Braves Raves
Photo by Amylynn Richards
SAFE! – La Conner Braves’ DJ Carr slides into base milliseconds ahead of the ball during last Tuesday’s District Semi-Final baseball game against Rainier Christian. The Braves won 10-5.
By Amylynn Richards
STATE TOURNEY
The Braves baseball team, which beat the 2010 reigning 2B baseball champions Seattle Lutheran, is ready to take on Toutle Lake at 1:30 p.m. at Daniels Field in the Regional State Tournament in Anacortes on Saturday.
The stakes are high, and the more the merrier to cheer the boys on to victory. The winner of the Concrete vs. Morton-White Pass high schools and La Conner vs. Toutle Lake games will compete the same day at 4 p.m.
Sixteen teams at four locations across Washington State will compete the morning and early afternoon of Saturday, May 21. The winners of those eight games will compete later on the same date. The four victors will advance to the final-four game at Parker Field in Yakima beginning Friday, May 27.
Daniels Field is at 13th Street and G Avenue in Anacortes. Concrete will play Morton-White Pass high earlier in the day, at 10 a.m.
Admission for Adults and students without ASB cards is $8; students with ASB card, senior citizens and children pay $6. Concessions will be open.
BASEBALL
The Braves won the District Semi-Final game against Rainier Christian 10-5 in five innings on Tuesday, May 10, at home. “It was an exciting week for the Braves,” reports Coach Jeremiah LeSourd.
Braves pitcher Tyler Howlett was in control of the game from the beginning, pitching a one hit shutout. Offensively, the Braves got started in the second inning with back to back doubles by Dakota Hartley and Matt McCauley, with McCauley scoring Hartley.
In the third inning, Tyler Howlett had a two run double, and later scored on an error. In the fourth inning, the first five hitters singled and Matt McCauley hit a Grand Slam Homerun to give the Braves a ten run lead.
Leading Hitters: Matt McCauley was 3 for 3 with the grand slam homerun and 5 RBI's; Tyler Howlett was 2 for 3 with a double and 3 RBI; Garrett Wilbur was 2 for 3 with an RBI; and Dakota Hartley had two doubles.
The team went to Stanwood high school on Saturday, May 14 to win the District Championship against the 2010 2B State Champion Seattle Lutheran 3-1. “The championship was an intense game and after the Braves settled down they proved to be ready for challenge,” LeSourd said, “the last two times the Braves had played the defending state champion the Braves lost in the bottom of the 7th inning. The team has learned from those tough lessons and were able to win the District Title.”
The Braves were able to get men on base, but the first Brave did not run home until the bottom of the fourth inning.
“Seattle Lutheran was able to score an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but that was all the Braves pitching would allow,” said LeSourd. Garrett Wilbur threw 4 tough innings, and struck out seven batters in “some critical situations,” according to LeSourd. Tyler Howlett closed the game with three shutout innings.
Team highlights: Tyler Howlett led off with a single, Matt McCauley followed with an infield single and Wil James walked to load the bases. Christian Johnston hit a two run single to give the Braves the lead. The third run was on a pass ball that went out of play.
FASTPITCH
The girls’ team went to Friday Harbor on Tuesday, May 10. The Braves made a total of 7 errors to the Vikings’ 1 error. The Vikings took the lead 6-1 in the second inning and never looked back, ultimately winning the game 14-4 in five innings.
Galena Graham had 8 put outs at first base; she now has 120 put outs in her high school career and only committed 2 errors during the season, earning herself a .984 fielding percentage. Samie Miller was 2 for 3, 1 RBI and hit her fourth home run of the season. Taysha James was 2 for 3, with a double. Laruen McClung was 1 for 3 with a double and 1 RBI, and Sierra Brown was 1 for 1, with a double.
On Saturday, May 14, the girls hit the road to play Adna. The Adna Pirates won 14-6 in seven innings. The Braves committed 7 errors in this game; Adna had 1 error. Coach Peg Seeling said of the game, “While this game goes in the loss column, I was glad to see the girls hang in there and play all seven innings.”
At the close of the fourth inning, Adna was ahead 5-1. Adna scored 8 runs during their turn at bat, making the score 13-1 at the top of the fifth inning. The Braves fought hard to score 5 runs in the fifth inning, and held Adna at bay until the seventh inning, giving up the final run for the Pirates.
Freshman Taylor Edwards provided 3 put-outs from the infield, and 2 assists. Taysha James, 1 put-out and 3 assists; Kelley McClung had 1 put-out and 2 assists; and Galena Graham had six put-outs at first base.
The Braves are 8-3 in League and 11-7 overall. The Braves will play in Stanwood for the Bi-District championship.
GOLF
Spencer Finley, Spencer Novak and, Brendan McLeod are on their way to State on Monday, May 23 at Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma. Monday is practice round, and the competition begins on Tuesday, May 24 for round 1, and round 2 takes place the next day on Wednesday, May 25. Hilary Edwards is alternate for the girls’ team.
Coach Sean Skiles said, “I am really proud of our team. They all stayed focused and put things together to finish strong and win the league championship. The best part is we did it with two freshman, three sophomores, and one junior. They will all be back and stronger to repeat next year.”
