THE DAILY RECORD | 2016 HIGH SCHOOL SPRING SPORTS
SPOTLIGHT
ELLENSBURG SOFTBALL
Sophomore Carissa Burgess
Pitching to lead Bulldogs in 2016 By RYAN KUHN sports editor
W Sophomore Kalli Fahey
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hen new Ellensburg High School softball coach Scott Gant needs to find for some experienced players on this year’s team, he won’t need to go far. The Bulldogs lost six of their nine starters from last year’s squad, but with three pitchers having varsity experience on the roster, he knows they are something he can lean on. Led by sophomore pitcher
Carissa Burgess, the pitching staff, that also includes Nichole Giesy and Kalli Fahey, looks to keep the Bulldogs atop the Central Washington Athletic Conference standings. “You can’t have enough pitchers,” said Ellensburg assistant coach Greg Olin, who will be in charge of the pitching staff. “All three pitchers will get quite a few innings, so we try to get our arms fresher heading into the postseason.”
The Bulldogs’ ace
Spring Sports Spotlight 2016
Burgess might be a sopho-
more, but in her first year playing for the Bulldogs she showed how valuable she can be. She finished the regular season second on the team in wins and showed her dominance in the postseason with a one-hit shutout against Cheney High School to qualify for the state tournament. “Carissa works hard,” Olin said. “She has been pitching for a long time, and she is one of those players who knows what it takes to get hitters out. I’m excited to get the chance to work with her.”
Equipped with a year of experience, she knew what she had to work on during the offseason. “I have been working on increasing my velocity and my spins,” Burgess said. “I pitch two to three times a week where I split it up between the two.” Burgess also will lean on some help from her pitching coach. “Last year we didn’t really have a pitching coach,” Burgess said. “Karly (Malcolm) and I just critiqued each other. It’s nice that we have someone so we don’t slack off.” Although Burgess is only a sophomore, she steps into a leadership role after senior Karly Malcolm graduated last season. “As a pitcher, you have to have the mentality of putting pressure on yourself, but you can’t get down,” Burgess said. “If you get down, the whole team will get down.”
Rounding out the staff Behind Burgess will be the
combination of Fahey and Giesy. Olin said he has not named which pitcher will start behind Burgess, but having the option of two pitchers with varsity experience is really going to help heading into the season. “You can’t have enough pitchers,” Olin said. “Nichole and Kali played a lot of JV last year, and both have extensive experience throwing during the summer.” Giesy said most of her innings came on the JV level. Since her arrival to varsity, she has worked on location to be that ground ball pitcher. “I have been working on perfecting my spins,” Giesy said. “My job is to throw a lot of ground out pitches so my defense can make easy plays.” Another pitching option is Fahey, who also arrived late in the season, but gained some experience in the postseason. “Kalli (Fahey) is a powerful pitcher who has been working
with a new pitching coach this past winter,” Olin said. “She really worked hard on some different grips and hitting her spots.” Fahey is coming off a state tournament run with the girls basketball team. Despite having had limited time to get adjusted to the diamond, she said she is excited for this upcoming season. “I love softball,” Fahey said. “You have to be confident in yourself while pitching and know you can’t have any doubt in your mind.” While all three pitchers have different attributes, the mindset that Olin taught them is the same. “We really want to be aggressive and try to get ahead of hitters,” Olin said. “All (of them) have multiple pitches that they throw that they have been working on during the winter. Ellensburg’s season starts today when it faces Toppenish High School in a double header. First pitch for game one is at 11 a.m.
