EG Faces No. 12 Southern Cal in Regional VB Action
A win over Madrid in the second round of regional volleyball action last Wednesday has put EG into the quarterfinal round tonight in Lake City, where the Hawkettes will square off against Southern Cal, the 12th ranked team in Class 1A.
EG’s 25-17, 25-16, 25-16 regional win at Madrid on Wednesday was the its second straight win over the Tigerettes. EG had swept Madrid in three straight games the previous Thursday in Rippey in both teams’ final regular season match, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13. That capped off a busy week, as EG had downed Panorama in three straight on Tuesday, following a 2-2 showing in 4 matches at a tournament in Walnut on Saturday.
EG has now won 5 of its last 7 matches. The win over Madrid in Rippey moved the Hawkettes to 6-3 in the final West Central Conference standings, good for fourth place. Last week’s win over Madrid in the regionals upped EG’s overall season mark to 14-6.
Southern Cal brings a 21-0 record into tonight’s match. The Mustangs swept Paton-Churdan 25-16, 25-6, 26-24 in regional action at Lake City last Wednesday.
The winner of tonight’s EG-SoCal match will take on the winner of Ar-We-Va vs. West Harrison in the semifinal round Friday at Denison. The opposite side of the bracket has Exira, ranked seventh in the state, taking on Coon Rapids-Bayard in Coon Rapids. The winner of that match moves onto the other Region 3 semifinal on Friday in Woodbine against the winner of tonight’s Woodbine and St. Albert’s match in Council Bluffs.
The semifinal winners will face off next Tuesday in Denison in the regional final. The winner moves on to the State Tournament in Cedar Rapids.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: This is one of the best--if not the best--volleyball season in EG school history. Coach Carly Tiffany has the Hawkettes firing on all cylinders, as they beat 6 of 9 competitors in the West Central Conference in three-game sweeps (best-of-five game matches), and lost by just two points in the fifth game of a five-game match against league champion Guthrie Center, the closest any league team came to the Tigerettes. The Hawkettes also beat CRB--last year’s West Central champion and a 1A state qualifier--twice this season, the first win coming in the championship of a tournament hosted by CRB.
EG will meet a seasoned team in Southern Cal. Like the Hawkettes, SoCal plays in a league comprised of both 1A and 2A teams, where they finished second at 5-1, losing only to East Sac, a 2A team, but coming back to win the conference tournament. The Mustangs made it to State two years ago and just lost out on a trip last year, falling to Schaller-Crestland in the region finals.
Southern Cal and Exira (19-5), the Rolling Hills champion, are clearly the favorites in Region 3.
In addition to CRB in the opposite bracket in Region 3, the other top teams in the West Central are still in action heading into the quarterfinal round tonight. Each of the other top three teams is competing in different classes and regions, so conceivably the West Central could send four teams to the state tournament in 1A and 2A. Des Moines Christian (22-3), which finished third in the conference at 7-2, hosts Iowa Christian (14-10), the runner-up in the Rolling Hills Conference at 7-2 just behind Exira, with an unblemished 9-0 mark, in Region 4 in 1A. The winner advances to the semifinal round against either Twin Cedars or North Mahaska, also at Des Moines Christian. DMC had been ranked in Class 1A earlier this month, falling out of the Top 15 rankings, just before the final poll was released on Oct. 15.
In 2A, league champ Guthrie Center (17-6) and runner-up Woodward-Granger (19-7) are still in action, but both face tough opponents in the quarterfinal round tonight. Guthrie Center travels to Manning to take on 9th-ranked IKM-Manning (28-2) while Woodward-Granger also faces a state ranked opponent, No. 15, Gilbert (17-6), but has the home court advantage as the match will be played in Woodward. If Guthrie wins, it moves on to face either Nodaway Valley or Griswold in the Region 2 semifinal match, also at Manning. WG would advance to the next round in Eldora in Region 3 against the winner of a matchp between Grundy Center and Dike-New Hartford, a longtime state volleyball power and the No. 3 team in 2A with a 38-3 season record.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
EG FOOTBALL SEASON FINALE
Hawks Beat Walnut, ‘Go For 2’ Tonight @ Exira
East Greene rolled over Walnut 54-14 in Grand Junction last Friday night to pick up its third win of the season and avoid the District 7 cellar. EG moved its district record to 1-4 while Walnut fell to 0-4.
The Hawks end the season tonight in Exira against Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira. The EHK/E game does not count in the D7 standings, so EG’s win over Walnut was its final "official" game in district competition for 2009, while Walnut hosts Coon Rapids-Bayard tonight and CAM (Anita) travels to Adair-Casey in the season and district finales for those teams.
EG beat both Elk Horn-Kimballton and Exira last year, but getting a win over the combined EHK/E will be a much bigger challenge as the Wolverines are 5-3 this season while EG is 3-5. EHK/E has beaten D7 leader CAM, while its two of its three losses were by just 6 and 8 points to Adair-Casey and Glidden-Ralston.
But the Hawks will be riding the momentum from the Walnut game, which they totally dominated. EG got its ground game in gear, racking up 195 yards on 35 rushing attempts. Juniors Schyler Bardole and Nic Nicolaisen put the word out to the rest of the D7 teams that they are to be reckoned with next year, as Bardole lead the rushing attack with 72 years on 18 carries and a touchdown, and Nicolaisen was right behind with 70 yards on 5 carries (a solid 14 yards-per-carry average) and 2 touchdowns.
QB Tom Beger connected on 5 of his 13 passes for 110 yards and four touchdowns. He connected twice with Bardole for scoring strikes and once each with tight ends Aaron Lyons and Jesse Priest. Beger also scored a running touchdown, as he ground out 32 yards on six carries. His total yardage for the night was 142. Beger, Bardole and Priest each ran for a 2-point conversion to round out the Hawk scoring.
Overall, the Hawks had 305 total yards and 15 first downs while limiting Walnut to 212 total yards and 8 first downs.
Seniors Josh Neese, Tyler Gathercoal and Zach Beyerink anchored the Hawk defense. Neese had 5 solo tackles and 6 assists, Gathercoal had 5 solos and 3 assists, and Beyerink had 4 solos and 4 assists. Beyerink and Bardole each picked off a pass from Warrior QB Kyler McCarty, who was held to 81 yards and a single touchdown on 7-for-16 passing. McCarty also scored Walnut’s lone rushing touchdown.
McCarty was a real workhorse for the Warriors though, as he returned seven EG kickoffs for 119 yards total and three Hawk punts for 58 yards total, an average of 20 yards for each of his 10 kick returns.
DISTRICT 7 SHOWDOWN: Adair-Casey vs. CAM will be the spotlight game in D7 tonight as the winner will get the top seed in the 8-Man state playoffs, which get underway on Wednesday night. The game looks to be a toss-up. CAM was the hands-down favorite as the season began as it returned all but 2 of its starting lineup from 2008, when it won D7 with a perfect 7-0 record. This year’s league schedule was reduced to just 5 contests as the Elk Horn and Exira games were removed when those two schools agreed to form a combined football program and their combined enrollments made them ineligible for 8-Man competition, although EHK/E played a full nine-game schedule, including all of the other D7 teams.
EHK/E surprised the league two weeks ago when it notched a decisive 43-20 win over then unbeaten CAM on the Cougar’s home field in Anita. So clearly, CAM can be beaten. And AC will be riding the momentum of beating CRB last week in Coon Rapids, 36-29.
If CAM prevails they will be the undisputed champion at 5-0, but if they lose, then they end up tied with AC at 4-1 for the championship and AC will get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs because they won the head-to-head competition, which is the tie-breaker when two teams end the season tied and in contention for playoff seeding.
Despite last week’s loss, CRB still will qualify for the playoffs--even it should lose this week to Walnut. CRB would finish fourth in D7 at 2-3, behind AC, CAM and GR, which wrapped up district play two weeks ago, rolling over Walnut 46-6 to finish at 3-2. The more likely scenario will be CRB easily beating Walnut and finishing in a tie at 3-2 with GR and possibly AC, should the Bombers lose to CAM. That would leave a three-way tie for the runner-up spot in the district with all three teams at 3-2. As each of the three teams would end up 1-1 against the other two, the seeding for spots two, three and four in the district would then go the tie-breaker point system, which is based on the average margin of difference in each of the five district games.
Heading into tonight’s games, CRB has a slight advantage with a 4.00 tie-breaker score, just ahead of AC at 3.25 and GR at 3.00. GR’s score can’t move up or down as the Wildcats have completed district play, but if AC should lose, which must happen to create a three-way tie, the Bombers would be subtracting points from their current four-game point differential total (13), and if CRB should win, they would be adding to their existing total points (16) which would easily put them past AC and vault them into second place while AC and GR’s point total differential would determine the No. 3 and 4 seeds. And if AC loses, they can’t get anymore differential points, putting them behind GR, whose give-game point total differential is solid at 15. Thus, AC would drop down to fourth place and give GR the third seed.
So, this is a critical game for AC. If they win, they are the top dog for D7, hosting the No. 4 seed from District 8 next Wednesday. If they lose, they fall from [potentially] first place to fourth, and then face the long trip down to Stanton to take on the state-ranked and undefeated Vikings, a team that rolled over all three D7 opponents last year in reaching the 8-Man state playoff semifinal round in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. This would be a pretty substantial turnaround for the Bombers, considering their big win last week over CRB on the Crusaders’ home field. AC will also have the memory of last year’s 24-22 loss to CAM in Anita on the final night of the regular season, which gave the Cougars the 2008 District 7 championship and relegated AC to runner-up status. Both teams went on to win their opening round substate games, but were eliminated in first round action.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks must contain EHK/E’s Carson Smith if they hope to prevail tonight over the Wolverines. In EHK/E’s win over CAM, Smith completed 14 of 22 passes for 186 yards and two passing touchdowns, and he ran for 137 yards on 22 carries and another three touchdowns. Eric Johnson added 104 yards and a rushing touchdown to the Wolverines’ total output of 455 yards.
Smith also kicked three extra points and ran for a two-point conversion to give him 35 points for the evening. Final tally: Smith outscored the entire CAM team, 35-20.
EHK/E rolled up 42 points against GR last week as Smith passed for 220 yards and five touchdowns and he ran for another 65, which was the entire EHK/E offensive production. GR however rushed for an amazing 458 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns and prevailed, 54-42.
Smith was intercepted three times by the CAM defense and once last week by GR, so the Hawks really need to hone in on their pass defense to shut down EHK/E.
A win at Exira would match last year’s win total for the Hawks, and would be a fine finish for the EG seniors, giving them a two-year won-loss record of 8-10, which is a big improvement over the 3-14 they suffered through during their freshman and sophomore years. This group of Hawks was responsible for ending a losing streak that stretched from the end of the 2004 season to the first game of the 2007 season, a win over CAL of Latimer in Grand Junction.
All told, EG’s record from 2002 through 2007 was a dismal 6 wins and 41 losses. So 8-10 over two years may not look like much to the small-school powers of Iowa high school football, but it means something to EG‘ers--near and fall. So, more than anything...Go Hawks!
East Greene rolled over Walnut 54-14 in Grand Junction last Friday night to pick up its third win of the season and avoid the District 7 cellar. EG moved its district record to 1-4 while Walnut fell to 0-4.
The Hawks end the season tonight in Exira against Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira. The EHK/E game does not count in the D7 standings, so EG’s win over Walnut was its final "official" game in district competition for 2009, while Walnut hosts Coon Rapids-Bayard tonight and CAM (Anita) travels to Adair-Casey in the season and district finales for those teams.
EG beat both Elk Horn-Kimballton and Exira last year, but getting a win over the combined EHK/E will be a much bigger challenge as the Wolverines are 5-3 this season while EG is 3-5. EHK/E has beaten D7 leader CAM, while its two of its three losses were by just 6 and 8 points to Adair-Casey and Glidden-Ralston.
But the Hawks will be riding the momentum from the Walnut game, which they totally dominated. EG got its ground game in gear, racking up 195 yards on 35 rushing attempts. Juniors Schyler Bardole and Nic Nicolaisen put the word out to the rest of the D7 teams that they are to be reckoned with next year, as Bardole lead the rushing attack with 72 years on 18 carries and a touchdown, and Nicolaisen was right behind with 70 yards on 5 carries (a solid 14 yards-per-carry average) and 2 touchdowns.
QB Tom Beger connected on 5 of his 13 passes for 110 yards and four touchdowns. He connected twice with Bardole for scoring strikes and once each with tight ends Aaron Lyons and Jesse Priest. Beger also scored a running touchdown, as he ground out 32 yards on six carries. His total yardage for the night was 142. Beger, Bardole and Priest each ran for a 2-point conversion to round out the Hawk scoring.
Overall, the Hawks had 305 total yards and 15 first downs while limiting Walnut to 212 total yards and 8 first downs.
Seniors Josh Neese, Tyler Gathercoal and Zach Beyerink anchored the Hawk defense. Neese had 5 solo tackles and 6 assists, Gathercoal had 5 solos and 3 assists, and Beyerink had 4 solos and 4 assists. Beyerink and Bardole each picked off a pass from Warrior QB Kyler McCarty, who was held to 81 yards and a single touchdown on 7-for-16 passing. McCarty also scored Walnut’s lone rushing touchdown.
McCarty was a real workhorse for the Warriors though, as he returned seven EG kickoffs for 119 yards total and three Hawk punts for 58 yards total, an average of 20 yards for each of his 10 kick returns.
DISTRICT 7 SHOWDOWN: Adair-Casey vs. CAM will be the spotlight game in D7 tonight as the winner will get the top seed in the 8-Man state playoffs, which get underway on Wednesday night. The game looks to be a toss-up. CAM was the hands-down favorite as the season began as it returned all but 2 of its starting lineup from 2008, when it won D7 with a perfect 7-0 record. This year’s league schedule was reduced to just 5 contests as the Elk Horn and Exira games were removed when those two schools agreed to form a combined football program and their combined enrollments made them ineligible for 8-Man competition, although EHK/E played a full nine-game schedule, including all of the other D7 teams.
EHK/E surprised the league two weeks ago when it notched a decisive 43-20 win over then unbeaten CAM on the Cougar’s home field in Anita. So clearly, CAM can be beaten. And AC will be riding the momentum of beating CRB last week in Coon Rapids, 36-29.
If CAM prevails they will be the undisputed champion at 5-0, but if they lose, then they end up tied with AC at 4-1 for the championship and AC will get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs because they won the head-to-head competition, which is the tie-breaker when two teams end the season tied and in contention for playoff seeding.
Despite last week’s loss, CRB still will qualify for the playoffs--even it should lose this week to Walnut. CRB would finish fourth in D7 at 2-3, behind AC, CAM and GR, which wrapped up district play two weeks ago, rolling over Walnut 46-6 to finish at 3-2. The more likely scenario will be CRB easily beating Walnut and finishing in a tie at 3-2 with GR and possibly AC, should the Bombers lose to CAM. That would leave a three-way tie for the runner-up spot in the district with all three teams at 3-2. As each of the three teams would end up 1-1 against the other two, the seeding for spots two, three and four in the district would then go the tie-breaker point system, which is based on the average margin of difference in each of the five district games.
Heading into tonight’s games, CRB has a slight advantage with a 4.00 tie-breaker score, just ahead of AC at 3.25 and GR at 3.00. GR’s score can’t move up or down as the Wildcats have completed district play, but if AC should lose, which must happen to create a three-way tie, the Bombers would be subtracting points from their current four-game point differential total (13), and if CRB should win, they would be adding to their existing total points (16) which would easily put them past AC and vault them into second place while AC and GR’s point total differential would determine the No. 3 and 4 seeds. And if AC loses, they can’t get anymore differential points, putting them behind GR, whose give-game point total differential is solid at 15. Thus, AC would drop down to fourth place and give GR the third seed.
So, this is a critical game for AC. If they win, they are the top dog for D7, hosting the No. 4 seed from District 8 next Wednesday. If they lose, they fall from [potentially] first place to fourth, and then face the long trip down to Stanton to take on the state-ranked and undefeated Vikings, a team that rolled over all three D7 opponents last year in reaching the 8-Man state playoff semifinal round in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. This would be a pretty substantial turnaround for the Bombers, considering their big win last week over CRB on the Crusaders’ home field. AC will also have the memory of last year’s 24-22 loss to CAM in Anita on the final night of the regular season, which gave the Cougars the 2008 District 7 championship and relegated AC to runner-up status. Both teams went on to win their opening round substate games, but were eliminated in first round action.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks must contain EHK/E’s Carson Smith if they hope to prevail tonight over the Wolverines. In EHK/E’s win over CAM, Smith completed 14 of 22 passes for 186 yards and two passing touchdowns, and he ran for 137 yards on 22 carries and another three touchdowns. Eric Johnson added 104 yards and a rushing touchdown to the Wolverines’ total output of 455 yards.
Smith also kicked three extra points and ran for a two-point conversion to give him 35 points for the evening. Final tally: Smith outscored the entire CAM team, 35-20.
EHK/E rolled up 42 points against GR last week as Smith passed for 220 yards and five touchdowns and he ran for another 65, which was the entire EHK/E offensive production. GR however rushed for an amazing 458 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns and prevailed, 54-42.
Smith was intercepted three times by the CAM defense and once last week by GR, so the Hawks really need to hone in on their pass defense to shut down EHK/E.
A win at Exira would match last year’s win total for the Hawks, and would be a fine finish for the EG seniors, giving them a two-year won-loss record of 8-10, which is a big improvement over the 3-14 they suffered through during their freshman and sophomore years. This group of Hawks was responsible for ending a losing streak that stretched from the end of the 2004 season to the first game of the 2007 season, a win over CAL of Latimer in Grand Junction.
All told, EG’s record from 2002 through 2007 was a dismal 6 wins and 41 losses. So 8-10 over two years may not look like much to the small-school powers of Iowa high school football, but it means something to EG‘ers--near and fall. So, more than anything...Go Hawks!
Friday, October 16, 2009
FINAL HOME FOOTBALL GAME
Hawks Battle Walnut To Stay Out Of D7 Cellar
East Greene looks to get back on the winning track against Walnut tonight in the final home game of the 2009 season.
Both EG and Walnut are winless in District 7 football. EG takes an 0-4 district mark (2-5 overall) into the game while Walnut is 0-3 and 3-5 on the season.
The Hawks dropped another hard-fought contest in D7 last Friday night in Grand Junction to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 46-28, falling prey to the aerial assault of Crusader quarterback Michael Schwenk who scored five of his seven touchdowns through the air.
Schwenk connected on 24 of his 44 pass attempts for 261 yards. He was also the bulk of the CRB ground game, amassing 105 years on 18 carries and two TDs.
Hawk QB Tom Beger had a big night too, connecting on 14 of 33 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. Beger was intercepted twice, while the Hawk defense snared one of Schwenk’s passes.
CRB pretty much shut down the Hawk ground game, though, limiting Beger to a minus 22 yards in 15 carries and holding running back Schyler Bardole to 50 yards in 11 carries. Bardole had rolled up 148 yards and 6 touchdowns in just 13 carries in the Hawk’s homecoming win over Meskwaki Settlement School (Tama), 80-14, the week before.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG should have the advantage here as Walnut must travel all the way from Pottawattamie County to Grand Junction. Both teams have faced four common opponents--Meskwaki, CAM, Adair-Casey and Glidden Ralston--and EG has fared slightly better than the Warriors. EG fell to CAM by 24 points but the Walnut lost to the D7 leaders by just 8 points. On the flip side, GR rolled over Walnut by 40 points last week but beat East Greene by just 8, and the game was at Glidden in both teams’ D7 opener. AC beat the Warriors by 15 but the difference in the Bombers’ game with the Hawks was just six points. EG has the edge in head-to-head comparison with Meskwaki winning by 56 points to Walnut winning by 50.
Walnut’s other wins came against Hamburg (2-7) and Essex (0-7) while EG’s second win was against Charter Oak-Ute (2-7).
WALNUT TO PLAYOFFS? It would take some major upsets but Walnut, although 0-3 in district action, still has an outside shot of making the playoffs if the Warriors get by EG tonight and then beat CRB in their home finale next week. As it stands, both AC and CRB have played just 3 games in D7 and each is 2-1 and they face-off tonight. Next week, they close out D7 play with AC hosting CAM and CRB traveling to Walnut. So if AC upends CRB tonight to go 3-1 that drops CRB down to 2-2, and Walnut would head into the game next week at 1-3 if they beat the Hawks tonight. Then, next week, if Walnut were to beat CRB, both teams would end up tied in D7 at 2-3 and Walnut would get the nod for the fourth spot in the standings because of its head-to-head win over CRB.
A more likely scenario is that EG wins tonight as does CRB, and CRB dispenses with Walnut next week to finish as D7 runner-up to CAM at 4-1. CAM would get by AC next week to finish at 5-0 and AC drops to 2-3 behind GR (3-2) but still qualifies for the playoffs because 2-3 would put the Bombers in fourth place, giving them the fourth of four playoff spots. Even if AC upsets CAM and ends the season tied for third with GR at 3-2, they would still end up fourth as GR would get the edge in a tie-breaker, having beaten AC 42-6 on Oct. 2.
EG closes out the 2009 season with a road game in Exira against Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira in a D7 game that does not count in the standings. EHK/EX upset CAM last week 43-20 to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season.
D7 STANDINGS Through Oct. 9:
CAM (Anita) 4-0 6-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-1 6-1
Adair-Casey 2-1 5-2
Glidden-Ralston 3-2 5-2
Elk Horn Kimballton/Exira 0-0* 5-2
Walnut 0-3 3-5
East Greene 0-4 2-5
Oct. 9 Games:
CRB 46, EG 28
GR 46, WAL 6
EHK/EX 43, CAM 20 (non-district)
AC 80, MESK 30 (non-district)
Oct. 16 Games:
AC @ CRB
GR @ EKH/EX
MESK @ CAM
WAL @ EG
Oct. 23 Games:
CAM @ AC
CRB @ WAL
EG @ EHK/EX
MESK @ GR
*EHK/EX not eligible for playoffs
East Greene looks to get back on the winning track against Walnut tonight in the final home game of the 2009 season.
Both EG and Walnut are winless in District 7 football. EG takes an 0-4 district mark (2-5 overall) into the game while Walnut is 0-3 and 3-5 on the season.
The Hawks dropped another hard-fought contest in D7 last Friday night in Grand Junction to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 46-28, falling prey to the aerial assault of Crusader quarterback Michael Schwenk who scored five of his seven touchdowns through the air.
