Thursday, June 1,  2006

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
    Despite outstanding performances from Tyler Powers and Zack Counts, Powell Valley’s topped Haysi for the boys team title at the 2006 Region D Track & Field Championship Thursday at Bullitt Park in Big Stone Gap Thursday.
   The meet, which is traditionally held on a Saturday, was moved up two days because of graduation ceremonies in Wise County.
   The host Vikings topped the Tigers, 105-70, in the final team standings. Honaker finished seventh with 28 points. Council (11th) had 8 team points and Twin Valley (15th) had two.
   Gate City won the girls meet. Twin Valley, with 19 points and Honaker (12) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
   Counts, Powers and Andrew Bostic were the only local winners.
   Some 11 other area athletes also qualified in various events for the Group A state meet June 3 in Radford.
   Counts and Powers each won two events and both of them won by solid margins.
   In the 100 yard dash, Counts won with a time of 11.40 seconds. Bruce Fritz of St. Paul ran second to lead a pack of four also-rans who finished just four-hundredths of a second apart.
   Later in the evening, the Haysi speedster won the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.12 seconds. Fritz was second at 23.99, followed by Honaker’s Ronnie Whited who clocked in at 24.12 seconds.
   Powers won both the 400 meter dash and the 110 meter hurdles and joined Counts in helping the Tigers win the 4x400 relay.
   In the 400, Powers sprinted to victory in 52.09 seconds, more than two full seconds ahead of Appalachia’s Adam Kiser.
   In the 110 hurdles, Powers bested a pair of Powell Valley hurdlers with a time of 15.85 seconds. The Haysi standout also qualified in the triple jump, where he placed third.
   Bostic’s jump of 20-feet-10 ¾ inches gave him a return trip to state and a win in the long jump.
   Council sophomore Dan Presley ran second in the 800 meter run. His time of 2:13.9 was 1.3 seconds behind winner Andrew Meador of Powell Valley. Cody Yates of Haysi placed fourth.

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.

Cobras Overcome Deficit to Hand Rebels 7-6 Setback in First Round Action of BDD Baseball Tournament

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
     It was hardly a thing of beauty, but Council was more than willing to take the win.
  Errors brought home both the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth as Council overcame an early deficit for a 7-6 over Hurley in Black Diamond District first round play Thursday at Willie Sullivan Field.
  A single by Shane Compton and a walk to Daniel Lester set up the game-winning rally for Council (4-17). The Cobras overcame a 6-2 deficit and base-running blunders that snuffed out a pair of rallies earlier in the game.
  “We made a lot of mental mistakes,” said Council Coach Dave Rasnake, who mixed in six newcomers with no baseball experience with a smaller-than-expected group of seniors this season.
  “We didn’t run when there were two outs and we ran with less than two outs. I just didn’t work on situations enough, but we had seniors making mistakes, too. I’m just glad to see those seniors win their final home game.”
  The victory earned the Cobras a BDD semifinal meeting with regular season champion Haysi Tuesday at Honaker. Compton belted a two-run homer in the first and got the win with 6 1/3 innings of relief.
  “(Hurley) hit Shane’s fastball (early),” Rasnake added. “Once he got his curveball in there, it gave them something to think about, at least, and he was a little bit more effective.”
  Hurley scored four runs off starter Kegan Bostic in the first and added two more off Compton in the second inning. The Rebels, however, left the bases loaded in the first and stranded two runners in both the second and third.
  “Leaving the bases loaded in the first hurt,” Hurley Coach Wayne Hall said. “But our 2-3-4 hitters hit the ball pretty well. They hadn’t been hitting much lately.”

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.

    Even Ali and Frazier only battled three times.
    Whitney Compton and Raeanne Slate have now squared off 13 times.
    Compton won the latest round and Haysi claimed the Black Diamond District regular season crown with a 1-0 playoff win over Honaker Monday afternoon at Honaker Elementary School.
    Brittany Stanley scored the only run in the sixth in installment number 13 in this friendly, four-year old rivalry between two of the top softball pitchers in the area.
    At times Compton was almost unhittable. She allowed a single in the second and didn’t give up another hit until the seventh. The senior struck out 13 Honaker batters.
   “It was an awesome effort by Whit,” Haysi coach Darroll Poston said. “It was one of her best, and I’ve seen her for five years now, from the eighth grade, JV and (varsity).”
   Whenever the two Lady Tiger squads meet, a BDD title and a regional playoff berth is usually on the line. This time the Region D berth is in the opposite bracket from defending state champion Gate City, giving Haysi (12-6, 3-1 BDD) a better shot at a spot in the state playoffs.