Baseball team finds swing, sits atop league standings
m J on H elmkamp
._______ '
co-Sports Editor
Loaded with talented
players, the Varsity Baseball
Team has only improved with
experience, and the coaches
were salivating at the thought
of what this team could
accomplish.
It wasn't a goal for them to
win the Three Rivers League
title. In their minds, that was
a given. It wasn't a goal for
them to win Districts; that
was a given too.
Getting off to a slow
start, dropping two of their
first four games, the players
regrouped beating Clackamas,
a tough team, in a close game
by a score of 3-2 on April 4.
"That game was a hard
fought, come from behind
win. We expect a lot more
games like that this year in
the Three Rivers League,"
Mike Lord, Varsity head
coach, said.
The following day, coming
off the Clackamas win that
moved them to 2-1 in league,
they completely destroyed
Lakeridge, 22-1. Ryan Barnes,
sophomore, and Colby
Martzall, senior, each had six
runs batted in, while Barnes
and Mitch Bailey, senior, each
scored a home run.
"Their pitchers had a lot
of trouble throwing strikes,"
Reed Nicholson, junior, said.
After a solid offensive
display against a weak
Lakeridge team, the Lions
faced off against Milwaukie
at home. After battling back
and forth for four innings
in the cold and the rain, the
bats came alive for West Linn.
Bailey, Martzall, Barnes and
Justin Monahan, junior, each
had home rims, leading the
Lions to a nine run inning.
The second the ball left
Martzall's bat on his home
run, the team jumped up off
the bench to watch it soar,
yelling and cheering knowing
immediately that this hit was
long gone. Blasted to left field
with two men on base, it hit
the back of the school three
quarters of the way up the
wall. If it was 10' to the left, it
would have crashed through
one of the windows of the
auxiliary gym. The first base
coach for Milwaukie was
heard saying that he thought
it was going to land on top of
the school.
Martzall went 3-4 on
the day, hitting a homer, a
double and a single, scoring
three runs and earning two
RBI's.
Playing through the bad
weather, West Linn took the
game 13-2, moving them to
4-1 in the league, tying them
for first place in the TRL with
the Putnam Kingsmen.
O n April 11, the Lions
played at O regon City,
battling not only their
opponents, but the w eather
as w ell for a spot at the top
of the leader board.
The num ber five seem s
to be a lucky num ber for
W est Linn, considering
they put up six runs in the
fifth inning against O regon
City and nine runs in the
fifth inning of their m atch
up w ith M ilw aukie, led
by num ber five M artzall.
O regon City, prior to
W ednesday's gam e, w as in
third place in the TRL w ith
a 3-1 record.
"We're sitting in a really
good spot right now,"
N icholson said.
West Linn is sitting
Rugby teams take on role as favorites for State
m M ax H ays __________________
Page Editor
This year's Rugby season
has started with all four
teams, two boys teams and
, two girls teams, playing
spirited, hard-nosed rugby
in hopes of making the State
finals.
Both girls' teams are
playing well in their
respective leagues; the •
Gold Team is currently in
third in the North Division
with a 1-2-1 record, and the
Green Team is currently
sitting pretty atop the South
Division with an undefeated
4-0-0 record.
On the boys' side of
things, the West Linn A team
is in third place and racing
for first place in the N orth/
East Division. The boys' B
Team has a flexible roster so
that players can go back and
forth between the B and A
teams but this has resulted in
a 0-5-1 record because they
have been forced to forfeit all
games.
"They are a great bunch of
players that consistently give
everything that they have out
on the pitch," Tim Medearis,
boys head coach said.
The boys' A Team has
started the season off
very strong, according to
Medearis. This year's team
is the most technical, skilled
teams that he has ever
coached.
"The only teams that we
have lost to were the number
one and two teams (Eastside
and Vancouver) from last
year and I feel that we can
beat both teams the next time
we meet during the State
playoffs," Medearis said.
Even though the team
is having great success
this year, Medearis still
thinks that there is room
for improvement because
they are making some
fundamental mistakes. They
have returned to the basics
of ball handling, tackling and
team support. The team is
currently sitting in third place
entering the State finals and
will probably face Ashland in
the first round of the playoffs.
