The Winding Baseball Trek Towards Becoming a Cincinnati Reds’ Fan
With Opening Day here, its’ fun to follow more than one major league team.
I did not grow up as a Reds’ fan. In fact, Cincinnati’s great Big Red Machine caused me great heartache when, as a 12-year old boy growing up in Northern Virginia, I watched on TV as my favorite team, the Red Sox, lost to Sparky Anderson’s crew, 4-3, in Game 7 of the 1975 Fall Classic. I had been ecstatic after Carlton Fisk’s 12th inning game-winning home run had given the ‘Sox a 7-6 win in Game 6. But following the Game 7 loss, in which my favorite player, the great Carl Yastrzemski, flew out to end the game in the bottom of the ninth inning at Fenway Park, I was in tears – a broken kid.
Centreville Girls Enjoying Four-Game Win Streak
Wildcats preparing for next week's start of Concorde soccer play.
The Centreville High girls' soccer team, following a breakthrough 2011 season a year ago which saw the Wildcats go 13-3 and advance all the way to the Northern Region tournament semifinals before their season ended with a Final Four loss to eventual state champion McLean, is off to a solid start this spring. Centreville, after beginning the season with a 2-0 road loss at W.T. Woodson High (Patriot District) on March 13 and then playing visiting Yorktown High (National District) to a 1-1 tie two days later, is currently on an impressive four-game win streak with the victories coming over visiting T.C. Williams (Patriot), 5-0, on March 19; at West Springfield (Patriot), 1-0, on March 23; a 2-1 triumph on March 27 over guest McLean (Liberty District), the same Highlanders' squad which ended the Wildcats' hopes of qualifying for the state AAA playoffs last year; and a decisive victory at Wakefield High (National), 8-0, last Thursday night. (See Centreville High Sports Notebook for details of the Wakefield game.)
Episcopal Boys’ Lax Team Cruises Past T.C. Williams
Junior Dubose, freshman Davy score 3 goals for Maroon.
In an Alexandria public-private school matchup, public school T.C. Williams was no match for Episcopal, which built a 9-0 lead and cruised to a 16-2 victory on March 31.
TC Rowers Take Home Three Victories at Noxontown
The T.C. Williams crew team traveled to the St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Del., on March 31 to compete in the Noxontown Regatta, a contest that saw the Titan rowers go up against some of the best boats in the Mid-Atlantic region and come home with three victories by the end of the day.
West Potomac Senior Belanger Throws No-Hitter
Wolverines win spring break tournament on home field.
Josh Belanger didn’t need expectations, first-pitch strikes or a consistent breaking ball to give his fellow Wolverines the career-best effort they were looking for.
Sports Briefs: West Potomac Softball Starts 9-1
The West Potomac softball team concluded its appearance at the Madison spring break tournament with three consecutive victories, improving its record to 9-1.
Lake Braddock Baseball Team Suffers First Loss
Bruin left-hander Rogers pitches well in defeat.
Regardless if one viewed the glass as half full or half empty, the Lake Braddock baseball team suffered its first loss of the season on April 3 and head coach Jody Rutherford was less than enthused with the Bruins’ effort.
Churchill Girls’ Lax Receives Early-Season Wake-Up Call
Bulldogs respond to Damascus loss by beating Paint Branch.
Senior standout Mairin Hall said the Churchill girls’ lacrosse team doesn’t want to dwell on its March 26 loss to Damascus — the program’s first loss to a Montgomery County team since 2010 — but the defeat just might provide motivation for a Bulldog group rarely challenged in recent seasons.
Sophomore midfielder Emily Spack is the Yorktown girls’ lacrosse team’s second-leading goal-scorer with 13.
With all six of its regular-season non-district games in the books, Yorktown girls' lacrosse coach Crystal Morgan hopes the Patriots made a reasonable case for being a regional contender.
W-L Boys’ Lax Loses to Oakton
The Washington-Lee boys’ lacrosse team failed to score in the first half and managed just one goal in the first three quarters as the Generals lost to Oakton 14-2 on March 30 at Herndon High School.
Arlington Aerials Have Successful Championship Showing
The Arlington Aerials gymnastics team attended the Level 8-9 State Gymnastics Championships on March 24 and 25. The meet was held at the U-Turn Sports Center in Richmond.
Schweiker, Harris Lead Oakton Boys’ Lax Past W-L
Cougars improve to 2-3 with 14-2 victory against Generals.
Jack Harris scored four consecutive goals during a five-minute stretch in the first half and Oakton cruised to a 14-2 victory against Washington-Lee on March 30 at Herndon High School.
Veteran Coach West Trying To Rebuild TC Girls’ Lax
Titans drop Patriot District opener to Lake Braddock
The T.C. Williams girls’ lacrosse team showed some fight in the second half of its Patriot District opener against Lake Braddock, starting the final 25 minutes with a 4-0 run. By that point, however, the Bruins had already proven to be the superior squad on its way to victory.
TC Crew Opens Season Against Washington-Lee
The T.C. Williams crew team kicked off the spring 2012 rowing season on March 24 at the Dee Campbell Boathouse in Old Town with its first and only home regatta of the year — a scrimmage against longtime rival Washington-Lee that not only provided the Titan rowers with, in the words of boys’ head coach Pete Stramese, "a good litmus test" to start the season, but left both Stramese and girls head coach Mercedes Kiss feeling confident about the team’s prospects moving forward this spring.
West Potomac Softball Produces Torrid Offensive Start
Wolverines hit seven home runs in first four games.
Danielle McHugh started West Potomac’s weekend long-ball party with a leadoff home run against West Springfield.