Braves Raves
By Amylynn Richards
FASTPITCH
The girls fast pitch team is playing strong; so far the girls are 6-0 in league and 8-2 overall. They traveled on Tuesday, April 12 to Darrington, defeating the Loggers 17-1 in five innings. Both games were league games.
La Conner didn’t score until the second inning, gaining a 3-0 lead. The Loggers picked up their first run in the fourth inning, to be outstripped again by the Braves, who brought home two runs and making the score at the bottom of the fourth inning 5-1. The Loggers were felled in the fourth inning, allowing the Braves to score 11 runs, and one final run in the fifth inning. The game was called by mercy-rule.
The Braves earned 17 runs off of 10 hits, with 2 errors; the Loggers only 1 run from 5 hits, and one error.
Team highlights: Taysha James was 3 for 5, with a double; Samie Miller was 1/1 with a double and four base on balls; Kaitlyn Summers was 1/1 and was also had four base on balls; Sierra Brown was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI; Pitcher Samie Miller had 9 strikeouts and 0 earned runs; Alissa McCoy had 4 RBI; Galena Graham, 3 RBI. Overall, the Braves were walked 15 times.
On Thursday, April 14, the girls hosted Orcas for a cold, miserable baseball experience on Thursday, April 14. The Braves beat back the Vikings 17-7 in five innings – the score at the bottom of the third inning was 6-5 with the Braves in the lead. The Braves earned 17 runs off of 8 hits, with one error. The Vikings earned 7 runs from 8 hits, with three errors.
The game highlight was Samie Miller’s 3-run home run that ended the game. In addition, Miller was 3 for 3, with two doubles and 5 RBI. Other notables: Taysha James was 1 for 3 with 3 RBI; Kaitlyn Summers was 1 for 2, with 1 RBI, Alissa McCoy was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI, and Lauren McClung was 1 for 4, with 2 RBI.
Next up for the girls is a ferry ride to Friday Harbor on Thursday, April 21.
BASEBALL
The Braves won all three of their games this week. The Braves went to Darrington, and returned to La Conner victorious, with a 10-4 win in their baseball caps.
Coach Jeremiah LeSourd reports that the game was close in the beginning, with the Braves down 2-4 in the fourth inning. Not for long; the Braves “answered by scoring 7 runs in the top of the fourth “to take the lead for good.”
Leading hitters: Kyle McKnight, 4 for 4 with 3 RBI; and Wil James, 2 for 5 with 2 RBI.
The boys hosted Cedar Park Christian for a double header in chilly weather on Friday, April 15. La Conner won the first game 9-0. Pitcher Tyler Howlett showed the Lions what Brave power means; Howlett struck out 15 batters, giving up just one hit. This is Howlett’s fourth win of the year. The Braves scored twice in the second inning, twice again in the fifth inning, and finally brought home five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The second game was won 20-0 in just four innings. La Conner pitcher Garrett Wilbur pitched a no-hitter. Wilbur struck out 9 Lions, allowing no walks. La Conner scored 5 runs in both the first and second innings; 4 in the third, and six runs in the fourth.
Leading hitters: Tyler Howlett, 4 for 5 with a trible and 5 RBI; Christian Johnston, 4 for 5 with a double, a triple, and 2RBi; Matt McCauley, 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI; and Tanner Cyr, 3 for 5.
The boys are off to Friday Harbor on Thursday, April 21. The boys are 5-1 in league and 7-4 overall.
BOYS TRACK:
The Braves competed at two meets last week. The first meet was the NW 1B/2B/1A League Meet at Mount Vernon high school on Wednesday, April 13. The boys won the league meet, with 166 points. Concrete was close behind, with 163, and third went to Lopez, with 89 points.
The Braves’ boys’ team competed among Concrete, Lopez, Mount Vernon Christian, Cedar Park Christian, and Grace Academy.
Sten Mejlaender earned first place in the 39” 110 meter race in 16:38a, and also earned first in the 36” 300 meter hurdles in 42.10a seconds. Landy James earned first and a new personal best in the 800 g. javelin toss with a distance of 152’1”, 23.5” farther than his previous best. Landy also won first in the high jump, with a leap of 5’8”. Brandon Drye took first in the 1.6K discus with a distance of 122’04”, also setting a new personal best by 5”. Jamal James earned first in the long jump, leaping 18’.08”, second in the high jump, jumping 5’08”, and second in the triple jump, covering 36”06”, and second in the 100m 39” hurdles in 17.56a Todd Hoagland earned second in the 800 meters, in 2:21.90a. Sam Traylor set a new personal best by .16a, breaking into the 10 second range for the first time. He ran 10:58.80 to earn second place in the 2100 meter race. Nathan Parker won second and set a new personal best with a distance of 37’4.50”, 0.50 farther than his previous personal best.
