A night with Rip

Today is a special day for me. Because tonight, I'm going to see my childhood hero again, Mr. Cal Ripken Jr. Cal is speaking tonight at the Hershey Lodge in a benefit banquet for The Second Mile. Check out more on the organization and evening here. Hey look at that! I learned how to put links into these posts! Didn't think I'd ever figure that one out.

Anyway, my wife surprised me with two tickets to this event for my upcoming birthday (which is May 4 by the way, in case any of you want to send me cards with money in them. Lots of money). If any of you have read my columns in the Chronicle over the past four years, you probably have a pretty good idea how I feel about Cal. I grew up a short 30 minute drive from Memorial Stadium and Oriole Park, and in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, there was no athlete I looked up to more than Rip. In fact, I implore you to find any Oriole fan under 35 who says that Rip wasn't their favorite player. Now, some of the older O's fans will argue to the death that Brooks Robinson was better than Cal – it's sort of an ongoing thing between the two generations. But every Orioles fan adores Ripken, and I'm no different. He's a homegrown boy who gave every thing he had to his hometown team and is now a hall of famer. There isn't many professional athletes today you could say that about.

My basement is filled with Ripken memorabilia. Framed jerseys, bobbleheads, autographed baseballs, Wheaties boxes, baseball cards, plaques, clocks, it's borderline insane actually. But there are two things there that I cherish in that room above all – a photo taken of me when I was 7-years-old with Cal at the Aberdeen, Md. Moose Lodge and a column I wrote in the Chronicle about Cal's Hall of Fame induction that he read and signed and mailed back to me. A man who works with my mom (to whom I mailed a copy of the column too, since she's just as big of a Cal fan as I am) told her that he knew Cal's PR person and that he was going to give him the column to give to Cal. Sure enough, he did, and Rip read it, signed it and mailed it back to me. You can imagine my shock when I saw that someone I looked up to so much took the time to read my little old column and sign it and send it back to me. It remains my biggest professional honor to date. That's the kind of guy Cal is. The kind of guy that poses for photos with nervous 7-year-olds and signs and mails columns to a small town newspaper guy 20 years later.

So you can see why I'm excited and how lucky I am to have such a wife to think of me and get me tickets for tonight. Cal's only the speaker, and I highly doubt I'll get to shake his hand or get a photo (although I'd love to get one and hang it next to the one I already have of the two of us...20 years later), but I'll still be in the same room as greatness. Just like I was in the same stadium as greatness all those hot days in the bleachers on 33rd Street and at Oriole Park in Baltimore when he was playing. Just like I was in the same grassy field as greatness the day my mom and I were in Cooperstown to see Cal get enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Maybe I go overboard on this kind of stuff, maybe not. One thing's for sure though, today I feel just like I did when I was 7 and about to meet Cal for the first time. Like nervous little kid.

But it's not just about meeting Cal, it's about helping a fantastic organization like The Second Mile. After all, the real purpose of tonight is to help their cause. So really, it's going to be a great night all around.

You know, we all have this notion of what it would be like to be professional athletes. How we'd never turn down an autograph and how we'd be regular people and appreciate every game and blah, blah, blah. The truth is that most of us, unless Gene Garber happens to be reading this blog, have NO idea what being a pro athlete is like. Not to mention being a superstar. But Cal humanizes it for all of us. Sure he didn't sign every single autograph (it would be impossible), and it still irks me when I meet people who say they "hate" him because he turned down their autograph one time 15 years ago. I feel comfortable saying that there isn't a major league player who has spent more time signing autographs for FREE in the last 50 years that Rip. He cared about the fans of Baltimore and we cared about him. And on the night he broke Lou Gehrig's record, he connected with us. Not just in the lap he took around the field, but in the look in his eyes. Look at the photo above. He was touched by the outpouring and he knew that he meant something to us. And we meant something to him.

OK, enough of the mushy stuff.

Enjoy the weekend Elizabethtown.

Cheers.

EAHS round-up

(Preston Faith and the Bears have been tough so far this season.)

Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of days, but I'm back now, so lets take a look at how the EAHS spring sports teams have fared over the past week or so.

Baseball
We knew that E-town had strong pitching going into the season and, so far, their hurlers have really been dominant. On Monday, Preston Faith pitched a complete-game two-hitter as E-town beat Carlisle 5-2 and Erick Baker followed that up with a complete-game three-hitter yesterday as the Bears beat Donegal 7-3. Pitching is a major reason why E-town is off to a 3-0 start, but E-town has also played solid defense behind those pitchers and it hitting well. The Bears have at least seven hits in all three games so far this year.

I think that 10 run outburst in their first game that helped them beat Hershey was a big momentum builder for this team and that they are going to be tough for anyone in Section Two to beat.

Softball
E-town has had some defensive issues the past two games and have lost them both,to fall to 1-2 on the season. On Monday, E-town committed eight errors in a 7-4 loss to Carlisle and yesterday, E-town had eight errors again in a tough 13-inning loss to crosstown rival Donegal. The Bears have plenty of power in the lineup (Anna Libby has 2 homers and Becca Bigler has one) and have strong enough pitching to limit teams to low run totals, but they've got to clean up their defense. I think they will and that they'll get back on track beginning on Monday at Ephrata.

Girls Soccer
E-town is 2-0 now, after beating Solanco 2-0 on Tuesday afternoon. That powerful E-town defense flexed its muscle on Tuesday, limiting Solanco to just two shots. The Bears probably aren't going to put up six or seven goals a game, but they have enough offensive weapons to score three on any given night and that will be enough to make them tough to beat, especially with their defensive ability.

Track
Well, color me impressed at the boys and girls track teams. They looked good on Tuesday and both beat Donegal pretty handily. The boys have some serious sprinters on that team and if you blink during their 400 relay race, you'll miss them. They're that fast. But I think what will make them good this year is their depth. They have talent everywhere – throws, distance, jumps, hurdles, pole vault, sprints.

As for the girls, they looked good as well. Donegal won the majority of the sprinting events, but E-town controlled the throwing and jump events. It's a good sign for the Bears to see some freshman girls like Audrey Bamford and Ann Romanauskas win events at their first varsity meet.

Boys Tennis
The boys have started with two victories. (Side note: E-town's strong athletic year has continued through at least the start of the spring. As of today, the eight EAHS varsity teams have a combined record of 11-3 – with six unbeaten teams. Granted, it's still VERY early, but that a good start nonetheless. And now that I've jinxed them, expect a losing streak from everyone. Hey, just look at my NCAA brackets. Actually, don't, it's embarrassing. Sorry, I'm rambling). E-town gutted out a 4-3 win over Hempfield on Monday to start their season, and dominated McCaskey 7-0 on Tuesday to move to 2-0.

Boys Volleyball
E-town is 1-0 thanks to a 3-2 win over Ephrata on Tuesday. The Bears won the first two games before dropping the next two and sending it to a fifth game. In the fifth, E-town rolled 15-9 to secure the win. Michael Cicero had 17 kills and David Kreiser had six blocks.

Now that you're up to speed, I'll try and post more frequently to avoid long, borderline incoherent posts like this one. Back later today with track and volleyball season previews.

Until next time, stay classy Elizabethtown.

Cheers.

Search function added

Just wanted to pass along the news that I've now added a search function to the site. It should be in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Just type in a key word and click "search this blog" and it'll give you all the entries with that word in it. So if you want to look back any anything I wrote on the football team, for example, just type football up in the search bar and you'll get 'em all.

