SPORTS

August 29, 2013 INSIDE: Socials, B6Religion, B4 Classifieds, B7-B10CODY PORTER, SPORTS EDITOR, CPORTER@JESSAMINEJOURNAL.COM

dimensions of the visitnich.com bowl

BSECTION

• East, West Jessamine volleyball get county rivalry underway Thursday as Rose, Dean, LadyColts’ youth lead charge against Lady Jags | B2

• Boys’ soccer teamsfind offensive successin Sunday action | B5

• Girls’ soccer teamsface tough talent insoccerrama | B2

By Cody Portercporter@jessaminejournal.com

Senior Colt Devin Taylor ran wildand rampant Friday, but it wasn'tquite enough to allow West Jessamineto escape scot-free.

The Colts (0-1) jumped out to a 20-7 lead just after the half, but latedrives by Scott High School (1-0) andan inability to convert near the redzone by West set up the Eagles for ascore with 29 seconds left, earningthem a 21-20 victory in the secondgame of the VisitNich.com Bowl.

“We talked about we wanted to be10-0, and that’s bypassed us,” Westhead coach Yancey Marcum said. “Idon’t yell at kids for going as hard asthey can, and I feel we played as hardas we (could Friday).”

Marcum, in his first game as headcoach, said while his team is “prettygood,” he doesn’t believe they have a

firm grasp on how to win after postinga record of 4-17 over the past two sea-sons.

“We had some confidence, we’repretty good, so you saw when we getthem rallied together we started outthe game real well,” Marcum said.“Halftime, we get them together andcome out there and score two touch-downs real quick. What scares me isthat the past three or four years, theydon’t know how to win; they don’tknow how to keep going.”

As Marcum alluded to, the Coltssprinted down the field in the openingof the two halves with the ball tuckedfirmly in the hands of Taylor, whose 54yards in the Colts’ opening five playsgave West an early 6-0 lead after hescored from nine yards out.

And again as West emerged fromthe half in a one-point deficit, they

Taylor-made victoryslips away from Colts

Jags false-start in loss to DragonsBy Cody Portercporter@jessaminejournal.com

East Jessamine spat and sputteredto a 30-8 loss to the finely-tuned ma-chine that was the South OldhamDragons Friday in the opening game

of the third-annual VisitNich.comBowl.

“Offensively, it was just like a carmissing a spark plug,” East headcoach Mike Bowlin said. “We would

see JAGS on page B3

see COLTS on page B5

PHOTO BY MIKE MOORE/MMOORE@JESSAMINEJOURNAL.COMScott High School's Nick Brinkman (3) scored the winning touchdown after being brought down by West's Devin Taylor justinches into the end zone with 29 seconds left in a 21-20 win during the second game of Friday’s VisitNich.com Bowl.

Use the KY Xtra app on your smart phone on the photo above to see a videoof game action and an interview with West Jessamine head coach YanceyMarcum. Use the app on the left side of the page to see photos of the Colts’game against Scott High School. The KY Xtra app can be used on B3 to viewphotos and video of East’s game against South Oldham High School.

EMILY DEAN

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN KLEPPINGERPhotographs taken throughout the evening Friday at East Jessamine High School are pieced together in thebackground. The photos were taken in daylight during the game between East Jessamine and South Oldham.

BJune 13, 2013

SECTION

INSIDE: Religion, B4-B5 Classifieds, B5-B9 Chamber Chat, B10

CODY PORTER,SPORTS EDITORCPORTER@JESSAMINEJOURNAL.COM

A FATHeR’S DAy

TRIBuTe

“The one thing when I takemy final breath that willalways shine in my life withHaleigh, as of right now, isher softball ... that’s some-thing that she and I have beenable to share and will never beforgotten.”

Doug and Haleigh Fain

“It’s basically likehaving three otherdads, plus yourdad. They allwant the bestfrom you.”

Brooke and Kevin Dennis

Sarah and Anthony Rainwater

Haylee and Tom Hamm

I’m honest with her, andwhen I didn’t think sheplayed as well as shecould, or made a bad mis-take, I’ll tell her. When shedoes well, I’ll tell her I’mproud of her.

I might chew herall the wayhome, but whenwe walk throughthe door at thehouse, it’s doneuntil we getback on thatfield again.