Schwenk connected on 24 of his 44 pass attempts for 261 yards. He was also the bulk of the CRB ground game, amassing 105 years on 18 carries and two TDs.
Hawk QB Tom Beger had a big night too, connecting on 14 of 33 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. Beger was intercepted twice, while the Hawk defense snared one of Schwenk’s passes.
CRB pretty much shut down the Hawk ground game, though, limiting Beger to a minus 22 yards in 15 carries and holding running back Schyler Bardole to 50 yards in 11 carries. Bardole had rolled up 148 yards and 6 touchdowns in just 13 carries in the Hawk’s homecoming win over Meskwaki Settlement School (Tama), 80-14, the week before.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG should have the advantage here as Walnut must travel all the way from Pottawattamie County to Grand Junction. Both teams have faced four common opponents--Meskwaki, CAM, Adair-Casey and Glidden Ralston--and EG has fared slightly better than the Warriors. EG fell to CAM by 24 points but the Walnut lost to the D7 leaders by just 8 points. On the flip side, GR rolled over Walnut by 40 points last week but beat East Greene by just 8, and the game was at Glidden in both teams’ D7 opener. AC beat the Warriors by 15 but the difference in the Bombers’ game with the Hawks was just six points. EG has the edge in head-to-head comparison with Meskwaki winning by 56 points to Walnut winning by 50.
Walnut’s other wins came against Hamburg (2-7) and Essex (0-7) while EG’s second win was against Charter Oak-Ute (2-7).
WALNUT TO PLAYOFFS? It would take some major upsets but Walnut, although 0-3 in district action, still has an outside shot of making the playoffs if the Warriors get by EG tonight and then beat CRB in their home finale next week. As it stands, both AC and CRB have played just 3 games in D7 and each is 2-1 and they face-off tonight. Next week, they close out D7 play with AC hosting CAM and CRB traveling to Walnut. So if AC upends CRB tonight to go 3-1 that drops CRB down to 2-2, and Walnut would head into the game next week at 1-3 if they beat the Hawks tonight. Then, next week, if Walnut were to beat CRB, both teams would end up tied in D7 at 2-3 and Walnut would get the nod for the fourth spot in the standings because of its head-to-head win over CRB.
A more likely scenario is that EG wins tonight as does CRB, and CRB dispenses with Walnut next week to finish as D7 runner-up to CAM at 4-1. CAM would get by AC next week to finish at 5-0 and AC drops to 2-3 behind GR (3-2) but still qualifies for the playoffs because 2-3 would put the Bombers in fourth place, giving them the fourth of four playoff spots. Even if AC upsets CAM and ends the season tied for third with GR at 3-2, they would still end up fourth as GR would get the edge in a tie-breaker, having beaten AC 42-6 on Oct. 2.
EG closes out the 2009 season with a road game in Exira against Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira in a D7 game that does not count in the standings. EHK/EX upset CAM last week 43-20 to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season.
D7 STANDINGS Through Oct. 9:
CAM (Anita) 4-0 6-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-1 6-1
Adair-Casey 2-1 5-2
Glidden-Ralston 3-2 5-2
Elk Horn Kimballton/Exira 0-0* 5-2
Walnut 0-3 3-5
East Greene 0-4 2-5
Oct. 9 Games:
CRB 46, EG 28
GR 46, WAL 6
EHK/EX 43, CAM 20 (non-district)
AC 80, MESK 30 (non-district)
Oct. 16 Games:
AC @ CRB
GR @ EKH/EX
MESK @ CAM
WAL @ EG
Oct. 23 Games:
CAM @ AC
CRB @ WAL
EG @ EHK/EX
MESK @ GR
*EHK/EX not eligible for playoffs
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
EG NETTERS FACE WG
Hawkettes Can Tie for Conference No. 2 Spot
East Greene heads to Woodward tonight for a key West Central Conference battle against Woodward-Granger. EG swept West Central Valley last Tuesday in a 3-zip match to move to 4-2 in the West Central, just one game behind Woodward-Granger at 5-1, after WG had disposed of Des Moines Christian 25-17, 32-30, 25-23.
WG’s win dropped DMC from second into a tie for third place with East Greene. Guthrie Center remains atop the league standings with a perfect 6-0 mark and has already beaten the other top 3 teams: WG, EG and DMC. Guthrie takes on Madrid tonight on the road, then closes its conference and regular season with home games against West Central Valley and Coon Rapids-Bayard (3-3), last year’s conference champion and state qualifier.
East Greene picked up a key win two weeks ago (Sept. 22) against CRB in Rippey, rolling over the Crusaders in a three-game match 25-23, 25-23, 26-24.
EG closes out the season with a tournament Saturday at Walnut and home matches against league foes Panorama (3-3) on Tuesday and Madrid (1-5) on Thursday. EG opens regional action the following Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Madrid against the winner of a first round tilt between Madrid and Glidden-Ralston on Monday, Oct. 19, in Madrid.
West Central Conference Volleyball Standings
Guthrie Center 6-0
Woodward-Granger 5-1
East Greene 4-2
Des Moines Christian 4-2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 3-3
Panorama 3-3
Earlham 2-4
Madrid 1-5
Van Meter 1-5
West Central Valley 1-5
EYE ON GJ SAYS: It’s a battle of the birds at Woodward tonight as the EG Hawkettes take on the WG Hawkettes. This is a good test for the EG team as they face a quality team in WG. They should see some good competition in the Walnut Tournament on Saturday and will need to prepared for a much improved Panorama team next week in Rippey. The regionals get underway next week and EG can’t overlook either GR or Madrid, their opponent in round two. State-ranked Southern Cal hosts Paton-Churdan in Lake City in the opposite bracket second round game and the SC-PC and EG-Madrid or GR winners face off in Lake City the following week in the quarterfinals. So if EG makes it to the quarters the likely opponent would be Southern Cal, and the Hawkettes would really need an all-out effort to upend the Mustangs, who made it all the way to the regional finals last year and are ranked 12th this year with a 16-7 record. The other favorite in the region is Exira (13-5) ranked 11th in the state and undefeated in the Rolling Hills Conference.
East Greene heads to Woodward tonight for a key West Central Conference battle against Woodward-Granger. EG swept West Central Valley last Tuesday in a 3-zip match to move to 4-2 in the West Central, just one game behind Woodward-Granger at 5-1, after WG had disposed of Des Moines Christian 25-17, 32-30, 25-23.
WG’s win dropped DMC from second into a tie for third place with East Greene. Guthrie Center remains atop the league standings with a perfect 6-0 mark and has already beaten the other top 3 teams: WG, EG and DMC. Guthrie takes on Madrid tonight on the road, then closes its conference and regular season with home games against West Central Valley and Coon Rapids-Bayard (3-3), last year’s conference champion and state qualifier.
East Greene picked up a key win two weeks ago (Sept. 22) against CRB in Rippey, rolling over the Crusaders in a three-game match 25-23, 25-23, 26-24.
EG closes out the season with a tournament Saturday at Walnut and home matches against league foes Panorama (3-3) on Tuesday and Madrid (1-5) on Thursday. EG opens regional action the following Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Madrid against the winner of a first round tilt between Madrid and Glidden-Ralston on Monday, Oct. 19, in Madrid.
West Central Conference Volleyball Standings
Guthrie Center 6-0
Woodward-Granger 5-1
East Greene 4-2
Des Moines Christian 4-2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 3-3
Panorama 3-3
Earlham 2-4
Madrid 1-5
Van Meter 1-5
West Central Valley 1-5
EYE ON GJ SAYS: It’s a battle of the birds at Woodward tonight as the EG Hawkettes take on the WG Hawkettes. This is a good test for the EG team as they face a quality team in WG. They should see some good competition in the Walnut Tournament on Saturday and will need to prepared for a much improved Panorama team next week in Rippey. The regionals get underway next week and EG can’t overlook either GR or Madrid, their opponent in round two. State-ranked Southern Cal hosts Paton-Churdan in Lake City in the opposite bracket second round game and the SC-PC and EG-Madrid or GR winners face off in Lake City the following week in the quarterfinals. So if EG makes it to the quarters the likely opponent would be Southern Cal, and the Hawkettes would really need an all-out effort to upend the Mustangs, who made it all the way to the regional finals last year and are ranked 12th this year with a 16-7 record. The other favorite in the region is Exira (13-5) ranked 11th in the state and undefeated in the Rolling Hills Conference.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Isabel Smith Services Friday, Oct. 2
Funeral Services for Isabel Smith, 96, Ames, longtime Grand Junction resident, will be 10 a.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church in Grand Junction. Interment will be in the Jefferson Cemetery. Visitation will be after 10 a.m. Thursday at Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home in Jefferson with the family present to greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the First United Methodist Church in Grand Junction or the Ames Christian School.
Isabel is survived by her sons, Michael (Terri) Smith, Stoughton, Mass., and Mac (Peggy) Smith, Huxley, Iowa, and her sisters, Marian Dommel, Minnetonka, Minn. and Irene Eilbert, Mankato, Minn.
Isabel is survived by her sons, Michael (Terri) Smith, Stoughton, Mass., and Mac (Peggy) Smith, Huxley, Iowa, and her sisters, Marian Dommel, Minnetonka, Minn. and Irene Eilbert, Mankato, Minn.
Friday, September 18, 2009
HAWKS FALL TO GR
EG Looks To Even Record Tonight Against AC
Glidden-Ralston got the upper hand in a defensive struggle at Glidden last Friday night, posting a 14-6 win over East Greene.
The Hawks put up a stalwart effort, playing the Wildcats even throughout the contest. EG outgained the Wildcats in total yardage, 276 to 244, but GR had the edge in scoring with two TDs and one 2-point conversion. GR had 15 first downs to the Hawks' 12.
Tyler Gathercoal, who rushed 3 times for 46 yards, scored EG’s lone touchdown. Schyler Bardole rushed 25 times for 108 yards and QB Tom Beger had 7 carries for 7 yards. Beger was 11-for-26 in passing for 129 yards but was intercepted 3 times.
EG had another fine defensive performance and kept the GR air game in check, limiting QB Wade Hoyle to just 4 completions in 11 attempts for 24 yards. The Hawks picked off 3 of Hoyle’s passes.
GR clearly had the advantage in the ground game however, amassing 220 yards rushing compared with EG’s 147. Taylor Hackett and Stuart Conner were hard to stop as they ran for 101 and 88 yards, respectively. Conner scored both GR’s touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
Beger led the defensive effort with 8 solo tackles and 2 pass interceptions, Rob Ritchie had 7 solo tackles and Zach Beyerink had 6 solos and intercepted a pass.
The loss dropped EG to 1-2 on the year and 0-1 in District 7. The Hawks host Adair-Casey tonight at Karber Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: This was a tough loss for the Hawks and clearly the best 8-Man game they’ve ever played against Glidden-Ralston, which has a storied football history dating back to the days of Glidden High School. GR and CAM, both winners last week, will face off in key battle for D7 supremacy tonight on CAM’s home field in Anita.
EG will face another stiff challenge in Adair-Casey, last year’s D7 runner-up. AC beat Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 46-40 last week in a D7 game that does not count in the standings as EHK/EX is not eligible for the playoffs. AC has a deep history in 8-Man football too, but the Hawks are clearly playing at the caliber of teams like GR and Ar-We-Va, which had been ranked until GR beat them two weeks ago. AC (2-1) opened the season with a 41-8 win over Farragut (2-1) and then dropped a close game to No. 4-ranked and undefeated Stanton, 32-28.
EG has given up an average of just 14 points a game in three contests to some pretty formidable competition. If the offense can generate just a little more heat tonight, EG can get the win over the Bombers. A victory would put the Hawks at .500 in both D7 and on the season.
Overall, D7 is looking very balanced this year as no team won by more than 8 points in the three games played last week (including EHK/EX-AC). It looks like the D7 championship and the four playoff spots could go right down the last week of the season.
District 7 8-Man Standings (District, Overall)
CAM (Anita) 1-0, 3-0
Glidden-Ralston 1-0, 3-0
Adair-Casey 0-0, 2-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 0-0, 3-0
EHK/Exira 0-0, 2-1
East Greene 0-1,1-2
Walnut 0-1, 2-1
Sept. 11 Results:
AC 46, EHK/EX 40
CAM 20, WAL 12
CRB 78, Meskwaki Settlement School 8
GR 14, EG 6
Tonight’s Games:
AC at EG
CRB at EHK/EX
GR at CAM
MESK at WAL
Glidden-Ralston got the upper hand in a defensive struggle at Glidden last Friday night, posting a 14-6 win over East Greene.
The Hawks put up a stalwart effort, playing the Wildcats even throughout the contest. EG outgained the Wildcats in total yardage, 276 to 244, but GR had the edge in scoring with two TDs and one 2-point conversion. GR had 15 first downs to the Hawks' 12.
Tyler Gathercoal, who rushed 3 times for 46 yards, scored EG’s lone touchdown. Schyler Bardole rushed 25 times for 108 yards and QB Tom Beger had 7 carries for 7 yards. Beger was 11-for-26 in passing for 129 yards but was intercepted 3 times.
EG had another fine defensive performance and kept the GR air game in check, limiting QB Wade Hoyle to just 4 completions in 11 attempts for 24 yards. The Hawks picked off 3 of Hoyle’s passes.
GR clearly had the advantage in the ground game however, amassing 220 yards rushing compared with EG’s 147. Taylor Hackett and Stuart Conner were hard to stop as they ran for 101 and 88 yards, respectively. Conner scored both GR’s touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
Beger led the defensive effort with 8 solo tackles and 2 pass interceptions, Rob Ritchie had 7 solo tackles and Zach Beyerink had 6 solos and intercepted a pass.
The loss dropped EG to 1-2 on the year and 0-1 in District 7. The Hawks host Adair-Casey tonight at Karber Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: This was a tough loss for the Hawks and clearly the best 8-Man game they’ve ever played against Glidden-Ralston, which has a storied football history dating back to the days of Glidden High School. GR and CAM, both winners last week, will face off in key battle for D7 supremacy tonight on CAM’s home field in Anita.
EG will face another stiff challenge in Adair-Casey, last year’s D7 runner-up. AC beat Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 46-40 last week in a D7 game that does not count in the standings as EHK/EX is not eligible for the playoffs. AC has a deep history in 8-Man football too, but the Hawks are clearly playing at the caliber of teams like GR and Ar-We-Va, which had been ranked until GR beat them two weeks ago. AC (2-1) opened the season with a 41-8 win over Farragut (2-1) and then dropped a close game to No. 4-ranked and undefeated Stanton, 32-28.
EG has given up an average of just 14 points a game in three contests to some pretty formidable competition. If the offense can generate just a little more heat tonight, EG can get the win over the Bombers. A victory would put the Hawks at .500 in both D7 and on the season.
Overall, D7 is looking very balanced this year as no team won by more than 8 points in the three games played last week (including EHK/EX-AC). It looks like the D7 championship and the four playoff spots could go right down the last week of the season.
District 7 8-Man Standings (District, Overall)
CAM (Anita) 1-0, 3-0
Glidden-Ralston 1-0, 3-0
Adair-Casey 0-0, 2-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 0-0, 3-0
EHK/Exira 0-0, 2-1
East Greene 0-1,1-2
Walnut 0-1, 2-1
Sept. 11 Results:
AC 46, EHK/EX 40
CAM 20, WAL 12
CRB 78, Meskwaki Settlement School 8
GR 14, EG 6
Tonight’s Games:
AC at EG
CRB at EHK/EX
GR at CAM
MESK at WAL
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
HAWKETTE VB NOW 6-1
Netters Win CRB Tourney; Pick Up 2 League Wins
A three-game sweep of Van Meter last Tuesday (Sept. 8) in the home volleyball opener moved East Greene’s conference mark to 2-0, putting the Hawkettes in a tie for first place with Coon Rapid-Bayard and Woodward-Granger.
The Hawkettes rolled into the VM match after winning the Coon Rapids-Bayard Tournament on Saturday with a 25-21, 22-25, 15-12 win over the host school in the championship match.
EG had advanced to the semifinal round earlier in the day with a split in its two matches in the first round, beating Iowa Christian Academy 25-15, 15-25, 15-8 and dropping a close match to Woodbine, 25-19, 20-25, 15-13.
EG faced cross-county rival Paton-Churdan in the semifinals and beat the Rockettes two-zip, 25-21, 25-15.
The Hawkettes opened conference play on Thursday, Sept. 3 with a three-game sweep at Earlham, 25-12, 25-20, 25-20. EG is now 6-1 on the season and is the only team to beat CRB, which is ranked No. 11 in Class 1A with an 11-1 season mark.
The conference race heats up tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 15) as the top six teams face-off against each other. CRB and WG, both 2-0, are at Woodward; Guthrie Center (1-0) is at Earlham (1-1); and EG hosts Des Moines Christian (1-1).
West Central Conference Standings
East Greene 2-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0
Woodward-Granger 2-0
Guthrie Center 1-0
Des Moines Christian 1-1
Earlham 1-1
Van Meter 0-1
Madrid 0-2
Panorama 0-2
West Central Valley 0-2
A three-game sweep of Van Meter last Tuesday (Sept. 8) in the home volleyball opener moved East Greene’s conference mark to 2-0, putting the Hawkettes in a tie for first place with Coon Rapid-Bayard and Woodward-Granger.
The Hawkettes rolled into the VM match after winning the Coon Rapids-Bayard Tournament on Saturday with a 25-21, 22-25, 15-12 win over the host school in the championship match.
EG had advanced to the semifinal round earlier in the day with a split in its two matches in the first round, beating Iowa Christian Academy 25-15, 15-25, 15-8 and dropping a close match to Woodbine, 25-19, 20-25, 15-13.
EG faced cross-county rival Paton-Churdan in the semifinals and beat the Rockettes two-zip, 25-21, 25-15.
The Hawkettes opened conference play on Thursday, Sept. 3 with a three-game sweep at Earlham, 25-12, 25-20, 25-20. EG is now 6-1 on the season and is the only team to beat CRB, which is ranked No. 11 in Class 1A with an 11-1 season mark.
The conference race heats up tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 15) as the top six teams face-off against each other. CRB and WG, both 2-0, are at Woodward; Guthrie Center (1-0) is at Earlham (1-1); and EG hosts Des Moines Christian (1-1).
West Central Conference Standings
East Greene 2-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0
Woodward-Granger 2-0
Guthrie Center 1-0
Des Moines Christian 1-1
Earlham 1-1
Van Meter 0-1
Madrid 0-2
Panorama 0-2
West Central Valley 0-2
Friday, September 11, 2009
HAWKS ROLL 62-16
Open D7 Play Tonight At Glidden; Team-By-Team Outlook
East Greene rolled over Charter Oak-Ute last Friday night 62-12 in Grand Junction to even its record at 1-1.
The Hawks open up District 7 action tonight in Glidden against Glidden-Ralston. EG will face a very tough opponent in the Wildcats, who are 2-0 after a drubbing of Whiting, 80-16, in the season opener on the road two weeks ago and a big win over No. 8 Ar-We-Va in Glidden last Friday night, 20-19.
GR becomes a key contender for the hotly contested District 7 championship, which gets underway tonight as CAM (Anita) travels to Walnut while Adair-Casey hosts Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira in addition to the EG-GR matchup. Only the CAM-Walnut and EG-GR tilts will count in the standings as EHK/Exira is not eligible for the 8-Man State Playoffs as the combined enrollment of the two schools is above the maximum enrollment number (115 for grades 9-11) for 8-Man eligibility. EHK/Exira is playing the schedule that was mapped out two years ago for EHK, and alternating its home games between Elk Horn and Exira. None of the games against EHK/Exira will count in the standings for D7 teams and will be treated as “non-district” contests. EG finishes up the regular season against EHK/Exira on Oct. 23 in Exira.
With the sharing arrangement between EHK and Exira, the district drops from eight to seven members and with the ineligibility of EHK/Exira for post-season play, it creates an interesting scenario wherein four of the six eligible schools will qualify for the sub-state round of 8-Man state playoffs, as opposed to most districts where eight teams must compete for four playoff spots or in some cases, seven. The seventh District 7 member, Coon Rapids-Bayard, will host Meskwaki Settlement School of Tama in Coon Rapids tonight. Meskwaki is in its first season of football and playing as in independent in 8-Man, and is also ineligible for playoff action. EG will host Meskwaki for Homecoming 2009 in Grand Junction on Friday, Oct. 3.
GR’s upset win over state-ranked Ar-We-Va makes the Wildcats solid contenders for the 2009 District 7 crown. Entering the season, CAM was the hands-down favorite as the Cougars virtually return their entire 2008 team--winners of District 7--intact. But CAM had a rough time against East Mills (Malvern) last week, needing overtime before escaping with a 44-42 win. It should be noted, though, that East Mills was a playoff qualifier last year, falling to CRB in the substate round.
Here is a look at District 7 for 2009 team by team:
CAM: Close only counts in horseshoes and even though CAM had a close calls against East Mills in Week 2, that is really not a serious discredit to their capability of repeating as D7 champs, as CAM had several close calls last year, among them a 24-22 win over Adair-Casey in the season finale with the title on the line. The week before that, they were tested by last place Exira, escaping 26-24. Both East Greene and Glidden-Ralston were within two touchdowns (or less) of the Cougars, EG falling 26-14 and GR 24-14.
CAM is ranked No. 6 in the state 8-Man poll by the Des Moines Register, moving up one spot after its win over East Mills. Leading the team this season are three first-team All-District picks from 2008: Alex Stork, running back; Dayton Amdor, offensive lineman; and Jaxson Armstrong, defensive back. All three are seniors. Also returning are junior Eric McKee, offensive lineman, and senior Luke Symonds, wide receiver, both second team picks last year.
CAM had seven all-district picks on the first and second teams last year, and five of them return, with the Cougars losing only DJ Whitlatch, a first team pick at kick returner and second team pick at running back. Whitlatch does leave a big hole to replace however, as he racked up 1,030 yards and 10 touchdowns in 162 carries. He and Stork made for a formidable 1-2 punch as Stork rushed 189 times for 1,338 yards and 26 touchdowns. Armstrong is back at quarterback after passing for 990 yards and 14 touchdowns last year.
Whitlatch was the only senior on CAM’s 22-man roster last year, meaning the team returns 21 veterans who fill 14 of 16 offensive and defensive starting positions.