Hey, whatever I can do to make the site easier for you to navigate is what I'm going to do. It's the least I can do since you come here and read my stuff.

Hope it's helpful.

Baseball preview

(E-town's seniors are, bottom row from left, Steve Buller, Andrew Weller, Hayden Gerhart, Nick Reginella and Amir Boutorabi. Back row, from left, Mike O'Shea, Evan Gallagher, Erick Baker, Harrison Myers, Preston Faith, Daniel Brennian, Austin Rodriguez and Anthony Durante.)

Head Coach: Frank Telenko Jr., fifth season.

2007 Record: 8-12 overall, 8-8 league.

Key Returners: Erick Baker, senior, P/1B; Andrew Weller, senior, OF; Preston Faith, senior, P/OF; Anthony Durante, senior, OF/DH; Hayden Gerhart, senior, 2B/3B; Nick Reginella, senior, OF; Harrison Myers, senior, P/OF; Daniel Brennian, senior, OF; Amir Boutorabi, senior, OF; Steve Buller, senior, P; Austin Rodriguez, senior, SS/3B; Evan Gallagher, senior, SS; Michael O’Shea, senior, 3B/OF.
To say the Bears are a senior-laden team is almost an understatement. E-town’s lineup will be filled with experienced senior nearly every game, and Telenko expects them to be the leaders of the team.
“This group of seniors is a seasoned bunch,” he said. “They have grown a lot and hopefully have learned what it takes to win in the L-L League.”
The Bears return five Lancaster-Lebanon League all-stars from a year ago – Baker, Weller, Faith, Reginella and Gallagher – and their play will be E-town’s biggest key to a successful season.
The pitching staff will be anchored by Baker, Faith and Myers. Baker, a Division I recruit, has been working out hard in the offseason and throws very hard. He will be the ace of the staff. He’s had some arm troubles in the past, but those seem to be behind him and he should be primed for a huge season.
Faith is another excellent pitcher. With Baker limited last year with arm trouble, Telenko turned to Faith and he rewarded him by becoming a first-team league all-star. The 1-2 punch of Baker and Faith will certainly limit opposing teams and give the Bears’ offense a chance to chalk up some wins.
Myers has also grown from his experience at the varsity level and is another reliable pitcher that E-town can use. Buller will also see time on the mound, giving E-town four senior pitchers it can turn to, which will come in handy in mid-April when the Bears are playing games every other day.
Behind the pitchers, E-town’s defense should be solid. Gallagher will likely be the regular shortstop. He is a good fielder and will need to be the leader of the defense. Around him, Gerhart, Rodriguez and O’Shea are all good with the glove and form a solid infield defense. And they are versatile too. Gerhart can play second or third, Rodriguez can play shortstop or third and O’Shea can play third as well as outfield.
Weller, Brennian, Myers, Boutorabi and Reginella will see the majority of the time in the outfield. All have good arms and will need to communicate well to prevent runners from advancing on base hits or balls hit into the gap. Expect Reginella to be E-town’s regular centerfielder.
Offensively, these seniors provide a potent lineup. Weller is one of the best hitters of the bunch and will likely be patrolling left field on defense. Durante is big and bring lots of power. E-town also has plenty of speed with Gallagher, Rodriguez, Faith, Reginella, Gerhart and O’Shea.
Telenko said that many of these seniors have had success in other sports this school year, and is hoping they can continue with that. In fact, they’ve adopted the team motto of “Why not us?” But they need to come out all 20 games and play hard. The L-L League, and Section Two, is too strong to take games off.
“There are no days off and we need to be mentally focused for every play and every at bat,” he said. “This group is hungry for wins and we plan to do a lot of it this spring.”

Key Newcomers: Conrad Heisey, junior, C; Tyler Vuxta, junior, C; Shane Long, junior 1B; Anthony Rivera, junior, 2B; Weston Kobler, junior, 3B; Nico Givens, junior, 2B; Scott Sweigart, junior, P; Brian Savage, junior, OF/P.
When a team has as many seniors as the Bears do, underclassmen tend to have a more limited role, but they also get the experience of learning from the older players. That will be the case for most of E-town’s newcomers – but they never know when they will get their chance, and they’ll have to be prepared.
“Some of these guys may play a significant role and others will have a more limited role,” said Telenko. “They will need to learn and be ready when called upon.”
Heisey will be one of the underclassmen with a significant role, as he will likely handle the majority of the catching duties, taking over for Nate Martin. He has a little experience of playing at this level as he saw some time behind the plate last summer in American Legion ball. With experienced pitchers, however, Heisey can take a feel from the staff early on in the season when it comes to calling pitches and talking to them.
Long, Rivera, Kobler and Givens give the Bears some infield depth and Sweigart and Savage give E-town some more arms to use on the mound if they are needed.

Key Losses: Nate Martin, C; Gary Dupler, 3B; Ben Hernley, 2B.
E-town didn’t lose a lot of players from last year’s team, but they did lose some very important ones.
Martin was probably the team’s best player last year. He was a three-time L-L All-Star, an outstanding hitter, a very good catcher and a great team leader. E-town will certainly miss Martin’s bat, but his ability to call a game and his leadership will be missed as well.
Dupler was a first team all-star last year and was a good player offensively and defensively for E-town. Hernley was an excellent infielder, and their departures leave a gap in infield defense, but with E-town’s plethora of talented infielders, the Bears should be OK in that area.

What they do well: Pitching, defense, manufacturing runs.
The old saying in baseball is that good pitching beats good hitting. If that is true for the Bears this year, they are going to be tough to beat. E-town has a deep pitching staff that will be anchored by Baker, Faith and Myers, three tough hurlers. And if one of them are injured or is having a rough outing, Telenko has plenty of other options to go to.
The E-town pitching staff will improve on last season, when they allowed allowed 10 runs or more in nine of the team’s 20 games.
E-town should also field a solid defense that will limit unearned runs and will allow starting pitchers to go deeper into games. Most of the fielders now have a year of varsity experience under their belt and should be used to how hard the ball can be hit and how fast the runners are at this level.
Offensively, E-town has a nice balance of speed and power. They’ll be able to steal bases to put runners in scoring position for their RBI guys. They’ll have to be smart on the basepaths as well, and do the little things to move up when needed and get runs in easier.
They went 4-2 in their final six games last year, signs that the growing process has already begun.
“We won a few big games at the end of the season and seemed to be hitting our stride,” Telenko said. “We intend to keep it going and make some noise in Section Two, but it is all about heart and execution.”

What they need to work on: Learning how to win.
While the Bears did end the season on a positive note, they were still four games under .500 last year and lost some close game.
However, last year was the first time many of the team had seen varsity action as the Bears lost 11 players to graduation before the 2007 campaign. This year, they must learn from last year’s experiences and find a way to score in the late innings to pull out those important close victories.

