S PORTS
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Hood River News, Saturday, March 14, 2015
A7
Photos by Ben Mitchell
SPRING SPORTS HAVE SPRUNG
Hood River Valley High School athletes were busy this past week practicing and gearing up for the upcoming spring sports season that starts in earnest next week. Clockwise, from top right: HRV track ath-
letes begin a 500-meter run at the high school track Wednesday afternoon, while the girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse, and girls softball teams were busy drilling at the Westside Elemantary athletic fields. Not
pictured are the boys and girls tennis teams, the boys and girls golf teams, and the boys baseball team, who are also getting ready for the season. Action at HRV kicks off on Monday with the girls varsity
softball team hosting Gresham at the Westside fields at 4:30 p.m. Home games continue on Tuesday with boys varsity baseball hosting Sam Barlow at 4:30 p.m. and girls varsity lacrosse facing off against
Liberty and Lincoln at 7. On Wednesday, the track team will compete against Centennial at 3:30 p.m. and the boys tennis team hosts Gresham at the Tsuruta tennis courts at 4.
erage for the match. That, ladies and gentle-
men, is how championships are won. Con-
gratulations to Team Nishi, Jeff Hasegawa,
Janet Kawachi, Rich Nishimoto and the
peerless Stuart Kawachi, champions of the
Tuesday Nite Mixed League at Orchard
Lanes!
Kegler’s
Corner
By JEFF OLSON
Team Nishi wins
Tues. Nite Mixed
When the going gets tough, the tough get
going.
That cliché just about sums up the roll-off
for the championship of the very popular
Tuesday Nite Mixed League that was held
last week at Hood River’s venerable Orchard
Lanes. The four combatants vying for the
coveted crown were the first and second
place teams in rounds one and two of their
regular season: Double A Orchards, Take
Ten, Team Nishi and Got Sand. This was a
three-game total pins match.
Team Nishi jumped out of the gate, taking
a 78-pin lead after the first game and they
never looked back, extending their lead by 79
more pins after the second game and 29 more
after the third game. Team Nishi won by al-
most 200 pins, sparked by the timely talents
of Stuart Kawachi, who rose to the occasion
as he almost always does by firing a nifty
scratch 655 series. Stuart, who also won the
much sought after singles championship in
the Hood River City bowling tournament
earlier this season, was 124 pins over his av-
HR gymnasts medal
in Corvallis meet
Local gymnasts from The Dalles’ River-
side Gymnastics Academy sprang to the top
of the podium during the 2015 Oregon State
Gymnastics Spring Invitational held last
weekend in Corvallis.
For the second meet in a row, Hood River
gymnast Audrey Fuentes took the title, plac-
ing first all-around with a score of 37.0 in
Level 3, one of the “compulsory” levels,
where each athlete must perform the same
routine.
In addition to her first-place finish,
Fuentes was the recipient of the Judges
Award, which Coach Jacque Johnston ex-
plained is a “special recognition” given to a
single athlete in each individual event.
“This award is for gymnasts who ‘stand
out’ in the judge’s eye. It can be for an in-
credible leap on the floor. It can be from a
hard fall off the beam, and yet the gymnast
has the tenacity to get back up and finish her
TEAM OF THE WEEK:
Ken Kramer, +126 (780)
Stuart Kawachi, +124 (775)
Eric Plimmer, +123 (723)
Dave Baumsteiger, +119 (719)
Jeremy Bloom, +102 (759)
3,756 total pins
The league season is quickly winding
down to a close with only a month or so left.
Scoring has been a bit tough lately, but the
good thing about that is there are always
“horses for courses” and that old saying is
certainly reflected in our current team of
stars who bowled the most over their aver-
ages last week.
Leading the parade of prodigious players
is the gregarious Ken Kramer, who is proba-
bly more familiar with strikes than anybody.
The former umpire tossed a big bunch of
pins out of the game last week in the fast-
paced Wednesday night Fraternal League
where he popped a mighty fine scratch 678
series that was capped by a nice 266 game.
Ken led everybody last week ending up 126
pins over his average to take the No. 1 honors
on the team of the week, his second appear-
ance on the big five this season.
Our second star is the aforementioned Stu-
art Kawachi, who makes the fab five for the
first time this season.
Our next three keglers are also making
their first appearance on the team of the
week this season. Eric Plimmer sure had
things his way in the Wednesday afternoon
senior Colts & Fillies League where the 138
average mainstay started his session with a
scratch 196 game and then went even better
with a super 204 in his second game. Used to
be if you averaged 200, that was considered
routine,” she explained. “Or it can be from a
‘well-managed mistake,’ as was the case with
Audrey, who received the award on the bars.
Audrey performed what the judges referred
to as ‘two very impressive mill circles,’ while
the routine only calls for one. Audrey is so
polished on bars, that even with an extra ele-
ment, she still finished in third place.”
