Northland fall sports notebook

It took a little bit of home cooking for Platte County’s softball team to get rolling again.

After losing two of its first three games last week, the Pirates came back with a vengeance in the Platte County Invitational on Saturday, winning all four games on the way to the tournament title.

The Pirates scored 34 runs in the tournament, and Coach Rob Davenport couldn’t have been happier. Second baseman Cacy Williams led the attack, batting 13-for-18 with two doubles and two triples and scoring seven runs. Pitcher Haley Pypes struck out 38 in 22 innings and gave up only three unearned runs.

“We really hadn’t been able to get much going,” Davenport said, “and finally on Saturday we broke out of that slump and hit the ball well up and down the lineup.”

A big reason for that, Davenport said, was because the Pirates made offense a priority in the practices leading to the tournament.

“It was just a matter of getting the kids some confidence,” he said.

Now, Davenport hopes his team can keep it going. The Pirates were 12-4 entering their game against St. Pius on Tuesday and have games against Ruskin today and Park Hill on Thursday.

VOLLEYBALLLawson volleyball coach Corrie Willoughby had a feeling her young team would be trying to find its way early in the season.

Makes sense, considering the Cardinals returned only one starter from a 20-6-4 team. And so far she has been correct. The Cardinals improved to 4-9-1 with a victory over Richmond on Monday.

Willoughby said she has started a different lineup every game this season, and she has seen some improvement of late. Aside from their win on Monday, she was pleased with their performance at a tournament in Richmond on Saturday despite the fact the Cardinals had only a 1-2-1 record in the tournament.

“We were actually playing as a team and fighting back,” said Willoughby, who added that she is still looking for some leaders to emerge.

Willoughby hopes her team shows continued improvement in their first KCI conference game on Thursday, a big game against Plattsburg. “We’re 12-0 in the conference the last two years, so we’re hoping to pull out a victory at their place,” she said.

GIRLS TENNISThe St. Pius X girls tennis team has a s 7-1 record and still has a shot of successfully defending its West Central Conference team championship.

Coach Rae Schnabel said a big part of the Warriors’ success so far has been the play and leadership of senior captains Mary Carnes and Hannah Eberle.

“They work hard at practice and do everything we’re trying to stress,” Schnabel said, adding that Carnes, in particular, has been impressive in logging a 6-2 record as the Warriors’ No. 1 singles player. Nor is it a coincidence that Carnes’ improvement has come on the heels of a summer in which she spent some time at a tennis camp.

“The camps definitely make a difference,” Schnabel said. “It gives them confidence when they play eight hours of tennis five days a week.”

Schnabel said the Warriors were 6-1 in conference play and looking forward to their match Tuesday against Warrensburg, the team that beat them earlier in the season.

“I think it will be (a measuring stick),” Schnabel said. “The last time we faced them, we were not playing our game. (We) were playing some pretty timid tennis.”

CROSS COUNTRYThe annual Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence returns this weekend, challenging cross-country runners across the metro and beyond to defeat its hilly course.

Among the Northland teams scheduled to compete are Kearney, Liberty, Oak Park, Platte County and Staley.

submitted by TEREZ A. PAYLOR - 2009-09-22 14:23:01

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