Outlook:
E-town could very well be a team to watch in Section Two. They have all the right pieces in place to make a run at a section title and league and District Three tournament berths. But the key will be executing on the field. Telenko believes in them and, as a result, expects them to win. But he’s also injected some fun into the team so that they can stay loose on the field.
“I expect to develop lasting relationships with my players, teach them a thing or two about baseball and life, have fun while participating in a high school sport and win a bunch of games along the way,” he said.
The winning part of Telenko’s expectations should happen for E-town this year. They have just about everything you look for in a good high school baseball team. Good pitching, experience, a balanced hitting attack and a solid defense. If they can put it all together, the “Why not us?” motto will certainly be answered.
The Bears are also a close team. Most of these players have played together in the past and some have played other sports together, which will help the team attitude. They won’t be afraid of coming back and, with the amount of seniors, they will be there to pick each other up whenever they make a mistake.
One thing about baseball is that you can’t carry a fielding error to the plate with your or a strikeout to the field with you. Having a team as close as E-town will allow the players to forget about mistakes immediately and focus on helping the team in a different way. And that’s what separates good baseball teams from bad ones.
With all of the things E-town has going for it, expect the Bears to win anywhere from 13 to 16 games in the regular season and be in the hunt for a postseason berth this year. The coach certainly believes they can do it.
“Keep your eye on the Bears this year. We intend to turn some heads,” Telenko said.
Why not?

Girls Soccer preview

(E-town's six returning starters are, top row from left, Courtney Peffley, Kristen Lowe, LJ Funck and Dani Faller. Bottom row, from left, Aimee Mathin and Katie Leverentz.

Head Coach: Alex Shubert, fifth season.

2007 Record: 15-4 overall, 13-2 league. Section Two champions. Lost to Manheim Township in first round of Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. Beat Governor Mifflin in first round of District Three tournament and lost to Central Dauphin in second round of District Three tournament.

Key Returners: LJ Funck, senior, back; Dani Faller, junior, midfield; Katie Leverentz, junior, forward; Kristen Lowe, junior, back/midfield; Aimee Mathin, junior, back; Courtney Peffley, junior, midfield.
The Bears were hit hard by graduation, but still return a talented core from last year’s section champion team.
Defense will be a strength of the returning group, and will be anchored by Funck, a co-captain and first team L-L all-star last year. She is a strong, talented defender who also plays very smart. She’ll need to be the leader in the back, especially with E-town losing its goalie from last year to graduation.
Mathin and Lowe will also be there on defense. Mathin is quick and scrappy and saw extensive time last year at back. Lowe is the team’s other captain and can play both midfield and defense. Shubert said that Lowe and Funck are both “terrific players with great leadership skills.”
Faller and Peffley will be two of E-town’s best playmakers from midfield. Both have excellent ball control skills and can beat defenders on the dribble and set teammates up for scoring opportunities. Faller was a second team all-star last season and has cemented herself as one of the best midfielders in the section. The same can be said for Peffley, who played at a high level late in the season especially.
Leverentz is a speedy player and will be the Bears’ biggest scoring threat up top. She’ll use her quickness to make runs and dart around defenders and should rack up goals. She was a second team all-star a year ago and will draw lots of attention from opposing defenses.

Key Newcomers: Not yet determined.
E-town lost five very good starters to graduation, so Shubert will be relying on his group of underclassmen to step in and learn the varsity game in a hurry.
They’re a young group and lack the varsity seasoning right now, but they believe in Shubert’s philosophy and they’ve come up through the junior high and junior varsity program, so they know what is expected of them. They’re a talented group that will grow as the season progresses and will learn from E-town’s experienced returners.

Key Losses: Lauren Hernley, center midfield; Caitlin Markham, forward; Kyleigh Kauffman, goalie; Liz Bard, foward; Dani Long, back.
The Bears took a definite hit in graduation, losing five important players from every aspect on the field.
Hernley was named Section Two Most Valuable Player last year and was a four year L-L All-Star. Her departure leaves a big gap at center midfield for E-town, one that will be tough for just one player to fill.
Markham was one of the Bears’ best goal-scorers. She was a two-year L-L all-star and had a nose for the goal, using her great touch and smarts to score a lot.
Bard was another hard-nosed goal scorer for E-town. She was a captain who provided leadership and scoring as well.
Long was a starting defensive player last year and leaves a void on defense that will need to be filled by an underclassman.
Kauffman was an experienced goalie who gave E-town a steady presence in net. She posted 12 shutouts in 19 games last year. Her experience won’t be matched this year, but Shubert will need to find a young keeper who can step in and learn in a hurry.

What they do well: Play well together, defend.
The returning group is one that has been playing the game together for years and, as a result, team chemistry will be high. Players know each others’ strengths and weaknesses and will play to them in order to make the team better.
“They have played together for many years. They have a love of soccer and a desire to win that is infectious among the team,” Shubert said. “Now, as upperclassmen, they have the experience necessary to be a strong force on the field.”
E-town’s defense will also be strong, anchored by Funck, Mathin and Lowe. E-town lost a lot of experience at midfield and forward to graduation, so Shubert will need to rely on his strong returners to play smart, cohesive defense and keep getting the ball to players like Peffley and Faller, who can make a lot of things happen from midfield.
If the defense can keep some pressure off of E-town’s goalie, the Bears should have no problem scoring enough goals to win games.

What they need to work on: Scoring, playing like veterans.
E-town lost five players to graduation, which means Shubert is expecting nearly half of his starting lineup to consist of players without much varsity experience. In the early going, expect some mistakes from that group that will be corrected simply by playing more. But there is a little added pressure on the returning core to pick up the slack early in the season. They’ll have to take their games to another level until the inexperienced players are 100 percent comfortable if the Bears are going to repeat last season’s success.
Leverentz, Faller, Lowe and Peffley can all score goals and will probably lead the team in that department, but it will be interesting to see how they can overcome the loss of Hernley, Bard and Markham, three of E-town’s best offensive players last season. If they can keep the offense going in the beginning of the season and the Bears get off to a good start, they should be in the hunt for another league and district playoff spot.

Outlook:
Repeating last year’s 14-2 regular season could be a stretch for this team, but that doesn’t mean the Bears can’t have another successful campaign. They return more than half of last year’s starting lineup, and all of those players know what it’s going to take for the Bears to get back to the top of the Section Two mountain.
But Shubert said what will define the team and any success it may have this season is the overall attitude of the players.
“We will play a very ‘team-first’ style of play. We will always have 11 players on the field with the same goal,” he said. “Each player is willing to put the success of the team before her own personal success. This attitude is pervasive among our players and should guide us to a successful season.”
Based on the returning talent and how quickly they should be able to help guide the inexperienced players, E-town should reach double digit wins again this year. Expect 10 to 12 wins for the Bears and another trip to the L-L playoffs.

Softball preview

(The Bears' seniors are, from left, Jillian Ditzler, Olivia Kuntz, Kara Hernley, Brianna Kuntz and Jen Dunkelberger).

Head Coach: Gary Wylde, second season.

2007 Record: 15-7 overall, 13-3 league. Section Two champions. Lost to Donegal in first round of Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. Beat Central Dauphin in first round of District Three playoffs and lost to Warwick in second round of District Three playoffs.

