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THE VIRGINIA
MOUNTAINEER |
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On-Line Edition |
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Buchanan County's
Family Newspaper Since 1922 |
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Thursday, April 13,
2006 |
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sports-page
2-online
edition |
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MEMBERS OF THE
Twin Valley Lady Panthers softball squad for the 2006
season are, (from left) kneeling: Megan Blankenship,
Rachel Vandyke, Sydney Gilbert, Julie Ratliff, Kersten
Surrett and Megan Street.; standing: Courtney
Hagerman, Katherine White, Carry Mounts, Kim Street,
Kristina Compton, Kriste Gilbert and Sarah Honaker.
(Staff photo/Mike Stiltner.) |
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Lady
Panthers
Softball
Team
Young,
But Holds
Plenty of
Potential,
Hope |
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by
Lloyd
Combs
Sports Reporter
Twin Valley has a young softball team
with
plenty
of
potential,
but
lots
to
learn.
The immediate goal for new head
coach
Rossi
West
and
assistant
Doug
Cole
is to
make
sure
the
Lady
Panthers
have
fun
playing
while
they
learn.
“We’re pleased to have 14 girls
out
to
play,”
West
says.
“We
got a
good
response.
They’re
having
a
good
time
and
enjoying
it.
“That’s one thing I always
emphasize,
that
they
enjoy
playing,
and
we
try
to
make
it
fun
for
them
while
they
learn
the
game.”
This is a building project
that
could
take
time.
Twin Valley has no feeder
teams,
while
the
varsity
program
started
just
four
years
ago.
In
addition,
the
Lady
Panthers
play
in a
district
with
perennial
powers
Haysi
and
Honaker.
But there is some talent
here
and,
with
five
freshmen
and
just
one
senior,
time
to
put
what
they
learn
to
good
use.
The lone senior, Kriste Gilbert,
returns
at
shortstop
and
junior
Courtney
Hagerman
has
experience
at
first
base.
They’re
joined
in
the
infield
by
two
freshmen,
Sydney
Gilbert
at
second
and
Kersten
Surrett
at
third.
The outfield picture includes five
juniors.
Sarah
Honaker
has
experience
in
left,
where
she’ll
share
time
with
Chasity
Day.
Carry
Mounts
and
Megan
Street
both
bring
experience
to
center,
and
returnee
Katherine
White
will
share
time
with
freshman
Julie
Ratliff
in
right
field.
Junior Kristina Compton is the
catcher.
Sophomore
Kim
Street
has
some
experience
on
the
mound,
where
she’ll
split
duties
with
freshman
Rachel
Vandyke.
Vandyke will also play
short.
In a county with few
opportunities
to
play
between
little
league
and
high
school,
winners
aren’t
developed
overnight,
but
this
team,
West
says,
has a
chance
to
become
competitive.
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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Grundy
Girls,
Haysi
Boys
Dominate
Seven-Team
Area
Track &
Field
Meet |
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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
The Grundy girls and
Haysi boys dominated at a seven-team open track and field meet Wednesday at Twin
Valley Middle School.
Elizabeth Lindsay hit the
trifecta in the jumping events, capturing the high jump, long jump and triple
jump, with three different second-place finishers in each event.
Lindsay placed in five
events overall, tallying 36 of Grundy’s 136 team points. Kaitlyn Riley (shot
put), Ashleigh Stephens (discus) and Samantha Rice (200 meter dash) also notched
wins for the Lady Wave.
Jamie McGlothlin
won the 100 and 400 meters and placed in five events for Honaker, which finished
a distant second with 88 team points.
Mountain Mission’s
Zakia Lghzaoui won one field event (the high jump) and a distance run (3200).
Teammate Adome Lilay
capture the 1600 meter run.
Other girls winners
included Twin Valley’s Samantha Vandyke (800) and Haysi’s Jasmine Counts (300
meter hurdles).
Andrew Bostic (triple jump, long
jump, 400) won three events for the Honaker boys, but Zack Counts led a deep and
talented Haysi boys squad to the win. The Dickenson County Tigers topped the
Russell County Tigers, 156-106, for the boys team title.
Counts turned in a
blistering run in the 100 (11.1 seconds) and won the 200 with a time of 23.53.
The Haysi senior also ran third in the 400. Hurley’s Dewey Mitchell ran second
in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Other Haysi individual winners
included Tyler Powers (both hurdles) and Cody Yates (800 meters).
Twin Valley had two
individual winners, Matthew Baldwin (shot put) and Logan Shortridge (discus).
Ermias MeKonnen won both long
distance runs. The Mountain Mission standout edged Council’s Dan Presley by five
seconds in the 1600 and Twin Valley’s Kent Goodman by three seconds in the 3200
meter run.