Y O U R N O . 1 S O U R C E F O R J E S S A M I N E C O U N T Y N E W S

East Jessamine softball winning with family bondingBy Cody Porter and Amelia Orwicksports@jessaminejournal.com

Haylee Hamm, Sarah Rainwater, HeatherDennis and Haleigh Fain have found a home onthe softball diamond in more ways than one.

The four East Jessamine players have sharedthe field for years with their fathers: coachesTom Hamm, Anthony Rainwater and KevinDennis; and scorekeeper Doug Fain.

With Father’s Day approaching, the dadsand daughters sat down separately to discussthe tight-knit relationships that they have witheach other.

Finding home on the field

Tom began coaching Haylee in the eighthgrade, the latest of the coaching crew.Doug’s path to now began in 2000, when

Haleigh was a 4-year-old. Anthony and Kevin’scoaching began at the little league level, whichended for Sarah with baseball as a 12-year-old.

Anthony and Tom got to know each other inthe middle of the 2000s while helping coachopposing teams. The two created a summertravel team by the name of the Fusion, whichbegan the softball coaching trek that have ledeach to where they are today with their daugh-ters.

Anthony and Kevin both played under their

dad at different stages of their athletic careers.“I’m going to tell you, he was a lot rougher on

me than I am on her, but they won’t agree withthat,” Kevin said. “When you’re younger, youdon’t understand, but now, all three of us, we tryto stay on ours more than anybody because wewant them to do the best they can.”

Doug described things as “nepotism atwork,” in the sense that if you’re not too hard onone in particular, it appears that you may beplaying favorites.

That idea led to each dad taking on the taskof coaching the other’s daughter, which cameafter Kevin asked Tom if he would condition hisdaughter, Brooke, to the point he was Haylee.

“I stay on mine pretty bad, so we decided it’sa pretty good idea,” Kevin said.

Tom backed up Kevin’s sentiments by sayinghe now motions over one of the other coaches tomanage Haylee if he is too mad at her.

“We all three have the same coaching styles,so that’s why we get along so well, but none of usare coaches that scream and yell,” Tom said.“One thing I try to always do with Haylee, youknow, I’m honest with her, and when I didn’tthink she played as well as she could, or made abad mistake, I’ll tell her. When she does well, I’lltell her I’m proud of her.”

Despite how their daughters may perform,their thoughts were one: once they step foot in

the their houses, whatever happened on thefield remains there.

“Something that I do with Sarah, if I’m upsetwith her, when we leave the field, drive home, Imight chew her all the way home, but when wewalk through the door at the house, it’s doneuntil we get back on that field again,” Anthonysaid, pointing toward the East softball field.

“I’m the same way,” Tom said. “We get off thebus or get off the field and into my car, that’s our10 minutes to get what’s said, said.”

The dads, in agreement, said finding the bal-ance in talking and coaching their daughtershelps ease over whatever may have happened ata game, because as Anthony said, “Girls weartheir emotions on their shoulder.”

“The other night after we left region,(Haylee) beat herself up for days ... she brokeout into hives after the game,” Tom said. “I said,‘All you can do is give it what you got, and yougave it everything you had that night.’ I said, ‘Itwasn’t meant to be. There’s reasons for every-thing; I don’t know what the reason was thatnight, but there’s a reason.’”

Anthony, through experiences of his ownwith coaching baseball, said he learned, likeDoug, it’s much more enjoyable to coach theirdaughters and other girls, as opposed to boys.

“Girls, you lose them if you (yell),” Anthonysaid. “My wife had to bring me to that. She said,

‘You got a little girl here now. You got girls, yougot to be more gentle and you got to take iteasy.’”

For Tom, Anthony and Doug, softball was alearning experience that their daughters incor-porated into their wives’ lives. However, Kevin’swife, Pam, like him, has played the game for sev-eral years, allowing her to have the knowledgeto give input to Brooke about how to play.

“(Pam’s) played so much that she can talk toBrooke away from me, Tom or Anthony doing it,that she knows what needs to be done, and shecan get in Brooke’s ear pretty good,” Kevin said.“She can relate to her about softball away fromus doing it.”

If the roles were reversed, Kevin said not alot would change for his daughter beingcoached by her mom.

“Pam played for teams all over the place.She would be on Brooke probably as hard as Iam, or worse, and she still does at times,” Kevinsaid. Everybody says to me when I hit a ground-ball, I hit it twice as hard to Brooke — my momand Pam and different people — and Brookedoesn’t care, she’s used to it.”

