all banged out two safeties in four plate appearances. Kistler’s home run came in the first inning and was hit to leftcenter field. Panther outfielder Shannon Murphy collided hard with the outfield fence trying to make the catch and was hurt on the play. He left the game and

miss balls they would ordinarily catch. The pitcher who throws strikes is doing himself a favor in more ways than one. “Defensively, we haven’t really had one weak spot,” Siler said. “Everybody has made errors at one time or another. One game we had eight errors, and I think eight different people made them. That’s unusual.” So is having a pitching staff on which six of the top seven leaders in innings pitched are sophomores. Sophomores Todd Roberts and Kent Enyeart have emerged as the 1-2 pitchers in the starting rotation, and classmates Kevin Parker, Erik Sharp and Nathan Rhoades have looked promising at times in relief roles. The only senior in the bunch is Rob Jewson, who is also the only lefthander on the staff. All those young pitchers could improve as they gain more size and strength and more experience. “Most of them, I think, are really struggling to find another pitch that they can count on besides their fastball,” Siler said. “For the most part, we’ve got people who have at least a decent first pitch, but not much to back it up with. “They’ve been working on it,” the coach added, “but it’s tough to work on something like that in a game situation, especially when you’ve got some pretty good hitters up there at the plate. You want to come in with your best all the time and pretty soon those guys start laying for it.” ***** The flip side, or bright side, to Wawasee’s season to date would be the offense. The Warriors’ team batting average is .282 and their 163 hits include 15 home runs, including four each by sophomore Chris Yoder and junior Dave Kistler. “Offensively, we’ve surpassed what I thought we’d do,” Scott Siler said. “The way we’re hitting the ball is encouraging. Especially the power we’ve shown. I can’t believe we’ve hit 15 home runs in 21 ballgames.” Kistler, the Warriors’ shortstop, leads in several offensive categories, including hits (26), runs (24) and batting average (.400). He is also second in runs batted in with 17. Senior catcher-designated hitter Tracy Ryman leads in the RBI category with 19 and is second in hits (25) and batting average (.379). Second baseman Chris Yoder is hitting .308 with 12 RBl’s, 20 hits and 15 runs scored, and junior third sacker Bill Hutchinson overcame a terrible start to raise his average to .328 with three homers and 10 RBl’s. Rob Jewson is hitting .277 with 19 hits. Another offensive and defensive leader has been sophomore cat-

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS DISCUS — I.Jackie Conley (C) 111 8, 2.Deb Law (P) 107, 3.Karen Oberly (B) 102 2. 4.Karen Ankney (G> 100 9 100 HURDLES — I.Sandy Payne (WA) 16.0, 2.Andrea Halpin (W) 16.1, 3.Karen Kadlec (P) 16.7, 4.Sharon Monhaut (B) 16.8. HIGH JUMP -l. Jeanine Gunn (WA) 52, 2.Tracey Streit (G) 5 1,3. Shawn Whittern (G) 5 1,4. Dawn Ritchie (W) 5 0, s.Melissa Sand (W) 5 0. 100 DASH — I.Jennifer Barrett (C) 12.9, 2 Carla Weaver (G) 13 0,3. Carrie Luttman (B) 13.1, 4.Kerry Sundheimer (W) 13.3. 1600 RUN — Lori Hill (R) 5:28.4, 2 Kim Gentry (G) 5:36.3, 3.Laralee Bair (W) 5:42.6, 4. Krista Ross (W) 5:43.4. 400 RELAY — I.Warsaw 52.0, 2.Goshen 52.2, 3.Bremen 52.3, 4 Plymouth 52.3, 5. Wawasee 53.0 (Belinda Whitridge, Raeni Rinker, Sandy Payne, Jeanine Gunn), 6.Con cord 53.0. LONG JUMP— 1 Melissa Sand (W) 16 9%,

was taken to a hospital in Nappannee. Wawasee added a third inning run on a double by Kistler and Tracy Ryman’s RBI single, and singles by Rob Jewson, Todd Roberts and. Kevin Parker, plus a sacrifice fly by Billy Signorelli and doubles by Chris Yoder and Kistler enabled the Warriors to tally four times in the fourth. Bill Hutchinson belted a solo home run to left field in the fifth

Netters snap losing streak

The Wawasee Lady Warrior tennis team snapped a losing streak that had reached nine matches with a 4-1 victory over Central Noble Tuesday afternoon. The win leaves the Warriors with an overall record of 3-9< Wawasee’s JVs also won, 5-2, to make their record 3-9. At No. 1 singles, Jennifer Tuttle won over Susan Coe of Central Noble, 6-1, 6-2, for her fourth win of the season in 12 matches. At the second singles slot, junior Kelly Rensberger evened her season record at 6-6 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Chris Gappinger.

