Kaiserslautern softball wins twice vs. Lakenheath

Late run production was the key and Mariana Conklin went 4-for-4 batting, helping Kaiserslautern score a 12-6 win its softball opener against Lakenheath last weekend. The Lady Raiders won again in the second game, sweeping the Lady Lancers in preparation for a key series coming up this weekend at Stuttgart.

In the first game, Conklin was the most consistent KHS batter, knocking in two runs along the way. Olivia Warren and Ally Alamos combined for five more RBI and four base hits to boost the home team.

Alamos was the starting pitcher and went the distance, with five strikeouts in five innings of work. She walked 10 batters but Kaiserslautern was able to strand a good number of them with good defense. Senior catcher Chloe Whisennand had to leave the game due to a knee injury so Conklin came in to catch, while Erin Nuckols step-ped in at second base.

The Lady Raiders went back and forth with the Lady Lancers in the second game before pulling away with big run production in the final innings. Abby Young pitched six good innings and won the game after striking out seven and issuing only five walks. Young was big at the plate, too, with a 3-for-5 day and three RBI. Alamos backed her with two hits and one RBI.

“The second game I brought in some of the younger players to fill some positions, because some veterans were out due to injuries,” KHS coach Jesse Costa said. “Abby Young pitched outstanding and I am really proud of the way everyone stepped up and helped us get the win.”

SOCCER

Ramstein beats Vilseck boys 7-0

At the Kaiserslautern Field, Tony Villella got a first half goal after an assist by Gavin McMillan. Ramstein had a couple more chances to score but things didn’t really start clicking until the second half.

Ramstein opened up with five goals in the first 20 minutes of stanza two when seemingly every chance they had resulted in a goal. Vilseck had been playing fairly deep, with multiple players behind the ball and overall stout defense.

“It was hard for us to get through their back four and back eight,” head coach Dominick Ludes said. “But we had been working specifically on something in practice – efficiency in front of goal. It was nice to see how the team was able to apply that in second half and allow us to pull away. We didn’t use outside and wings a lot in the first half but we changed it a bit to attack more with our wings.”

Second half goals and assists came, in order, from Chris Slover (Kyle Vargas), Anthony Villella (Vargas), Slover (Dylan Grimes), Villella (Grimes), Slover (Carter Robison), McMillan (Diego Colon). The two hat tricks by Slover and Villella allowed Ramstein coaches to insert additional players, who also turned out productive.

“Several others came in during the second half but the pace of game did not slow down,” Ludes said. “We played attacking football and we continued scoring goals. Our JV team also won and stayed undefeated, so we are doing well overall. If we stay injury free and level headed – the kids don’t lose their focus, we will always have chances to win games.”

Junior goalkeeper Garrett Erickson had four saves in the shutout victory and Ramstein will play Black Forest Academy in Senior Day action Saturday, with girls’ kickoff at 10 a.m. and the boys slated to go around noon.

The Ramstein girls stayed unbeaten with a 9-0 win, in a match where they allowed zero shots on goal for Vilseck. The Lady Royals (3-0-1) got penalty kick scores from Baleigh McFall and Allie Davis.

Other Ramstein goals came from Kat Ruffing, Jaelynn Galindo, Haley Deome, Haylie Scott, and Gabs Janes. Four of the Lady Royals goals were set up with assists from Brittany Cunningham, Davis, Deome and Anna Abell.

Karla Robillard and Kelsey Mashburn had goals in a 3-0 win by the Ramstein junior varsity. Nicole Stout had an assist and  there were again no shots on goal allowed by the Ramstein defense.

BASEBALL

Kaiserslautern sweeps SHAPE,
splits with Lakenheath

Kaiserslautern got two hits and two runs batted in from Mathias Perrin, using a 10-run third inning to clinch a 12-6 win against last season’s DODEA runner-up Lakenheath last Saturday. The Raiders proceeded to give up a huge inning to the Lancers in the second game and wound up losing 16-2.

In game one, Ronin Sherman threw a four-inning complete game and gave up only three hits. He had two hits to help his own cause and drew a walk in his three at-bats. Jace Robinson also had two hits and and two RBI for the Raiders. Justice Harper added two more RBI and only one batter in the KHS lineup struck out, so plenty of balls were put into play.