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CLE ELUM-ROSLYN BASEBALL
Warriors build from last year’s success By RYAN KUHN sports editor
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le Elum-Roslyn baseball coach Colby Sherrill enters every new season with the same mindset. “I think being under the radar is a good thing for us,” he said. The Warriors graduated star pitcher Ross Taklo and outfielder Matt Dellinger, but Sherrill said he is not worried. “Those guys were three-year
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starters for us and you could never replace them, you can only fill their spots,” Sherrill said. “We are a little thin numbers wise but this is a veteran group. We are going to be competitive if we stay healthy.” Cle Elum-Roslyn returns a handful of players from last season’s 14-8 team who advanced to the state tournament regional round. The team also sprung together a 24 scoreless inning streak heading into the postseason. “We learned that anybody can be
great,” Sherrill said. We had a tough regular season by finishing third in our league and all of a sudden something clicked.” But with all the successes like playing for a district championship, winning their first round state tournament game and making headlines at the end of the year, the Warriors know 2016 is a fresh start. “We never want our players to forget but we can’t rely on it because no one is going to hand us anything,” Sherrill said. Three years
Spring Sports Spotlight 2016
ago we had 15 returners and we didn’t make it out of the first round of districts. We have to work for it if we want it.”
Around the diamond Senior Dalton Hawk moves from second base to shortstop and Isaac Wersland will also move into a starting pitcher role. Other returners include Dawson McLaughlin playing third base, Jordan Vaughn at first base and Jake Geiger taking over second base.
“We are a good group,” Sherill said. We are a smart group and know our expectations. They know how to play the game and now its on their shoulders to get it done. The Warriors enter a South Central Athletic Conference league that has been run by last year’s defending champion Naches Valley and Zillah right behind the leader. Sherrill said teams are looking for the Warriors to finish third but do not know what to expect with the loss of Dellinger and Taklo. Cle Elum-Roslyn features the same schedule as last year’s team with games against 2A Quincy, Connell, Columbia Burbank before jumping into league. “We are a hungry group and no one here have really talked out losing Taklo, instead it has been about what we can do to step up and fill those shoes,” Sherrill said. The Warriors continue their season today when it faces Connell for a doubleheader that starts at 11 a.m.
Senior Dalton Hawk
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KITTITAS BASEBALL
Senior Druw Ledgard
Baseball brings brothers together By RYAN KUHN sports editor
I Junior Travis Ledgard
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f you were to ask what was important to the Kittitas High School baseball team, family would be on top of the list. “We want to create that family atmosphere right from the beginning,” said Kittitas head coach Eric Sorensen. We spend a lot of time together, so we need to be a brotherhood and achieve our goal.” This season, that brotherhood starts with three local brothers. Originally from Ellensburg, brothers Junior, Druw and Travis Ledgard are now a part of
the Kittitas baseball team. Druw and Travis are upperclassmen helping the Coyotes reach their second consecutive state tournament appearance, while their older brother Junior sits in the dugout as a volunteer coach. “The kids live and breathe baseball,” Sorensen said. “They all bring a loose but serious competitive atmosphere to the team.”
Baseball – a part of life From a very young age, the Ledgard brothers were taught about baseball. Their dad was a big Atlanta Braves fan and as soon as they were old enough,
Spring Sports Spotlight 2016
their family enrolled them in tee ball. “Baseball is a team sport and everyone at every position has to work together to make something happen,” Travis Ledgard said. As the brothers grew up, their love for the game grew with them. Junior and Druw entered high school and the two shared success at Ellensburg High School. In 2014, they climbed to the top of the mountain by winning the 2A state championship, but after Junior graduated that May, their mother Melinda decided to transfer them to Kittitas High School for a fresh start.
When Druw Ledgard arrived in Kittitas, he was met by his bother Travis, and together they improved on the diamond under Sorensen. As a sophomore, Travis flourished in right field and batted .200 in 72 plate appearances. He even had a big hit by driving in the game-tying triple against Toledo High School. “Travis made the most of his sophomore year,” Sorensen said. “He’s not scared when he goes up to the plate. He’s fearless.” This season, Travis said he wants to play the best he can with the opportunities given to him. Just this past week, he started the season 1 for 4 with a hit against Selah High School’s junior varsity team. “My personal goal is to not overthrow my cutoff mark and as a team I want us to win it all,” Travis Ledgard said. He is not the only player to feel that way. Just two years removed from winning the state championship with Ellensburg, his older brother Druw said he knows that it will take a team effort to get here once again. So in the year he has played for the Coyotes, he has grown into a leader and what Sorensen says brings another voice to the field. “Druw has really become a leader on this team,” Sorensen said. “Last year he was the new kid on the team, but it showed that he had some seasons under his belt.” Not only does he bring the experience of winning, but he also provides humor to lighten the mood. “I was actually pretty
shy when I was younger, but just growing up, enjoying the game and being comfortable with my teammates I turned into that class clown,” Druw Ledgard said. But Druw and Travis will not be able to goof off too much, as their big brother Junior will be coaching from the dugout.