Glidden-Ralston: The Wildcats have strong tradition in football, having won a state championship in the very first Class 1-A playoff in 1975 and securing another championship in their first year of 8-Man competition in 2005. Starting with that 2005 title, GR has qualified for the 8-Man playoffs four years straight.
The Wildcats do have some key holes to fill this year, among them first-team all-district running back and linebacker Trevor Van Scoy, GR’s only first-team pick last year. Key to the team’s success this year are Zach Rohrbeck, second team all-district in 2008 as a receiver on offense and punt returner on defense, and Lee Schon, who was a second-team pick as defensive lineman.
GR has put up big numbers in its first two games, amassing 443 total yards in its blowout of Whiting and 334 last week against Ar-We-Va. Junior QB Wade Hoyle has the offense firing on all cylinders as he has ran and passed for 312 total yards and four touchdowns in two games. He burned the Rockets 168 total yards. Seniors Aaron Fay and Stuart Conner and junior Taylor Hackett have put up solid numbers on the ground and each has scored two touchdowns.
Coon Rapids-Bayard: The Crusaders turned out to be the big success story of 2008. Behind the arm of QB Johnny Schwaller, CRB finished third in the district at 5-2 after CAM and Adair-Casey but advanced farther in the playoffs than any other D7 team, reaching the quarterfinals after dispatching D7 rival and regular season champion CAM in the first round, 38-14. Adair-Casey also fell in the first round and Glidden-Ralston was sidelined in the substate round. Stanton ended the Crusaders playoff run with a 42-17 win in the quarterfinals.
Schwaller has graduated but CRB returns senior Tyler Boeke, a first-team all-district pick last year as a receiver. Back anchoring the defense are two first-team picks--senior lineman Jon Meyer and kicker Jacob Esdohr, a sophomore, who was also named to the first team on offense as place kicker.
CRB has rolled over Charter Oak-Ute 68-0 and Whiting 61-6 to open the season. Those two teams were a combined 1-17 last year though, and CRB will face a team with even less caliber tonight in newcomer Meskwaki. QB Michael Schwenk has put up big numbers in the early going. Against Whiting last week he was 10 of 14 for 174 yards and seven passing TDs and a rushing score. Boeke, Esdohr and Alex Golay each had two receptions for touchdowns.
CRB’s competition will step up dramatically in the next two weeks as they go on the road to face EHK/Exira on Sept. 18 and then they travel to Glidden on Sept. 25 to face the Wildcats in their first game to count in the standings.
ADAIR-CASEY: Last year was a banner year for the Bombers, as they advanced to State in football, basketball and baseball. But those state playoff berths were largely accumulated by senior dominated teams. Six seniors are gone from the baseball team, five from the basketball team, and seven from last year’s D7 runner-up grid squad. There are big shoes to fill as QB Brent Westergaard threw for 1,431 yards and 19 touchdowns. Westergaard and running backs Josh Krueger and Kyle Lundy teamed up for over 2,000 yards rushing and an amazing 33 touchdowns, and Alex Bireline anchored the receiving corps, hauling in 41 catches for 714 yards and 9 touchdowns. Bireline, Krueger and defensive lineman Seth Comly, another member of the departed 2008-09 senior class, were all first-team district picks while Comly was a second-team pick on offense as was Krueger at place kicker, and Westergaard was a second team pick at both offensive and defensive slots.
The cupboard is clearly bare at AC, but the Bombers have deep tradition, having won the first two 8-Man State Championships in 2000 and 2001. In fact, AC has qualified for every 8-Man playoff except for 2005 and 2007. Along with its two state titles, AC was runner-up in the championship game in both 2003 and 2004, but then fell out of the running in 2005 with a 1-4 showing in District 7, good only for fifth place among six teams. After coming back to win a district title in 2006 going undefeated at 6-0 and 8-1 for the regular season and a first round playoff win, the Bombers were just 1-5 and 2-7 in 2007 finishing next to last among seven teams in D7.
So the question for 2009 is will the Bombers reload or rebuild after last year’s 6-1 season that saw them beat Villisca in the substate round, 53-12, but then get drubbed 56-6 in the first round by Stanton, the team that went on to eliminate CRB in the quarters and advance on to the semifinals. AC will look to senior Austin Ayers, its lone all-district honoree from last year. Ayers was named to the second unit in 2008 as kick returner. He was the Bombers’ second leading receiver last year, nabbing 15 passes for 325 yards and 5 touchdowns. Ayers had 136 yards rushing and 2 TDs last year also. Junior Wade Taylor will be taking up the mantle at quarterback. He saw limited action as Westergaard’s back up last year, throwing 2 of 4 passes for 61 yards.
EAST GREENE: The Hawks return a solid nucleus and a deep roster for the 2009 campaign, which could be the best EG season since the 2001 team led by Isaac Gannon just missed the fourth of four playoff spots with EG finishing just behind Adair-Casey in District 2 at 6-1 and overall at 6-2. Its lone non-district loss also came at the hands of AC as the 26 teams competing in 8-Man that year were spread across three districts covering a wide swath of the state from as far south Lamoni to the southwest corner at Fenton near the Minnesota state line and some district teams needed to double up to make a complete schedule.
Co-coaches Tony Beger and Tim Bardole have had the Hawks in a rebuilding mode which got underway when EG broke a 19-game losing streak with a win over CAL (Latimer) in Grand Junction to open the 2007 season. EG went on to post a 3-6 record and 1-4 in District 7, moving up from its last place finish in 2006 to fifth (of six teams). Last year, D7 was expanded to eight teams and the Hawks faced a seven-game district schedule rather than just give games, but they were up to the challenge, beating Exira, Elk Horn-Kimballton and Walnut to go 3-4 in district play good for fifth place and 4-5 overall with a non-district win over Charter Oak-Ute. The losses were to perennial 8-Man powers Ar-We-Va (non-district season opener), Glidden-Ralston and Adair-Casey in addition to longtime rival Coon Rapids-Bayard, which had its best 8-Man season ever, and undefeated D7 champion CAM.
EG fields a veteran team this year anchored by senior Josh Neese on the offensive line and senior Tom Beger and junior Schyler Bardole in the backfield. Neese was an all-district first team pick last year on offense. Beger and Bardole, sons of the co-coaches, put up great offensive numbers but also played key roles on the EG defense. Bardole was named the all-district second team on offense as a running back while Beger snared a spot on the defensive second team as a linebacker.
The Hawks will be looking to shore up a hole left by the graduation of Jeff Moore who was second team all-district as both an offensive and defensive lineman.
EG is picking up where it left off last year with a strong showing by its defense against Ar-We-Va in the season opener and by its offense in a 62-point performance against Charter Oak-Ute last week.
Beger put up solid numbers last year with 42 pass completions in 91 attempts for 12 touchdowns, and three 7 interceptions. Three of his top four receivers are back: senior Jesse Priest, 223 yards and 3 touchdowns; Bardole, 219 yards and two touchdowns; and junior Nic Nicolaisen, 128 yards and three touchdowns.
Bardole was one of the four top D7 running backs last year and two of them (Van Scoy of GR and Whitlatch of CAM) have graduated leaving CAM’s Stork to contend with as top back in 2009. Stork may find the going a bit tougher with half of last year’s successful backfield tandem absent. Bardole rushed for 1,297 yards last year for 20 touchdowns. He also racked up 133 yards in put returns, and on defense he intercepted four passes for 97 yards and recovered a fumble.
Also back for the Hawks is speedy senior kick return specialist Tyler Gathercoal who had 19 returns for 332 yards last season. Another two-way player returning from last year’s starting lineup is senior Zach Beyerink.
ELK HORN-KIMBALLTON/EXIRA: The “double E” will be a big question mark this season as independently EHK and Exira had some standout players returning from last year’s teams but how they will perform--and in which roles--is the big mystery for this newly formed team, whose new nickname is the Spartans. The team is sporting new uniforms featuring its newly chosen colors of maroon and black. In volleyball this fall and other major sports, the teams compete separately and their team nicknames reflect their communities’ Scandinavian heritage--Danes (EHK) and Vikings (Exira). Both schools are members of the Rolling Hills Conference along with D7 schools AC, GR, CAM and Walnut.
EHK’s Carson Smith was a standout last year as a junior, earning first team all-district honors as utility player on offense. Exira’s Matt Kilworth earned the same honors as utility player on defense. He is also a senior this season. Smith picked up multiple honors as a second team selection last year at three different positions--place kicker on offense, and defensive back and kicker (for kickoffs) on defense.
EHK/Exira is off to a solid start with wins over Sydney at Exira in the season opener, 47-22, and last week at Hamburg, 56-18. Tonight’s battle with AC should determine how these teams will fare in the D7 mix this season.
WALNUT: At 2-1 in the pre-D7 season, Walnut will be looking to improve its 2-5 district record from last year--good for sixth place ahead of EHK and Exira--and its overall mark of 4-5.
First team all-district Dillan Hamilton returns for the Warriors at linebacker. Walnut is off to a solid start with wins over Essex, 70-0, and Hamburg, 52-12, and a loss last week to Farragut, 30-22. All three teams are in District 8.
One thing that could hamper Walnut is a lack of depth and low numbers. Walnut suits up just 15 players while EG and EHK field teams with twice that number and CRB (35) are GR (41) have even bigger teams. Injuries could be crucial to the Warriors as the season wears on. Walnut will have a tall order in its D7 opener tonight against CAM.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG faces some stiff competition in the first few weeks of D7 competition as its opens on the road at Glidden and then returns home to face Adair-Casey and then a road game the following week at Anita against CAM. The Hawks’ game with AC on Sept. 18 could go a long way in determining who makes it to the playoffs this year. The Hawks dropped a 34-14 game at home to GR last year and then went down to Adair and got whipped 60-24 by the Bombers in their homecoming game.
With just 5 games in the D7 counting in the standings, a 2-3 record should be good enough for fourth place, although the fourth-place team will face the first place team in D8, which was Stanton last year. So the winner of the EG-AC game could be crucial to how the final standings shake out. Upsets along the way could leave two or more teams in a tie too, so the tie-breaker of margin of victory in each game could be very significant this season.
EG gets a break by not having to face EHK/Exira in the exempt D7 game until the last game of the season. Other D7 teams must face EHK earlier in the season and a loss to a program whose teams were last and next-to-last in the district last year before merging [for football] this year could be harmful to the confidence level of a team with expectations of easily dispensing of the Spartans.
EG also gets a bit of a break as it’s replacement game for the week it would have played Exira is Meskwaki at home for Homecoming on Oct. 9, which offers a mid-season break from D7 play. The Hawks’ following two games against D7 opponents CRB and Walnut are both in Grand Junction.
D7 showed that is one of the deepest and most talented districts in the state in the 8-Man game as the teams compiled a 12-3 non-district record in competition against mostly D1 and D8 teams. That was topped only by D6, which includes Des Moines area teams Ankeny Christian Academy/Iowa Christian Academy, at 13-3. D2 and D4 both went 9-7; D3 was 7-11; and D1, D5 and D8 each went 5-11.
Here is the complete EG schedule for 2009:
(Kickoff time for all games is 7 p.m.)
Aug. 28 Ar-We-Va @ Westside (L 15-2)
Sept. 4 Charter Oak-Ute @ GJ (W 62-16)
Sept. 11 Glidden-Ralston @ Glidden
Sept. 18 Adair-Casey @ GJ
Sept. 25 CAM (Anita) @ Anita
Oct. 2 Meskwaki @ GJ (Homecoming)
Oct. 9 Coon Rapids-Bayard @ GJ
Oct. 16 Walnut @ GJ (Parents’ Night)
Oct. 23 Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira @ Exira
East Greene rolled over Charter Oak-Ute last Friday night 62-12 in Grand Junction to even its record at 1-1.
The Hawks open up District 7 action tonight in Glidden against Glidden-Ralston. EG will face a very tough opponent in the Wildcats, who are 2-0 after a drubbing of Whiting, 80-16, in the season opener on the road two weeks ago and a big win over No. 8 Ar-We-Va in Glidden last Friday night, 20-19.
GR becomes a key contender for the hotly contested District 7 championship, which gets underway tonight as CAM (Anita) travels to Walnut while Adair-Casey hosts Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira in addition to the EG-GR matchup. Only the CAM-Walnut and EG-GR tilts will count in the standings as EHK/Exira is not eligible for the 8-Man State Playoffs as the combined enrollment of the two schools is above the maximum enrollment number (115 for grades 9-11) for 8-Man eligibility. EHK/Exira is playing the schedule that was mapped out two years ago for EHK, and alternating its home games between Elk Horn and Exira. None of the games against EHK/Exira will count in the standings for D7 teams and will be treated as “non-district” contests. EG finishes up the regular season against EHK/Exira on Oct. 23 in Exira.
With the sharing arrangement between EHK and Exira, the district drops from eight to seven members and with the ineligibility of EHK/Exira for post-season play, it creates an interesting scenario wherein four of the six eligible schools will qualify for the sub-state round of 8-Man state playoffs, as opposed to most districts where eight teams must compete for four playoff spots or in some cases, seven. The seventh District 7 member, Coon Rapids-Bayard, will host Meskwaki Settlement School of Tama in Coon Rapids tonight. Meskwaki is in its first season of football and playing as in independent in 8-Man, and is also ineligible for playoff action. EG will host Meskwaki for Homecoming 2009 in Grand Junction on Friday, Oct. 3.
GR’s upset win over state-ranked Ar-We-Va makes the Wildcats solid contenders for the 2009 District 7 crown. Entering the season, CAM was the hands-down favorite as the Cougars virtually return their entire 2008 team--winners of District 7--intact. But CAM had a rough time against East Mills (Malvern) last week, needing overtime before escaping with a 44-42 win. It should be noted, though, that East Mills was a playoff qualifier last year, falling to CRB in the substate round.
Here is a look at District 7 for 2009 team by team:
CAM: Close only counts in horseshoes and even though CAM had a close calls against East Mills in Week 2, that is really not a serious discredit to their capability of repeating as D7 champs, as CAM had several close calls last year, among them a 24-22 win over Adair-Casey in the season finale with the title on the line. The week before that, they were tested by last place Exira, escaping 26-24. Both East Greene and Glidden-Ralston were within two touchdowns (or less) of the Cougars, EG falling 26-14 and GR 24-14.
CAM is ranked No. 6 in the state 8-Man poll by the Des Moines Register, moving up one spot after its win over East Mills. Leading the team this season are three first-team All-District picks from 2008: Alex Stork, running back; Dayton Amdor, offensive lineman; and Jaxson Armstrong, defensive back. All three are seniors. Also returning are junior Eric McKee, offensive lineman, and senior Luke Symonds, wide receiver, both second team picks last year.
CAM had seven all-district picks on the first and second teams last year, and five of them return, with the Cougars losing only DJ Whitlatch, a first team pick at kick returner and second team pick at running back. Whitlatch does leave a big hole to replace however, as he racked up 1,030 yards and 10 touchdowns in 162 carries. He and Stork made for a formidable 1-2 punch as Stork rushed 189 times for 1,338 yards and 26 touchdowns. Armstrong is back at quarterback after passing for 990 yards and 14 touchdowns last year.
Whitlatch was the only senior on CAM’s 22-man roster last year, meaning the team returns 21 veterans who fill 14 of 16 offensive and defensive starting positions.
Glidden-Ralston: The Wildcats have strong tradition in football, having won a state championship in the very first Class 1-A playoff in 1975 and securing another championship in their first year of 8-Man competition in 2005. Starting with that 2005 title, GR has qualified for the 8-Man playoffs four years straight.
The Wildcats do have some key holes to fill this year, among them first-team all-district running back and linebacker Trevor Van Scoy, GR’s only first-team pick last year. Key to the team’s success this year are Zach Rohrbeck, second team all-district in 2008 as a receiver on offense and punt returner on defense, and Lee Schon, who was a second-team pick as defensive lineman.
GR has put up big numbers in its first two games, amassing 443 total yards in its blowout of Whiting and 334 last week against Ar-We-Va. Junior QB Wade Hoyle has the offense firing on all cylinders as he has ran and passed for 312 total yards and four touchdowns in two games. He burned the Rockets 168 total yards. Seniors Aaron Fay and Stuart Conner and junior Taylor Hackett have put up solid numbers on the ground and each has scored two touchdowns.
Coon Rapids-Bayard: The Crusaders turned out to be the big success story of 2008. Behind the arm of QB Johnny Schwaller, CRB finished third in the district at 5-2 after CAM and Adair-Casey but advanced farther in the playoffs than any other D7 team, reaching the quarterfinals after dispatching D7 rival and regular season champion CAM in the first round, 38-14. Adair-Casey also fell in the first round and Glidden-Ralston was sidelined in the substate round. Stanton ended the Crusaders playoff run with a 42-17 win in the quarterfinals.
Schwaller has graduated but CRB returns senior Tyler Boeke, a first-team all-district pick last year as a receiver. Back anchoring the defense are two first-team picks--senior lineman Jon Meyer and kicker Jacob Esdohr, a sophomore, who was also named to the first team on offense as place kicker.
CRB has rolled over Charter Oak-Ute 68-0 and Whiting 61-6 to open the season. Those two teams were a combined 1-17 last year though, and CRB will face a team with even less caliber tonight in newcomer Meskwaki. QB Michael Schwenk has put up big numbers in the early going. Against Whiting last week he was 10 of 14 for 174 yards and seven passing TDs and a rushing score. Boeke, Esdohr and Alex Golay each had two receptions for touchdowns.
CRB’s competition will step up dramatically in the next two weeks as they go on the road to face EHK/Exira on Sept. 18 and then they travel to Glidden on Sept. 25 to face the Wildcats in their first game to count in the standings.
ADAIR-CASEY: Last year was a banner year for the Bombers, as they advanced to State in football, basketball and baseball. But those state playoff berths were largely accumulated by senior dominated teams. Six seniors are gone from the baseball team, five from the basketball team, and seven from last year’s D7 runner-up grid squad. There are big shoes to fill as QB Brent Westergaard threw for 1,431 yards and 19 touchdowns. Westergaard and running backs Josh Krueger and Kyle Lundy teamed up for over 2,000 yards rushing and an amazing 33 touchdowns, and Alex Bireline anchored the receiving corps, hauling in 41 catches for 714 yards and 9 touchdowns. Bireline, Krueger and defensive lineman Seth Comly, another member of the departed 2008-09 senior class, were all first-team district picks while Comly was a second-team pick on offense as was Krueger at place kicker, and Westergaard was a second team pick at both offensive and defensive slots.
The cupboard is clearly bare at AC, but the Bombers have deep tradition, having won the first two 8-Man State Championships in 2000 and 2001. In fact, AC has qualified for every 8-Man playoff except for 2005 and 2007. Along with its two state titles, AC was runner-up in the championship game in both 2003 and 2004, but then fell out of the running in 2005 with a 1-4 showing in District 7, good only for fifth place among six teams. After coming back to win a district title in 2006 going undefeated at 6-0 and 8-1 for the regular season and a first round playoff win, the Bombers were just 1-5 and 2-7 in 2007 finishing next to last among seven teams in D7.
So the question for 2009 is will the Bombers reload or rebuild after last year’s 6-1 season that saw them beat Villisca in the substate round, 53-12, but then get drubbed 56-6 in the first round by Stanton, the team that went on to eliminate CRB in the quarters and advance on to the semifinals. AC will look to senior Austin Ayers, its lone all-district honoree from last year. Ayers was named to the second unit in 2008 as kick returner. He was the Bombers’ second leading receiver last year, nabbing 15 passes for 325 yards and 5 touchdowns. Ayers had 136 yards rushing and 2 TDs last year also. Junior Wade Taylor will be taking up the mantle at quarterback. He saw limited action as Westergaard’s back up last year, throwing 2 of 4 passes for 61 yards.
EAST GREENE: The Hawks return a solid nucleus and a deep roster for the 2009 campaign, which could be the best EG season since the 2001 team led by Isaac Gannon just missed the fourth of four playoff spots with EG finishing just behind Adair-Casey in District 2 at 6-1 and overall at 6-2. Its lone non-district loss also came at the hands of AC as the 26 teams competing in 8-Man that year were spread across three districts covering a wide swath of the state from as far south Lamoni to the southwest corner at Fenton near the Minnesota state line and some district teams needed to double up to make a complete schedule.
Co-coaches Tony Beger and Tim Bardole have had the Hawks in a rebuilding mode which got underway when EG broke a 19-game losing streak with a win over CAL (Latimer) in Grand Junction to open the 2007 season. EG went on to post a 3-6 record and 1-4 in District 7, moving up from its last place finish in 2006 to fifth (of six teams). Last year, D7 was expanded to eight teams and the Hawks faced a seven-game district schedule rather than just give games, but they were up to the challenge, beating Exira, Elk Horn-Kimballton and Walnut to go 3-4 in district play good for fifth place and 4-5 overall with a non-district win over Charter Oak-Ute. The losses were to perennial 8-Man powers Ar-We-Va (non-district season opener), Glidden-Ralston and Adair-Casey in addition to longtime rival Coon Rapids-Bayard, which had its best 8-Man season ever, and undefeated D7 champion CAM.
EG fields a veteran team this year anchored by senior Josh Neese on the offensive line and senior Tom Beger and junior Schyler Bardole in the backfield. Neese was an all-district first team pick last year on offense. Beger and Bardole, sons of the co-coaches, put up great offensive numbers but also played key roles on the EG defense. Bardole was named the all-district second team on offense as a running back while Beger snared a spot on the defensive second team as a linebacker.
The Hawks will be looking to shore up a hole left by the graduation of Jeff Moore who was second team all-district as both an offensive and defensive lineman.
EG is picking up where it left off last year with a strong showing by its defense against Ar-We-Va in the season opener and by its offense in a 62-point performance against Charter Oak-Ute last week.
Beger put up solid numbers last year with 42 pass completions in 91 attempts for 12 touchdowns, and three 7 interceptions. Three of his top four receivers are back: senior Jesse Priest, 223 yards and 3 touchdowns; Bardole, 219 yards and two touchdowns; and junior Nic Nicolaisen, 128 yards and three touchdowns.
Bardole was one of the four top D7 running backs last year and two of them (Van Scoy of GR and Whitlatch of CAM) have graduated leaving CAM’s Stork to contend with as top back in 2009. Stork may find the going a bit tougher with half of last year’s successful backfield tandem absent. Bardole rushed for 1,297 yards last year for 20 touchdowns. He also racked up 133 yards in put returns, and on defense he intercepted four passes for 97 yards and recovered a fumble.
