BLUE DEVIL DISPATCH 4-14-10
TRACK AND FIELD
Greencastle-Antrim made a statement in the opening dual meet of the season by visiting James Buchanan and the Rockets’ new track. The Blue Devil girls captured a 79-71 victory and the G-A boys notched a 75-75 tie.
A trio of G-A girls fueled the victory with two individual wins each. Katrina Wright won the shot put (36-8) and discus (109-5). Kortney Gipe took the 400 (1:06.0) and the 800 (2:42.0). Ashton Rockwell claimed the 100 hurdles (16.44) and the long jump (15-1). G-A also won the 1600 relay with the team of Gretchen Westley, Gipe, Lauren Durniak and Danae Timmons in 4:29.0 and got individual wins from Timmons in the 200 (28.0), Rachelle Piper in the javelin (107-1) and Nakita Gearhart in the high jump (4-6). Notching place points for the Devils were Timmons, Montana Duty, Durniak, Savanah Fritz, Brooke Kerstetter, Rebecca Florentine, Gearhart, Piper, Rockwell and Halleigh Benner.
The Blue Devil boys won eight of the 18 individual events to 10 for the Rockets, but covered the deficit with two of the three relays. Claiming wins for the Devils were: Jordan Knight, 110 hurdles (17.78); Paul Herman, 800 (2:11.5); Daulton Monn, 3200, 11:30.0; Kevin Castellar, shot put, 38-9 1/2; Ben Leitzel, discus, 115-11; Brandon Trefelner, javelin, 143-0. The 3200 relay team of Trefelner, Vincent Hall, Josh Spoonhour and Jesse Herman opened the meet with the 3200 relay win in 8:42.0 and the 1600 relay team of Aaron Bumbaugh, Greg Boyer, Chris Kinzey and Paul Herman closed it to clinch the tie in a time of 3:31.7. Fueling the effort with place and show points were Alex Yoder, Jacob Statler, Kinzey, Monn, Brandon Thrush, Shaun Frost, Hunter Rawlings, David Spinder, Tyler Coleman, Ian Spencer, Taylor Kirkpatrick, Trentin Dixon and Boyer.
SOFTBALL
The Blue Devil softball team (2-1) had some unfinished business against James Buchanan, but took care of Shippensburg 6-2 in play last week.
G-A’s date with the Rockets was interrupted by rain in the fourth inning with the score tied 1-1. The game will be completed later in the season.
The Devils did get back on the field the next day to take on Shippensburg. The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead in the third, but the Blue Devils rebounded in the bottom of the fourth. Amanda Wink and Diamond Byers set the table with singles for Wendy Wolff, who delivered a basehit to score both runners. It was a lead the Devils would only add to. And it was the long ball that produced the cushion. Carly Mowen hit a solo homer and Mary Ward connected with a two-run homer.
Wolff ended up 3-for-3 on the day, while Ward, Mowen, Wink and Rachel Kline (double) had two hits each. Autumn Appleby earned the win with six strikeouts. Wink provided three innings of one-hit relief.
BASEBALL
G-A (2-1) was headed toward a pair of wins for the week, but had to settle for one and one in waiting. The Blue Devils delivered an 18-12 win over Shippensburg in a slugfest and were leading James Buchanan 7-0 when rain halted play.
Against the Greyhounds the day was for the hitters as cold blustery conditions took their toll on the pitchers. In all nine pitchers took the mound for the day. The Devils led in hits 16-13, topped by Cody Ezolt and Dylan Schaeffer, who each went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs. Ezolt homered and doubled. Schaeffer doubled. Cole Sellers (homerun) and Andrew Zeger had two hits apiece. Eric Schanzenbacher tripled. G-A got stronger as the game drew out with seven runs in the fourth and five more in the sixth.
The JB game, suspended in the fourth inning, will be completed at a later date.
SOCCER
The Blue Devil girls’ soccer team (1-5, 0-4 MPC-Capital) battled hard but couldn’t overcome a trio of opponents last week, dropping games to Middletown, 2-1, Shippensburg, 3-1 and to Boiling Springs, 3-2.
Just when it looked like the Blue Devils would force overtime with Middletown, the Blue Raiders threaded the twine with 15 seconds left in regulation for a 2-1 win. Sharon Juarez knotted the score with 9:07 left in the first half after hustling to the ball and weaving her way across the goal and taking a left-footed shot in the bottom left hand corning right underneath the goalie.
“I once had a coach tell me that you can either win ugly or lose beautifully,” said G-A head coach Greg Cole. “We did neither.
“It was nice to see Sharon Juarez hustle to a loose ball in the corner of the 18, win it, maintain possession back across the 18 and hit a shot.”
Middletown led a slight edge in shots, 16-15. Krista Kelly made 16 saves in goal for the Devils.
G-A battled back from a 2-0 halftime deficit against Shippensburg with a goal from Jen Lehman, but Ship tightened their play and won out 3-1. Ship led in shots, 19-14 and in corner kicks, 5-1. Kelly made 13 saves for G-A. The Greyhounds are unbeaten in divisional play.
Boiling Springs came to Kaley Field Saturday for a divisional game and went home with a narrow 3-2 win. Again the Devils showed a lot of fight. They had to as the Bubblers scored twice before the clock had ticked off two minutes’ worth. The Devils answered with goals from Juarez and Sarah Gipe. Gipe assisted on the initial goal and Heather Sanders was credited with the assist on the second. Boiling won the game with a fortunate shot with 15 minutes left in the game.
Cole said, “The girls were down 2-0 within the first three minutes but they didn’t hang their heads and give in. They battled through and created opportunities. I told them at the half that a measure of a team’s true character is how they react to adversity. This is two games in a row that the score did not fully describe the game.”
G-A trailed by 19-18 in shots on goal and led in corners, 10-4. Kelly made six saves.
In junior varsity action, G-A dropped a game to Middletown 4-1 with Rebecca Norris scoring for the Devils. It was also a 4-1 loss to Shippensburg and then a 7-0 blanking from Boiling Springs.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
VOLLEYBALL
Greencastle-Antrim won 2-0 in eighth-grade play last week. Tabitha Rudy recorded two kills and five assists. The seventh-grade team dropped a 2-0 match with Brooke Zeger and Shelby Stouffer each notching a pair of kills.