Key Returners: Jen Dunkelberger, senior, 2B; Jillian Ditzler, senior, P/OF; Brianna Kuntz, senior, 3B; Olivia Kuntz, senior 1B; Kara Hernley, senior, OF; Becca Bigler, junior, SS; Anna Libby, junior, C, Tricia Stone, junior, P/OF; Abby Fuhrman, sophomore, OF; Mandi Shearer, sophomore, OF.
The Bears return a host of talent from last year’s section-championship team.
The talented group of seniors are led by Dunkelberger who will be playing her fourth year at the varsity level. Her leadership will be invaluable, as there is just about nothing she hasn’t seen. She’s also a good infielder and will be a sparkplug in the lineup.
Ditzler is the ace of the staff, but she will be joined by Stone in the circle, and the duo will handle the majority of the pitching responsibilities. Both were all-stars last season and give E-town one of the best 1-2 pitching punches in Section Two.
Brianna and Olivia Kuntz also return to anchor the corners of the infield. Both also bring a lot of energy to E-town’s lineup. Brianna Kuntz also brings experience as this will be her third varsity season. And Hernley gives E-town another good outfielder who can play solid defense.
E-town’s group of underclassmen also bring a lot to the table and are a major reason why E-town is arguably the team to beat in Section Two.
They are led by Bigler, the team’s best player and one of the best players in the L-L League. Bigler is always a threat to do damage with her bat, but is also excellent at shortstop. Last year, she was voted the L-L’s best shortstop by the league coaches. Pitchers around the league and section will be very careful with Bigler, knowing what she is capable of.
Libby was also an all-star last year and will handle the catching duties for the Bears. She is a tough catcher and plays good defense. She is also a good hitter and gives E-town yet another weapon.
Fuhrman and Shearer are only sophomores, but both are good athletes and should give the Bears solid defense in the outfield. They can also make things happen offensively. They could be primed for breakout seasons.

Key Newcomers: Ashleigh Nolan, junior, INF/OF; Tristen Gutshall, junior, OF; Leah Hayward, junior, 1B; Leigh Miller, sophomore, OF; Jamie Ahern, sophomore, INF/OF.
With so many returning starters from a year ago (the Bears lost just three players to graduation), there won’t be a lot of pressure on this group to step right in and be major contributors, which could be a good thing. They will have a chance to learn from the talented class of returning players and, when they are needed to step up and contribute, they should be ready.
Ahern and Nolan are versatile players that can play infield or outfield, which gives Wylde plenty of options defensively.
Gutshall and Miller also provide some outfield depth, and Hayward will likely backup Olivia Kuntz at first base, but should see some time to prepare for next season.
This group gives E-town a deep team, which will come in handy should there be any injuries or if Wylde needs to rest some players.

Key Losses: Shannon Marsico, CF Sarah Blantz, 1B; Jen Heisey, OF.
The Bears lost only three players, but all were key parts of last year’s section champion team.
Marsico, who is now playing for Elizabethtown College, was E-town’s centerfielder, and gave the Bears speed in the outfield and on the basepaths, where her aggressive baserunning led to lots of runs for the offense. She was a first team all-star last year.
Blantz’s power will be missed. She was also a first team all-star a year ago and was one of E-town’s top run producers.
Heisey was another of E-town’s all-stars last year. She was a high energy player who was good in the outfield.
While E-town will certainly miss these players’ contributions on the field, they’ll also miss the leadership they provided off of it. The returning players will need to step in and fill that leadership void that they left.

What they do well: Play together, pitching, hitting.
Sure the Bears have a lot of talent coming back this season, but what makes E-town a playoff-caliber team is their unselfishness and their ability to play multiple positions.
“We have a group of kids that work extremely hard and want to succeed,” Wylde said. “They work so well together and understand that playing together is how they can reach their goals. This group is a joy to coach.”
Also, with Bigler at the heart of their lineup and good hitters around her, the Bears can score runs in a variety of ways. They have some power hitters and also some speed players. That mix, along with E-town’s aggressive baserunning style, should allow them to score runs off of even the toughest pitchers.
When it comes to pitching, Ditzler and Stone were fantastic last year and could be even better this season. Neither is extremely overpowering, but they change speeds effectively and throw a lot of strikes, which keeps hitters off balance and keeps them swinging.

What they need to work on: Getting over the hump.
The E-town program has developed into one of the most successful in the L-L League. They are always in the playoff hunt and will likely be there again this year.
What they need to do, however, is figure out how to beat the best teams around. They are right on the cusp of being elite, but need to get some quality playoff wins to take that next step. Beating teams like Donegal, Warwick and Solanco will go a long way for their confidence.
They also need to rely on their returning players to step in and provide strong leadership to get there.
“We need to recover from the loss of the three seniors. Each was not only a good softball player, but provided guidance and leadership to their teammates,” said Wylde. “I believe we have many possible players to step in and fill that leadership roll, and look forward to seeing that develop.”

Outlook:
As the reigning section champs, E-town now has a target on its back – and the Bears know it. Everyone will be gunning to take them down game in and game out, and the Bears must respond to the challenge and elevate their play, because their opponents will.
“Every team will come to play and attempt to knock us off. We are looking to develop and get better each and every game and hope to be in a position to compete for the section title once again this year,” Wylde said.
That’s a very real possibility for E-town based on its roster. But Section Two is extremely tough and nothing is a guarantee. The Bears played very well down the stretch last year, winning 13 of its final 16 games after a slow 1-2 start.
Expect another 13-15 win season for the Bears and for them to be right in the mix to repeat as section champions this season. If they can get to the league and district playoffs again this year, the Bears will certainly remember what it was like a year ago and will look to correct their mistakes and advance deeper there.

Lacrosse preview

(E-town's lacrosse captains are, from left, Keith Kurtz, Phil Roeder and Ben Gotwalt).

Head Coach: Matt Reesor, first year.

2007 Record: 1-13 overall.

Key Returners: Ben Gotwalt, co-captain, senior, long stick midfield; Phil Roeder, co-captain, senior, midfield; Keith Kurtz, co-captain, senior, goalie; Matt Frye, senior, attack; Chris Klinger, senior, defense; Jeff Norton, senior, midfield; Randy Groff, junior, midfield.
After winning just one game in the past two seasons, E-town’s returning group has enough experience to now step up and continue the program’s improvement.
E-town will be strong in the midfield, with Gotwalt, Roeder, Norton and Groff leading the way there. That should allow the Bears to control the pace of a lot of games and put more goals on the board this year.
Groff and Kurtz anchor the defense and will look to improve on last year, when the Bears allowed 10 or more goals on eight occasions.
Frye will be E-town’s most potent offensive threat, and moves up from midfield to play attack for the Bears.
Reesor said he is relying on these returning players to help instill a strong work ethic in their teammates both at practices and games.

Key Newcomers: Giordano Pugliese, freshman, goalie; Josh Ginder, freshman, attack; Steven Dombrosky, freshman, attack; Joseph Clark, freshman, defense; Michael Somple, freshman, attack; Kyle Heisey, freshman, midfield.
This group of freshman is coming off of an extremely successful junior high season last year – losing only one game. That kind of winning attitude will be needed for them to adjust to the size and speed of varsity players.
Expect quite a few freshman to see some time on the field at the varsity level, as Reesor begins to build a foundation for the E-town program, which is still in its infancy – relatively speaking. But this group is learning the game and knows what it is like to be successful and that could be the start of something special at E-town.

Key Losses: Aaron McCoy, defense; David Gates, defense; Mark Stehman, midfield; Travis Winters, attack; Shawn Turzai, attack.
McCoy and Gates were two of the Bears’ better defenders last year and their presence in the back will be missed. Offensively, Winters and Turzai were both good goal scorers. Because of their departure, some players who played midfield last year will be moving up to attack this season.