2.Jeanine Gunn (WA) 16-5%, 3.Carrie Luttman (B) 16 2%, 4.Jennifer Barrett (C) 15'9%. 400 DASH — I.Chris Kowalski (P) 1:00.5, 2.Becky Morin (N) 1:01.1, 3.Chris Potts (W) 1:01.3, 4.Steffani Jamiel (WA) 1:02.7. SHOT PUT — I.Christy Speicher (WA) 36 0,2. Michelle Harter (WAX 34 11%, 3.Snawn Whittern (G) 331%, 4.Lisa Lackey (W) 32 9' 2. 300 HURDLES — I.Andrea Halpin (W) 47.3, 2.Tonya May (W) 47.5, 3.Sandy Payne (WA) 48.7, 4.Sharon Monhaut (B) 49.4. 800 RUN — I.Angie Whetstone (N) 2:24.3, 2 Lori Hill (R) 2:25.7, 3.Kris Dragani (P) 2:28.5, 4.Patty Routson (WA) 2:28.8. 200 DASH — I.Carrie Trocchio (N) 26.8. 2.Carla Weaver (G) 26.9, 3.Cheryl Sperry (P) 27.6, 4.Tonya May (W) 27.7. 1600 RELAY — I.Warsaw 4:13.7, 2.Bremen 4:14.5, .3 Plymouth 4:16.8, 4.Goshen 4:20.3, s.Wawasee 4:25.0 (Kristina Lange, Jeryln Sponseller, Julie Schmahl, Dianne Hoover).

for another run, and the Warriors’ final run came in the sixth inning on a single and stolen base by Yoder and a single by Hutchinson. The Warriors lost at Concord last Friday, 5-2, on a four-hitter by Concord’s Chad Malcolm. The Wawasee hits were a double by Bill Hutchinson and singles by Rob Jewson, Kevin Parker and Scott Baker. Concord’s attack included home runs by Steve Papandrea and Tim Mast.

And Lisa Hunter, the only senior on the Wawasee team, earned her second victory of the season, 6-0, 6-1 over Tosha Wiener of Central Noble. The Warriors’ only defeat came at No. 1 doubles where Christie Carmichael’and Shawn Anderson dropped a 5-7, 6-3, 1-6 decision to Susan Mullins and Tina Edward of the Cougars. At 2 doubles, it was Lisa Noble and Christi Weaver of Wawasee defeating Kim Moorehouse and Susan Elliott, 6-3, 6-1.

Hr mBL/V fit f F ’ Mc Jf a ll m w I1 *" -WM W** V | > » Bk WBBIMBBoBBBBBRKikiBBMB m SIXTH GRADE TROJANS —Pictured is the sixth grade boys’ track team at Milford. Kneeling in front, from left, are John Free. Hector Roa. Matt Haab. Keith Bice. Spencer Martin and Clay Rassi. Standing, left to right, are Shawn Krull. Brian Bowser. Tim Schwartz. Rob Clingaman. Shane Blackburn and Coach Ron Carmichael. Brian Schwab was not present for the picture. (Mail-Journal photo)