Other top finishers included Regina
Sanchez Macias, who won first place on the
bars in Level 4, with a score of 9.4. Johnston
also reported that Poppy Miller, along with
other fellow Level 6, 7, 8, and 9 teammates
from RGA, received second place with a team
score of 112.175, just .05 points behind first
place. Results for Hood River athletes are as
follows:
Level 3: Team: 4th (110.05)
Audrey Fuentes:
1st: All-Around (37.0) & Floor: (9.475)
3rd: Vault (9.45) & Bars (9.25)
4th: Beam (8.85)
Ava Krantz:
2nd: Bars (9.225)
par in this great game and that’s exactly
what Eric did in his first two games: 400 pins
for a 200 average! Quite a start, Eric finished
up 123 pins over his average to grab the third
slot on the team of the week.
We want to extend a warm welcome to a
newcomer to Orchard Lanes league action,
Dave Baumsteiger, who recently moved to
the area from California. Dave’s brother,
Ron, is one of our most illustrious regulars;
they should make quite a team in their fu-
ture exploits on the friendly boards at Or-
chard Lanes. Dave notched a solid scratch
608 series in the Colts & Fillies which was 119
pins over his average, good enough to get the
clean-up slot on this classy crew. Getting that
first 600 series at a different bowling center
always feels good.
Well, we’ve got nothing but the best adjec-
tives to describe our anchor man on this stel-
lar five, Jeremy Bloom. Jeremy is a young-
ster, but he’s one of the best bowlers in town.
The smooth right hander blasted a solid
scratch 701 series in the Fraternal which was
102 pins over his average.
Jeremy has an extensive resume in this
great game of ours, having rolled many big-
time 700 sets and a couple of perfect 300
games. His average is so high that it’s diffi-
cult for him to get on the team of the week
because the higher your average is, the more
difficult it is to bowl over it.
A couple other highlights stand out last
week. Smooth, textbook stylist Gordon Sim
led everybody in scoring last week with a
nifty scratch 727 series that he fashioned in
the senior Lads & Lassies League on Thurs-
day afternoon. Gordon, who is one of top av-
erage players in town, rolled a big 279 game
in this series. He’s so talented that scores
like these are almost routine for him — he’s
that good.
And, one of our young rising stars, Zach
Mohun, also got another taste of greatness,
firing a big-time scratch 277 game in the Fra-
ternal. Zach was a key player on the talented
HRVHS bowling team that nearly won the
state championship a few years ago. Great
bowling everybody!
3rd: Vault (9.3)
4th: All-Around (35.975)
Level 4:
Jacy Johnston, Sophia Riviello, and Regi-
na Sanchez Macias, along with nine other
teammates finished 2nd with a team score of
110.175.
Jacy Johnston:
3rd: All-Around (35.375) & Floor (9.075)
4th: Bars
5th: Vault
Sophia Riviello
3rd: Vault (8.825)
5th: Bars
6th: All-Around (34.45)
Regina Sanchez Macias
1st: Bars (9.4)
4th: Vault
8th: All Around
Level 6 (Optional):
Poppy Miller, along with her level 6, 7 , 8
and 9 teammates earn 2nd-place team finish
with a score of 112.175, just missing first
LEAGUE HIGHS
Monday evening Industrial:
Greg McDaniel: 236 game & 651 series
Pat Olson: 244 game
Tuesday morning Ladies Workshirkers:
Nancy Asai: 206 game & 593 series
Tuesday Nite Mixed:
Pat Olson: 259 game & 675 series
Stuart Kawachi: 235 game & 655 series
Mary Finley: 234 game & 580 series
Gordon Sim: 244 game
Bryan Mason: 235 game
Nancy Asai: 202 game
Wednesday afternoon Colts & Fillies:
Lynn Spellmam: 248, 216, 214 games
& 678 series
Dave Baumsteiger: 215, 204 games
& 608 series
Joyce Ebersole: 509 series
Len Hickman: 222 game
Kim McCartney: 217 game
Eric Plimmer: 204 game
Karen Baumsteiger: 183 game
Wednesday evening Fraternal:
Jeremy Bloom: 246, 235 games & 701 series
Greg McDaniel: 237, 237 games & 699 series
Ken Kramer: 266 game & 678 series
Josh Worth: 245 game & 651 series
Bernie Keys: 192 game & 505 series
Zach Mohun: 277 game
Aaron Troxel: 248 game
Pat Olson: 242 game
Mike Parke: 237 game
Thursday afternoon Lads & Lassies:
Gordon Sim: 279, 245, 203 g ames
& 727 series
Jeff Miller: 237 game & 615 series
Joyce Ebersole: 193 game & 525 series
Kim McCartney: 222 game
place by .05 points.
Poppy Miller:
2nd: Vault (9.2)
5th: Bars & Floor
6th: All-Around (35.35)
AUDREY
FUENTES, at
left, took first
all-around in
Level 3 com-
petition last
week.
Contributed
photo