A chance to coach After graduating Ellensburg High School in 2014, he went on to play at Lower Columbia College. During his freshman year he didn’t play much and returned home to Ellensburg. “It’s nice to have that extra body in the dugout to get things done,” Sorensen said. “We all think differently, so Junior points things out that I might not always see. It rounds us out.” Junior Ledgard said he always joked about how he wanted to take over after Ellensburg baseball coach Todd Gibson retired. “I knew I always wanted to coach when I knew my career was over and I was just given a chance to help out,” Junior Ledgard said. But despite his success, especially at Ellensburg, he wants to concentrate on helping younger players grow. “Whenever I am having trouble with anything, Junior is always there watching me,” Travis Ledgard said. Now with the brothers reunited, the two younger brothers are able to look up their older brother for advice on the baseball diamond and show the community how much of a family Kittitas baseball really is.
Volunteer coach Junior Ledgard
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ELLENSBURG TENNIS
Working as a unit
Senior Stephen Chmelewski
By RYAN KUHN sports editor
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llensburg tennis coach Megan Smedley will coach two tennis teams this spring season. Her boys team brings back experience, while her girls roster has been completely overhauled. “I think we graduated 18 players
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last year, so the girls are almost all completely new while the boys have most of their players returning,” Smedley said. While both teams have different goals, they work together as one unit. “Everyone looks forward to improving. They have been pushing each other really hard,” Smedley
said.
Girls team Last year the girls tennis team won the CWAC with an 8-1 record and 11-3 overall led by the doubles team of seniors Jennifer Jackson and Taylor Willis. The seniors not only won districts, but made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the 2A state tourna-
Spring Sports Spotlight 2016
ment before losing to a pair from Sehome High School. Now, Smedley is looking to replace not only her successful doubles team, but other spots as well. “We are very young and have no players with any district experience but they are so excited to be out here,” Smedley said. “They have so much energy and it’s an awesome
mentality to start a season with.” Smedley said she doesn’t know exactly how her starting lineup will go just yet, so during the first few matches she has been trying different combinations for her No. 1, 2 and 3 teams. “The next week or so we need to work on how to move as a doubles team and learn about the different strategies in tennis as well,” Smedley said. Although the Bulldogs are very young this season, there still might be some players who could do well in the CWAC. Just this past Tuesday, the No. 1 doubles team of Ashley Hidgon and Anna Roberts defeated Quincy’s Hannah Safe and Torrie Lynn 6-3 6-4. In the girls singles division, junior Rosalyn Goveia leads Ellensburg in the No. 1 spot after transferring in from a Seattle school. “She is rock solid,” Smedley said.
Boys team While the girls team looks to rebuild with young players, the boys team
returns five members who played in the District 5/6 tournament. “Last year we were young but they gained a lot of experience,” Smedley said. The Bulldogs lost senior Tim Miller who graduated last year, but return a handful of players including four-year varsity singles competitor Steven Chmelewski, Jake Andrews, Sam Lanza and Shine Sun. “They have confidence with the way they are hitting right now,” Smedley said. Although Ellensburg is only two mathces into the season, Smedley knows how tough this league is and there are no breaks. “Ephrata is really good, Selah is returning a lot of players, East Valley has some good kids and Othello always serves the ball really well,” Smedley said. Ellensburg continues its season with a home match against Othello on Saturday, followed by trips to Eastmont and Selah.