What they do well: Defend.
Although the Bears lost two key defenders from last year, they are most experienced on defense.
“We have a strong focus and understanding on the defensive end,” Reesor said. Our best athletes are on defense and the defensive group has a solid lacrosse IQ and strive to be better each day.”
It’s also a bunch that is extremely smart and that isn’t afraid to get physical – two key traits that you need in a good defense. With the Bears seemingly lacking a bit on offense, the defense will need to play that much better if E-town is going to win some more games this season.

What they need to work on: Scoring.
E-town’s two best scorers are gone and the Bears are still searching for someone to step up and replace them. The main problem is that E-town doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to running the offense and that has resulted in the entire timing of the offense being off (running play, cutting to the ball, etc.).
Reesor said the offensive players also need to work on their stick skills and their overall knowledge, which should improve with game experience. But above all, someone on the team has to step up and take control of the offense. E-town needs a player they can rely on game-in and game-out to score goals and put pressure on opposing defenses. That player hasn’t shown up quite yet, but that doesn’t mean he won’t appear once games get started.

Outlook: The No. 1 way to build a competitive program year in and year out is to have consistency in the coaching staff. That’s something that the Bears haven’t had lately and, as a result, they are 1-25 in the last two seasons. But it appears that Reesor and his staff are committed to the Elizabethtown program and to building it from the youth level on up, an excellent sign for them.
Expect Reesor, who was a coach at Elizabethtown College last season, to instill a winning philosophy in the program immediately. The past is the past for E-town and instead of glancing in the rear view mirror, they’ve got their eyes on the highway in front of them. While not only implementing a gameplan that the Bears will need to be successful, Reesor and his staff are also stressing the importance of playing the game the right way.
“(We want) to focus on team play, to play with class and pride while playing hard and paying attention to details,” he said. “We expect to take steps forward in getting E-town lacrosse back at a competitive level.”
It isn’t going to happen overnight, but the program is headed in the right direction. This season, expect E-town to win more games than it did a year ago, possibly hitting the five-win mark, but, most importantly, getting better and better as the year progresses.
This could be the start of the journey toward the playoffs for the Bears.

Boys Tennis preview

(Four of E-town's top five players are, from left, Peter Davis, Colton Brown, Mike Sweigart and Drew Winey.)

*Note: You can find all of these previews in this week's issue of the Chronicle.

Head Coach: Chip Diem, first season.

2007 Record: 10-2 overall.

Key Returners: Alex Trimble, sophomore; Colton Brown, senior; Mike Sweigart, senior.
E-town returns three talented, experienced players in Trimble, Brown and Sweigart.
Trimble is probably the team’s No. 1 player. As a freshman last year, he teamed with Sweigart to advance to the finals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Flight Two doubles tournament. He also made it to the semifinals of Flight Two singles.
Sweigart will likely play third singles for the Bears. In the L-L Flight Tournament last season, Sweigart made the semifinals of Flight Four in addition to making the Flight Two doubles finals with Trimble.
Brown looks primed for a big season. He will play either No. 1 or No. 2 singles for the Bears and has the experience to have a successful season. He played Flight One singles in last year’s L-L tournament, going 3-2 and falling in the fifth place match. In doubles, he teamed with Shawn Newlin to advance to the semifinals of leagues and qualify for districts.
With a top three like this, E-town will look to continue its recent string of successful regular season.

Key Newcomers: Drew Winey, senior; Peter Davis, senior.
With more than half of the top five returning from last year, E-town will be relying on Winey and Davis to round out its top five.
Both are athletic players certainly capable of winning some matches, but do not have the varsity experience necessary yet to compete with the upper-echelon players in the league. But the Bears don’t need them to beat those types of players, and as fourth or fifth singles players, they will certainly hold their own and contribute to match wins for E-town.

Key Losses: Shawn Newlin; Dan Nguyen; Alex Herr.
The loss of Newlin will be felt the most for the Bears. He was one of the team’s best players for the past three years and E-town’s No. 1 singles player a year ago.
Nguyen and Herr also contributed at the varsity level and added depth to the lineup.

What they do well: Go deep.
It’s not often that a team loses its No. 1 player from the previous season, but still has an extremely strong and deep team coming back. The Bears return three of last year’s top five and have a plethora of athletic players waiting in the wings if they are needed to step in and contribute.
That depth should help the Bears, who have lost only four matches combined in the past two seasons.

What they need to work on: Building the tradition.
Quietly, the Elizabethtown boys tennis program has become an extremely successful one. They are a combined 19-4 over the past two seasons and continue to churn out quality players who get better as underclassmen and step up and dominate as seniors.
But E-town has to learn that it belongs with the Manheim Townships of the league. They have to play with that kind of confidence.

Outlook: Things look promising for the Bears again this season. They return a solid nucleus of players and also have some potentially outstanding newcomers. Watch for E-town to challenge for the Section Two title.
In singles play, they will be led by Trimble, Brown and Sweigart which may be as potent of a top three as you will find in the section. All three advanced deep into the L-L tournament last season and will likely find themselves there again. Don’t be surprised if more than one of them finds themselves in the district tournament as well.
Trimble has already experienced success at the varsity level and is only a sophomore, so he will be at the top of E-town’s lineup for the next three seasons.
With the experience and talent that E-town has on the roster and a young, energetic coach like Diem to put it all together, E-town could be looking at anywhere from eight to 10 regular season wins and quite a few players advancing deep in the L-L Flight Tournament in late April.

Strong start for the Bears

(Katie Leverentz started her season with two goals, including the game-winner in OT yesterday.)

The high school spring sports season officially got underway yesterday. Although with the wind, it sure didn't feel like spring. Sheesh. And while my March Madness brackets may have taken a beating (thanks Temple), the Bears did pretty well yesterday, going a combined 3-1. Here's a look at how they all did.

Baseball:
The Bears' bats woke up in the bottom of the sixth inning yesterday and lit Hershey up for 10 runs in the inning as the boys won their opener, 10-3. Erick Baker and Steve Buller pitched for E-town, with Buller pitching the 6th and 7th and picking up the win.

Softball:
Anna Libby homered and Trish Stone and Jillian Ditzler limited Hershey's runs as E-town started its season with a 6-2 win yesterday over the Trojans. E-town fell behind 1-0 after 1, but scord all six of its runs in the next three innings to jump out to a 6-1 lead. Both teams had nine hits. E-town committed three errors, Hershey had two.

Girls Soccer:
Katie Leverentz scored her second goal of the game in overtime to lift E-htown to a 3-2 win over Carlisle.
Courtney Peffley put the Bears up 1-0 with a goal four minutes into the game and Leverentz made the lead 2-0 nine minutes later with her first goal. But Carlisle battled back to tie the game with two second half goals and send it to overtime, where Leverentz won the game for E-town.

Lacrosse:
The Bears lost to Palmyra 5-3, but you can already see some improvement. E-town scored all three of its goals in the third. They were led by Phil Roeder, who had a goal and two assists. Randy Groff also scored for E-town, as did David Latimore. E-town's three goals came early in the second half as the Bears battled back to tie the game at 3-3. However, Palmyra pulled away with two third period goals. Keith Kurtz made 10 saves in goal for the Bears, who don't play again until April 1.

That's all for now. Enjoy the holiday and, of course, the Madness.

Cheers

Breaking down the brackets: Detroit Rock City

(Roy Hibbert and the Hoyas are a tough out for anyone).