Also back for the Hawks is speedy senior kick return specialist Tyler Gathercoal who had 19 returns for 332 yards last season. Another two-way player returning from last year’s starting lineup is senior Zach Beyerink.
ELK HORN-KIMBALLTON/EXIRA: The “double E” will be a big question mark this season as independently EHK and Exira had some standout players returning from last year’s teams but how they will perform--and in which roles--is the big mystery for this newly formed team, whose new nickname is the Spartans. The team is sporting new uniforms featuring its newly chosen colors of maroon and black. In volleyball this fall and other major sports, the teams compete separately and their team nicknames reflect their communities’ Scandinavian heritage--Danes (EHK) and Vikings (Exira). Both schools are members of the Rolling Hills Conference along with D7 schools AC, GR, CAM and Walnut.
EHK’s Carson Smith was a standout last year as a junior, earning first team all-district honors as utility player on offense. Exira’s Matt Kilworth earned the same honors as utility player on defense. He is also a senior this season. Smith picked up multiple honors as a second team selection last year at three different positions--place kicker on offense, and defensive back and kicker (for kickoffs) on defense.
EHK/Exira is off to a solid start with wins over Sydney at Exira in the season opener, 47-22, and last week at Hamburg, 56-18. Tonight’s battle with AC should determine how these teams will fare in the D7 mix this season.
WALNUT: At 2-1 in the pre-D7 season, Walnut will be looking to improve its 2-5 district record from last year--good for sixth place ahead of EHK and Exira--and its overall mark of 4-5.
First team all-district Dillan Hamilton returns for the Warriors at linebacker. Walnut is off to a solid start with wins over Essex, 70-0, and Hamburg, 52-12, and a loss last week to Farragut, 30-22. All three teams are in District 8.
One thing that could hamper Walnut is a lack of depth and low numbers. Walnut suits up just 15 players while EG and EHK field teams with twice that number and CRB (35) are GR (41) have even bigger teams. Injuries could be crucial to the Warriors as the season wears on. Walnut will have a tall order in its D7 opener tonight against CAM.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG faces some stiff competition in the first few weeks of D7 competition as its opens on the road at Glidden and then returns home to face Adair-Casey and then a road game the following week at Anita against CAM. The Hawks’ game with AC on Sept. 18 could go a long way in determining who makes it to the playoffs this year. The Hawks dropped a 34-14 game at home to GR last year and then went down to Adair and got whipped 60-24 by the Bombers in their homecoming game.
With just 5 games in the D7 counting in the standings, a 2-3 record should be good enough for fourth place, although the fourth-place team will face the first place team in D8, which was Stanton last year. So the winner of the EG-AC game could be crucial to how the final standings shake out. Upsets along the way could leave two or more teams in a tie too, so the tie-breaker of margin of victory in each game could be very significant this season.
EG gets a break by not having to face EHK/Exira in the exempt D7 game until the last game of the season. Other D7 teams must face EHK earlier in the season and a loss to a program whose teams were last and next-to-last in the district last year before merging [for football] this year could be harmful to the confidence level of a team with expectations of easily dispensing of the Spartans.
EG also gets a bit of a break as it’s replacement game for the week it would have played Exira is Meskwaki at home for Homecoming on Oct. 9, which offers a mid-season break from D7 play. The Hawks’ following two games against D7 opponents CRB and Walnut are both in Grand Junction.
D7 showed that is one of the deepest and most talented districts in the state in the 8-Man game as the teams compiled a 12-3 non-district record in competition against mostly D1 and D8 teams. That was topped only by D6, which includes Des Moines area teams Ankeny Christian Academy/Iowa Christian Academy, at 13-3. D2 and D4 both went 9-7; D3 was 7-11; and D1, D5 and D8 each went 5-11.
Here is the complete EG schedule for 2009:
(Kickoff time for all games is 7 p.m.)
Aug. 28 Ar-We-Va @ Westside (L 15-2)
Sept. 4 Charter Oak-Ute @ GJ (W 62-16)
Sept. 11 Glidden-Ralston @ Glidden
Sept. 18 Adair-Casey @ GJ
Sept. 25 CAM (Anita) @ Anita
Oct. 2 Meskwaki @ GJ (Homecoming)
Oct. 9 Coon Rapids-Bayard @ GJ
Oct. 16 Walnut @ GJ (Parents’ Night)
Oct. 23 Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira @ Exira
OBITUARY
GJ Native Ardis Ryerson Brown, 85, Died June 30, 2009
Grand Junction native Ardis Ryerson Brown, 85, died June 30, 2009, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, Minn. Memorial services were held July 3 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson with interment in the Jefferson Cemetery. Ardis was a Jefferson resident.
Mary Ardis Ferguson was born Oct. 30, 1923, in Grand Junction, the daughter of W. D. “Spike” Ferguson and Irma Fisher Ferguson. Ardis graduated from Jefferson High School in 1941 and from Drake University in 1945.
Ardis married Howard Ryerson on Sept. 18, 1944, in Des Moines. They were the parents of four children: Steve, Ann, Bill and Alan. Ardis was a homemaker and mother, and from 1971-79 worked as the office manager for her husband’s clothing store, Ryerson’s, a fixture on the square in Jefferson for three decades.
Howard Ryerson died on April 14, 1987. Ardis married Bill Brown on Feb. 14, 1992. Bill died on Aug. 6, 2000.
Ardis was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson, P.E.O., Beta Tau Delta, Evening Star Chapter #107 O.E.S, Greene County Medical Center Auxiliary, and a board member of Jefferson Public Library.
She is survived by her mother, Irma Ferguson of Jefferson; her children; one sister; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Ardis was a relative of the Fishers of Grand Junction as Irma Fisher Ferguson was a sister to C. Raymond Fisher, longtime Grand Junction resident and former state representative in the Iowa Legislature. The Eye Guy remembers meeting Alan Ryerson for the first time at fraternity rush as a sophomore at Drake University in the mid-1970s. It was the first meeting ever of “Alan R from Jefferson” and “Alan R from Grand Junction” (The Eye Guy). Alan Ryerson was a junior that year and a member of Phi Delta Theta. It was a surprise to find out this many years later that his mother was also a Drake alumnus.
Grand Junction native Ardis Ryerson Brown, 85, died June 30, 2009, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, Minn. Memorial services were held July 3 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson with interment in the Jefferson Cemetery. Ardis was a Jefferson resident.
Mary Ardis Ferguson was born Oct. 30, 1923, in Grand Junction, the daughter of W. D. “Spike” Ferguson and Irma Fisher Ferguson. Ardis graduated from Jefferson High School in 1941 and from Drake University in 1945.
Ardis married Howard Ryerson on Sept. 18, 1944, in Des Moines. They were the parents of four children: Steve, Ann, Bill and Alan. Ardis was a homemaker and mother, and from 1971-79 worked as the office manager for her husband’s clothing store, Ryerson’s, a fixture on the square in Jefferson for three decades.
Howard Ryerson died on April 14, 1987. Ardis married Bill Brown on Feb. 14, 1992. Bill died on Aug. 6, 2000.
Ardis was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson, P.E.O., Beta Tau Delta, Evening Star Chapter #107 O.E.S, Greene County Medical Center Auxiliary, and a board member of Jefferson Public Library.
She is survived by her mother, Irma Ferguson of Jefferson; her children; one sister; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Ardis was a relative of the Fishers of Grand Junction as Irma Fisher Ferguson was a sister to C. Raymond Fisher, longtime Grand Junction resident and former state representative in the Iowa Legislature. The Eye Guy remembers meeting Alan Ryerson for the first time at fraternity rush as a sophomore at Drake University in the mid-1970s. It was the first meeting ever of “Alan R from Jefferson” and “Alan R from Grand Junction” (The Eye Guy). Alan Ryerson was a junior that year and a member of Phi Delta Theta. It was a surprise to find out this many years later that his mother was also a Drake alumnus.
Friday, September 4, 2009
SEASON FOOTBALL OPENER
Hawks Fall At No. 8 Ar-We-Va, 15-2
A valiant defensive effort against one of the state’s top teams wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish offense performance as East Greene dropped its season opener to Ar-We-Va 15-2 last Friday night in Westside.
The Hawks held the highly regarded Rocket offense, which averaged 42 points last season, to just two touchdowns, a big improvement over the 39 points that Rockets racked up against EG last year and the 57-7 and 63-14 drubbings from the previous two seasons.
EG gave up an average of 38 points a game last year, so to hold Ar-We-Va, ranked No. 8 in 8-Player Football by the Des Moines Register, to just 15 points is impressive. Ar-We-Va is the returning co-champions of District 1 and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs last year. In 2007, the Rockets made it to the state semifinal round. Since joining 8-player football earlier in the decade, Ar-We-Va has never finished a season lower than third place in district play.
The Rockets returned the backfield tandem of seniors Ryan Schurke, running back, and Jeremy Ehlers, quarterback, both first-team All-District 1 picks in 2008. The EG defense held them in check though, limiting the explosive Schurke to just 80 yards on 21 carries. The Hawks’ pass defense was especially stingy, shutting down Ehlers to just 3 completions in 8 attempts for 12 yards. Overall, AWV was held to just 125 yards total offense.
Schurke was responsible for all the Rockets’ scoring: a touchdown on a running play; an interception; and a 16-yard field goal. He also attempted both 2-point conversions for the Rockets, but the EG defense stopped him both times. EG’s defense was so stellar, it generated the team’s only offensive points: a safety for 2 points.
EG looks to get its offense in gear tonight in the home opener against Charter Oak-Ute in a non-district contest. Charter Oak-Ute (0-1) is also a District 1 team, finishing seventh last year at 1-6 with an overall season mark of 1-8. The Hawks downed CO-U last year in Charter Oak, 52-30. Last week, the Bobcats were drubbed by Coon Rapids-Bayard, a District 7 team, 68-0. Kickoff for the tonight’s game at Karber Field is 7 p.m.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG was the lone blemish on the opening night for “the Magnificent 7” District 7 teams, as Adair-Casey, CAM (Anita), Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston, Walnut and the newly formed Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira shared team all posted victories. Besides CRB’s 68-point shutout drubbing of CO-U, GR pummeled Whiting 80-16, and CAM and Walnut beat their opponents by 54 and 50 points respectively. Granted, the combined record of these six opponents last year was just 11-43, but still those are pretty lofty numbers and any time 7 teams from the same district go 6-1, hey, that’s impressive.
Look for EG to get its offense untracked and for the defense to put in another solid performance against CO-U, helping the Hawks get all the kinks out before they open District 7 play with a road game next week against Glidden-Ralston.
A valiant defensive effort against one of the state’s top teams wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish offense performance as East Greene dropped its season opener to Ar-We-Va 15-2 last Friday night in Westside.
The Hawks held the highly regarded Rocket offense, which averaged 42 points last season, to just two touchdowns, a big improvement over the 39 points that Rockets racked up against EG last year and the 57-7 and 63-14 drubbings from the previous two seasons.
EG gave up an average of 38 points a game last year, so to hold Ar-We-Va, ranked No. 8 in 8-Player Football by the Des Moines Register, to just 15 points is impressive. Ar-We-Va is the returning co-champions of District 1 and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs last year. In 2007, the Rockets made it to the state semifinal round. Since joining 8-player football earlier in the decade, Ar-We-Va has never finished a season lower than third place in district play.
The Rockets returned the backfield tandem of seniors Ryan Schurke, running back, and Jeremy Ehlers, quarterback, both first-team All-District 1 picks in 2008. The EG defense held them in check though, limiting the explosive Schurke to just 80 yards on 21 carries. The Hawks’ pass defense was especially stingy, shutting down Ehlers to just 3 completions in 8 attempts for 12 yards. Overall, AWV was held to just 125 yards total offense.
Schurke was responsible for all the Rockets’ scoring: a touchdown on a running play; an interception; and a 16-yard field goal. He also attempted both 2-point conversions for the Rockets, but the EG defense stopped him both times. EG’s defense was so stellar, it generated the team’s only offensive points: a safety for 2 points.
EG looks to get its offense in gear tonight in the home opener against Charter Oak-Ute in a non-district contest. Charter Oak-Ute (0-1) is also a District 1 team, finishing seventh last year at 1-6 with an overall season mark of 1-8. The Hawks downed CO-U last year in Charter Oak, 52-30. Last week, the Bobcats were drubbed by Coon Rapids-Bayard, a District 7 team, 68-0. Kickoff for the tonight’s game at Karber Field is 7 p.m.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG was the lone blemish on the opening night for “the Magnificent 7” District 7 teams, as Adair-Casey, CAM (Anita), Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston, Walnut and the newly formed Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira shared team all posted victories. Besides CRB’s 68-point shutout drubbing of CO-U, GR pummeled Whiting 80-16, and CAM and Walnut beat their opponents by 54 and 50 points respectively. Granted, the combined record of these six opponents last year was just 11-43, but still those are pretty lofty numbers and any time 7 teams from the same district go 6-1, hey, that’s impressive.
Look for EG to get its offense untracked and for the defense to put in another solid performance against CO-U, helping the Hawks get all the kinks out before they open District 7 play with a road game next week against Glidden-Ralston.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
2009 VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW
Hawkettes Sweep SWG In Season Opener
East Greene got the 2009 season off on the right note last Thursday, Aug. 27, with a quick, three-game sweep of Southeast Webster-Grand on the Eagles’ home court in Burnside.
The Hawkettes were firing on all cylinders as their defense held SWG to an average of just 11 points in the three games, while the offense took charge with a solid night serving, connecting on 69 of 75 serves attempted for a 92% success rate and 16 ace serves.
Leaders at the service line were Malarie Gilley going 19-21 for 91%, Bobbie Halterman 13-14 for 93%, and Heidi Kiner and Jessi Beaman, both at 100%. Kiner was perfect in 12 serve attempts, Beaman in 9.
Gilley was a force at the net with 11 kills in 27 attempts with 5 errors and 7 blocks. As a team, the Hawkettes were 22 of 57 kills with 10 errors and 9 blocks. Katlynn Gannon led the team in digs with 11 and Kiner was the assist leader with 15.
CONFERENCE PREVIEW: EG takes a 1-0 record in tonight’s conference opener at Earlham. The Hawkettes will build on last year’s 6-3 record in the West Central, the Hawkettes’ best finish since joining the league in 1996. EG will look to improve its play out of the conference, as last year’s team finished 11-15 overall. East Greene returns five of six starters, losing only Megan Johnston to graduation, and seven letter winners.
The Hawkettes will contend for the conference crown along with Woodward-Granger, which joins the West Central after many years in the Heart of Iowa; Coon Rapids-Bayard, last year’s conference champions at 9-0; and West Central Valley (Stuart) and Guthrie Center, who tied for second at 7-2, just ahead of EG and Des Moines Christian who tied for fourth at 6-3
WCV is solid in girls athletics, winning a volleyball championship in 2007 (9-0) and finishing as runner-up at 8-1 in both 2006 and 2005, in addition to its second place tie last year. The Wildcats have also won four consecutive West Central basketball championships. WCV returns Maggie Marnin, a junior who was first-team all-conference last year and honorable mention in 2007, her freshman season.
Guthrie Center will field a veteran team led by three senior all-conference picks from 2008: Kaitlin Rosenbeck, first team; Bailey Knudson, second team; and Hope Wilson, honorable mention. GC has finished in the upper division of the conference in each of the last four years. Rosenbeck is a two-time, first-team pick to the all-conference team and Knudson was named all-district in 2A last year.
Des Moines Christian has long been a league powerhouse, and last year’s victory over the Lions was the first for EG. Since 2002, the Lions had finished no lower than second in the West Central and won championships in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. DMC will be led by junior Emily Horstman, a second team all-league pick, and senior Hannah Heilskov, honorable mention.
CRB graduated five key players off a team that made it to the state 1A tournament in Cedar Rapids last year. Gentry Sheer, Heidi Eisdohr, Lindsey Reis, Taylor Hilgenberg and Casi Willenborg earned numerous all-conference and all-state honors after last year’s league championship and state tournament qualification. Those players also served as the core of CRB’s basketball team which made it to state and finished as runner-up in the conference with Panorama last year. Back from last year’s volleyball squad are all-conference honorable mention choice Karly Grettenberg and 5-11 Katie Dentlinger who had an outstanding freshman season last year as a starter on both of the Crusaders’ state tournament volleyball and basketball teams.
Woodward-Granger finished 18-6 last year and won the Heart of Iowa-Small title with a 5-0 record, winning the crown over Ogden, Colo-Nesco, South Hamilton, Colfax-Mingo and Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines), all 2A schools with the exception of GPB, a 1A team that finished second in the HOI-Small at 4-1 and 32-11 overall and advanced to the state tournament along with CRB. WG returns four of their top seven players from last year. The Hawkettes beat Madrid in their season opener and inaugural West Central Conference game on Tuesday 25-8, 25-13, 25-8.
Gilley will serve as the anchor of the East Greene team this year. A 6-1 middle hitter, she was a unanimous first-team all-conference choice and one of 15 area Class 1A players named all-district. Like WCV’s Marnin, she moved up from honorable mention to first team for all-conference honors last year. Gilley was the only unanimous first team pick among the league’s 10 coaches.
Halterman and Gannon were all-conference honorable mention. Kiner, Beaman, Molly Neese and Tia Lowe are returning letter winners. Rounding out this years squad are senior Brittney Moss; junior Jasmine Kinney; and freshmen Tori Lowe, Alanna Orfield, Kim Hatfield, Brandy Burrows, Megan McElheney, Tylar Elliott, Brittany Gunn and Elizabeth Gunn. There are no sophomores on the team.
THE BIG PICTURE: Last year, the West Central was evenly divided with five teams competing in Class 1A (EG, CRB, Glidden-Ralston, Madrid and Van Meter) and five teams in Class 2A (DMC, WCV, GC, Earlham and Panorama). With WG now in the conference replacing 1A Glidden-Ralston, which has moved to the Rolling Hills, the balance shifts in volleyball classifications with WG joining WCV, GC, Panorama, Earlham and Van Meter in 2A, and DMC now in 1A with CRB, EG and Madrid, making a 6-4 split between 2A and 1A schools. Due to enrollment changes, VM and DMC have essentially switched from last year’s classifications.
EG will face each of the West Central teams once in conference competition-- four matches on the road and five on the home court in Rippey. The lone non-conference match on the schedule was SWG, and the rest of EG’s non-conference slate will come in tourney play at Coon Rapids on Saturday and at Walnut on Oct. 10 with playoffs getting underway on Oct. 19 in the districts.
The strongest area teams in 1A will be Exira to the west, Southern Cal to the north, and GPB to the east/southeast. The Defenders are the pick of the litter among a cluster of 1A central Iowa/Des Moines area schools including DMC, Iowa Christian Academy, Ankeny Christian and Madrid. South of Des Moines are two very strong teams: Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Twin Cedars (Bussey). GPB went 32-11 in 2008 and lost just two starters and one key reserve from its state tournament team. Victoria Weatherly, who was 1A First Team All State and 1A Player of the Year as a setter and outside hitter has graduated, but GPB returns junior Amanda Bell, second team all-state as an outside hitter last year, and senior Kayla Nikkel, honorable mention all-state as a setter.
GPB, ranked 8th in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) pre-season rankings, lost to Gilbert (1-3) in a four-game match last Tuesday (Aug. 25) but came back to sweep West Central Valley this Tuesday (Sept. 1) 25-11, 25-15, 30-28. Gilbert, a 2A school, dropped all three of its matches in a tournament on Saturday. GPB has maintained its No. 8 spot in the IGHSAU rankings released today.
Exira (20-5) is ranked seventh in the IGHSAU rankings. The Vikettes return senior Hallie Christofferson, an all-state special mention pick and all-district in the West Central district, as was Ann Walker, another senior veteran. Exira graduated just two players from last year’s team that won the Rolling Hills with an 8-0 mark. The Vikettes return two other starters along with Christofferson and Walker, and three key reserves.
Southern Cal was ranked fifth in the preseason by the IGHSAU after rolling up a 26-7 record last season and finishing as runner-up to Class 2A East Sac in the Twin Lakes Conference at 5-1. The Mustangs field a veteran team this year, losing just two starters and one key reserve off last year’s team which made it to the regional finals before falling to Schaller-Crestland, which is ranked fourth in the preseason rankings. Schaller-Crestland went 27-7 last season, falling to state runner-up AGWSR in the first round of the state tournament. Southern Cal is led this year by Meghan Monahan, a senior who was special mention all-state and all-district last year.
No 2A teams from central or west central Iowa are ranked in the Class 2A Top 15 poll.
EG’s 2009 Schedule:
(All WC Conference games start at 6 p.m. with the freshmen and junior varsity games preceding the varsity match)
Aug. 27 Southeast Webster-Grand @ Burnside
Sept. 3 @ Earlham
Sept. 5 CRB Tourney @ Coon Rapids
Sept. 8 Van Meter @ Rippey
Sept. 15 Des Moines Christian @ Rippey
Sept. 22 @ Guthrie Center
Sept. 24 Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Rippey
Sept. 29 West Central Valley @ Menlo
Oct. 6 Woodward-Granger @ Woodward
Oct. 10 Walnut Tourney @ Walnut
Oct. 13 Panorama @ Rippey
Oct. 15 Madrid @ Rippey
EYE ON GJ SAYS: A win over SWG is a terrific start for the Hawkettes, as EG got by the Eagles in the regular season last year 3-1 in early October but two weeks later were sidelined by them in a rematch in the first round of the districts, 3-2. EG should have some solid competition in Saturday’s CRB Tourney at Coon Rapids. EG could cross paths with longtime rival Paton-Churdan, which moved from the West Central to the Rolling Hills three years ago. PC won its opening match of the season over conference opponent Elk Horn-Kimballton on Tuesday, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-16. Along with host CRB, the tourney field includes Iowa Christian Academy, a team that went 20-8 and finished second to Exira in the Rolling Hills last year.
Overall, competition with six 2A schools in the West Central should help put EG in fighting shape for the 1A district and regional playoffs at the end of the season, In addition to EG at Earlham, other conference matches tonight are WCV @ DMC and Panorama @ CRB.
East Greene got the 2009 season off on the right note last Thursday, Aug. 27, with a quick, three-game sweep of Southeast Webster-Grand on the Eagles’ home court in Burnside.
