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The Versailles Republican Sports
April 24, 2008
First
Milan Indian senior athlete appreciation banquet is well attended
Gary Franklin, Sports Writer
On Sunday afternoon, April 20, at the Milan High School Cafetorium,
a first award abnquet revolved around senior Indian athletes
as they were honored. Well attended by staff, parents, student
athletes and friends, the banquet made for a gala ocassion.
Thirty-three senior athletes and their support group attended
with thirteen others unable to attend.
Many of the Indians have athletic scholarship proposals in
their not so distant futures, and others have had offers,
but have chosen not to pursue their sports beyond their high
school seasons.
The awards banquet honoring the senior Indian athletes is
new to Milan this year, and the result of new Athletic Director
Dave Wolferst.
Wolferst led the affair with a welcome to those in attendance
and a thank you to athletes, their parents and school staff
for all their extra work and efforts. Wolferst then led into
the meal time, giving grace.
Following the meal, Wolferst asked all to keep his secretary,
Mrs. Cheri Schutte, and her family in their prayers, as an
unexpected family development required their presence. Wolferst
noted the large role she had had in getting all the program
and information together to be presented. He also acknowledged
Mrs. Bonnie Reed and Mrs. Lisa Kirk's unrelenting involvement
in making the banquet a success.
Principal Healy stood in for Shutte for the passing out of
certificates and awards while Wolferst read of each athlete's
achievements and their personal special memory from their
sports careers at Milan.
During Woferst's presentation to the seniors, he advised them
to 'Ride the Train'' to success. Highlights included; 1. To
dedicate themselves to college and above all choose success.
2. Be a self starter, drive to acquire their best and set
realistic attainable goals that once reached set new ones.
3. Build off mistakes, do not surrender to them but let them
help to make you better. 4. Establish good habits, don't get
in a rut, but create positive work ethics. 5. Don't settle,
do things correctly. 6. Build good communication skills. Two
ears one mouth, God made double hearing units to one speaking
unit for a reason. Think before speaking. 7. Create positive
allies. 8. Follow the lead of successful role models. 9. Thrive
on pressure and step up to the task at hand. 10. Be persistant
in your efforts to meet challenge. 11. Learn from adversity
and 12. Survive your success, do not allow it to change you
into some one or something you cannot be proud of being.
Names of seniors present for the program are listed above
under the photo, along with the names of those unable to attend.
Special awards were presented to Josh Dickey, Kaity Barton
and Kady Alloway, who earned the prestigious Milan Athlete
Ring which requires 12 high school letters in Milan sports.
Indian Senior Male Athlete of the Year was Nick Yatsko with
Senior Female Athlete of the Year being Deborah Fryer.
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GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Senior Milan Indian athletes honored at the first Milan
senior appreciation banquet present for a photo are
pictured standing, front, from left: Kirby Alloway,
Courtney Crabtree, Kaity Barton, Karen Nava Lopez and
Carissa Mulroy. Sitting in row 2: Danessa Cutter, Courtney
Myers, Emily Schmaltz, Jennifer Wullenweber, Abby Bergman,
Lindsay Roell, Kady Alloway, Deborah Fryer, Kim Atwell,
Crystal Sawyer, Jasmine Vetma-Hollins, Melanie Kaempf
and Katie Wilson. Knealing in row 3: Heath Weston, Patrick
Ruble, Brian Marksberry, Nick Yatsko, Jeff Werner, Joey
Houseworth, Tyler Kirk, John Burgan, Josh Baker, Ryan
Ison, Tyler Reese, Andrew Dixon, Craig McKittrick and
Justin Miller. Not present for picture: Kendra Bauman,
Brandon Davey, Todd Edwards, Jacob Fleming, Aaron Gutzwiller,
Janin Hesch, Jacob Huff, Patrick Mays, Emily Perkins,
Tanner Roark, Miccah Roberts, Carmen Sprague and Courtney
Swigart.
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Eagles cap
Wildcats at JCD, 6-4
Gary Franklin, Sports Writer
As host, the Jac-Cen-Del Eagle varsity baseball team,
behind Head Coach David Bradshaw took advantage of the visiting
Franklin County Wildcats on Monday, April 21, to claim a 6-4
victory after 6 1/2 innings of action.
Senior Brock Billman was placed in charge of the Eagle delivery
from the mound with senior Andrew Huff handling the catching
duties behind the plate.
Billman collected a strike out of the three Wildcat batters
he faced in the top of the first, getting the lead off batter
2-3 and the third to fly out to third.
The Eagles exploded with all six runs they would score in
the bottom of the first. Leading off was Blake Sutton, who
drew a walk. Senior David Busch followed, also drawing a walk.
Senior Brandon Gehl took his turn in the batter's box to also
draw a walk. Zach Simon flew out to deep center field for
a sacrifice, driving in an Eagle run.
Continuing, Eagle senior Brock Billman took the FC walk, leading
to Shane Adams who was called out with strikes for the second
out of the bottom of the first. Senior Eric Horan singled
for an RBI. Gerald Hardesty followed suit with a single, driving
in 2 runs. Senior Andrew Huff as the ninth batter in the first
blasted a double to clean the bases in front of him, taking
the Eagle lead to 6-0. Lead off batter Blake Sutton hit into
a 4-3 to end the first inning with his second appearance at
the plate in the inning.