Looking at the midwest, I have absolutely no confidence with any of the picks. So here are the first round games:
• Kansas vs. Portland State: well, this is a lock, but that's about it. KU.
• UNLV vs. Kent State: raise your hand if you know who's going to win this one. Yeah, me either. But, I'm going with Trent from Swingers on this one: Vegas, baby. Vegas.
• Clemson vs. Villanova: I'm not sold on either team Clemson can hang with UNC, but seems to play to their competition. I'm taking Nova here.
• Vandy vs. Siena: Seriously, where is Siena even located?
• USC vs. K-State: Or should I say Michael Beasley vs. OJ Majo. But Beaz has no help around him and USC is a pretty good overall team outside of Mayo. Trojans.
• Wisconsin vs. CS Fullerton: Wisconsin is more deserving of a 2-seed than Duke. I mean, they were conference champs. This is a lock.
• Gonzaga vs. Davidson: The upstart team from five years ago vs. the upstart mid-major of today. Davidson takes it.
• Georgetown vs. UMBC: Hoyas.

From there, though, it gets tougher. I think Kansas is definitely the best team in the bracket, but they have had a reputation for coming up short in the tourney for as long as I can remember. They'll get to the Elite 8 though, beating UNLV and Vanderbilt along the way.

I also like USC to upset Wisconsin in the second round and for the Trojans to lose to Georgetown in the Sweet 16. And I'm taking the Hoyas to get to the Final Four. Heck, I picked them to win it all last year and they didn't lose anyone from that team.

Also: I'm delusional and clinically insane, so don't trust any of this stuff. Unless it's right, of course.

So my Final Four is:
UNC vs. Georgetown
Texas vs. UCLA

Finals:
Georgetown vs. UCLA

And your 2008 national champs: The UCLA Bruins. Too much defense, friends. And you know the old saying, Offense gets you on SportsCenter, defense wins championships. Just ask the Spurs.

Or is the saying "no swimming for 30 minutes after you eat"?

Can't remember.

Enjoy the tournament.

Breaking down the brackets: The Wild, Wild West

(teams like Drake are what makes the NCAA tournament so great).

People everywhere are saying that UCLA got the easiest road to the Final Four. And you know what? They're right. The Bruins should have no problem getting to San Antonio, but they don't call it March Madness for nothing.

Here's the West:

• As I said earlier, I think UCLA is easily the class of this bracket and will get through, so we won't talk much about them from here on out.

• The team I like is Drake. Gotta love The Drake. Every year, a team like this makes a run (think Gonzaga, Rhode Island a while back, Florida three years ago, etc). This year, I think it's Drake and Butler that are going to do it. I like the Bulldogs to beat a fiesty Western Kentucky team in the first round and squeak by UConn in the second round to face UCLA in the Sweet 16. But the Bruins play the best defense in the land and will end Drake's season.

• Xavier is a good team, but shouldn't be a 3-seed. That said, they'll probably get Baylor in the second round and advance to the Sweet 16.

• There is no way on Earth Duke should be a 2-seed. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a Maryland fan. I've seen Duke and I can name 15 teams better than them. I wouldn't be surprised if they lose in the second round. But they'll likely get to the Sweet 16, where Xavier will knock them off.

• So I have Xavier and UCLA (who I think is winning this whole thing, by the way), in the elite eight in this bracket, with UCLA getting to the Final Four.

Breaking down the brackets: The Deep South

(Do DJ Augustine and the Horns have what it takes to get through the south?).

Glancing at the brackets, I have to say that the South looks like the toughest to me, and could the one that gives us the best games early on in the tournament.

First off, Memphis got hosed (again). Remember last year they had to play Acie Law and Texas A&M in Texas? Well they could have an Elite 8 matchup with Texas in Houston this year. Ouch. Here's my take on the south.

• Memphis won't have a problem getting through to the Sweet 16, because they are just too athletic for UT-Arlington and Mississippi State, who I think will get by Oregon in the first round. But the Tigers can't shoot free throws. They're awful. Yes, they've only lost once this year (to Tennessee), but free throw shooting is going to be the reason they don't get to the Final Four.

• One team I like is Pitt. Remember, before their best player got hurt early in the season, they were a top 15, maybe a top 10 team. And he's back now, and they just navigated through a tough Big East tourney and took the whole thing. They are very, very dangerous. Trust me, no one wants to play them.

• I also like Temple to upset Michigan State in round 1 in the token 12-5 upset. But the Owls will lose to Pitt in the second round.

• Other first round teams I like are Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary's and Texas (who I think should be a No. 1 seed).

• Advancing to the Sweet 16, I have the top four seeds (I know, I'm going all Clark Kellogg on you. Sorry). Memphis, Pitt, Stanford and Texas.

• I think Pitt/Memphis could be the game of the tournament. And to be frank, it's pretty much a toss up of who wins. I could see both pulling it out. But I'm not sold on Memphis. I think they're selfish and undisciplined, no matter how good Derrick Rose is. I'm taking Pitt to get to the Elite 8, where they'll play Texas. Playing in Houston, Texas will come out of the bracket to get to the Final Four. Pitt's got a tough road, though. I mean, Oral Roberts is legit and will push them. But if they get by them in the first round, they'll be battle-tested and ready to roll.

• Remember, all four No. 1 seeds have NEVER made it to the final four. That continues this year.

•Overall, this bracket is LOADED. Memphis, Texas, Stanford, Pitt, Oral Roberts, Temple, Mich. St., all good teams. It ain't going to be easy.

On a side note, the Terps won their first NIT game last night. Whoopee.

Breaking down the brackets: The East

Well, E-town sports aren't quite underway yet, so I'll be coming to you between now and Wednesday and breaking down the four regions of the NCAA tournament bracket.

Of course, every blogger/sportswriter with a keyboard is posting predictions so I'm not a pioneer or anything. Here's something you may not get many writers to admit, though. I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen in the tournament. Anyone who tells you that they do is lying. Period. I dare anyone on planet Earth to tell me that they picked George Mason to go to the Final Four two years ago. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Didn't think so. There is no science to this, it's all luck.

I watch more than my share of college hoops all year long and I'm telling you, if you win your bracket pool (which is played for fun, of course, since, you know, gambling is illegal and all) you are lucky. Think about it. Who usually wins? The person who says, "Oh I picked UCLA because I just love their colors." or the one who knows that "DJ Augustine is the most unstoppable guard in the US." Yep, the first one. That's who.

So I'll give you my meaningless "analysis" of each of the regions. Take it for what you will. Without further ado, I give you the East region:

• North Carolina is top overall top seed in the bracket (although I think they are probably the third best team in the country), and should have a cake walk to the Final Four. Side note: I can't believe now that my Terps beat the Tar Heels, and then completely lost every semblence they had of being a winning team. Watching the NIT = bad times. Anyway, Carolina gets the play-in winner (likely Mt. St. Mary's, since Coppin State has 20 freaking losses) and will cruise. Oh, and they're playing in Raleigh and Charlotte. Ugh.
• If I have to pick between an Arkansas team that I feel got lucky to win the SEC and Eric Gordon, I'm taking Gordon. Indiana wins.
• I know everyone loves the 5-12 upset and I'm guaranteeing that WAY too many people are going to take George Mason based on the 5-12 pick and the fact that they made that magical Final Four run. Here's the thing though, that's not the same team and they are playing a very, very good Notre Dame team. Just because the Irish are known for football, don't think that this isn't a good basketball team.
• I'm very, very tempted to take Winthrop over Washington State. Just a hunch.
• St. Joe's upsetting Xavier in the A-10 touney was fun to watch, but I really like this Oklahoma bunch. But the main reason I'd pick them is...
• The possibility of seeing them play Boise State in the second round. Remember the bowl game between these two two years ago? One of the best college football games ever. See, I told you making these picks makes no sense. Unfortunately, Boise State is running into Louisville, who I like here. By the way, don't you think Boise State should have a blue gym floor, you know to match the blue turf on the football field?
• If any team wants to complain about their seeding, it should be Butler. Yeah, they're a mid major team, but they went 29-3 this year and were ranked in or near the top 10 NATIONALLY nearly all season, and suddenly they are only a 7 seed in the East bracket? Wow. I think they are going to play very inspired basketball this week with a huge chip on their shoulder. I know I wouldn't want to play them.
• Tennessee shouldn't be in this bracket, but they are and they'll scoot past American in the first round.