Wed., May 8,1885 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

cher Scott Baker, who is hitting .288. Unfortunately, Baker fell down some stairs at home early Sunday morning and hurt his back. “He’s out indefinitely,” Siler said. The coach added that Baker is one of the players who has shown a lot of improvement during the season. “I can see almost game by game how he’s gaining in confidence and leadership,” Siler observed. “I’m looking forward to having him back there behind the plate. He’s doing just a whale of a job.” WAWASEE STAT LEADERSS After 21 games <*-ls> BATTING At-Bats — Rob Jewson 70, Tracy Ryman 66, Dave Kistler 65, Chris Yoder 65, Bill Hutchinson 61, Scott Baker 52, Billy Signorelli 45, Todd Roberts 44, Erik Sharp 33, Kevin Parker 17, Chris Cotton 14, Travis Reiff 13, Ben Beer 12. Team: 576. Runs — Kistler 24, Yoder 15, Jewson 15, Hutchinson 12, Signorelli 11, Sharp 9, Ryman 9, Roberts 6, Baker 5. Team: 110. Hits — Kistler 26, Ryman 25, Hutchinson 20, Yoder 20, Jewson 19, Baker 15, Roberts 11, Signorelli 9, Sharp 5. Team: 163. Batting Average — Kistler .400, Ryman .379, Hutchinson .328, Yoder .308, Baker .288, Jewson .277, Roberts .250, Signorelli .200. Team: .282. Doubles — Ryman 7, Hutchinson 5, Yoder 4, Kistler 3. Baker 2, Jewson 2, Roberts 2. Team: 28. Triples — Kistler 1, Hutchinson 1. Team: 2. Home Runs — Kistler 4, Yoder 4, Hutchinson 3, Ryman 2, Sharp 1, Signorelli 1. Team: 15. Runs Batted In — Ryman 19, Kistler 17, Yoder 12, Hutchinson 10, Sharp 6, Jewsc&,4, Signorelli*3, Roberts 3. Team: 82. Strikeouts — Hutchinson 15, Yoder 13, Sharp 13, Kistler 13, Jewson 10, Signorelli 10, Ryman 7, Parker 6, Cotton 6, Baker 6, Enyeart 5, Roberts 5. Team: 120. Bases On Balls — Signorelli 16, Kistler 12, Jewson 6, Yoder 6, Hutchinson 5. Team: 63. Stolen Bases-Stolen Base Attempts — Kistler 16-16, Yoder 9-10, Signorelli 6-7, Ryman 4-4, Sharp 2-2. Team: 40-48. Sacrifices — Tie, two each (Baker, Cotton, Enyeart, Jewson, Signorelli). Team: 11. PITCHING Innings Pitched — Todd Roberts 43%, Kent Enyeart Rob Jewson 22Vs, Kevin Parker 11, Erik Sharp BV3, Ben Beer 7, Nathan Rhoades 5Vi, Dave Kistler 3M>. Team: 135 Vi. Won-Lost — Roberts 2-6, Jewson 2-2, Enyeart 2-3, Beer 0-3, Parker 0-1. Team: 6-15. Hits — Roberts 48, Enyeart 39, Jewson 36, Parker 17, Sharp 14. Team: 175. Runs-Earned Runs — Roberts 46-28, Enyeart 42-15, Jewson 33-21, Parker 26 12, Sharp 14-7, Beer 13-10. Team: 191-100. | . Earned Run Average — Rhoades 1.31, Sharp 5.88, Roberts 4.49, Jewson 6.58, Enyeart 3.12, Beer 10.01, Parker 7.63, Kistler 6.30. Team: 5.16. Strikeouts — Roberts 19, Jewson 18, Enyeart 16, Rhoades 6, Sharp 5, Parker 5, Beer 4. Teem: 74. Bases On Balls — Roberts 42, Enyeart 26, Jewson 15, Beer 14, Parker 7. Team: 119. DEFENSE Assists — Kistler 56, Hutchinson 37, Yoder 28, Baker 13, Roberts 12, Jewson 7, Sharp 7. Team: 176. Putouts — Jewson 88, Baker 62, Yoder 45, Roberts 35, Kistler 35, Signorelli 30, Hutchinson 22, Ryman 17, Sharp 15, Cotton 12. Team: 385. Errors — Kistler 11, Hutchinson 7, Sharp 7, Jewson 6, Baker 5, Roberts 5, Yoder 5, Roberts 5, Parker 5, Enyeart 4, Signorelli 4, Cotton 4, Rhoades 3, Reiff 3. Team: 66.

' MF* : ' NLC CHAMP — Wawasee senior Christy Speicher shows the form that enabled her to win the Northern Lakes Conference championship in shot put Tuesday night at Warsaw. Speicher’s first place put was 36 feet. Teammate Michelle Harter finished second in the same event with a toss of 34-11%. As a team, the Warriors tied for second place with Goshen. Warsaw won the team championship with 94 points. (Photo by Chris Cauley)

Girls' bosketball camp signup

A reminder that applications may be picked up at the North Webster, Syracuse? and Milford schools for the upcoming Wawasee Girls’ Basketball Camp. The camp will run from Mon-

day, May 20 through Saturday, June 1. Present fifth and sixth grade girls will have their camp practices from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and girls presently in grades 7-8 will practice from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Cost of the camp is S2O.

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