The Hawkettes were firing on all cylinders as their defense held SWG to an average of just 11 points in the three games, while the offense took charge with a solid night serving, connecting on 69 of 75 serves attempted for a 92% success rate and 16 ace serves.
Leaders at the service line were Malarie Gilley going 19-21 for 91%, Bobbie Halterman 13-14 for 93%, and Heidi Kiner and Jessi Beaman, both at 100%. Kiner was perfect in 12 serve attempts, Beaman in 9.
Gilley was a force at the net with 11 kills in 27 attempts with 5 errors and 7 blocks. As a team, the Hawkettes were 22 of 57 kills with 10 errors and 9 blocks. Katlynn Gannon led the team in digs with 11 and Kiner was the assist leader with 15.
CONFERENCE PREVIEW: EG takes a 1-0 record in tonight’s conference opener at Earlham. The Hawkettes will build on last year’s 6-3 record in the West Central, the Hawkettes’ best finish since joining the league in 1996. EG will look to improve its play out of the conference, as last year’s team finished 11-15 overall. East Greene returns five of six starters, losing only Megan Johnston to graduation, and seven letter winners.
The Hawkettes will contend for the conference crown along with Woodward-Granger, which joins the West Central after many years in the Heart of Iowa; Coon Rapids-Bayard, last year’s conference champions at 9-0; and West Central Valley (Stuart) and Guthrie Center, who tied for second at 7-2, just ahead of EG and Des Moines Christian who tied for fourth at 6-3
WCV is solid in girls athletics, winning a volleyball championship in 2007 (9-0) and finishing as runner-up at 8-1 in both 2006 and 2005, in addition to its second place tie last year. The Wildcats have also won four consecutive West Central basketball championships. WCV returns Maggie Marnin, a junior who was first-team all-conference last year and honorable mention in 2007, her freshman season.
Guthrie Center will field a veteran team led by three senior all-conference picks from 2008: Kaitlin Rosenbeck, first team; Bailey Knudson, second team; and Hope Wilson, honorable mention. GC has finished in the upper division of the conference in each of the last four years. Rosenbeck is a two-time, first-team pick to the all-conference team and Knudson was named all-district in 2A last year.
Des Moines Christian has long been a league powerhouse, and last year’s victory over the Lions was the first for EG. Since 2002, the Lions had finished no lower than second in the West Central and won championships in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. DMC will be led by junior Emily Horstman, a second team all-league pick, and senior Hannah Heilskov, honorable mention.
CRB graduated five key players off a team that made it to the state 1A tournament in Cedar Rapids last year. Gentry Sheer, Heidi Eisdohr, Lindsey Reis, Taylor Hilgenberg and Casi Willenborg earned numerous all-conference and all-state honors after last year’s league championship and state tournament qualification. Those players also served as the core of CRB’s basketball team which made it to state and finished as runner-up in the conference with Panorama last year. Back from last year’s volleyball squad are all-conference honorable mention choice Karly Grettenberg and 5-11 Katie Dentlinger who had an outstanding freshman season last year as a starter on both of the Crusaders’ state tournament volleyball and basketball teams.
Woodward-Granger finished 18-6 last year and won the Heart of Iowa-Small title with a 5-0 record, winning the crown over Ogden, Colo-Nesco, South Hamilton, Colfax-Mingo and Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines), all 2A schools with the exception of GPB, a 1A team that finished second in the HOI-Small at 4-1 and 32-11 overall and advanced to the state tournament along with CRB. WG returns four of their top seven players from last year. The Hawkettes beat Madrid in their season opener and inaugural West Central Conference game on Tuesday 25-8, 25-13, 25-8.
Gilley will serve as the anchor of the East Greene team this year. A 6-1 middle hitter, she was a unanimous first-team all-conference choice and one of 15 area Class 1A players named all-district. Like WCV’s Marnin, she moved up from honorable mention to first team for all-conference honors last year. Gilley was the only unanimous first team pick among the league’s 10 coaches.
Halterman and Gannon were all-conference honorable mention. Kiner, Beaman, Molly Neese and Tia Lowe are returning letter winners. Rounding out this years squad are senior Brittney Moss; junior Jasmine Kinney; and freshmen Tori Lowe, Alanna Orfield, Kim Hatfield, Brandy Burrows, Megan McElheney, Tylar Elliott, Brittany Gunn and Elizabeth Gunn. There are no sophomores on the team.
THE BIG PICTURE: Last year, the West Central was evenly divided with five teams competing in Class 1A (EG, CRB, Glidden-Ralston, Madrid and Van Meter) and five teams in Class 2A (DMC, WCV, GC, Earlham and Panorama). With WG now in the conference replacing 1A Glidden-Ralston, which has moved to the Rolling Hills, the balance shifts in volleyball classifications with WG joining WCV, GC, Panorama, Earlham and Van Meter in 2A, and DMC now in 1A with CRB, EG and Madrid, making a 6-4 split between 2A and 1A schools. Due to enrollment changes, VM and DMC have essentially switched from last year’s classifications.
EG will face each of the West Central teams once in conference competition-- four matches on the road and five on the home court in Rippey. The lone non-conference match on the schedule was SWG, and the rest of EG’s non-conference slate will come in tourney play at Coon Rapids on Saturday and at Walnut on Oct. 10 with playoffs getting underway on Oct. 19 in the districts.
The strongest area teams in 1A will be Exira to the west, Southern Cal to the north, and GPB to the east/southeast. The Defenders are the pick of the litter among a cluster of 1A central Iowa/Des Moines area schools including DMC, Iowa Christian Academy, Ankeny Christian and Madrid. South of Des Moines are two very strong teams: Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Twin Cedars (Bussey). GPB went 32-11 in 2008 and lost just two starters and one key reserve from its state tournament team. Victoria Weatherly, who was 1A First Team All State and 1A Player of the Year as a setter and outside hitter has graduated, but GPB returns junior Amanda Bell, second team all-state as an outside hitter last year, and senior Kayla Nikkel, honorable mention all-state as a setter.
GPB, ranked 8th in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) pre-season rankings, lost to Gilbert (1-3) in a four-game match last Tuesday (Aug. 25) but came back to sweep West Central Valley this Tuesday (Sept. 1) 25-11, 25-15, 30-28. Gilbert, a 2A school, dropped all three of its matches in a tournament on Saturday. GPB has maintained its No. 8 spot in the IGHSAU rankings released today.
Exira (20-5) is ranked seventh in the IGHSAU rankings. The Vikettes return senior Hallie Christofferson, an all-state special mention pick and all-district in the West Central district, as was Ann Walker, another senior veteran. Exira graduated just two players from last year’s team that won the Rolling Hills with an 8-0 mark. The Vikettes return two other starters along with Christofferson and Walker, and three key reserves.
Southern Cal was ranked fifth in the preseason by the IGHSAU after rolling up a 26-7 record last season and finishing as runner-up to Class 2A East Sac in the Twin Lakes Conference at 5-1. The Mustangs field a veteran team this year, losing just two starters and one key reserve off last year’s team which made it to the regional finals before falling to Schaller-Crestland, which is ranked fourth in the preseason rankings. Schaller-Crestland went 27-7 last season, falling to state runner-up AGWSR in the first round of the state tournament. Southern Cal is led this year by Meghan Monahan, a senior who was special mention all-state and all-district last year.
No 2A teams from central or west central Iowa are ranked in the Class 2A Top 15 poll.
EG’s 2009 Schedule:
(All WC Conference games start at 6 p.m. with the freshmen and junior varsity games preceding the varsity match)
Aug. 27 Southeast Webster-Grand @ Burnside
Sept. 3 @ Earlham
Sept. 5 CRB Tourney @ Coon Rapids
Sept. 8 Van Meter @ Rippey
Sept. 15 Des Moines Christian @ Rippey
Sept. 22 @ Guthrie Center
Sept. 24 Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Rippey
Sept. 29 West Central Valley @ Menlo
Oct. 6 Woodward-Granger @ Woodward
Oct. 10 Walnut Tourney @ Walnut
Oct. 13 Panorama @ Rippey
Oct. 15 Madrid @ Rippey
EYE ON GJ SAYS: A win over SWG is a terrific start for the Hawkettes, as EG got by the Eagles in the regular season last year 3-1 in early October but two weeks later were sidelined by them in a rematch in the first round of the districts, 3-2. EG should have some solid competition in Saturday’s CRB Tourney at Coon Rapids. EG could cross paths with longtime rival Paton-Churdan, which moved from the West Central to the Rolling Hills three years ago. PC won its opening match of the season over conference opponent Elk Horn-Kimballton on Tuesday, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-16. Along with host CRB, the tourney field includes Iowa Christian Academy, a team that went 20-8 and finished second to Exira in the Rolling Hills last year.
Overall, competition with six 2A schools in the West Central should help put EG in fighting shape for the 1A district and regional playoffs at the end of the season, In addition to EG at Earlham, other conference matches tonight are WCV @ DMC and Panorama @ CRB.
Friday, August 28, 2009
EG BACK TO SCHOOL
Students Start Classes in Rippey, G.J. Aug. 27
East Greene Community School opened its doors for the 2009-10 school year on Thursday at the elementary in Rippey and the high school-middle school (grades 6-8) in Grand Junction.
EG is going to a trimester academic calendar this year to be in synch with Jefferson-Scranton and Paton-Churdan, as high school students now take their advanced level classes at J-S along with students from P-C. The three schools are also now coordinating their curriculums at the elementary level. The first trimester ends Thursday, Nov. 19. School will dismiss early that day. Thanksgiving vacation is Nov. 25, 26 and 27. The second trimester will end Monday, March 1, 2010.
All three county school districts got things underway for 2009-10 with the County Kickoff Pep Rally on the square in Jefferson on Thursday, Aug. 20. The EG Booster Club hosted a supper followed by the annual pre-season football scrimmage the following night at Karber Field.
The Hawks open the 2009 grid season tonight with a road game in Westside versus the Ar-We-Va Rockets. Game time is 7 p.m. EG’s home opener is Friday, Sept. 4, against Charter Oak-Ute.
The Hawkettes traveled to Burnside last night (Thursday) to take on Southeast Webster-Grand in the season volleyball opener, downing the Eagles in three straight games.
East Greene Community School opened its doors for the 2009-10 school year on Thursday at the elementary in Rippey and the high school-middle school (grades 6-8) in Grand Junction.
EG is going to a trimester academic calendar this year to be in synch with Jefferson-Scranton and Paton-Churdan, as high school students now take their advanced level classes at J-S along with students from P-C. The three schools are also now coordinating their curriculums at the elementary level. The first trimester ends Thursday, Nov. 19. School will dismiss early that day. Thanksgiving vacation is Nov. 25, 26 and 27. The second trimester will end Monday, March 1, 2010.
All three county school districts got things underway for 2009-10 with the County Kickoff Pep Rally on the square in Jefferson on Thursday, Aug. 20. The EG Booster Club hosted a supper followed by the annual pre-season football scrimmage the following night at Karber Field.
The Hawks open the 2009 grid season tonight with a road game in Westside versus the Ar-We-Va Rockets. Game time is 7 p.m. EG’s home opener is Friday, Sept. 4, against Charter Oak-Ute.
The Hawkettes traveled to Burnside last night (Thursday) to take on Southeast Webster-Grand in the season volleyball opener, downing the Eagles in three straight games.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
STATE TOURNEY WRAP-UP
Hawks Fall to Newman in Class 1-A Opener
Newman (Mason City) proved to be too much to handle for East Greene, as the Hawks were eliminated in the opening round of the Class 1A State Tournament 12-1 in 5 innings on Friday, July 24. The game was the opener for the week-long tournament, which ended with championship games in four classes on Saturday, Aug. 1.
EG jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of two Newman errors and a walk from the Knight's little used sophomore pitcher Hunter King. Tyler Cooklin, the first batter up, got things moving when King walked him. Tom Beger's infield bunt was then mishandled by King in the throw to first, allowing Beger to reach first and advancing Cooklin to third.
BradLee Clark then reached first on error by Newman shortstop Kyle McCann, which moved Beger to second and allowed Cooklin to head home, putting the Hawks ahead 1-0. Jesse Luther and Josh Neese both struck out, but the Hawks were still threatening when Wes Onken singled. Clark advanced to second and Beger was headed for home but was nabbed at the plate on a throw from rightfielder Joe Nettleton to catcher Jordan Adams.
Newman then settled down, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and holding the Hawks in check the rest of the game, as King moved his record to 3-0. Newman scored three runs in the second, four in the third, and four more in the fourth. EG was already up against it with the 10-run rule, and the Hawk's inability to score any more runs in the top half of the fifth ended the game with Newman moving on to the semifinal round to face Alta.
Cooklin took the loss, dropping his record to 7-3. He gave up six runs on four hits, while walking four, hitting one batter and striking out two. He was relieved by Onken after facing one batter in the third. Over two innings of relief, Onken gave up six runs on four hits, walked three, threw one wild pitch, and struck out one. Designated hitter Tory Beger, an 8th grader, got the Hawks' second hit
King gave up one run on two hits, walked two, hit one batter, and struck out six. Mike Bohl pitched the final inning for Newman, retiring the side in order.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The score may have been a little lopsided but Newman was truly a force to be reckoned with. The Knights moved on to the semifinal round where they dispatched Alta, 4-0. A much anticipated match-up between Newman and Kee (Lansing), the No. 2 seed, did not happen as Kee was upset by Lenox in the semifinal round, 11-3, after Kee had drubbed Tri-County (Thornburgh) 17-1 in 4 innings in the first round. Newman continued its season-long juggernaut with an 11-1 win over Lenox in 5 innings, bringing its third state baseball championship back to Mason City.
Newman (Mason City) proved to be too much to handle for East Greene, as the Hawks were eliminated in the opening round of the Class 1A State Tournament 12-1 in 5 innings on Friday, July 24. The game was the opener for the week-long tournament, which ended with championship games in four classes on Saturday, Aug. 1.
EG jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of two Newman errors and a walk from the Knight's little used sophomore pitcher Hunter King. Tyler Cooklin, the first batter up, got things moving when King walked him. Tom Beger's infield bunt was then mishandled by King in the throw to first, allowing Beger to reach first and advancing Cooklin to third.
BradLee Clark then reached first on error by Newman shortstop Kyle McCann, which moved Beger to second and allowed Cooklin to head home, putting the Hawks ahead 1-0. Jesse Luther and Josh Neese both struck out, but the Hawks were still threatening when Wes Onken singled. Clark advanced to second and Beger was headed for home but was nabbed at the plate on a throw from rightfielder Joe Nettleton to catcher Jordan Adams.
Newman then settled down, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and holding the Hawks in check the rest of the game, as King moved his record to 3-0. Newman scored three runs in the second, four in the third, and four more in the fourth. EG was already up against it with the 10-run rule, and the Hawk's inability to score any more runs in the top half of the fifth ended the game with Newman moving on to the semifinal round to face Alta.
Cooklin took the loss, dropping his record to 7-3. He gave up six runs on four hits, while walking four, hitting one batter and striking out two. He was relieved by Onken after facing one batter in the third. Over two innings of relief, Onken gave up six runs on four hits, walked three, threw one wild pitch, and struck out one. Designated hitter Tory Beger, an 8th grader, got the Hawks' second hit
King gave up one run on two hits, walked two, hit one batter, and struck out six. Mike Bohl pitched the final inning for Newman, retiring the side in order.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The score may have been a little lopsided but Newman was truly a force to be reckoned with. The Knights moved on to the semifinal round where they dispatched Alta, 4-0. A much anticipated match-up between Newman and Kee (Lansing), the No. 2 seed, did not happen as Kee was upset by Lenox in the semifinal round, 11-3, after Kee had drubbed Tri-County (Thornburgh) 17-1 in 4 innings in the first round. Newman continued its season-long juggernaut with an 11-1 win over Lenox in 5 innings, bringing its third state baseball championship back to Mason City.
Friday, July 24, 2009
STATE BB TOURNEY
EG Takes On Mason City Newman
East Greene is seeded eighth among eight teams in the Class 1A State Baseball Tournament and will face top-seeded Newman (Mason City) is the opening game of the four-class tournament at 6 p.m. tonight at Principal Park in Des Moines.
Newman finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1-A at 30-1 and rolled through the district and substate outscoring opponents 59-3 to moves its season mark to 34-1. EG however put together its longest win streak of the season to go from the seventh-place team in the West Central Conference to a state tournament qualifier.
Interestingly, EG began sectional tournament play at 10-14 and by beating last year’s state tournament qualifier Grandview Park Baptist, 2-1, in the substate game, the Hawks not only evened their season record at 14-14, but they qualified for the state tournament, coming out the winner of a substate with some impressive teams, most notably Earlham, Van Meter, Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Iowa Christian Academy.
East Greene is making its first appearance in the state tournament along with Adair-Casey, Alta and Tri-County (Thornburgh). Calamus-Wheatland from eastern Iowa played in the 1955 tournament as Calamus, losing in the championship game.
Newman is making its 12th appearance at state. The Knights have qualified three out of the last four years. Newman won it all in 2002 and 1998 and finished as runner-up in 2004 and 1967, the first year it advanced to state.
Newman’s only loss this season was to cross-town rival Mason City, a 4-A school. The Knights have victories over nearby Clear Lake (twice), Webster City and Forest City--all 3A schools. Newman won the North Iowa Conference with a perfect 14-0 record. Other schools in the North Iowa are Belmond-Klemme, Lake Mills, Garner-Hayfield, North Iowa (Buffalo Center), Osage, West Hancock (Britt) and Forest City. Newman and North Iowa are 1A schools and other than 3A Forest City, the other league teams are all 2A.
Newman also has a 2-1 win over Don Bosco (Gilbertville), winner of the Iowa Star Conference and the No. 3 ranked team in Class 1A. The Dons were eliminated by Northern University High (Cedar Falls) 5-2 in the opening round of the district in Traer. NUH went into the game ranked No. 6. Kee of Lansing, ranked No. 4 in the state, sidelined NUH 7-2 in the substate final at Oelwein.
Kee (38-6) is seeded second in the tournament and faces seventh-seed Tri-County (19-6) in the second half a doubleheader tomorrow night at Principal Park. In the opener tomorrow night at 6 p.m., third-seeded Lenox (21-3) takes on sixth-seeded Calamus-Wheatland (18-9).
The EG-Newman game tonight is followed by an 8 p.m. match-up between Adair-Casey, seeded fifth, and fourth-seed Alta (30-3). Adair-Casey, a member of the Rolling Hills Conference, is 20-5, and advanced to state by winning the substate at Coon Rapids. The Bombers knocked out perennial West Central baseball power Coon Rapids-Bayard in the semifinal round of the district, also held on Crusaders’ home field in Coon Rapids.
First round winners advance to the semifinal games starting at noon and 2 p.m. next Thursday (July 30) at Principal Park with the winners of those games meeting for the 1A State Championship on Saturday (August 1) at noon at Principal.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Well, Newman certainly brings some lofty credentials with them as they head down from Mason City. But the Hawks have been playing a “new season” since the districts got underway on July 14. And EG is a central Iowa team playing in its backyard. EG goes in and out of Des Moines year-round playing baseball and basketball at Iowa Christian at AIB on Fleur Drive, Des Moines Christian in Urbandale, Ankeny Christian in Ankeny and Grandview Park Baptist on the east side of Des Moines. So a quick drive back to DM and over to the stadium, could be regarded as just another game. And in years’ past some EG teams have had regular season games at the Principal.
Each team is playing on the same turf within the same seven-inning framework. And if the Hawks stayed focused on the matters at hand, anything came happen. EG is the upstart here so the pressure is really on the hands-down favorite, Newman, and its veteran-laden team. EG is lead by two sophomore pitchers, Tyler Cooklin and Wes Onken. Leading hitter is senior BradLee Clark. Conference rival Van Meter rolled into the state tournament in 2003 relatively unknown as Martensdale-St. Mary’s, the top-ranked team in the state, was the favorite and northwest Iowa power Granville (Spalding) was in the field. Yet the Bulldogs emerged the champion. So, anything can happen.
EG is central Iowa’s representative in 1A, having bested such Des Moines area teams at Madrid in the district in Ames and Grandview Park Baptist in the substate in Ankeny. Hopefully the home folks in Des Moines will get behind the East Greeners! Other central Iowa/Des Moines area teams qualifying for state are Gilbert and I-35 (Truro) in 2A, Boone and Norwalk in 3A, and Dowling (West Des Moines) and Johnston in 4A. Go Hawks!
East Greene is seeded eighth among eight teams in the Class 1A State Baseball Tournament and will face top-seeded Newman (Mason City) is the opening game of the four-class tournament at 6 p.m. tonight at Principal Park in Des Moines.
Newman finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1-A at 30-1 and rolled through the district and substate outscoring opponents 59-3 to moves its season mark to 34-1. EG however put together its longest win streak of the season to go from the seventh-place team in the West Central Conference to a state tournament qualifier.
Interestingly, EG began sectional tournament play at 10-14 and by beating last year’s state tournament qualifier Grandview Park Baptist, 2-1, in the substate game, the Hawks not only evened their season record at 14-14, but they qualified for the state tournament, coming out the winner of a substate with some impressive teams, most notably Earlham, Van Meter, Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Iowa Christian Academy.
East Greene is making its first appearance in the state tournament along with Adair-Casey, Alta and Tri-County (Thornburgh). Calamus-Wheatland from eastern Iowa played in the 1955 tournament as Calamus, losing in the championship game.
Newman is making its 12th appearance at state. The Knights have qualified three out of the last four years. Newman won it all in 2002 and 1998 and finished as runner-up in 2004 and 1967, the first year it advanced to state.
Newman’s only loss this season was to cross-town rival Mason City, a 4-A school. The Knights have victories over nearby Clear Lake (twice), Webster City and Forest City--all 3A schools. Newman won the North Iowa Conference with a perfect 14-0 record. Other schools in the North Iowa are Belmond-Klemme, Lake Mills, Garner-Hayfield, North Iowa (Buffalo Center), Osage, West Hancock (Britt) and Forest City. Newman and North Iowa are 1A schools and other than 3A Forest City, the other league teams are all 2A.
Newman also has a 2-1 win over Don Bosco (Gilbertville), winner of the Iowa Star Conference and the No. 3 ranked team in Class 1A. The Dons were eliminated by Northern University High (Cedar Falls) 5-2 in the opening round of the district in Traer. NUH went into the game ranked No. 6. Kee of Lansing, ranked No. 4 in the state, sidelined NUH 7-2 in the substate final at Oelwein.