The Eagles were unable to add to their fantastic beginning
for the balance of the game, but were able to make the score
hold up after only allowing the Wildcats to accumulate 4 for
the game.
The Wildcats scored 3 runs in the top of the fourth, and added
their fourth and last run in the fifth.
While pitching, senior Brock Billman went the whole seven
innings, faced 34 batters and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits. Billman's
pitching included 3 errors, 5 walks and 6 strikeouts.
The Eagle boys baseball team is slated for a double header
at Hauser against the Jets on Saturday, April 26, which is
also the night set for the JCD celebratory Jr-Sr Prom.
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GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Eagle senior, Brock Billman, watches as the Indian
pitch is delivered low and wide of the plate, however,
it was not the night for the Eagles as Milan won the
game.
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Raider varsity
baseball team continues to be "diamond tough"
Gary Franklin, Sports Writer
The Raiders have found a strong and positive leader at
the helm this season, as first year SR Raider Baseball Head
Coach Rodney Hite, has grabbed the bull by the horns, so to
speak, and directed them into positive outcomes right out
of the gate.
Raiders vs Chargers
On Friday night, April 18, the Raiders battled to a 1 hit,
5 inning shutout, over the North Decatur Chargers, by the
final score of 11-0.
Senior Raider, BJ Sieverding led the charge at the mound facing
17 batters where he collected 10 strike outs from his efforts
over the 4 innings he pitched, where he only allowed 1 hit.
Raiders - Offensively:
Brian Thomas -
2/2, a walk, 3 runs and an RBI.
Jared Keck -
1/2 with a double.
BJ Sieverding -
2/2, a walk, 3 runs and 2 RBI's.
Thomas Welch -
3/3, a double and 4 RBI's.
Kyle Patrick -
1/3, a double and 2 RBI's.
Blake Richmond -
3/3 with a run scored.
Andy Miller -
1/3.
Chase Grider -
0/2 with an RBI.
Raiders vs Wildcats
On Saturday morning, April 19, the Raider baseball team traveled
to Franklin County for their Raider Jr-Sr prom contest.
In the varsity bout, the Raiders were slow to rise to the
ocassion, but fortunately, not too late, after trailing 9-0
to the Wildcats before getting their act together and pulling
off an extra inning win at 12-11 after 8.
Starting off with Russ Steinhauer on the mound for the Raiders,
SR went through 6 pitchers in their 8 innings of action. Looking
quite dreary after four innings with clouds getting heavier
over the ball field and the darkest cloud appearing to be
the Raider 9-0 deficit.
However, unwilling to throw in the towel, the Raider resolve
initiated by the urging of Coach Hite, pulled up their boot
straps and completed the task at hand, delivering an unexpected
win after such a overwhelming lead in FC's favor.
Coach Hite was pleased with the atttitude in his dugout, as
related, "He had heard more than one of the Raiders relate
to their capability to score more than 10 runs in all of their
wins in the past."
The Raiders picked up 2 runs in the top half of the fifth,
added 6 more in the sixth, and 2 in the seventh to tie the
game at 10, forcing an extra inning after holding the Wildcats
scoreless in the bottom of the seventh.
"Hite called senior hurler BJ Sieverding to the side
to ask if he could close the game for the team after pitching
the night before." "Sieverding responded positively
with confidence", and took the mound to close out the
seventh and eighth innings with it his game to win.
The first FC batter reached on an error, but Sieverding shut
down the next three he faced to end the seventh. The Raider
battery picked up a pair in their at bat in the top of the
eighth off a clutch hit by Blake Richmond, scoring both Brian
Thomas and Thomas Welch, sending BJ to the mound with a lead
to protect.
Batter one in the bottom of the eighth for the Wildcats grounded
back to Sieverding at the mound for out #1. The second FC
batter singled and later scored to tighten the game to SR
12-11 FC. Sieverding rang up batter 3 on a strike out. Batter
4 singled and #5 reached on an error, creating a threat with
two out and a mere one run lead.
With Wildcat runners on first and second and 2 outs, Sieverding
took aim at a hitter that had hit a monster home run earlier
in the game, retiring him in 4 pitches to seize the victory
for the Raiders in what has to be a great comeback win.
Coach Hite and many of the South Ripley players celebrated
their victory at the Dearborn County Country Club that evening,
or maybe it was the South Ripley prom that they just happened
to be at......
Raiders - Offensively:
Russ Steinhauer -
4 walks, 2 runs and 2 RBI's.
Brian Thomas -
1/3, double, run and 4 RBI's.
Tyler Landwehr -
0/0 with a walk and an RBI.
BJ Sieverding -
0/2 with a run and an RBI.
Thomas Welch -
1/3 with 2 runs and 2 walks.
Kyle Patrick -
1/4 with a walk and run scored.
Blake Richmond -
2/5, 2 singles, 2 RBI's and a run scored.
Seth Leonard -
1/2 with walk and a run scored.
Kile Huss -
1/1 with 2 RBI's.
Chase Grider -
2/5, 2 runs scored and an RBI.
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GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Senior Raider Kyle Patrick awaits a special delivery
from the North Decatur Charger pitcher at SR's Forest
G. Waters Field.
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