Second round:
I like:
UNC to beat Indiana.
Notre Dame over Winthrop (yeah, that's right 4-13 upset!)
Oklahoma over Louisville.
Butler over Tennessee. (The Vols had a good year, but I've got a hunch with Butler here).

Sweet 16:
UNC over Notre Dame
Butler over Oklahoma

Elite 8:
UNC over Butler. Cakewalk for the Heels, but I suppose being the No. 1 overall seed, they earned it. Don't be surprised if they lose though. I know I won't.

Back later with a look at the Midwest Bracket: Kansas, OJ Mayo, K-State, Wisconsin, Roy Hibbert and much much more in what could likely be the toughest bracket in the tournament.

Quick update

Hello out there in cyberspace. I just wanted to take a second and keep you updated on what's happening with the blog. With the short break between winter and spring sports, I took a brief (and much needed) respite. However, spring sports are already practicing and I'm working hard on previews of every EAHS team, which I will post here when they are complete.

Once games get into full swing later in March, I'll be cranking out daily entries again and will be working on more slideshows and things like that.

In the mean time, though, I'll check in every couple of days with some thoughts for you to chew on until I can get the previews done.

Here are a few:
• It's coming up on my favorite sports time of the year. March Madness kicks off soon and, of course, baseball opening day is less than two weeks away, which makes me giddy. I've been spending waaay too much time studying my fantasy baseball magazines to prepare for my upcoming draft(s). I plan to dominate my keeper league this year, as long as Josh Beckett's back holds up and Billy Butler goes .320/30/100/100. Hey, anything's possible.
• I gotta say, this NBA season is one of the best in recent memory. I mean, tons of activity at the trade deadline, which NEVER happens, and a ton of excellent playoff races happening right now. In the west, anything can happen at this point. Will Kobe and Gasol continue carrying the Lakers? (Side note: funny how before the season everyone was saying how unhappy Kobe was in La-La Land, and now he's got the Lake Show on track for the top seed in the conference). Will the Suns learn how to play with Shaq? Can Houston keep it up without Yao? Are the Spurs still the team to beat? So many questions. I'm telling you, The League hasn't been this fun to follow since the days of MJ.
• Of course, the absolute mess that is my Maryland Terps and Baltimore Orioles puts a bit of a damper on my excitement. Ugh.

That's all for now, E-town. Until next time, stay classy.

Cheers.

End of the road for Rosenberry

Shane Rosenberry's season came to an end yesterday at the Giant Center in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships.

Rosenberry lost his preliminary match to Philipsburg-Osceola's Bo Reifer 12-6. Reifer was a district champ and came in with a 37-3 record. Rosenberry hung tough early, allowing only a takedown to Reifer in the first period and trailed 2-0. But Reifer hit Rosenberry with a four-point flurry early in the second to take a 6-0 lead. Rosenberry trailed 8-4 heading into the third period. He got an escape early to get within three, but Reifer pulled away with a takedown and two back points late.

In his first consolation match, Rosenberry got another district champ, Lower Merion's Anthony Fulginitti, who came in at 34-2. Rosenberry scored first, getting a takedown 1:19 into the match. But Fulginitti scored four points in the final 13 seconds to take a 6-2 lead. A Rosenberry reversal as time expired in the first made it 6-4. Rosenberry didn't score in the second period and nearly held Fulginitti scoreless, but he got a take down with 20 seconds left and two near fall points as time expired to go up 10-4 heading into the third, where Rosenberry could only manage an escape and lost 12-5.

It's never easy to see your season end, especially when you are in the state tournament, but Rosenberry should be proud of what he was able to accomplish this year. He won 38 matches and lost only 7 and, perhaps more importantly, he took another step. Last year, he failed to get out of districts. But he learned from it, and came back this year to get to states. And he'll learn from his experience in states this year and will get back there as a senior.

Trust me when I say that it's a different world at states. The level of competition is amazing and, until you experience it first hand, it's extremely tough to prepare for it. But Rosenberry's been there now. He knows how good the wrestlers at that level are, and he now knows what it's going to take to do better if he gets back there again.

E-town/Penn Wood notes

This week's Chronicle has plenty of coverage on the Bears' loss to Penn Wood Saturday, but I wanted to pass along a few of my thoughts that either weren't right for the paper or couldn't fit. That's the beauty of the blog, people. Without further ado, the ramblings of a schlub:

• The site of the game was awesome. Spring-Ford has some incredible sports venues. Walking in, I noticed their baseball STADIUM...not a field, a stadium. Probably the nicest high school baseball complex I've seen yet. Made me wish I went to Spring-Ford. The gym was also nice. It was the new style of gym with the two tiers and the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling above midcourt. The progress of high school facilities baffles me. I remember playing in a gym/auditorium with wooden bleachers that you had to manually pull out and one little scoreboard on the wall. But boy did that place get loud.

• It was also the first high school gym I'd been to that played music between quarters and during timeouts. Pretty cool. Gave the game a college-level feel.

• Paid attendance for the day was over 600, which was surprising to me. I think they may have added the two games together (there was a girls game before the Bears played), but nevertheless I saw a lot of E-town fans that made the 80-mile trek to root on the Bears.

• As for the game itself, I've gotta say that I wasn't very impressed with Penn Wood. Are they good? You bet. But are they a top-10 team in the state? I find that hard to believe. I think if they didn't play in the same division as teams like Chester and Pennsbury, they wouldn't have gotten that ranking. I thought they were a sloppy, undisciplined team that wins on athleticism alone. That said, they have a ton of height, which is one of the biggest advantages you can have at the high school level. They earned a ton of second-chance points by hitting the offensive glass very, very hard.

• One player that did impress me with Penn Wood's Duane Johnson. He's been their leading scorer all year, but I think he almost single-handedly won that game for them in the second half. He was a monster on the offensive glass and is a very athletic, skilled player. In my opinion, he was the best player on the court. Penn Wood's 6'7" freshman, Shawn Oakman, might not have scored a lot (4 points), but he's going to be very good. He's not as clumsy as I thought he would be. He has a very solid frame and once he gets it into his head that he can dominate, he'll be tough to stop. Look out for him the next 3 years. And look out for Penn Wood as a whole. The reason they were sloppy is because they are so darn young. Once they get a little seasoning, they're going to be dangerous. I mean challenging Chester dangerous.