The boys won the 2B District championship and the girls came in second place at Stanwood high school on Friday, May 13. The boys’ team had 142 points, Concrete came in second with 108 points, and Mount Vernon Christian came in third with 56 points. Mount Vernon Christian girls’ team came in first with 125 points, La Conner second, with 98 points, and Concrete in third with 46 points.
The Braves track team boasts twelve boys’ and three girls’ 2B District Champions: Emily Anderson for the high jump (4’08”); Lydia Lenning in the 3200 meter race (13:37.71a); Sammie Mesman in the 1600 meter race (5:58.30a); Conner Anderson is the District Champion in both 100 meter (11.83a) and 200 meter (23.93a) races; Todd Hoagland in the 400 meter race (54.20a); Nathan Sybrandy for the 1600 meter (4.52.14a); Sam Traylor (11:06.80a), 3200 meter race; Jamall James in the 29” 110 meter hurdles and also in the long jump (19’6.5”); Sten Mejlaender in the 300 meter 36” hurdles (41.95a); Brandon Drye in discus (137’10”); Landy James in the 800 gram javelin (141’03”); the four-person 4x100 relay team of Wylie Thulen, Conner Anderson, Todd Hoagland and Sten Mejlaender (46.45a); the four person 4x400 meter relay team of Nathan Sybrandy, Conner Anderson, Sten Mejlaender and Todd Hoagland (3:41.64a); Kelsie Crawford, Emily Anderson, Katie McKnight and Priscilla Ponce-Venegas for the 4x100 relay race (54.20a). Go, Braves!
Second place winners are: Priscilla Ponce-Venegas in the 300 meter 30” hurdles (51.68a) and also the javelin (97’02”); Kelsie Crawford in the 100 meter race (13.80a) and long jump (14’5.5”); Kirstyn Bell in the 800 meter race (2:57.62a); and Katie McKnight in the 200 meters (28.52a)’Sten Mejlaender in the 39” 110 meter hurdles (16.28a), Brandon Drye in the 12 point shot-put (39”07.00”); Landy James in the high jump (6’00”) and Jamall James in the triple jump (40’11.25”); the four-person team of Kelsie Crawford, Emily Anderson, Katie McKnight, and Priscilla Ponce-Venegas earned second in the 4x100 meter relay (54.20a); the four-person team of Chrissy Barsness, Madi Cavanaugh, Lydia Lenning and Sammie Mesman took second in the 4x400 meter relay (4:45.43a).
Third place winners are Emily Anderson in the triple jump (30’1.25”) and 33” 100 meter hurdles (18.17a); Madi Cavanaugh in the 400 meters race (1:08.02a); Todd Hoagland in the 200 meter race (24.24a); Nathan Parker in the 12 pound shot put; and Jamall James in the high jump (5’10”).
Braves medalists setting a new personal best: Brandon Drye beat his personal best in the 1.6 kilo discus by 7’6”; Kelsie Crawford shaved 0.04a off of her 100 meter time; Katie McKnight raced 0.44a faster in the 200 meter race; Madi Cavanaugh beat her best in the 100 meter race by 0.28a and 1.81 seconds from her 400 meter time; Kirstyn Bell lopped of 4.58 seconds off of her 800 meter race time; and Priscilla Ponce-Venegas increased her javelin throw by 9”. Conner Anderson shaved 0.21 seconds off of his 100 meter race time and 0.41 seconds from his 200 meter race time; Todd Hoagland improved his time by 0.76 in the 400 meter race; Nate Sybrandy improved his 1600 meter race time by 2.86 seconds; Jamall James improved his 110 meter 39” hurdle time by 0.26 seconds and his distance in the long jump by 6.50”.
The following athletes have qualified for the 2B Tri-District championship which takes place on Wednesday, May 18 and Friday, May 20 at Chief Sealth high school in Seattle : Conner Anderson will compete in the 100 meter, 200 meter, 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter races; Sten Mejlaender will compete in the 110 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles,4x100 meter and 4x100 meter races; Brandon Drye will compete in the shot-put and discus; Todd Hoagland will compete in the 400 meter, 200 meter, 4x100 meter and 4x100 meter races; Landy James will compete in the 200 meter race, the javelin toss and high jump; Nate Parker will compete in the shot put; Jamall James will compete in the long jump, triple jump, high jump and the 110 meter high hurdles; Nate Sybrandy will compete in the 1600 meter and 4x400 meter races; Sam Traylor will compete in the 3200 meter race; Wylie Thulen will compete in the 4x100 race; Alec Azure will compete in the 3200 meter race; Sid Lease will compete in javelin; Emily Anderson will compete in the triple jump, 100 meter hurdles, 4x100 relay and the high jump; Priscilla Ponce-Venegas will compete in the 300 meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay, 4x200 meter relay and in javelin; Chrissy Barsness will compete in the 4x400 meter relay; Kirstyn Bell will compete in the 800 meter race; Madi Cavanaugh will compete in the 100 meter, 400 meter, 4x400 meter and 4x200 meter races; Kelsie Crawford will compete in the long jump, 100 meter, 4x100 meter and 4x200 meter races; Lydia Lenning will compete in the 3200 meter race and the 4x400 meter relay; Katie McKnight will compete in the 200 meter race, 4x100 meter relay, 4x200 meter relay and in javelin; Sammie Mesperson will compete in the 1600 meter and the 4x400 meter races.