Kee (38-6) is seeded second in the tournament and faces seventh-seed Tri-County (19-6) in the second half a doubleheader tomorrow night at Principal Park. In the opener tomorrow night at 6 p.m., third-seeded Lenox (21-3) takes on sixth-seeded Calamus-Wheatland (18-9).
The EG-Newman game tonight is followed by an 8 p.m. match-up between Adair-Casey, seeded fifth, and fourth-seed Alta (30-3). Adair-Casey, a member of the Rolling Hills Conference, is 20-5, and advanced to state by winning the substate at Coon Rapids. The Bombers knocked out perennial West Central baseball power Coon Rapids-Bayard in the semifinal round of the district, also held on Crusaders’ home field in Coon Rapids.
First round winners advance to the semifinal games starting at noon and 2 p.m. next Thursday (July 30) at Principal Park with the winners of those games meeting for the 1A State Championship on Saturday (August 1) at noon at Principal.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Well, Newman certainly brings some lofty credentials with them as they head down from Mason City. But the Hawks have been playing a “new season” since the districts got underway on July 14. And EG is a central Iowa team playing in its backyard. EG goes in and out of Des Moines year-round playing baseball and basketball at Iowa Christian at AIB on Fleur Drive, Des Moines Christian in Urbandale, Ankeny Christian in Ankeny and Grandview Park Baptist on the east side of Des Moines. So a quick drive back to DM and over to the stadium, could be regarded as just another game. And in years’ past some EG teams have had regular season games at the Principal.
Each team is playing on the same turf within the same seven-inning framework. And if the Hawks stayed focused on the matters at hand, anything came happen. EG is the upstart here so the pressure is really on the hands-down favorite, Newman, and its veteran-laden team. EG is lead by two sophomore pitchers, Tyler Cooklin and Wes Onken. Leading hitter is senior BradLee Clark. Conference rival Van Meter rolled into the state tournament in 2003 relatively unknown as Martensdale-St. Mary’s, the top-ranked team in the state, was the favorite and northwest Iowa power Granville (Spalding) was in the field. Yet the Bulldogs emerged the champion. So, anything can happen.
EG is central Iowa’s representative in 1A, having bested such Des Moines area teams at Madrid in the district in Ames and Grandview Park Baptist in the substate in Ankeny. Hopefully the home folks in Des Moines will get behind the East Greeners! Other central Iowa/Des Moines area teams qualifying for state are Gilbert and I-35 (Truro) in 2A, Boone and Norwalk in 3A, and Dowling (West Des Moines) and Johnston in 4A. Go Hawks!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
ON TO STATE!!
EG Beats Grandview Park Baptist, 3-2
East Greene downed Grandview Park Baptist 3-2 in the substate championship in Ankeny tonight to secure its first-ever state baseball tournament berth.
The Hawks are one of eight teams to qualify for the Class 1A State Tournament which gets underway Friday at 6 p.m. at Principal Park in Des Moines. Seedings and pairings will be announced Wednesday after the completion of three substate finals around the state that were postponed tonight due to rain.
Other winners tonight in substate finals were Adair-Casey, Lenox, Alta and Kee (Lansing). Adair-Casey, a Rolling Hills Conference member, beat AHST (Avoca) 6-4, in Coon Rapids to advance to state.
Tomorrow night’s substate games are Newman (Mason City) at Garrigan (Algona), Notre Dame (Burlington) vs. Tri-County (Thornburgh) in Fairfield, and Calamus-Wheatland vs. New London in Lisbon.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: This is the first trip to state for East Greene of Grand Junction, but not the first trip for Grand Junction, as the Bluejays were the State Fall Baseball Champions in 1939. This flock (of Hawks) is clearly flying high with the spirit of that '39 team which will mark the 70th anniversary of that championship this fall. The 1939 Bluejays played their baseball games on what was then the recently built Dutton Memorial Park field which is now the home of the East Greene Hawkettes softball team on the East Greene campus in the heart of Grand Junction. The historic Dutton Memorial Park grandstand is at the corner of Kelly and 14th Streets. The Hawks’ home baseball park in Rippey also has a deep history as it was the longtime home of the Rippey Merchants and Rippey Demons semipro teams and the Rippey High Bulldogs, and site of the Iowa State Summer High School Baseball Championship in 1953, 1959 and 1960 and the state high school Fall Baseball Championship in 1962. Go Hawks!
East Greene downed Grandview Park Baptist 3-2 in the substate championship in Ankeny tonight to secure its first-ever state baseball tournament berth.
The Hawks are one of eight teams to qualify for the Class 1A State Tournament which gets underway Friday at 6 p.m. at Principal Park in Des Moines. Seedings and pairings will be announced Wednesday after the completion of three substate finals around the state that were postponed tonight due to rain.
Other winners tonight in substate finals were Adair-Casey, Lenox, Alta and Kee (Lansing). Adair-Casey, a Rolling Hills Conference member, beat AHST (Avoca) 6-4, in Coon Rapids to advance to state.
Tomorrow night’s substate games are Newman (Mason City) at Garrigan (Algona), Notre Dame (Burlington) vs. Tri-County (Thornburgh) in Fairfield, and Calamus-Wheatland vs. New London in Lisbon.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: This is the first trip to state for East Greene of Grand Junction, but not the first trip for Grand Junction, as the Bluejays were the State Fall Baseball Champions in 1939. This flock (of Hawks) is clearly flying high with the spirit of that '39 team which will mark the 70th anniversary of that championship this fall. The 1939 Bluejays played their baseball games on what was then the recently built Dutton Memorial Park field which is now the home of the East Greene Hawkettes softball team on the East Greene campus in the heart of Grand Junction. The historic Dutton Memorial Park grandstand is at the corner of Kelly and 14th Streets. The Hawks’ home baseball park in Rippey also has a deep history as it was the longtime home of the Rippey Merchants and Rippey Demons semipro teams and the Rippey High Bulldogs, and site of the Iowa State Summer High School Baseball Championship in 1953, 1959 and 1960 and the state high school Fall Baseball Championship in 1962. Go Hawks!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Hawks Advance to Ankeny!
EG Wins District Championship
East Greene beat GMG of Garwin 6-1 in the district championship at Ames tonight.
The Hawks now head to Ankeny on Tuesday to take on Grandview Park Baptist of Des Moines in the Substate 6 Championship. The winner qualifies for the 1A State Baseball Tournament at Principal Park (formerly Sec Taylor Stadium) in Des Moines. Game time Tuesday is 7 p.m.
EG moves on with a 13-14 mark while GMG's season ends at 12-15.
Grandview Park Baptist beat Martensdale-St. Mary's on MStM's home field in St. Mary's tonight, 11-3. The Defenders, 12-11, are members of the Heart of Iowa-Small Conference, where they finished in fourth place at 7-9. Martensdale-St. Mary's ends its season at 25-11.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: East Greene is the lone team remaining from the West Central Conference in post-season play, as co-champ Panorama fell to Bondurant-Farrar 11-1 in six innings in a 2A district championship game in Adel. Woodward-Granger, another area 2A school, ended its season in a 5-3 loss to East Sac in the district hosted by Kuemper in Carroll. Adair-Casey won the 1A district at Coon Rapids, downing Walnut 9-1. The Bombers take on the winner of the AHST (Avoca) vs. Odebolt-Arthur game being played in Dunlap in the Substate 8 Championship on Tuesday, also in Coon Rapids.
East Greene beat GMG of Garwin 6-1 in the district championship at Ames tonight.
The Hawks now head to Ankeny on Tuesday to take on Grandview Park Baptist of Des Moines in the Substate 6 Championship. The winner qualifies for the 1A State Baseball Tournament at Principal Park (formerly Sec Taylor Stadium) in Des Moines. Game time Tuesday is 7 p.m.
EG moves on with a 13-14 mark while GMG's season ends at 12-15.
Grandview Park Baptist beat Martensdale-St. Mary's on MStM's home field in St. Mary's tonight, 11-3. The Defenders, 12-11, are members of the Heart of Iowa-Small Conference, where they finished in fourth place at 7-9. Martensdale-St. Mary's ends its season at 25-11.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: East Greene is the lone team remaining from the West Central Conference in post-season play, as co-champ Panorama fell to Bondurant-Farrar 11-1 in six innings in a 2A district championship game in Adel. Woodward-Granger, another area 2A school, ended its season in a 5-3 loss to East Sac in the district hosted by Kuemper in Carroll. Adair-Casey won the 1A district at Coon Rapids, downing Walnut 9-1. The Bombers take on the winner of the AHST (Avoca) vs. Odebolt-Arthur game being played in Dunlap in the Substate 8 Championship on Tuesday, also in Coon Rapids.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
EG TO DISTRICT FINALS
Hawks Get By Madrid, 7-5
The third time proved to the charm for East Greene as they beat Madrid 7-5 in Rippey tonight in the semifinal round of District 12. The Hawks had previously dropped two West Central Conference contests to the Tigers this season, including a 5-3 loss in their season finale last Friday in Madrid.
The win upped the Hawks’ record to 12-14. Madrid ends the season at 13-13.
EG moves on to the district championship game against GMG of Garwin on Saturday in Ames. Game time is 7 p.m.
GMG (12-14) advanced with a semifinal win over Northeast Hamilton, 8-4, tonight in Ackley, after dispatching Colo-Nesco, 4-0, in the first round on Tuesday.
GMG finished in a tie for fifth place in the 9-team Iowa Star Conference, just ahead of Northeast Hamilton at 8-8. NEH finished the season at 15-11 overall.
The winner in Ames advances to the substate championship game Monday night in Ankeny versus the winner of the Martensdale-St. Mary’s vs. Grandview Park Baptist game in St. Mary’s.
The third time proved to the charm for East Greene as they beat Madrid 7-5 in Rippey tonight in the semifinal round of District 12. The Hawks had previously dropped two West Central Conference contests to the Tigers this season, including a 5-3 loss in their season finale last Friday in Madrid.
The win upped the Hawks’ record to 12-14. Madrid ends the season at 13-13.
EG moves on to the district championship game against GMG of Garwin on Saturday in Ames. Game time is 7 p.m.
GMG (12-14) advanced with a semifinal win over Northeast Hamilton, 8-4, tonight in Ackley, after dispatching Colo-Nesco, 4-0, in the first round on Tuesday.
GMG finished in a tie for fifth place in the 9-team Iowa Star Conference, just ahead of Northeast Hamilton at 8-8. NEH finished the season at 15-11 overall.
The winner in Ames advances to the substate championship game Monday night in Ankeny versus the winner of the Martensdale-St. Mary’s vs. Grandview Park Baptist game in St. Mary’s.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
EG BEATS SWG!
Down Eagles 8-2 in Tourney Opener
East Greene opened tourney action on its home field tonight (Tuesday) with an 8-2 win over Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside). With the win, EG advances on to Thursday night’s semifinal round game against Madrid, a 7-1 winner over Glidden-Ralston. Game time at Walt Anderson Field is 7 p.m. The winner on Thursday advances to the district championship game in Ames on Saturday.
In other area Class 1A and 2A games:
CRB 6, Ar-We-Va 3
Adair-Casey 6, Exira 0
Van Meter 5, Earlham 4 (8 innings)
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 5, Iowa Christian 2
Panorama 16, WCV 1
Bondurant Farrar 11, DMC 1 (5 innings)
Woodward-Granger 1, Ogden 0
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks win over the Eagles breaks their five-year streak of opening round district tourney losses. Last year the Hawks went to CRB and took on the conference co-champs, losing 5-2. Two years ago, EG was hosting the tourney at Rippey but lost to Pomeroy-Palmer 8-6 in 8 innings in the first round. In the three previous years, EG dropped opening round games to GR in 2006, CRB in 2005, and Southern Cal in 2004. EG is usually placed in the same district as CRB and usually the games are played on the Crusaders’ home diamond in Coon Rapids. And each of the last five years, CRB has advanced to the district title game. CRB won the district in 2007, then took the substate crown and advanced on to the state tournament, where they made it to the semifinal round. CRB also won the district in 2005, but lost in the substate game to Walnut, repeating the same scenario from 2004, when they made it to substate, but were knocked out by West Harrison of Mondamin.
EG was the last team to keep CRB out of the district finals. EG beat Ar-We-Va in the first round 4-2 in 2003, then downed the Crusaders 8-4 on their home diamond in the semifinal round. EG took on Adair-Casey in the championship game in Coon Rapids, but lost to the Bombers, 4-2. AC lost to West Harrison 8-7 in the substate game, the first of two straight trips to state for West Harrison. WC foe Van Meter won the 1A state championship that season.
EG and CRB are in different districts--and substates--this year. CRB hosts all three rounds of district play and the substate game too. The Crusaders face Adair-Casey in Thursday’s semifinal round. The winner will play either Walnut or Elk Horn-Kimballton in the district final Saturday in Coon Rapids.
East Greene opened tourney action on its home field tonight (Tuesday) with an 8-2 win over Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside). With the win, EG advances on to Thursday night’s semifinal round game against Madrid, a 7-1 winner over Glidden-Ralston. Game time at Walt Anderson Field is 7 p.m. The winner on Thursday advances to the district championship game in Ames on Saturday.
In other area Class 1A and 2A games:
CRB 6, Ar-We-Va 3
Adair-Casey 6, Exira 0
Van Meter 5, Earlham 4 (8 innings)
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 5, Iowa Christian 2
Panorama 16, WCV 1
Bondurant Farrar 11, DMC 1 (5 innings)
Woodward-Granger 1, Ogden 0
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks win over the Eagles breaks their five-year streak of opening round district tourney losses. Last year the Hawks went to CRB and took on the conference co-champs, losing 5-2. Two years ago, EG was hosting the tourney at Rippey but lost to Pomeroy-Palmer 8-6 in 8 innings in the first round. In the three previous years, EG dropped opening round games to GR in 2006, CRB in 2005, and Southern Cal in 2004. EG is usually placed in the same district as CRB and usually the games are played on the Crusaders’ home diamond in Coon Rapids. And each of the last five years, CRB has advanced to the district title game. CRB won the district in 2007, then took the substate crown and advanced on to the state tournament, where they made it to the semifinal round. CRB also won the district in 2005, but lost in the substate game to Walnut, repeating the same scenario from 2004, when they made it to substate, but were knocked out by West Harrison of Mondamin.
EG was the last team to keep CRB out of the district finals. EG beat Ar-We-Va in the first round 4-2 in 2003, then downed the Crusaders 8-4 on their home diamond in the semifinal round. EG took on Adair-Casey in the championship game in Coon Rapids, but lost to the Bombers, 4-2. AC lost to West Harrison 8-7 in the substate game, the first of two straight trips to state for West Harrison. WC foe Van Meter won the 1A state championship that season.
EG and CRB are in different districts--and substates--this year. CRB hosts all three rounds of district play and the substate game too. The Crusaders face Adair-Casey in Thursday’s semifinal round. The winner will play either Walnut or Elk Horn-Kimballton in the district final Saturday in Coon Rapids.
HAWKS HOST DISTRICT
EG Falls at Madrid, 5-3
Madrid got by East Greene 5-3 in the final regular season game in Madrid on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Hawks to 7-11 in the West Central Conference, where they finished seventh. EG takes an overall record of 10-14 in tonight’s opening round district game against Southeast Webster-Grand in Rippey.
Tom Beger and Brock Lyons were on the mound for the Hawks at Madrid, giving up 10 hits, 2 walks, advancing 1 hit batter and striking out 3. Brock Hinkel got the win for the Tigers. He struck out 8, walked 3 and gave up 3 hits.
Bradlee Clark led the charge offensively, going 2-for-3 and batting in all three EG runs. Tyler Cooklin rounded out the hitting with a double.
Des Moines Christian and Panorama clinched a tie for the West Central championship on Thursday night and Coon Rapids-Bayard had the chance to make it a three-way finish at the top, but the Crusaders fell at Van Meter, 4-3, in a makeup game on Friday. It was payback for the Bulldogs as CRB had quashed their title hopes, beating them in Coon Rapids on Tuesday.
2009 West Central Conference Baseball
Des Moines Christian 14-4 18-8
Panorama 14-4 16-4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 13-5 23-6
Earlham 13-5 18-7
Van Meter 11-7 16-13
Madrid 10-8 14-11
East Greene 7-11 10-14
West Central Valley 5-13 6-20
Glidden-Ralston 3-15 5-19
Guthrie Center 0-18 1-24
DISTRICT PREVIEW: The spotlight shines on Rippey tonight as four teams square off in the first two rounds of district play at Walt Anderson Field. Madrid (14-11) takes on Glidden-Ralston (5-19) in the opener at 5 p.m. with East Greene taking on Southeast Webster-Grand (4-19) in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
Tonight’s winners meet in the semifinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner on Thursday advances to the district final in Ames at 7 p.m. on Saturday where they face the winner of the lower bracket of District 12 at Ackley. Facing off in Ackley tonight are GMG of Garwin (10-14) and Colo-Nesco (1-21) in the opener followed by the host school, Ackley-Geneva/Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock (4-13) and Northeast Hamilton (14-10).
The Ames winner moves on to the one-game substate championship and the winner there advances on to the State Class 1A tournament in Des Moines. The substate game is Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in Ankeny.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Madrid has to be the favorite in the Rippey bracket as it has downed the Hawks twice this season, the first win coming in Rippey, 14-3, on June 8. The Hawks did show big improvement though in their second go at the Tigers, losing by just two runs in their Friday game at Madrid.
EG must first get by Southeast Webster-Grand, a team they beat 3-2 in Rippey in the third game of the season. SWG finished 4-19 and 2-8 in the Twin Lakes Conference, but that is a bit deceiving as the other five TLC teams play in Class 2A. EG, though, played a demanding 18-game conference schedule in a conference with four 2A teams. EG will definitely need to bring its “A” game to get by the Eagles and move on to the semifinal round.
Madrid should take care of GR pretty easily as they’ve downed the Wildcats twice already this season, 16-1 and 10-2. Should EG get by SWG, the Hawks would have a home field advantage in their third go-round against Madrid.
Northeast Hamilton seems to be the team-to-beat in the Ackley bracket as they are 14-10 and the only team with a winning record.
Whichever team makes it to Ames and then advances on to Ankeny will face the winner of the powerful Martensdale-St. Mary’s district winner. The top half of the bracket at Bussey has Southeast Warren (Liberty Center) taking on Melcher-Dallas and the host school, Twin Cedars, facing Grandview Park Baptist, a team that made it to state last year.
The lower bracket has host Martensdale-St. Mary’s (23-10), a longtime power in state 1A baseball, taking on Iowa Christian Academy (16-2), champions of the Rolling Hills Conference in the nightcap. West Central rivals Van Meter and Earlham square off in the first game. Earlham (18-7) just missed tying for the league crown with 2A schools DMC and Panorama, while Van Meter (17-13) is a major force. Van Meter, who won the state title in 2003, will looking to make amends from last year, when after tying for the league crown with CRB, DMC and Panorama and having 21 total wins to its credit, was bounced out in the first round by Guthrie Center, a team that finished eighth in the conference.
The winner of this district will clearly be the favorite in the substate battle at Ankeny next Tuesday.
CLASS 2-A UPDATE: Three of the four Class 2A West Central teams advanced in 2A opening round district action on Saturday. The fourth team, Guthrie Center, was sidelined by conference foe West Central Valley, 8-2 in Guthrie Center. Panorama pummeled Nodaway Valley of Greenfield, 17-2 in 5 innings, in the second half of a doubleheader in Guthrie. WCV and Panorama face off tonight, also in Guthrie. Des Moines Christian got by Colfax Mingo, 8-6, and advances on to play Bondurant-Farrar. Ogden opened 2A play at home with a 5-2 win over Prairie Valley. Jefferson-Scranton also played at Ogden, but was dispatched in 5 innings by Woodward-Granger, 12-2. The Rams ended the season at 10-14. Perry and Boone open 3A tourney play on Friday.
Madrid got by East Greene 5-3 in the final regular season game in Madrid on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Hawks to 7-11 in the West Central Conference, where they finished seventh. EG takes an overall record of 10-14 in tonight’s opening round district game against Southeast Webster-Grand in Rippey.
Tom Beger and Brock Lyons were on the mound for the Hawks at Madrid, giving up 10 hits, 2 walks, advancing 1 hit batter and striking out 3. Brock Hinkel got the win for the Tigers. He struck out 8, walked 3 and gave up 3 hits.
Bradlee Clark led the charge offensively, going 2-for-3 and batting in all three EG runs. Tyler Cooklin rounded out the hitting with a double.
Des Moines Christian and Panorama clinched a tie for the West Central championship on Thursday night and Coon Rapids-Bayard had the chance to make it a three-way finish at the top, but the Crusaders fell at Van Meter, 4-3, in a makeup game on Friday. It was payback for the Bulldogs as CRB had quashed their title hopes, beating them in Coon Rapids on Tuesday.
2009 West Central Conference Baseball
Des Moines Christian 14-4 18-8
Panorama 14-4 16-4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 13-5 23-6
Earlham 13-5 18-7
Van Meter 11-7 16-13
Madrid 10-8 14-11
East Greene 7-11 10-14
West Central Valley 5-13 6-20
Glidden-Ralston 3-15 5-19
Guthrie Center 0-18 1-24
DISTRICT PREVIEW: The spotlight shines on Rippey tonight as four teams square off in the first two rounds of district play at Walt Anderson Field. Madrid (14-11) takes on Glidden-Ralston (5-19) in the opener at 5 p.m. with East Greene taking on Southeast Webster-Grand (4-19) in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
Tonight’s winners meet in the semifinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner on Thursday advances to the district final in Ames at 7 p.m. on Saturday where they face the winner of the lower bracket of District 12 at Ackley. Facing off in Ackley tonight are GMG of Garwin (10-14) and Colo-Nesco (1-21) in the opener followed by the host school, Ackley-Geneva/Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock (4-13) and Northeast Hamilton (14-10).
The Ames winner moves on to the one-game substate championship and the winner there advances on to the State Class 1A tournament in Des Moines. The substate game is Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in Ankeny.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Madrid has to be the favorite in the Rippey bracket as it has downed the Hawks twice this season, the first win coming in Rippey, 14-3, on June 8. The Hawks did show big improvement though in their second go at the Tigers, losing by just two runs in their Friday game at Madrid.