The second game was a monstrosity for the hosts, as Lakenheath began by scoring four runs in the first inning and three more in the second to open a wide lead. The third frame was the clincher, though, as the visiting Lancers scored nine times and found widespread success against two Raider relief pitchers.

Kaiserslautern lost a chance at sweeping four games over the weekend when their hitting stalled out. Lakenheath pitchers struck out five KHS batters and held the Raiders to just three hits. Kaiserslautern had 10 errors in the disastrous final game and was to face a Frankfurt team in a non-division home game Wednesday, before traveling to meet Stuttgart in two games this weekend.

Against SHAPE, Kaiserslautern used big final innings and won 10-5 and 8-5 at Pulaski Field. Kaden Senkbeil, Nolan Sherman, and Perrin each had base hits and two RBI in the first win. Robinson and Colin Zayd both rapped doubles, while Harper and Perrin teamed with Zayd on the mound.

The second win over SHAPE mirrored the first, when KHS scored four times in the last inning. Ronin Sherman and Robinson were key producers in Kaiserslautern’s nine-hit attack. Robinson had a triple and the Raiders got doubles from Perrin and Zayd. Perrin and Robinson had four RBI between them to back five different Raider pitchers who threw in the win. Nolan Sherman was the winner, throwing 22 total pitches with no hits and four strikeouts. Senkbeil started the game but exited after two frames.

Ramstein idle after 5-5 tie against Frankfurt Warriors

Nemo Kindle and Jerod Junkins had two hits apiece in the non-division road matchup at Frankfurt. Tieran Shoffner had a double and Kindle hit a home run, with three RBI. Kindle, Shoffner, Kaleb Bellew, and Chance Baker all pitched, combining for five strikeouts and four walks allowed. Ramstein is set to host Spangdahlem on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Southside Field.

TRACK AND FIELD

Kaiserslautern, Ramstein continue prolific seasons

It’s becoming a habit this spring season, Kaiserslautern and Ramstein are seeing prolific performances from both their boys’ and girls’ track and field teams. The squads went to a meet in Vilseck this past weekend and every KMC team finished in the top three in point standings.

Ramstein won the boys team title, edging Kaiserslautern and host Vilseck while Stuttgart was also competitive in fourth place. It was Stuttgart taking the girls’ overall honors pushing past strong efforts by Ramstein, KHS in third, then Vilseck in fourth.

Tré Dotson won the boys’ high jump for KHS, clearing four inches higher than his nearest competitor. Dotson was also part of KHS’s first place 4×100 meter relay team, continuing to cap what has been a splendid sophomore athletics year for him.

Ramstein took the boys’ overall crown thanks in part to Tyrese Loveday, Jackie Harris and Jerod Little’s 1-2-3 sweep of the 300 meter hurdles. Harris and Bryce Thomas were also 1-2 in the 110 meter hurdles, while the Royals got first place in all the distance races from the likes of Nick Clinton (800), Jose Serrano (1,600) and Dashiell Rogers (3,200).

CiCi Williams was first in the long jump, triple jump and 300 meter hurdles to pace the girls. Williams was edged by RHS teammate Jaya Worthington in the 100 meter hurdles, an event that was swept by Ramstein female athletes.

Mercedes Durden and Zhane Williams were first and second, respectively, for Kaiserslautern in the discus and shot put events. All top performances by area athletes are listed, with meets continuing this weekend staged to be at Baumholder and Stuttgart for area schools.