• As for the Bears, I think the best word to describe them is resilient. They struggled shooting and rebounding in the first half, but made up for that with some suffocating defense, and that is what kept them in the game. The problem was that they shot around 27 percent in the first half and couldn't get a rebound, so they were essentially running one-shot possessions, and weren't making many of those shots. But despite that, they had to feel good only trailing by 2 at the half. In the second half, they played better and had a good third quarter, again relying on that defense to get them back in the game. In the third, they had Penn Wood completely off balance and built up a five point lead. And I think they could have won the game. But Johnson took over and just wouldn't let his team lose.

• Next year, I think the Bears have an excellent nucleus coming back with Chad Styer, Quinn Cozzens, Kyle McNeil and Brad Garber. Garber really showed me something Saturday. He doesn't have any fear and took on Penn Wood's taller players with a lot of aggression. Styer and Cozzens will be a force next year as well. I think they'll be a lot like the duo Columbia had this year in Pittman and Seibert. McNeil is a beast rebounding, but he's got to be more aggressive on offense and not be afraid to take a big shot. Styer didn't have his best shooting game against Penn Wood, but as a shooter should do, he kept shooting. He's not afraid to miss, which is what makes him such a dangerous player.

• The seniors also gave this team a lot of energy. Nate Koach had a phenomenal year, and I think he sometimes gets overlooked in the broad spectrum of L-L players. Jordan Hallman, Nate McCurdy and Mike O'Shea also were big time contributors who played very well at times.

• There's definitely a bright future for E-town basketball, and I think a large part of that is due to the coaching staff. They're a bright bunch that legitimately cares about their players. And that cannot be overstated when you talk about a team's psyche.

Wrestling odds and ends

I never posted the schedule for states (at least I don't think I did. Of course, I once drafted Mark Ellis in the third round of a fantasy baseball draft...so I never know what the heck is happening in my brain).

Just in case, though, here it is. Because I care about you, I'm giving you the schedule for Class AA and Class AAA. I know, I'm too good to you. Remember though, don't show up to the Class AA prelims and expect to see Shane Rosenberry on the mats....E-town's AAA.

Thursday:
Class AA:
9 a.m. – Preliminaries
12:15 p.m. – First Round Consolations

Class AAA:
4 p.m. – Preliminaries
7:15 p.m. – First Round Consolations

Friday:
Class AA:
8 a.m. – Quarterfinals.
9:45 a.m. – Second Round Consolations.
6:30 p.m. – Semifinals
6:30 p.m. – Third Round Consolations.
9 p.m. – Fourth Round Consolations.

Class AAA
1 p.m. – Quarterfinals.
2:45 p.m. – Second Round Consolations.

Saturday:
Class AA
12:30 p.m. – 3rd, 5th and 7th place Consolations.
2:10 p.m. – Parade of Champions
2:30 p.m. – Finals.

Class AAA;
8 a.m. – Semifinals
8 a.m. – Third Round Consolations
10:30 a.m. – Fourth Round Consolations.
6 p.m. – 3rd, 5th, 7th place Consolations.
7:40 p.m. – Parade of Champions.
8 p.m. – finals.

In other E-town wrestling news, senior Blake Rosenberger will don the singlet one last time in the L-L League vs. Berks all-star meet on Tuesday, March 11 at Schuylkill Valley High School at 7 p.m. Rosenberger is the L-L League's 145-pound representative and will face Wyomissing's Anthony Frost. He is the only E-town wrestler in the match.

Rosenberry's bracket

Here's a quick look at the PIAA Class AAA bracket for Thursday's state tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.

E-town's Shane Rosenberry, above, is the only E-town wrestler in the tourney, so here's what he has waiting for him in the 189-pound bracket.

Rosenberry is the third seed from District Three (or the South-Central region according to the PIAA). In the first round, he'll take on the No. 1 seed from the North-West region, Pittsburgh-Osceola's Bo Reifer. Reifer is a senior and currenly sports a 37-3 record. Rosenberry, a junior, has a 38-5 record.

Should he win his first match, Rosenberry will get the winner between Lower Merion senior Anthony Fulginitti (34-1) and Hempfield Area senior TJ Valore (33-5). Fulginitti is the overall top seed in the bracket. Nobody said states is easy. Sheesh, what a tough draw.

Warwick's Antonio Giorgio is also in the bracket. He is a perfect 43-0 this year and will get Neshaminy's Joe Stemme (25-11), the fourth seed from the South-East region, in the first round. If Giorgio wins, he could very well get a shot at defending state champ Nate Eachus from Hazleton in the second round. Eachus won last year as a junior and is currently 33-6 and the second seed from the North-East region.

Should be interesting Thursday. You can see the complete AA and AAA brackets here: http://www.wjpa.com/wrestling.htm.

E-town/Penn Wood breakdown

The fine folks at Spring-Ford High School provided us media schlubs with instant stats at Saturday's game, giving us complete printouts at halftime and at the end of the game. You can imagine my delight when I realized that I don't have to keep stats as well for the game (after all, I was already doing photos and trying to write a story at the same time). Good times.

Anyway, their gift to me is now mine to you. Here is a statistical breakdown, by half, of the game.

First Half:
E-town: 19 points
FGs: 6-22 (27.3 percent)
3-pt FG: 2-7 (28.6 percent)
FT: 5-7 (71.4 percent)
Turnovers: 10
Rebounds: 8 (2 offensive, 6 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 1
Point off turnovers: 4
Points in paint: 4
Fast break points: 0

Penn Wood: 21 points
FGs: 8-17 (47.1 percent)
3-pt FG: 1-3 (33.3 percent)
FT: 4-7 (57.1 percent)
Turnovers: 14
Rebounds: 17 (4 offensive, 13 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 5
Points off turnovers: 5
Points in paint: 10.
Fast break points: 2.

SECOND HALF:
E-town: 27 points
FGs: 9-22 (40.9 percent)
3-pt FG: 3-10 (30 percent)
FT: 6-8 (75 percent)
Turnovers: 10
Rebounds: 15 (5 offensive, 10 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 4
Point off turnovers: 7
Points in paint: 10
Fast break points: 2

Penn Wood: 34 points
FGs: 12-30 (40 percent)
3-pt FG: 1-3 (33.3 percent)
FT: 9-15 (60 percent)
Turnovers: 7
Rebounds: 18 (12 offensive, 6 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 11
Point off turnovers: 15
Points in paint: 20
Fast break points: 4

FINALS:
E-town: 46 points
FGs: 15-44 (34 percent)
3-pt FG: 5-17 (29.4 percent)
FT: 11-15 (73.3 percent)
Turnovers: 20
Rebounds: 23 (7 offensive, 16 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 5
Point off turnovers: 11
Points in paint: 14
Fast break points: 2

Penn Wood
FGs: 20-47 (42.6 percent)
3-pt FG: 2-6 (33.3 percent)
FT: 13-22 (59.1 percent)
Turnovers: 21
Rebounds: 35 (16 offensive, 19 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 16
Point off turnovers: 20
Points in paint: 30
Fast break points: 6


There you have it....back later today with some thoughts from the game.

Penn Wood beats E-town

Just got back from Spring Ford High, where the Penn Wood Patriots beat E-town 62-56 in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Sorry for the lack of live updates I promised, Spring Ford was having wireless Internet issues, and I couldn't get a connection.

Anyway, E-town played a nice game and actually held a six-point lead at one point in the second half, but couldn't hold off Penn Wood. Plenty more on this game later, but I wanted to at least post the score.