EG must first get by Southeast Webster-Grand, a team they beat 3-2 in Rippey in the third game of the season. SWG finished 4-19 and 2-8 in the Twin Lakes Conference, but that is a bit deceiving as the other five TLC teams play in Class 2A. EG, though, played a demanding 18-game conference schedule in a conference with four 2A teams. EG will definitely need to bring its “A” game to get by the Eagles and move on to the semifinal round.
Madrid should take care of GR pretty easily as they’ve downed the Wildcats twice already this season, 16-1 and 10-2. Should EG get by SWG, the Hawks would have a home field advantage in their third go-round against Madrid.
Northeast Hamilton seems to be the team-to-beat in the Ackley bracket as they are 14-10 and the only team with a winning record.
Whichever team makes it to Ames and then advances on to Ankeny will face the winner of the powerful Martensdale-St. Mary’s district winner. The top half of the bracket at Bussey has Southeast Warren (Liberty Center) taking on Melcher-Dallas and the host school, Twin Cedars, facing Grandview Park Baptist, a team that made it to state last year.
The lower bracket has host Martensdale-St. Mary’s (23-10), a longtime power in state 1A baseball, taking on Iowa Christian Academy (16-2), champions of the Rolling Hills Conference in the nightcap. West Central rivals Van Meter and Earlham square off in the first game. Earlham (18-7) just missed tying for the league crown with 2A schools DMC and Panorama, while Van Meter (17-13) is a major force. Van Meter, who won the state title in 2003, will looking to make amends from last year, when after tying for the league crown with CRB, DMC and Panorama and having 21 total wins to its credit, was bounced out in the first round by Guthrie Center, a team that finished eighth in the conference.
The winner of this district will clearly be the favorite in the substate battle at Ankeny next Tuesday.
CLASS 2-A UPDATE: Three of the four Class 2A West Central teams advanced in 2A opening round district action on Saturday. The fourth team, Guthrie Center, was sidelined by conference foe West Central Valley, 8-2 in Guthrie Center. Panorama pummeled Nodaway Valley of Greenfield, 17-2 in 5 innings, in the second half of a doubleheader in Guthrie. WCV and Panorama face off tonight, also in Guthrie. Des Moines Christian got by Colfax Mingo, 8-6, and advances on to play Bondurant-Farrar. Ogden opened 2A play at home with a 5-2 win over Prairie Valley. Jefferson-Scranton also played at Ogden, but was dispatched in 5 innings by Woodward-Granger, 12-2. The Rams ended the season at 10-14. Perry and Boone open 3A tourney play on Friday.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
REGIONAL SOFTBALL
Hawkette’s Season Ends at CRB
Coon Rapids-Bayard ended the Hawkettes’ season in the opening round of the regional softball tournament in Coon Rapids last night, 11-4.
CRB’s freshman pitcher Marissa Spoo picked up the win, giving up five hits and striking out five EG batters. The Hawkettes gave up 5 hits and 5 walks and allowed the Crusaders to steal base seven times. EG finished the year at 4-19.
CRB (17-12) advances to the quarterfinal round Friday night, taking on Glidden Ralston (22-7). In other Region 4 games, Earlham (27-8) eliminated CAM 12-0 in Anita and Exira (12-6) beat Adair Casey. Earlham and Exira square off Friday in Anita.
In the lower bracket of Region 4, Madrid (16-17) beat Colo-Nesco in Madrid, and Van Meter downed Grandview Park Baptist 3-0 in Van Meter. Madrid takes on Van Meter (10-19) in quarterfinal action Friday in Madrid.
TONIGHT’S CLASS 2A SCORES: Three of the four West Central Conference teams competing in Class 2A were sidelined in opening round regional action tonight (Thursday) with West Central Valley seeing its game at Nodaway Valley rained out until tomorrow. Two other area 2A teams, however, advanced on to the quarterfinal round. Jefferson-Scranton beat Prairie Valley and Ogden sidelined Gilbert.
Bondurant-Farrar 2, Des Moines Christian 0
North Polk 9, Panorama 0
Woodward-Granger 12, Guthrie Center 0
Jefferson-Scranton 5, Prairie Valley 1
Ogden 5, Gilbert 3
EYE ON GJ SAYS: No big surprises with the WC 2A teams, as they each faced formidable opponents. North Polk pitcher Sammy Snygg had 12 strikeouts in the win over Panorama, giving her a career record 2,178 strikeouts. Snygg, a senior, broke the old mark held by Jen Bice of Woodward-Granger who notched 2,175 strikeouts in her high school softball pitching career from 1995 to 1999.
J-S and Ogden got off to good starts. J-S will take on the winner of South Hamilton and Fort Dodge, which was postponed by rain from Thursday to Friday, in the quarterfinals, now scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rogers Complex in Fort Dodge, site of the state tournament. Ogden takes on South Hardin in Roland at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game advances to the regional semifinal in Fort Dodge on Monday to take on the winner of the J-S and South Hamilton or St. Ed’s game. The Fort Dodge semifinal winner will take on the Humboldt semifinal winner in the regional final on Wednesday, July 15, at 7:30 p.m., also in Fort Dodge. All Fort Dodge games will be at Rogers.
The 1A teams in the West Central had an excellent opening night, going 3-0 against competition from other leagues. The league went to 2-0 against the Heart of Iowa-Small and 1-0 against the Rolling Hills. With CRB’s win over EG and Glidden-Ralston’s bye, the league has five teams still in play after round one. However, four of them face off against each other in the quarterfinals
Coon Rapids-Bayard ended the Hawkettes’ season in the opening round of the regional softball tournament in Coon Rapids last night, 11-4.
CRB’s freshman pitcher Marissa Spoo picked up the win, giving up five hits and striking out five EG batters. The Hawkettes gave up 5 hits and 5 walks and allowed the Crusaders to steal base seven times. EG finished the year at 4-19.
CRB (17-12) advances to the quarterfinal round Friday night, taking on Glidden Ralston (22-7). In other Region 4 games, Earlham (27-8) eliminated CAM 12-0 in Anita and Exira (12-6) beat Adair Casey. Earlham and Exira square off Friday in Anita.
In the lower bracket of Region 4, Madrid (16-17) beat Colo-Nesco in Madrid, and Van Meter downed Grandview Park Baptist 3-0 in Van Meter. Madrid takes on Van Meter (10-19) in quarterfinal action Friday in Madrid.
TONIGHT’S CLASS 2A SCORES: Three of the four West Central Conference teams competing in Class 2A were sidelined in opening round regional action tonight (Thursday) with West Central Valley seeing its game at Nodaway Valley rained out until tomorrow. Two other area 2A teams, however, advanced on to the quarterfinal round. Jefferson-Scranton beat Prairie Valley and Ogden sidelined Gilbert.
Bondurant-Farrar 2, Des Moines Christian 0
North Polk 9, Panorama 0
Woodward-Granger 12, Guthrie Center 0
Jefferson-Scranton 5, Prairie Valley 1
Ogden 5, Gilbert 3
EYE ON GJ SAYS: No big surprises with the WC 2A teams, as they each faced formidable opponents. North Polk pitcher Sammy Snygg had 12 strikeouts in the win over Panorama, giving her a career record 2,178 strikeouts. Snygg, a senior, broke the old mark held by Jen Bice of Woodward-Granger who notched 2,175 strikeouts in her high school softball pitching career from 1995 to 1999.
J-S and Ogden got off to good starts. J-S will take on the winner of South Hamilton and Fort Dodge, which was postponed by rain from Thursday to Friday, in the quarterfinals, now scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rogers Complex in Fort Dodge, site of the state tournament. Ogden takes on South Hardin in Roland at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game advances to the regional semifinal in Fort Dodge on Monday to take on the winner of the J-S and South Hamilton or St. Ed’s game. The Fort Dodge semifinal winner will take on the Humboldt semifinal winner in the regional final on Wednesday, July 15, at 7:30 p.m., also in Fort Dodge. All Fort Dodge games will be at Rogers.
The 1A teams in the West Central had an excellent opening night, going 3-0 against competition from other leagues. The league went to 2-0 against the Heart of Iowa-Small and 1-0 against the Rolling Hills. With CRB’s win over EG and Glidden-Ralston’s bye, the league has five teams still in play after round one. However, four of them face off against each other in the quarterfinals
BASEBALL
Hawks Fall to League Leaders
East Greene dropped games to two of the conference leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday, after wining three of its four previous games.
Earlham downed the Hawks 16-6 on Wednesday in Rippey, moving the Cardinals into a three-way tie for first place in the West Central at 13-4. The Hawks fell to 7-10 in the conference and 10-13 overall. EG came close to ending Panorama’s title hopes but fell to the Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday in Rippey. Panorama is also 13-4.
EG got the week off a good note with a 10-2 win over Glidden-Ralston. The previous Friday the Hawks blasted West Central Valley 15-1 in six innings. Heading into the WCV game the Hawks had lost a tight battle to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 6-4, on June 30 after winning 10-3 over Guthrie Center the previous night.
One of the Hawks’ biggest wins of the season came on Friday, June 26, when they downed Iowa Christian Academy 3-1. It was just the second loss of the season for ICA, champions of the Rolling Hills Conference at 11-1. ICA (16-2) has victories over West Central teams DMC and Van Meter this year. It’s only other loss was to RC opponent Walnut, which handed EG a 5-3 loss in the first round of the Hawks’ tournament in Rippey on June 20. EG lost the consolation game in the tourney to Class 2A Woodward-Granger, 11-8. East Sac, also a 2A school, won the championship beating Walnut 15-3.
Tyler Cooklin got the win against ICA giving up 10 hits, 4 walks and striking out 3. He had a big night at the plate too, going 2-3 with a single and a double.
EG heads to Madrid for its last conference game of the season tonight. EG will host the first two rounds of the Class 1A District Tournament in Rippey next week. EG faces Southeast Webster-Grand and Madrid takes on Glidden-Ralston on Tuesday, the winners of the those two games will meet on Thursday.
West Central Conference Standings
(Through Wed., July 8, Conf. and Reg. Season Records)
Des Moines Christian 13-4 17-8
Earlham 13-4 18-6
Panorama 13-4 15-4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 12-4 22-5
Van Meter 10-6 15-12
Madrid 9-8 13-11
East Greene 7-10 10-13
West Central Valley 5-12 6-19
Glidden-Ralston 2-15 4-19
Guthrie Center 0-17 1-23
EYE ON GJ SAYS: That was a big win for the Hawks over ICA and shows their potential. The team has just three seniors and its top two pitchers are sophomores, so next year looks promising. As for this year, EG has a chance to make a good showing on its home diamond in the district tourney next week, and tonight’s game at Madrid will show how both teams look heading into the tournament.
The conference race is very tight--as expected. Last year five teams (EG among them) were fighting for the conference crown and it went down to the last night, leaving four teams tied for the crown. It’s pretty much the same this year as DMC, Earlham and Panorama are knotted up at 13-4 and Coon Rapids-Bayard is right behind them at 12-4. Panorama takes on Earlham in Panora tonight so the loser of that game will be eliminated,
It was a five-team race as the week began, but thumpings at the hands of Earlham (14-1 in 5 innings) and CRB (12-2 in 5 innings) dropped Van Meter to 10-6 and out of the league chase. The Bulldogs can play the spoiler though, as they travel to Urbandale to take on Des Moines Christian tonight and host CRB tomorrow night (Friday) in Van Meter. Earlham is going for a league-sweep as the Lady Cardinals won the WC softball crown on Monday.
East Greene dropped games to two of the conference leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday, after wining three of its four previous games.
Earlham downed the Hawks 16-6 on Wednesday in Rippey, moving the Cardinals into a three-way tie for first place in the West Central at 13-4. The Hawks fell to 7-10 in the conference and 10-13 overall. EG came close to ending Panorama’s title hopes but fell to the Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday in Rippey. Panorama is also 13-4.
EG got the week off a good note with a 10-2 win over Glidden-Ralston. The previous Friday the Hawks blasted West Central Valley 15-1 in six innings. Heading into the WCV game the Hawks had lost a tight battle to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 6-4, on June 30 after winning 10-3 over Guthrie Center the previous night.
One of the Hawks’ biggest wins of the season came on Friday, June 26, when they downed Iowa Christian Academy 3-1. It was just the second loss of the season for ICA, champions of the Rolling Hills Conference at 11-1. ICA (16-2) has victories over West Central teams DMC and Van Meter this year. It’s only other loss was to RC opponent Walnut, which handed EG a 5-3 loss in the first round of the Hawks’ tournament in Rippey on June 20. EG lost the consolation game in the tourney to Class 2A Woodward-Granger, 11-8. East Sac, also a 2A school, won the championship beating Walnut 15-3.
Tyler Cooklin got the win against ICA giving up 10 hits, 4 walks and striking out 3. He had a big night at the plate too, going 2-3 with a single and a double.
EG heads to Madrid for its last conference game of the season tonight. EG will host the first two rounds of the Class 1A District Tournament in Rippey next week. EG faces Southeast Webster-Grand and Madrid takes on Glidden-Ralston on Tuesday, the winners of the those two games will meet on Thursday.
West Central Conference Standings
(Through Wed., July 8, Conf. and Reg. Season Records)
Des Moines Christian 13-4 17-8
Earlham 13-4 18-6
Panorama 13-4 15-4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 12-4 22-5
Van Meter 10-6 15-12
Madrid 9-8 13-11
East Greene 7-10 10-13
West Central Valley 5-12 6-19
Glidden-Ralston 2-15 4-19
Guthrie Center 0-17 1-23
EYE ON GJ SAYS: That was a big win for the Hawks over ICA and shows their potential. The team has just three seniors and its top two pitchers are sophomores, so next year looks promising. As for this year, EG has a chance to make a good showing on its home diamond in the district tourney next week, and tonight’s game at Madrid will show how both teams look heading into the tournament.
The conference race is very tight--as expected. Last year five teams (EG among them) were fighting for the conference crown and it went down to the last night, leaving four teams tied for the crown. It’s pretty much the same this year as DMC, Earlham and Panorama are knotted up at 13-4 and Coon Rapids-Bayard is right behind them at 12-4. Panorama takes on Earlham in Panora tonight so the loser of that game will be eliminated,
It was a five-team race as the week began, but thumpings at the hands of Earlham (14-1 in 5 innings) and CRB (12-2 in 5 innings) dropped Van Meter to 10-6 and out of the league chase. The Bulldogs can play the spoiler though, as they travel to Urbandale to take on Des Moines Christian tonight and host CRB tomorrow night (Friday) in Van Meter. Earlham is going for a league-sweep as the Lady Cardinals won the WC softball crown on Monday.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
TOURNEY ACTION
Hawkettes Meet CRB in Regional
East Greene fell to Glidden-Ralston in its final regular season softball game, 10-0, in 5 innings at Glidden Monday night.
Wildcat ace Hallie Schon limited the Hawkettes to 1 hit while striking out 8 and walking just one. Ashley Thorpe took the loss, giving up 5 hits and 10 walks.
East Greene ended the regular season 4-18 and 2-16 in the West Central Conference. GR beat Panorama in a make-up game last night to end its last year in the conference as runner-up to Earlham with a 13-5 record.
West Central Conference
FINAL STANDINGS
Earlham 15-3
Glidden-Ralston 13-5
Des Moines Christian 10-7
Madrid 10-7
Van Meter 9-8
Guthrie Center 8-10
Panorama 8-10
West Central Valley 7-10
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-11
East Greene 2-16
REGIONAL PREVIEW: EG heads to Coon Rapids tonight to take on Coon Rapids-Bayard in opening round regional Class 1A action. EG dropped a close game to the Crusaders 12-11 on its last trip to Coon Rapids on June 9. Last week, the two teams tangled again in Grand Junction, but CRB got the better of the Hawkettes, 12-3.
It’s a new season tonight though and the Hawkettes will be out to redeem their earlier losses. CRB finished just ahead of EG in the conference race at 5-11 but the Crusaders fared better in non-conference play as their overall season mark is 16-12.
EG and CRB face off at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap in a doubleheader. Exira faces Adair-Casey in the first game at 6 p.m. Those two teams are in the lower half of the Coon Rapids bracket and the winner will advance to play the winner of the Earlham-CAM game tonight in Anita in the quarterfinals on Friday, also in Anita. Both of those games are at 7 p.m.
The EG-CRB winner takes on Glidden-Ralston, which got a first round bye, in a quarterfinal game at Coon Rapids, also on Friday. Winners of the games in Anita and Coon Rapids will meet in the regional semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m in Coon Rapids. The winner of that game will face the winner of the lower half of the Region 4 bracket in the final in Ames next Wednesday (June 15) at 7 p.m. with winner advancing to the 1A State Tournament in Fort Dodge.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Earlham and Glidden-Ralston look to have the upper hand in the Coon Rapids half of the bracket. GR ended the season at 22-7 and finished just behind Earlham in the always tough West Central. GR was ranked as high as seventh earlier this season. Earlham (26-8) should have an easy time in its half of the CR bracket opposite three teams from the Rolling Hills, which is not as competitive as the West Central which has a mix of 1A and 2A teams. The RH is all 1A teams. Exira won the RH at 9-1, just ahead of CAM and Orient-Macksburg, both at 7-3. Exira is 11-6 overall, CAM is 12-8 and Adair-Casey is 2-22.
West Central opponents Madrid and Van Meter are the in the lower half of the regional bracket. Madrid (15-17) opens at home against Colo-Nesco while Van Meter (9-19) hosts Grandview Park Baptist. The winners of those two games will face off Friday at Madrid, with the winner advancing to the semifinal round against the winner of the Sully quarterfinal game. Lynnville-Sully will be the favorite, hosting the first three rounds on its home diamond. Lynnville-Sully hosts BGM (Brooklyn) in round one and the winner will take on the GMG (Garwin)-North Tama (Traer) winner on Friday in Sully. Lynnville-Sully (20-7) is ranked 15th in Class 1A.
In Class 2A, conference opponents Des Moines Christian (13-19) and West Central Valley (15-12) are in the upper bracket of Region 8 and Panorama and Guthrie Center are in the region’s lower bracket. They all face stiff competition. DMC takes on Bondurant-Farrar (28-3), the No. 4 ranked team in Class 2A, Thursday night in Bondurant. West Central Valley travels to Greenfield to face Nodaway Valley (23-9) on its home diamond. The winner of those two games will advance to the quarterfinal at Bondurant on Friday. The winner Friday advances to the upper bracket semifinal in Truro, facing either Wayne (Corydon), Mount Ayr, Central Decatur or I-35 (Truro).
Panorama (13-16) travels to Alleman on Thursday to face North Polk (26-6), which tied for the Heart of Iowa-Large title with Bondurant-Farrar at 17-1. North Polk, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, won the 2A state championship last year over Solon 4-2 and finished the season 40-4. North Polk has made 15 state tournament appearances and has been to state the last four seasons straight, also winning a title in 2006 and finishing third in 2007.
Guthrie Center takes on another area softball power, Woodward-Granger (20-9) at Woodward on Thursday. The winner advances to the quarterfinal in Alleman on Friday against the North Polk-Panorama winner. The Friday winner moves on to the semifinal game in Greenfield on Monday. Teams on the opposite side of the Greenfield (lower) bracket are Shenandoah, Clarinda, Griswold and Red Oak. The regional final is Wednesday, July 15, at Adel.
Also in Class 2A on Thursday, Jefferson-Scranton (14-13) opens regional play at Farnhamville against Prairie Valley (14-16) while Ogden (14-13) hosts Gilbert (5-15). Class 3A opens regional action on Saturday. Perry (1-27) travels to Carroll and Boone (21-8) hosts Nevada. The winners advance to the semifinal round at Boone on Monday with the regional final on Wednesday at Dallas Center.
East Greene fell to Glidden-Ralston in its final regular season softball game, 10-0, in 5 innings at Glidden Monday night.
Wildcat ace Hallie Schon limited the Hawkettes to 1 hit while striking out 8 and walking just one. Ashley Thorpe took the loss, giving up 5 hits and 10 walks.
East Greene ended the regular season 4-18 and 2-16 in the West Central Conference. GR beat Panorama in a make-up game last night to end its last year in the conference as runner-up to Earlham with a 13-5 record.
West Central Conference
FINAL STANDINGS
Earlham 15-3
Glidden-Ralston 13-5
Des Moines Christian 10-7
Madrid 10-7
Van Meter 9-8
Guthrie Center 8-10
Panorama 8-10
West Central Valley 7-10
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-11
East Greene 2-16
REGIONAL PREVIEW: EG heads to Coon Rapids tonight to take on Coon Rapids-Bayard in opening round regional Class 1A action. EG dropped a close game to the Crusaders 12-11 on its last trip to Coon Rapids on June 9. Last week, the two teams tangled again in Grand Junction, but CRB got the better of the Hawkettes, 12-3.
It’s a new season tonight though and the Hawkettes will be out to redeem their earlier losses. CRB finished just ahead of EG in the conference race at 5-11 but the Crusaders fared better in non-conference play as their overall season mark is 16-12.
EG and CRB face off at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap in a doubleheader. Exira faces Adair-Casey in the first game at 6 p.m. Those two teams are in the lower half of the Coon Rapids bracket and the winner will advance to play the winner of the Earlham-CAM game tonight in Anita in the quarterfinals on Friday, also in Anita. Both of those games are at 7 p.m.
The EG-CRB winner takes on Glidden-Ralston, which got a first round bye, in a quarterfinal game at Coon Rapids, also on Friday. Winners of the games in Anita and Coon Rapids will meet in the regional semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m in Coon Rapids. The winner of that game will face the winner of the lower half of the Region 4 bracket in the final in Ames next Wednesday (June 15) at 7 p.m. with winner advancing to the 1A State Tournament in Fort Dodge.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Earlham and Glidden-Ralston look to have the upper hand in the Coon Rapids half of the bracket. GR ended the season at 22-7 and finished just behind Earlham in the always tough West Central. GR was ranked as high as seventh earlier this season. Earlham (26-8) should have an easy time in its half of the CR bracket opposite three teams from the Rolling Hills, which is not as competitive as the West Central which has a mix of 1A and 2A teams. The RH is all 1A teams. Exira won the RH at 9-1, just ahead of CAM and Orient-Macksburg, both at 7-3. Exira is 11-6 overall, CAM is 12-8 and Adair-Casey is 2-22.