"I feel that we have a great
chance to move quickly
up the bracket and face
Eastside and Vancouver
again. Right now we need to
hold together, limit injuries
and stick to our game plan,"
Medearis said.
On the girls side of the
* ball, Ernie Espinoza, head
coach, thinks that the team
has a good chance of winning
State and possibly competing
at Nationals in Milwaukee,
Wise, in May. He believes that
the team is doing a great job
coming out and competing
every game and trying to
improve from week to week.
Micheál Gorgone, senior, and
Robbie Brady, sophomore, lift
Jason Comfort, senior, into the air
to go for a loose ball. Both teams
are heading to State.
Photo courtesy of Karri Garfield
"We just need to keep
improving every week
and continue to work
on the fundamentals
and eliminating the little
mistakes. That way we can
continue to play well and
com pete," Espinoza said.
Even though the team
is playing very well,
there is always room
for improvement in the
fundamentals of rugby
like communication and
ball handling according to
Espinoza.
Boys and girls State
quarterfinals began April 21,
but results were not available
Kyle Kraus, junior, delivers a pitch in his start against Lake Oswego
on March 22. The Lions won 10-3, earning their first home win of the
season.
by
Photo
com fortably on a lead in the
TRL, and their bats are only
getting hotter. M artzall is
batting .391, has scored 17
runs and has 16 RBIs, w hile
Barnes is batting .420 w ith
17 runs and 16 RBIs. In their
Jon Helmkamp
last four gam es, the team
has put up double digit hits.
West Linn w ill play the
Putnam Kingsm en at hom e
today, Lake O sw ego at
hom e on Wednesday, and at
C lackam as on Friday.
Debs improve to sixth in State %
u K elsey S chrader ___________
Page Editor
For the first time in three
years, West Linn Debutantes
had a shot at the top five
at the State competition in
March. With four third place
trophies and one first place
trophy under their belt at past
competitions, the Debs were
ready to take home some well-
earned hardware.
Up until State, the Debs had
been ranked in the top three
for numerous weeks, with
only Parkrose and Clackamas
above them. Unfortunately, the
Debutantes did not get a top
five trophy. So why aren't they
complaining?
The Debs took sixth place
out of 11 teams, nearly tying
with the fifth place team,
Glencoe. In past competitions
this year, West Linn and
Glencoe had been neck
and neck, with West Linn
prevailing most of the time.
Unfortunately, at the
last competition at Liberty
High School, the Debutantes
received a violation for their
"booty shorts" showing too
much junk in the trunk. Five
points were docked from their
score of 80.6, which brought
them down to a 75.6. Although
they still earned third place
at the Liberty competition,
their overall score dropped
them down to fifth place in the
overall team ranking.
Jenny Worcester, senior
and team captain, expressed
her thoughts about this year's
season and placing sixth at
State.
"I'm actually not at all
disappointed because I feel
that we all worked so hard this
year that we didn't even need
a trophy to validate how much
we all improved," Worcester
said. "The season itself was
just as good as placing at
State."
According to Worcester, this
year was a really special year.
"I'm actually not at all sure
[why]. I think it might have
been the unity throughout
our team and the fact that
we all were willing to work
that much harder and push
ourselves that much more to
come out with such a good
product."
This year, the Deb's theme
was simplistic, with a plain
black floor and white-outlined
boxes as a background. They
danced to "Enjoy the Silence"
by Depeche Mode with
minimal props: hot pink flags
and turquoise fabric. Next
year's theme is a mystery, as
always, and the team is excited
to start another year, yet
happy to finally have a break
from the stress.
Tryouts for next year's team
are May 7-9 and 11. This will
include across-the-floors and
a short routine performed for
the coaches. The coaches and
returning members are looking
forward to a great season next
year and are optimistic about
placing next year.
"I think we all know we
can do it," Kelsey Bradshaw,
freshman, said. "This year we
learned we are capable, and ^
next year we're just going to
kick butt and be amazing."