Mountain Mission’s Maty Abebe
won the high jump, edging Council’s Jan Jindra with a jump of 5-10. Abebe placed
in four events overall.
Mountain Mission took third in the
girls meet with 73 team points. Twin Valley (58) and Haysi (58) tied for fourth,
followed by Council (18) and Hurley (5).
Among the boys, Twin Valley (70) was
third, followed by Council (55), Mountain Mission (46), Hurley (20) and Grundy
(2).
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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11 Twin
Valley Errors Help G-Men Collect 14-4
Non-District Win |
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A
nine-run
third,
along
with
11
Twin
Valley
errors,
helped
Graham
get
past
the
Panthers,
14-4,
in
non-district
baseball
action
Thursday
night
at
Bowen
Field
in
Bluefield.
The G-Men collected seven of
their
10
hits
and
Twin
Valley
contributed
six
errors
to
the
nine-run
rally.
Josh Crigger had a two-out,
two-run
single
in
the
first
for
Twin
Valley
(3-3).
Jeremiah
Lester
singled
home
a run
in
the
third
and
Hunter
Simpson
doubled
and
scored
on an
error
in
the
fifth
for
the
Panthers.
Tyler Barreras, Matt Yost and Brandon
Puckett
had
two
hits
apiece
for
Graham.
Simpson
finished
with
two
hits,
while
J.J.
Matney
walked
three
times
for
Twin
Valley.
Also on Thursday, Graham scored
five
runs
in
the
top
of
the
seventh
to
earn
an
11-8
win
in
the
completion
of a
game
reported
as a
6-6,
six-inning
tie
earlier
in
the
season.
The
“second”
game
was
called
after
five
innings
under
the
10-run
rule.
Puckett was the winning pitcher in
both
games
for
Graham.
Simpson
was
charged
with
the
loss
in
Thursday’s
regularly
scheduled
contest.
Lester
took
the
loss
in
the
completion
of
the
first
game
between
the
two
clubs.
Twin Valley opens Black Diamond District
play
tonight
(Thursday)
at
6:30
p.m.
at
Haysi.
Thursday’s Game
Graham 14, Twin Valley 4
T.
Valley
201
01— 4
6 11
Graham
229
01—14
10 1
Simpson, Lester (3) and St. Clair.
Puckett
and
R.
Barreras.
W—Puckett.
L—Simpson
(1-2).
Final line score from Thursday’s
completed
game
Graham
023
010
5—11
8 3
T.
Valley
060
000
2— 8
8 9
Gillenwater, Puckett (2) and R. Barreras.
Lester
and
St.
Clair.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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Experienced
Haysi
Lady
Tigers
Dreaming
of State
Playoff
Run |
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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
There are few, if any, softball teams in Virginia
with more experience than Haysi.
The Lady Tigers return 13 players,
a group that includes six
four-year seniors and one of the
best pitchers in the district,
region or state.
The veterans have had a memorable run the past
few seasons. But the memories
won’t be nearly as sweet if Haysi,
which lost to eventual state champ
Gate City in the regional
semifinals last season, doesn’t
make one final run at state.
Whitney Compton leads an experienced cast,
and she has the most experience by
far. The strong, 6-foot-1
righthander played for a traveling
AAU team out of Northern Virginia
last summer, and her efforts
attracted the attention of a
number of colleges, including
Virginia Tech.
The Lady Tigers can also boast of
capable and experienced hands at
virtually every position,
including the infield, where
four-year standouts LaRae Boyd at
first and Brittany Stanley at
third lead the way.
Everyone’s expectations for this team
are high, for obvious reasons.
“The seniors have all played four
years,” Haysi Coach Darrol Poston
said. “Everybody knows what we’re
capable of doing. I don’t have a
lot of years left doing this. I
hope this one is one to remember.”
Also returning for the Lady Tigers
are two solid three-year juniors.
Amber Lane will be at either
shortstop or second base, while
Keisha Bartley could start at
second, the outfield or as a
designated hitter.
Three senior standouts, Dana Edwards,
Carrie Deel and Tarah Coleman,
return in the outfield.
The Lady Tigers have long relied on
Compton to dominate on the mound.
Along the way the defense, Poston
says, slipped a little bit,
especially in the infield. He
expects his defense to improve
this spring.
“We’ve worked hard on our
defense,” Poston added.
“We’ve worked hard on our
hitting.
“Our infield’s played well so
far. We haven’t made an error in
our first three games and that
says a lot, compared to last year.
Last year we struggled on the
infield all year long.”
Two newcomers could play key
roles for this veteran team,
defensively and at the plate.
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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Subscribe to the
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