Conner Anderson won third in the 200 meters in 25.16a. Sam Traylor won second in the 3200 meters, in 10:58.8h. Nathan Sybrandy won second in the 1600 meter race, in 4:55.1h. Finally, the Braves four man team of Nathan Sybrandy, Conner Anderson, Sten Mejlaender and Todd Hoagland won first place in the 4x400 relay in 3:45.09a
On Saturday, April 16, the boys won the 7-team meet at the Loggers Invitational held at Crescent near Port Angeles. The Braves scored 163.5 total compared to Crescent High, which won second place with 97. This invitational meet had as many as 35 athletes competing for the prize. The girls competed against as many as 18 athletes.
Sten Mejlaender won first in the 39” 110 meter hurdles, in 15.99a seconds. This race was a new personal best for the senior by .25a, and it was the first competition where he broke into the 15-second range in his entire four year high school career leaping hurdles. Sten also won first in the 300 meter 36” race, in 42.15a. He was one of ten athletes in each race. Brandon Drye competed among 30 in the 1.6kg. discus to take first place. He threw 121’11”. Sam Traylor won first in the 3200 meter race, in 11:14:05a; he competed among 7 boys in this race. Traylor won third in the 1600 meter race, among 18 boys.
Landy James won first in the high jumps, clearing 5”8”. Five boys competed.
Nathan Sybrandy won second in the 1600 meters in 5:03.66a; this same race had 18 runners. Sophomore Jamall James won first in the triple jump against 11 other hopefuls. His distance was 37’10”. Jamall took second in the 110 meter 39” hurdles, with a new personal best and time of 16.96a; competing among 10 athletes. He also won second in the high jump, with 5”4”. Five athletes competed.
Nathan Parker competed among 35 hopefuls to earn third place in the 12lb shot put. He threw a distance of 39’10”, a new personal best by a large margin – 2’5.5” farther than the personal best he threw two days before at the league meet on Wednesday, April 13. Todd Hoagland took second in the 400 meters in 54.75a, competing among 20, setting his new personal best by 0.38a.Conner Anderson took third in the 100 m race, in 12.05a; he competed among 25 other hopefuls. This is his new personal best by 0.19a.
The Braves won the 4x400 relay in 3:45.52a, Nathan Sybrandy, Todd Hoagland, Conner Anderson and Sten Mejlaender earned the win for La Conner among six relay teams.
GIRLS TRACK
The girls competed at the same meets last week.
On April 13 at the League Meet in Mount Vernon, the girls competed among five other teams: Mount Vernon Christian, Lopez, Cedar Park Christian; Concrete and Grace Academy. La Conner came in second overall, with 145 points. Mount Vernon Christian came in first, with 175.5 points. Lopez was third, with 72 points.
Emily Anderson won first place in the 100 meter hurdles in 18.00 and set a new personal best by 0.44c, and also earned first place in the high jump, 4’06”00. Priscilla Ponce-Venegas won first place in the javelin, throwing 95.00 feet and setting a new personal best by 2’6”; she also won first place in the 300 meter hurdles, with a time of 52.42a. Katie McKnight won first place in the 200 meters, in 29.62a; Kelsie Crawford won first in the long jump, jumping 13.04 feet and second in the 200 meters, in 30.35a Sammie Mesman won first in the 1600 meter race, in 6:14.20, her new personal best by .07a. Lydia Lenning won first in the 3200 meters, in13:50.4h, her personal best by 0:51.49.
The four-woman team of Madi Cavanaugh, Katie McKnight, Emily Anderson and Priscilla Ponce-Venegas won the 4x100 relay in 59:95a raced without competition, earning first and adding points to the team’s overall score. The same relay team participants won second for the Braves in the 4x200 meter race, in 1:56.83a.
Madi Cavanaugh, Sammie Mesman, Lydia Lenning and Kirstyn Bell won second in the 4x400 in 5:02.27a.
On Saturday, April 16, the Lady Braves also competed in the Invitational at Crescent. They were up against athletes from Port Angeles; Crescent; Cedar Park Christian; Forks, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay.
The Lady Braves took second overall with 104 points to first place team Port Angeles, which had 115 points. Katie McKnight won first in the 600 g javelin toss – and not only the freshman set her new personal best by 20 feet, Katie has broken into three digits – she threw the javelin 100’. She also set her new personal best as she won second place in the 200 meter, in 29.22a. Kirstyn Bell won first place in the 400 meter race, in 1:15.81a.Kelsie Crawford won second in the long jump, 13’09.40”, third in the 100 m. race in 14.24a and earned another personal best in the 200 meter race and third place in the 200 meter race. Lydia Lenning won third in the 3200 meters, in 14:101 Lydia Lenning won second in the 3200 m race in 14:10.89a
Kelsie Crawford, Madi Cavanaugh, Katie McKnight and Sammie Mesman took first in the 4x200 relay in 1:58:64a. The team of Lydia Lenning, Sammie Mesman, Chrissy Barsness and Madi Cavanaugh won second in the 4x400 in 4:54.45a.
HOME TRACK MEET
La Conner hosts a track invitational on Friday, April 22 starting at 3 p.m. The Braves will be the only 2B league team competing. Clallam Bay and Crescent will be here, both are in the 1B league, and 1A league member Friday Harbor will round out the meet.