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ELLENSBURG TENNIS
ELLENSBURG TRACK AND FIELD
Senior Jordyn Arlt
Arlt, Jensvold to lead EHS track By DAILY RECORD STAFF
I
t seems like the Ellensburg High School track and field team reloads every season and 2016 is no exception. The Bulldogs girls team looks to defend their first place CWAC finish led by Jordyn Arlt while
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the boys look to improve on a third place finish led by Nate Jensvold. Last season Arlt finished second in the District Championship in the 100m hurdles, third in the 300m hurdles and was a leg of the first place 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay.
Jensvold also finished third in last year’s district championship in the 1600 meters and fourth in the 800 meter races. Other names to look out for this track season include Tia Hill and Ashley Frick in sprints and Mikela Sitton in the shot put and discus. On the boys team Travis
Spring Sports Spotlight 2016
Gylling, Dominic Mathias and Andres Keith will compete on the track while Tim Boswell will compete in the shot put and Tait Stevenson will throw the javelin. The Bulldogs’ next meet will be today when it travels to East Valley High School for the Papa Wells Invitational.
UPCOMING SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULE SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Prep baseball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg at Quincy (DH) 11 a.m.: Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. Connell (DH) Prep track and field 10 a.m.: Ellensburg, Kittitas at Papa Wells Invite at East Valley High School Prep softball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg vs. Toppenish (DH) 1 p.m.: Kittitas at Chelan Prep tennis 10 a.m.: Girls, Ellensburg vs. Othello 10 a.m.: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. Zillah 2 p.m.: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. Kiona Benton 4 p.m.: Boys, Ellensburg vs. Othello MONDAY, MARCH 21 Prep golf
9 a.m.: Boys, Cle ElumRoslyn at Grandview TUESDAY, MARCH 22 Prep soccer 4 p.m: Boys, Ellensburg vs. Quincy Prep tennis 3:30 p.m: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn at Granger WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 Prep golf 1 p.m.: Boys and girls, Cle Elum Roslyn at Royal SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Prep baseball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg at Wapato (DH) 11 a.m.: Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. Cashmere (DH) 3 p.m.: Kittitas vs. Sunnyside Christian Prep soccer Noon: Boys, Ellensburg vs. Grandview
Prep softball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg at Grandview (DH) 11 a.m.: Cle Elum-Roslyn at Cashmere (DH) Prep golf 9 a.m.: Boys, Cle ElumRoslyn at Wenatchee Prep tennis 3:30 p.m.: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn at Highland TUESDAY, MARCH 29 Prep baseball 3 p.m.: Cle Elum-Roslyn at Warden (DH) 4:30 p.m: Ellensburg vs. Prosser Prep soccer 6 p.m.: Boys, Ellensburg at Selah Prep tennis 3 p.m.: Boys and girls, Ellensburg at Eastmont 3:30 p.m: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn at Naches Valley
THURSDAY, MARCH 31 Prep golf 10 a.m.: Girls, Ellensburg at Joe Lenburg Classic at Apple Tree GC Prep tennis 3:30 p.m.: Boys and girls, Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. La Salle 4 p.m.: Boys and girls, Ellensburg at Selah FRIDAY, APRIL 1 Prep golf 10 a.m.: Boys, Ellensburg, Cle Elum-Roslyn at Joe Lenburg Classic at Apple Tree GC SATURDAY, APRIL 2 Prep baseball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg vs. Ephrata (DH) 11 a.m.: Kittitas vs. Toledo (DH) Prep track and field TBD: Ellensburg at Don
Holder Relays at Eisenhower High School Prep softball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg vs. Quincy (DH) 11 a.m.: Kittitas vs. Goldendale (DH) TUESDAY, APRIL 5 Prep baseball 4 p.m.: Ellensburg vs. WF West at Ephrata High School 4 p.m.: Kittitas vs. Cle Elum-Roslyn SATURDAY, APRIL 9 Prep baseball 11 a.m.: Ellensburg at Toppenish (DH) 11 a.m.: Kittitas vs. Waterville (DH) 11 a.m.: Cle Elum-Roslyn vs. Goldendale (DH) Prep track and field 10 a.m.: Ellensburg at Davis Invite at Eisenhower High School
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Spring Sports Spotlight 2016