WHITMAN, WOOTTON PLAYERS EARN TOP HONORS ON ALL-GAZETTE TENNIS TEAMS, B-3
SPORTS
GAMES ON GAZETTE.NET
Posted online by 8 a.m. the following day. Schedules subject to change. BIG 33 FOOTBALL: Maryland at Pennsylvania, 7:06 p.m. Saturday Gaithersburg’s Solomon Vault among the all-stars traveling to Hershey, Pa.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Gaithersburg vs. Whitman, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday BASEBALL: Gaithersburg Post 295 vs. Mount Airy, 6 p.m. Thursday
OLNEY | SANDY SPRING
www.gazette.net | Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | Page B-1
RM grad rewriting Hood’s record books
“We’re doing the whole build from the bottom up, as far as making sure everybody understands what’s going on and then getting everybody on the same page... What you did in the past is in the past and you’re going to earn your spots ... There are no incumbents.” Eddie Tolliver, Wootton coach
Softball: Fourcade has broken two program records, top 10 in many categories
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BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Patriots new football coach, Ed Tolliver, talks to his team during half time at the Wootton vs Seneca Valley 7-on-7 passing league game at Seneca Valley on Thursday June 5, 2014.
Wootton regroups with new coach Football: Patriots show progress in summer league losses n
BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
The Thomas S. Wootton High School football team had its fair share of miscues in Thursday’s 7-on-7 summer passing league competition, as is to be expected from a young group more than six months removed from its last live action, playing under a new coaching staff. But as the games progressed, so did the Patriots, who showed flashes of what they hope to become by summer’s end in losses to Seneca Valley and Quince Orchard. “The execution was better,” said Wootton coach Eddie Tolliver, who was hired in March. “As a coach you always want it to be perfect, but it’s never perfect. You strive for perfection. I guess [today was] the good and the bad together.” Jaron Woodyard, a transfer from Watkins Mill, was one of Wootton’s top performers; against Quince Orchard, the speedy junior had an interception and caught a long touchdown pass from senior quarterback Sam Ellis. “We got a lot of young guys,” said Woodyard, an All-Gazette first team indoor track and field athlete. “We just got to teach them. Teach them what they’re supposed to be doing. Leadership and communication, that’s all.” Tolliver returns to the sidelines after coaching the Patriots from 201011; he replaces Tyree Spinner, whose January dismissal stirred up controversy at the Rockville school. The coaching change hasn’t been easy on Wootton’s players. “It’s crazy. Hearing different
It took 2012 Richard Montgomery High School graduate Ashley Fourcade precisely 17 games — less than half of her freshman season — to break into the Hood College softball team’s record books last spring. “She had hits in the first 17 games she played and broke [the hitting streak record] right there,” coach Terry Burdette said. “It was pretty impressive.” Fourcade, whose hitting streak lasted for 19 games and broke the previous record of 16 held by Sara Wastler (from 2006) and Karen Dudley (2003), finished the 2013 season in the top 10 of single-season records in six offensive categories — hits (fourth), doubles (second), home runs (seventh), runs batted in (fourth), slugging percentage (seventh) and hitting streak — and was
PHOTO BY CHARLIE COVELL PHOTOGRAPHY
Richard Montgomery High School graduate Ashley Fourcade broke Hood College’s home run record in 2014 and is headed toward the top in several other categories.
named the Commonwealth Conference’s Rookie of the Year and to the all-conference honorable mention list.
See RECORD, Page B-2
Wheaton tries to avoid ‘one bad inning’ American Legion Post 268 looks for consistency after 0-5 start
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BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Thomas S. Wootton High School junior linebacker Patrick Bernardo drops into coverage against Seneca Valley in Thursday’s passing league game. things left and right. But you just have to keep your head right, keep looking forward to the goal: winning,” junior linebacker Patrick Bernardo said. “... At points it can be a distraction but you got to get rid of that. You just got to work out, play, have fun, get good.” Spinner, now coaching Avalon, a private Gaithersburg school, attended Thursday’s passing league games at Seneca Valley High School. As of Wednesday, no Wootton players had transferred to Avalon, Tolliver said. Tolliver said the Patriots are focused on improving fitness and communication, particularly on defense. That showed against Seneca Valley and Quince Orchard, with Bernardo playing middle linebacker and directing the defense.