West Central opponents Madrid and Van Meter are the in the lower half of the regional bracket. Madrid (15-17) opens at home against Colo-Nesco while Van Meter (9-19) hosts Grandview Park Baptist. The winners of those two games will face off Friday at Madrid, with the winner advancing to the semifinal round against the winner of the Sully quarterfinal game. Lynnville-Sully will be the favorite, hosting the first three rounds on its home diamond. Lynnville-Sully hosts BGM (Brooklyn) in round one and the winner will take on the GMG (Garwin)-North Tama (Traer) winner on Friday in Sully. Lynnville-Sully (20-7) is ranked 15th in Class 1A.
In Class 2A, conference opponents Des Moines Christian (13-19) and West Central Valley (15-12) are in the upper bracket of Region 8 and Panorama and Guthrie Center are in the region’s lower bracket. They all face stiff competition. DMC takes on Bondurant-Farrar (28-3), the No. 4 ranked team in Class 2A, Thursday night in Bondurant. West Central Valley travels to Greenfield to face Nodaway Valley (23-9) on its home diamond. The winner of those two games will advance to the quarterfinal at Bondurant on Friday. The winner Friday advances to the upper bracket semifinal in Truro, facing either Wayne (Corydon), Mount Ayr, Central Decatur or I-35 (Truro).
Panorama (13-16) travels to Alleman on Thursday to face North Polk (26-6), which tied for the Heart of Iowa-Large title with Bondurant-Farrar at 17-1. North Polk, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, won the 2A state championship last year over Solon 4-2 and finished the season 40-4. North Polk has made 15 state tournament appearances and has been to state the last four seasons straight, also winning a title in 2006 and finishing third in 2007.
Guthrie Center takes on another area softball power, Woodward-Granger (20-9) at Woodward on Thursday. The winner advances to the quarterfinal in Alleman on Friday against the North Polk-Panorama winner. The Friday winner moves on to the semifinal game in Greenfield on Monday. Teams on the opposite side of the Greenfield (lower) bracket are Shenandoah, Clarinda, Griswold and Red Oak. The regional final is Wednesday, July 15, at Adel.
Also in Class 2A on Thursday, Jefferson-Scranton (14-13) opens regional play at Farnhamville against Prairie Valley (14-16) while Ogden (14-13) hosts Gilbert (5-15). Class 3A opens regional action on Saturday. Perry (1-27) travels to Carroll and Boone (21-8) hosts Nevada. The winners advance to the semifinal round at Boone on Monday with the regional final on Wednesday at Dallas Center.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
CITY BUSINESS
City Seeks Funds for New Water Tank
The city of Grand Junction is seeking funds from the Iowa Department of Economic Development to construct an 80,000-gallon water tank. The city is asking the state to release federal funds under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
The city has published a public notice in the Jefferson Bee indicating the project “will have no significant impact on the human environment.”
In a related matter, the Grand Junction Municipal Light and Water Board held a public hearing at is regular meeting on May 18 on a proposed bank loan for local matching funds for construction of the 80,000-gallon water tank. No comments were heard at the hearing.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: It’s not yet clear where this new water tank will be constructed or if its to supplement or replace the existing water tower on 11th Street. It may be that the new LDC Grand Junction ethanol plant north of town will be joining the city water system, and more storage capacity will be needed.
The city of Grand Junction is seeking funds from the Iowa Department of Economic Development to construct an 80,000-gallon water tank. The city is asking the state to release federal funds under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
The city has published a public notice in the Jefferson Bee indicating the project “will have no significant impact on the human environment.”
In a related matter, the Grand Junction Municipal Light and Water Board held a public hearing at is regular meeting on May 18 on a proposed bank loan for local matching funds for construction of the 80,000-gallon water tank. No comments were heard at the hearing.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: It’s not yet clear where this new water tank will be constructed or if its to supplement or replace the existing water tower on 11th Street. It may be that the new LDC Grand Junction ethanol plant north of town will be joining the city water system, and more storage capacity will be needed.
COMMUNITY
Ebban Clause Marries Philip Walker
Ebban Clause, daughter of Reg and Mary Clause, Jefferson, was married May 24 at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid to Philip Walker, son of Robert and Rosaleen Walker of Comugny, Switzerland.
Ebban is the granddaughter of Roger and Dorothy Clause of Grand Junction.
Ebban is a graduate of Jefferson-Scranton High School and Iowa State University. Philip is a graduate of the International School of Geneva and Loughborough University, Leicestshire, United Kingdom. The couple is living in Geneva, Switzerland, where both are employed by Caterpillar Inc.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Ebban has deep roots in far eastern Greene County as she is also the granddaughter of Royal and Marie Holz of Grand Junction, both deceased. Royal passed away in January of this year at age 93. Ebban is the legacy of the Clause Brothers Inc. farm operation, which is operated by her dad, Reg (EG ‘67), northeast of town, and the Holz Brothers Inc. operation southeast of her town, as her mom is the former Mary Holz (EG ‘73).
Ebban Clause, daughter of Reg and Mary Clause, Jefferson, was married May 24 at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid to Philip Walker, son of Robert and Rosaleen Walker of Comugny, Switzerland.
Ebban is the granddaughter of Roger and Dorothy Clause of Grand Junction.
Ebban is a graduate of Jefferson-Scranton High School and Iowa State University. Philip is a graduate of the International School of Geneva and Loughborough University, Leicestshire, United Kingdom. The couple is living in Geneva, Switzerland, where both are employed by Caterpillar Inc.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Ebban has deep roots in far eastern Greene County as she is also the granddaughter of Royal and Marie Holz of Grand Junction, both deceased. Royal passed away in January of this year at age 93. Ebban is the legacy of the Clause Brothers Inc. farm operation, which is operated by her dad, Reg (EG ‘67), northeast of town, and the Holz Brothers Inc. operation southeast of her town, as her mom is the former Mary Holz (EG ‘73).
SEASON FINALE
Hawkettes End Regular Season at GR
East Greene takes on Glidden-Ralston tonight, Monday, July 6, at Glidden in the final conference and final regular season softball game of 2009.
The game is actually the last West Central Conference softball game ever between EG and Glidden-Ralston, and GR’s last appearance in the West Central Conference in girls high school competition. The Wildcats baseball team is playing in a similar finale tonight against EG in Glidden.
When school opens in the fall for 2009-2010, GR will be competing in the Rolling Hills Conference, along with longtime rival Paton-Churdan and six western Iowa teams--Adair-Casey, Orient-Macksburg, CAM (Anita), Exira, Elk Horn-Kimballton and Walnut. Two suburban Des Moines Schools, Ankeny Christian and Iowa Christian Academy in West Des Moines, round out the 10-team league.
East Greene and Glidden-Ralston have been conference opponents since the formation of the Central Valley Conference in the late 1970s. After the Central Valley was disbanded a decade later, both schools became original members of the Coon River Valley Conference and then both moved to the West Central Conference in the 1996-97 season.
EG was hoping to head to Glidden as the spoiler in the Wildcats’ effort to leave the West Central as conference champions, but Earlham earned that honor with a 6-2 win over GR at the Lady Wildcat Tournament in Glidden on Friday, which counted as a make-up game for a game rained out earlier in the season. GR went into that game with a 11-4 conference mark, just behind Earlham at 13-3.
Earlham clinched the league crown, however, with the win, upping its conference mark to 14-3, while GR dropped to 11-5. Earlham has no make-up games on its schedule, so tonight’s game at Van Meter will just be icing on the cake for the Cardinals, as a loss would drop them to 14-4 but still keep them ahead of second-place GR. Des Moines Christian’s title hopes were dashed when it dropped a 1-0 game to Madrid on Friday. The Lions fell to 10-6 and were mathematically eliminated with that loss and Earlham’s win over GR.
EG and Glidden-Ralston tangled earlier in the season with GR winning 9-5 in Grand Junction. The Hawkettes will be out to revenge that loss and get some momentum going for the regional tournament. EG opens regional play Wednesday against Coon Rapids-Bayard in Coon Rapids. GR drew a first-round bye and will face the EG-CRB winner on Friday in quarterfinal action in Coon Rapids.
GR has a makeup game with Panorama which could be played Tuesday as GR does not have a Wednesday regional opening round game as do the other conference schools who play in Class 1-A and Panorama, a 2-A school, does not open regional play until Thursday.
West Central Conference Standings (through 7-4)
Earlham 14-3
Glidden-Ralston 11-5
Des Moines Christian 10-6
Madrid 9-7
Van Meter 9-7
Guthrie Center 8-8
Panorama 7-9
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-10
West Central Valley 5-10
East Greene 2-15
East Greene takes on Glidden-Ralston tonight, Monday, July 6, at Glidden in the final conference and final regular season softball game of 2009.
The game is actually the last West Central Conference softball game ever between EG and Glidden-Ralston, and GR’s last appearance in the West Central Conference in girls high school competition. The Wildcats baseball team is playing in a similar finale tonight against EG in Glidden.
When school opens in the fall for 2009-2010, GR will be competing in the Rolling Hills Conference, along with longtime rival Paton-Churdan and six western Iowa teams--Adair-Casey, Orient-Macksburg, CAM (Anita), Exira, Elk Horn-Kimballton and Walnut. Two suburban Des Moines Schools, Ankeny Christian and Iowa Christian Academy in West Des Moines, round out the 10-team league.
East Greene and Glidden-Ralston have been conference opponents since the formation of the Central Valley Conference in the late 1970s. After the Central Valley was disbanded a decade later, both schools became original members of the Coon River Valley Conference and then both moved to the West Central Conference in the 1996-97 season.
EG was hoping to head to Glidden as the spoiler in the Wildcats’ effort to leave the West Central as conference champions, but Earlham earned that honor with a 6-2 win over GR at the Lady Wildcat Tournament in Glidden on Friday, which counted as a make-up game for a game rained out earlier in the season. GR went into that game with a 11-4 conference mark, just behind Earlham at 13-3.
Earlham clinched the league crown, however, with the win, upping its conference mark to 14-3, while GR dropped to 11-5. Earlham has no make-up games on its schedule, so tonight’s game at Van Meter will just be icing on the cake for the Cardinals, as a loss would drop them to 14-4 but still keep them ahead of second-place GR. Des Moines Christian’s title hopes were dashed when it dropped a 1-0 game to Madrid on Friday. The Lions fell to 10-6 and were mathematically eliminated with that loss and Earlham’s win over GR.
EG and Glidden-Ralston tangled earlier in the season with GR winning 9-5 in Grand Junction. The Hawkettes will be out to revenge that loss and get some momentum going for the regional tournament. EG opens regional play Wednesday against Coon Rapids-Bayard in Coon Rapids. GR drew a first-round bye and will face the EG-CRB winner on Friday in quarterfinal action in Coon Rapids.
GR has a makeup game with Panorama which could be played Tuesday as GR does not have a Wednesday regional opening round game as do the other conference schools who play in Class 1-A and Panorama, a 2-A school, does not open regional play until Thursday.
West Central Conference Standings (through 7-4)
Earlham 14-3
Glidden-Ralston 11-5
Des Moines Christian 10-6
Madrid 9-7
Van Meter 9-7
Guthrie Center 8-8
Panorama 7-9
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-10
West Central Valley 5-10
East Greene 2-15
Monday, July 6, 2009
SOFTBALL
EG Loses Heartbreaker to WCV
A trip to Stuart on Thursday, July 2, resulted in a tough 2-1 loss to West Central Valley, leaving the Hawkettes mired at the bottom of the West Central Conference standings at 2-15.
EG had a good defensive outing, limiting the Wildcats to just the 2 runs off 3 hits, despite giving up 6 walks. WCV’s Molly Cox proved to be formidable on the mound though, as she gave up just 4 hits while striking out 12 Hawkette batters. Cox didn’t get much defensive backup from her teammates as WCV committed 5 errors.
It was not a good week all around for the Hawkettes as they got thumped by Coon Rapids-Bayard 12-3 on Tuesday, June 30, and Guthrie Center got the measure of EG with a 13-1 pasting called after 3 innings the previous night. Guthrie pounded out 14 hits in that game.
The Hawkettes had generated some momentum just the week before, winning 3 out of 4 games including solid wins over conference foes Madrid and Panorama. The Hawkettes fell to league-leader Earlham 10-0 on June 22 but came back two nights later to win 7-6 over Rockwell City-Lytton in non-conference action on the road.
EG lost another close one to Des Moines Christian the following night, Thursday, June 25. EG had played DMC tough on the Lions’ home field in Urbandale on June 4, dropping a well-played 6-3 game and was ready for some payback when DMC headed north to Grand Junction.
The Lions, who made it the state tournament the last two years and finished as runner-up game to Madrid in the conference last year, were contending for the league crown again this year. DMC was just a half game behind Glidden-Ralston going in to the EG game.
Despite racking up 15 hits in the game, the Hawkettes fell 8-7. DMC shortstop Hannah Heilskov drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the seventh. The Lions’ Britt Schoon notched her third home run of the season in the game.
Ashley Thorpe was pitched 4 innings and Malarie Gilley was on the mound for 3. Combined, they gave up 9 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 3. Gilley was 3-4 at the plate while Heidi Kiner went 2-3. Katylnn Gannon and Molly Neese were both 2-4 with 2 RBI’s apiece.
The win over RC-L helped up the Hawkettes overall win tally. Heading into tonight’s game at Glidden-Ralston the Hawkettes are 4-17.
A trip to Stuart on Thursday, July 2, resulted in a tough 2-1 loss to West Central Valley, leaving the Hawkettes mired at the bottom of the West Central Conference standings at 2-15.
EG had a good defensive outing, limiting the Wildcats to just the 2 runs off 3 hits, despite giving up 6 walks. WCV’s Molly Cox proved to be formidable on the mound though, as she gave up just 4 hits while striking out 12 Hawkette batters. Cox didn’t get much defensive backup from her teammates as WCV committed 5 errors.
It was not a good week all around for the Hawkettes as they got thumped by Coon Rapids-Bayard 12-3 on Tuesday, June 30, and Guthrie Center got the measure of EG with a 13-1 pasting called after 3 innings the previous night. Guthrie pounded out 14 hits in that game.
The Hawkettes had generated some momentum just the week before, winning 3 out of 4 games including solid wins over conference foes Madrid and Panorama. The Hawkettes fell to league-leader Earlham 10-0 on June 22 but came back two nights later to win 7-6 over Rockwell City-Lytton in non-conference action on the road.
EG lost another close one to Des Moines Christian the following night, Thursday, June 25. EG had played DMC tough on the Lions’ home field in Urbandale on June 4, dropping a well-played 6-3 game and was ready for some payback when DMC headed north to Grand Junction.
The Lions, who made it the state tournament the last two years and finished as runner-up game to Madrid in the conference last year, were contending for the league crown again this year. DMC was just a half game behind Glidden-Ralston going in to the EG game.
Despite racking up 15 hits in the game, the Hawkettes fell 8-7. DMC shortstop Hannah Heilskov drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the seventh. The Lions’ Britt Schoon notched her third home run of the season in the game.
Ashley Thorpe was pitched 4 innings and Malarie Gilley was on the mound for 3. Combined, they gave up 9 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 3. Gilley was 3-4 at the plate while Heidi Kiner went 2-3. Katylnn Gannon and Molly Neese were both 2-4 with 2 RBI’s apiece.
The win over RC-L helped up the Hawkettes overall win tally. Heading into tonight’s game at Glidden-Ralston the Hawkettes are 4-17.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BASEBALL
Hawks Score Big Win Over League Leader
East Greene picked up a big win at Panora 8-4 on Tuesday night, June 16, knocking the Panorama Panthers out of first place in the West Central Conference.
The Hawks have now won three straight and four of their last five, moving their season record to 6-3.
Not only did the win knock Panorama off the top of the league standings, but it moved the Hawks up from seventh place to fourth place, where they are tied with Van Meter at 4-2. Josh Neese and Jesse Luther each hit home runs to lead the Hawks at the plate. Tyler Cooklin held the Panthers in check, giving up 8 runs, 3 walks and striking out 3.
EG was up 8-0 and held off a surge by Panorama in the bottom of the seventh, with Brock Lyons coming in to relieve Cooklin after the Panthers had notched four runs. Lyons got the last out, striking out the batter with the bases loaded.
On Monday night, the Hawks took care of Glidden-Ralston 12-2 in a game shortened to six innings. Last week the Hawks beat Guthrie Center on Monday 11-4, fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-1 on Tuesday but came back for a win over West Central Valley 9-2 on Thursday.
Against G-R, the Hawks pounded out 12 hits led by Cooklin going 3 for 4 with 2 singles, a double and 2 RBIs. Bradley Clark was 2 for 3 with a single and a double, and Neese went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 singles. Aaron Lyons had 3 RBIs off his single hit in two trips to the plate.
Wes Onken got the win for EG, giving up just 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 8 Wildcat batters. The Hawks had a great night offensively and defensively with 8 stolen bases and just 1 error.
The West Central Valley game saw the Hawks pile up 13 hits, 10 stolen bases and no errors. Jesse Priest was 3 for 3 with 3 singles and 3 stolen bases. Onken got the win with Brock Lyons relieving him in the final inning.
West Central Conference Standings:
Earlham 5-1
Panorama 6-2
Des Moines Christian 6-2
East Greene 4-2
Van Meter 4-2
Madrid 5-3
Coon Rapids-Bayard 4-3
Glidden-Ralston 1-7
West Central Valley 1-6
Guthrie Center 0-8
SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, June 17:
DMC 3, MAD 2
Non-conference
CRB 10, Walnut 0
Carlisle 15, WCV 0
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 6, VM 3
Tuesday, June 16:
EG 8, PAN 4
WCV 12, GC 9
EAR 10, GR 0
CRB @ VM, ppd. to July 10
MAD @ DMC, ppd to Wed, June 17
Monday, June 15:
EG 12, GR 2
EAR 5, VM 2
CRB 9, WCV 0
DMC 6, PAN 4
MAD 5, GC 1
EYE ON GJ SAYS:
This is a big win for the Hawks and really tightens up the conference race. Any of the top seven teams in the league have a shot at the WC crown. Panorama, DMC and Madrid have a slight advantage at this juncture as they have played eight league games, while Earlham, EG and Van Meter have played just six. CRB may be 4-3 and in seventh place, but they’ve got a great baseball heritage, talented players and a veteran coach. Look for CRB to also shine in the post-season as they host both district and substate baseball tournaments.
EG is truly showing its mettle against the area “big schools.” West Central Valley, Panorama and Jefferson-Scranton are the three largest schools (all in Class 2A) on the Hawks’ baseball and Hawkettes’ softball schedules this season. Enrollment-wise, EG is the smallest of the 10 schools in the West Central, while non-conference foe J-S plays in various sports as either a 2A or 3A school. So far, the Hawks are 3-0 against these “Big Three,” downing J-S, West Central Valley and Panorama. The Hawkettes are 2-2, losing in league play to WCV and Panorama in Grand Junction, but beating Panorama down in Panora and downing J-S in a tournament in Ogden. Combined score: EG 5, BIG THREE 2. Small in numbers, but certainly not in heart and talent!
East Greene picked up a big win at Panora 8-4 on Tuesday night, June 16, knocking the Panorama Panthers out of first place in the West Central Conference.
The Hawks have now won three straight and four of their last five, moving their season record to 6-3.
Not only did the win knock Panorama off the top of the league standings, but it moved the Hawks up from seventh place to fourth place, where they are tied with Van Meter at 4-2. Josh Neese and Jesse Luther each hit home runs to lead the Hawks at the plate. Tyler Cooklin held the Panthers in check, giving up 8 runs, 3 walks and striking out 3.
EG was up 8-0 and held off a surge by Panorama in the bottom of the seventh, with Brock Lyons coming in to relieve Cooklin after the Panthers had notched four runs. Lyons got the last out, striking out the batter with the bases loaded.
On Monday night, the Hawks took care of Glidden-Ralston 12-2 in a game shortened to six innings. Last week the Hawks beat Guthrie Center on Monday 11-4, fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-1 on Tuesday but came back for a win over West Central Valley 9-2 on Thursday.
Against G-R, the Hawks pounded out 12 hits led by Cooklin going 3 for 4 with 2 singles, a double and 2 RBIs. Bradley Clark was 2 for 3 with a single and a double, and Neese went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 singles. Aaron Lyons had 3 RBIs off his single hit in two trips to the plate.
Wes Onken got the win for EG, giving up just 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 8 Wildcat batters. The Hawks had a great night offensively and defensively with 8 stolen bases and just 1 error.
The West Central Valley game saw the Hawks pile up 13 hits, 10 stolen bases and no errors. Jesse Priest was 3 for 3 with 3 singles and 3 stolen bases. Onken got the win with Brock Lyons relieving him in the final inning.
West Central Conference Standings:
Earlham 5-1
Panorama 6-2
Des Moines Christian 6-2
East Greene 4-2
Van Meter 4-2
Madrid 5-3
Coon Rapids-Bayard 4-3
Glidden-Ralston 1-7
West Central Valley 1-6
Guthrie Center 0-8
SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, June 17:
DMC 3, MAD 2
Non-conference
CRB 10, Walnut 0
Carlisle 15, WCV 0
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 6, VM 3
Tuesday, June 16:
EG 8, PAN 4
WCV 12, GC 9
EAR 10, GR 0
CRB @ VM, ppd. to July 10
MAD @ DMC, ppd to Wed, June 17
Monday, June 15:
EG 12, GR 2
EAR 5, VM 2
CRB 9, WCV 0
DMC 6, PAN 4
MAD 5, GC 1
EYE ON GJ SAYS:
This is a big win for the Hawks and really tightens up the conference race. Any of the top seven teams in the league have a shot at the WC crown. Panorama, DMC and Madrid have a slight advantage at this juncture as they have played eight league games, while Earlham, EG and Van Meter have played just six. CRB may be 4-3 and in seventh place, but they’ve got a great baseball heritage, talented players and a veteran coach. Look for CRB to also shine in the post-season as they host both district and substate baseball tournaments.
EG is truly showing its mettle against the area “big schools.” West Central Valley, Panorama and Jefferson-Scranton are the three largest schools (all in Class 2A) on the Hawks’ baseball and Hawkettes’ softball schedules this season. Enrollment-wise, EG is the smallest of the 10 schools in the West Central, while non-conference foe J-S plays in various sports as either a 2A or 3A school. So far, the Hawks are 3-0 against these “Big Three,” downing J-S, West Central Valley and Panorama. The Hawkettes are 2-2, losing in league play to WCV and Panorama in Grand Junction, but beating Panorama down in Panora and downing J-S in a tournament in Ogden. Combined score: EG 5, BIG THREE 2. Small in numbers, but certainly not in heart and talent!
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