BOYS

100 meters

2. Jacob Winchell, KHS (11.73)

200 meters

2. Tre Dotson, KHS (23.78)

3. Tyrese Loveday, Ramstein (24.08)

400 meters

2. Conner Looney, Ramstein (53.76)

800 meters

1. Nick Clinton, Ramstein (2:06.63)

3. Denver Dalpais, Ramstein (2:08.12)

1600 meters

1. Jose Serrano, Ramstein (4:40.33)

2. Orlando Rojas, KHS (4:49.59)

3. Griffen Parsells, KHS (4:50.25)

3200 meters

1. Dashiell Rogers, Ramstein (10:13.11)

2. Orlando Rojas, KHS (10:31.33)

110 meter hurdles

1. Jackie Harris, Ramstein (16.21)

2. Bryce Thomas, Ramstein (17.09)

3. Jacob Winchell, KHS (17.14)

300 meter hurdles

1. Tyrese Loveday, Ramstein (42.10)

2. Jackie Harris, Ramstein (44.13)

3. Jerod Little, Ramstein (44.47)

4×100 relay

1. Kaiserslautern – Ervin Johnson, Tre Dotson, Jacob Winchell, Santo Starkey (44.83)

4×400 relay

1. Ramstein – Cameron Chester, Conner Looney, Nick Clinton, Jose Serrano (3:34.32)

4×800 relay

1. Kaiserslautern – Griffen Parsells, Orlando Rojas, Esteban Saldana, Skyler Ratledge (8:36.39)

2. Ramstein – Nick Clinton, Owen Mendenhall, Nicholas Blake, Robert Cullison (8:37.17)

Sprint Medley Relay

1. Ramstein – Jalon Lewis, Conner Looney, Nicholas Blake, Jose Serrano (3:45.77)

Shot Put

2. Eli Roberts, Ramstein (41-09.5)

Discus

2. Austin Higby, KHS (126-0)

High Jump

1. Tré Dotson, KHS (5-09)

3. Jason Jones, Ramstein (5-07)

Long Jump

1. Bryce Thomas, Ramstein (19-03)

2. Santo Starkey, KHS (19-01)

Triple Jump

2. Jason Jones, Ramstein (38-09)

3. Ervin Johnson, Kaiserslautern (38-06.5)

GIRLS

100 meters

2. Elena Russey, KHS (13.92)

3. Heysha Perez-Mendez, KHS (14.00)

1600 meters

2. Mackenzie Perkes, Ramstein (5:54.90)

3200 meters

2. Jordanne Hill, Ramstein (12:48.89)

100 meter hurdles

1. Jaya Worthington, Ramstein (16.99)

2. CiCi Williams, Ramstein (17.01)

3. Sybella Crespo, Ramstein (17.70)

300 meter hurdles

1. CiCi Williams, Ramstein (48.70)

3. Ayanna Cox, KHS (53.49)

4×100 relay

2. Kaiserslautern – Isabella Pacheco, Mallory Harris, Elena Russey, Azorah Williams (52.84)

4×400 relay

3. Kaiserslautern – Isabella Pacheco, Heysha Perez-Mendez, Ayanna Cox, Mallory Harris (4:29.21)

4×800 relay

2. Ramstein – Mya McKinley, Megan Hull, Jordanne Hill, Mackenzie Perkes (11:03.07)

Sprint Medley Relay

3. Ramstein – Kori Fay, Caprinia Goode, Mya McKinley, Mackenzie Perkes (4:48.20)

Shot Put

1. Mercedes Durden, KHS (30-00)    

2. Zhane Williams, KHS (29-05.75)

Discus

1. Mercedes Durden, KHS (87-11)    

2. Zhane Williams, KHS (82-05)

Long Jump

1. CiCi Williams, Ramstein (15-5.50)

Triple Jump

1. CiCi Williams, Ramstein (33-03)

Huxtable leads Baumholder at
Wiesbaden meet

Competing with larger schools at last weekend’s Wies-baden Invitational meet, Baumholder got some personal bests and held its own, especially on the boys’ side. Lorne Huxtable won the long jump, while running second in the 110 hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles. Jesse Espinoza was second in the 3,200 meters to help BHS to it’s third place team standing behind winner Wiesbaden and second place Lakenheath.

Huxtable, Conner Brinkmeyer, Chandler Pigge, and Prentiss Alford formed the Bucanneers’ 4×400 meter relay group and got second place there. Baumholder also had second place in the 4×800 relay that featured Gavin Baldevia, Espinoza, Amir Jones-Scott, and Brandon Bankston. Baumholder placed third in the sprint medley relay with Pigge, Brinkmeyer, Jacob Gregg, and JJ Cromley making up the quartet. The highest girls’ finish was a fourth place effort by Grace Pedigo in the 400 meters.