“We just need to build the chemistry of our team. We had some good flashes on defense and on offense,” said Bernardo, who had a pass deflection against Seneca Valley. “We lost, but it got better.” Wootton went 5-5 last season, losing four of its final six games. “We’re doing the whole build from the bottom up, as far as making sure everybody understands what’s going on and then getting everybody on the same page,” Tolliver said. “... What you did in the past is in the past and you’re going to earn your spots ... There are no incumbents.” egoldwein@gazette.net
BY TED BLACK STAFF WRITER
Following a season in which his team won only two games last summer, Wheaton American Leagion Post 268 shortstop Zeke Green remained optimistic that his team can rebound from an 0-5 start to the current American Legion schedule that included an 11-1 setback to Gaithersburg Post 295 last Friday afternoon. Green, a recent Walter Johnson High School graduate and rising freshman at Catholic University where he is hoping to play baseball next spring as a walk-on, was able to take the latest setback in stride. In many respects, the loss in six innings basically mirrored the Wheaton squad’s start to the summer. The losses have not been a result of
consistent poor play, but primarily hinged on one bad inning. “It always seems like that one inning gets us,” Green said. “I think we know that we can play with these better teams. We just have to avoid that one bad inning. Today it was the third inning and last week we had one bad inning when we lost to Damascus [14-2] and to Sandy Spring [10-0] and even against Laurel [4-0]. We were only down 1-0 against Laurel and then they got three runs in one inning. Today it was 1-1 until the third and then they got eight runs.” Wheaton has been outscored 51-3 in its first five losses, but firstyear coach Gabe Medina knew the squad would have a difficult time dramatically improving on last year’s 2-16 mark. Last Friday Wheaton yielded a run in the first, but countered with an unearned run in the second inning to draw even briefly. But Gaithersburg broke
See INNING, Page B-2
Maryland returns to Big 33 with something to prove Northwest player says state’s all-stars will play better this year n
BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
As a senior, Northwest High School’s Samer Manna was a key component of a defense that helped the Jaguars win the 2013 Class 4A football state championship. But as good as he was at linebacker, that’s not what made him stand out during tryouts for the 57th Big 33 Football Classic. Instead, it was his versatility — specifically, his long snapping — that set him apart from the other recent high
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school graduates and earned him a spot on Team Maryland, he said. “Honestly, I was really surprised because nothing has really happened like this,” said Manna, a second team All-Gazette linebacker. A Wesley College recruit, Manna is one of nine Montgomery County athletes in the all-star game between Maryland and Pennsylvania, scheduled for 7:06 p.m. Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium in Pennsylvania. “I’ve talked to a lot of the alumni [who] actually played in that game. They’re telling me to go up there and take it all in because it’s a once in a lifetime chance,” said Manna, who will be joined by Northwest teammates Josh
Gills (Duquesne) and Rasheed Gillis (Shepherd). Maryland returned to the Big 33 Football Classic last June after a 21-year hiatus, giving up the first 28 points and losing 58-27. Pennsylvania holds a 7-2 advantage in the series, but Maryland players said they are expecting a different result this time. “We got a lot of talent, we got a lot more packages than we had last year,” said Seneca Valley defensive end Daniel Appouh, an Old Dominion recruit. “We’ll have a head start and it should be a closer game.” Other Montgomery County athletes
See BIG 33, Page B-2
Northwest High School’s Rasheed Gillis (left), Caleb Gills (back) and Samer Manna (right) tackle Gaithersburg’s Max Anderson during a Sept. 28, 2013 game in Rockville. TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE