News-PressSPORTS 17-Sports-Color
The News-Press 17 April 24, 2014
Jaguars handle Huskies in league affair
LEFT: Rock Canyon senior Alex Sundberg hammers home the Jaguarsâ third and final goal of the day April 17 at Shea Stadium against rival Douglas County as Rock Canyon wins the Continental League battle, 3-0. RIGHT: Douglas Countyâs Kate Leachman wins the battle for the ball against Rock Canyon defender Emily Postma April 17 in the first half of the contest. Photos by Ryan Boldrey
Rock Canyon tops Douglas County 3-0, wins third straight By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@coloradocommunitymedia.com Ask Rock Canyon head coach Matt Henbest how his team has responded to its recent setback to No. 1 Mountain Vista, and he will tell you itâs taken a couple games to bounce back, but he feels his team is in a good place for the stretch run. The No. 2-ranked Jaguars (9-1, 6-1
Continental) won a pair of 1-0 games against Littleton and ThunderRidge after the loss to the Golden Eagles and went into the half leading by the same count against Douglas County on April 17. Thatâs when Henbest let his team know that it was time to step it up, start being crisper with their passes and be more aggressive. The result was a resounding 3-0 win over the visiting Huskies (7-4-1, 4-3-1). âI was not very happy with the way they played at all in the first half so I kind of expressed that to them,â he said. âThey answered the call. ⌠That last half we put together was actually very good and weâll use that as kind of a spring board into the rest of the season and hopefully be ready
for the playoffs.â After a lifeless first half that had both coaches disappointed in the effort at the break, Rock Canyon came out firing. Junior forward Rebecca Pousma laced a laser past Douglas County keeper Seanna Parker from just inside the top of the penalty box just 2 minutes, 46 seconds into the half for a 2-0 lead. The Huskies had their best scoring opportunity of the game roughly 10 minutes later, but with goaltender Julia Henning sprawling on the ground out of position and two Huskies converging on a loose ball at the goal line, sophomore defender Emily Sattem raced in and cleared the ball off the goal line, preserving the 2-0 lead.
Senior Alex Sundberg then fielded a lengthy pass from Rachel Reinhardt up the left side of the field, got behind the Douglas defense, and shot one across Parker into the opposite corner of the net with 15:19 to go for her first tally of the season. Also scoring for Rock Canyon was sophomore Dakota Wendell, who got things started for the Jaguars with her third goal of spring with 5:16 left in the first half. âI think it really started our whole attack,â Wendell said. âBefore we were a little passive and then that started to get our fire going.â Soccer continues on Page 23
Sabercats upend Huskies on diamond Castle View gets best of crosstown rival for first time in three years By Jim Benton
jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com Castle View came up with big hits and Douglas County struggled with little things during this yearâs âBattle for the Rock.â The Sabercats scored six runs in the fifth inning to beat their crosstown rival Douglas County, 9-5, April 18 in a Continental League baseball game played at Castle View. Castle View, which had runners in scoring position in every inning but one, had 12 hits with five coming in the fifth inning when the Sabercats rallied from a 5-3 deficit against the Huskies â who committed four errors in the game. âIt seemed like it was a matter of time before we would break through,â said Castle View coach Shawn Wyss. âWe have too good of a hitting ball club to miss out on that.â Starting and winning pitcher Ben Dalke drove home two of Castle Viewâs three runs in the third inning and then started the fifth inning with a leadoff double. Trevor Smeeton had a two-run double, Tyler Eickstaedt belted a two-run homer and Kaleb Geiger delivered a run-scoring single in the decisive fifth inning uprising. âWe got some big hits from kids that have been getting big hits for us,â said Wyss. âI couldnât be more proud of Tyler and Trevor getting those big hits and Kaleb Geiger has been on fire the last week or so. Itâs good that we have multiple kids doing their job.â
Smeeton, who went 3-for-4, is hitting .340 this season and Geiger, a standout football player and wrestler for Castle View, swelled his average to .419 after going 9-for-14 in the past four games. âHe plays the game like he wrestles, like he plays football, he just attacks it,â Wyss said of Geiger. âHeâs just a phenomenal athlete. Wrestling, football and baseball, we got a lot of mileage out of that kid.â Besides his two doubles, Dalke pitched seven innings. He was touched for nine hits but allowed only four earned runs and collected both his strikeouts in the seventh inning. âIn the last week heâs hit three home runs,â said Wyss, referring to Dalke who leads the team with four homers. âHeâs been on fire. He pitched a great ballgame that he lost 3-2 to Mountain Vista. He did just enough against Douglas County to overcome some things and we helped him out. It was a good team victory for us.â Dalke benefitted from the teamâs fifth inning rally, which he ignited with his double. âIt was big rally,â he said. âThatâs usually what we want to do, take out the double play, get a double. It was pretty big win. Iâve been on varsity since my sophomore year and we lost my sophomore and junior years to Douglas County so itâs big to win my senior year. It was good for the wildcard standings to get into the playoffs.â JP Rubino and Austin Pitchford each had two hits to pace Douglas County, while both Pitchford and starting pitcher Brett Minnick each smacked solo home runs. Minnick struck out seven batters and allowed 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Four of the eight runs off him were unearned. âWe didnât take care of the little things,â
Castle Viewâs Trevor Smeeton dives back into first base ahead of the throw to Douglas Countyâs Brandon French (34). Photo by Jim Benton said Huskies coach Mark Roberts. âWe have a saying that if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. The little things domino and the next thing you know your pitcher is getting his pitch count up. Itâs a game of little things. Itâs a game of mistakes. We try to minimize them and sometimes you do a better job than others. âThe wheels kind of fell off in the fifth. Give them credit, they kept fighting. Little things kept adding up and the next thing I know Brettâs pitch count is up around 100 and I canât leave him out there.â
Castle View (7-6, 4-2 Continental League) was 19th in the April 17 wildcard point standings, which help determine the state playoff field and seeds. The Sabercats played at Rock Canyon April 21 and at Legend April 23. Chaparral visits Castle View for a game April 25. âDouglas County was a big game for us,â said Wyss. âIt was nice to finish a week 3-0. Next week is going to be equally as big.â The Huskies (6-8, 1-5) entertained Ponderosa April 21, traveled to Littleton April 23 and will host Mountain Vista April 25.