The others say their wives have pickedthings up through watching their daughters’adoption of the sport.

see FATHER’S DAY on page B3

BACKGROUND PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN KLEPPINGER/OLD PHOTOS SUBMITTED/DESIGN BY CODY PORTER AND JONATHAN KLEPPINGER

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a6august 15, 2013

coDy PoRTER,SPoRTS EDiToRcPoRTER@jESSaminEjouRnal.com

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Jaguars turn toveterans, ‘vanilla’

defense in ’13Change is coming for a team that

lacked leadership in 2012.The East Jessamine Jaguars’ football

program finished last season with a 2-8record, its worst since a three-win result inhead coach Mike Bowlin’s first year at thehelm in 2005.

“I’ve often made the comment thatyou’re only going to go as far as your seniorstake you,” Bowlin said.

In 2013, the Jags boast a 15-man seniorclass.

“We’ve got a lot more people stepping upto fill the shoes from last year that wedidn’t quite get,” senior offensive/defensivelineman Billy Mitchell said. “More peopleare taking on the challenge to be a leader,so we’ve got several more people steppingup; everybody’s being loud and making an

effort.”Bowlin said the fortunate sce-

nario of having such a class is thatyou have someone on the field to hold oth-ers accountable, even during practice,because this is the seniors’ last chance tosucceed at the high-school level.

Certain players stepping up to the taskfor coach Bowlin include seniors runningback/defensive back Kahnen Leslie, run-ning back/linebacker Jared Caudill, andnewly named starting quarterback SkylerRose, who returns from season-endingankle surgery in 2012 that limited him totwo games.

Rose received the nod to lead an offensethat is further transitioning into a spreadoffense that Bowlin said his team has gotmore of a taste of.

“The good news about this year is thatwe’ve spent the whole offseason working on(the spread),” Bowlin said. “Our kids, evensince before January, got out and startedthrowing and catching, so they’ve kind ofjust picked it up and said this is what we’re

Colts’culture

change helpingWest turn corner

They’ve got athletes, experience,size, speed, “music, dancin’,yelling,” and lots of “runnin’.”

Put it all together and those who attend a2013 West Jessamine football game will seethe fingerprints of first-year head coachYancey Marcum, whose attempt at changingthe culture for the Colts is becoming evident.

“I think the kids in the school kind ofthought that we weren’t as good as otherteams are, so I felt that they didn’t come toour games because of that,” senior runningback Devin Taylor said.

In a matter of months, Marcum’s effecton the team has produced an energy that hisseniors have picked up on and translated to

practice.“We try to come out there every day

with a lot of energy and basically force-feed it into our seniors,” Marcum said.“Non-stop clapping, music, dancing,yellin’, runnin’, runnin’, runnin’ every-where — trying to feed that into thekids, the seniors and let that trickleon down to the younger kids.”

The Colts’ senior class consists of 20players, who in large part will see a majorityof downs for West this coming season.

“In years past, the team hasn’t reallymeshed a lot together,” senior tight end/safe-ty Carter Hahn said. “This year, our seniorclass, even during weight lifting in the off-season, would have senior meetings … teambonding kind of things ... That really broughtus together, and it’s really translating on thefield because we’re all brothers out there.”

Taylor added to Hahn’s thought on thesenior class’s influence in that it hashelped having played alongside one anoth-er since league football, and now “we’remature enough to take on responsibilities in

H i g H S c H o o l f o o T b a l l

Sports

Devin Taylor

Skyler Rose

see WEST on page A7

see EAST on page A7

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2013 West football schedule8/23 Scott @East 8:45 p.m.8/30 Rockcastle Co. A 7:30 p.m.9/6 Mercer Co. H 7:30 p.m.9/13 Western Hills H 7:30 p.m.9/20 East Jessamine H 7:30 p.m.9/27 Franklin Co. H 7:30 p.m.10/4 Montgomery Co. A 7:30 p.m.10/11 Anderson Co. A 7:30 p.m.10/25Woodford Co. A 7:30 p.m.11/1 Garrard Co. H 7:30 p.m.

2013 East football schedule

8/23 South Oldham H8/30 Dunbar A9/13 Grant Co. A9/20 West Jessamine A9/27 Woodford Co. H10/4 Franklin Co. A10/11 Montgomery Co.H10/25Anderson Co. H11/1 North Oldham H

*All games except South Oldham are7:30 p.m. kickoffs. The game against

South Oldham is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

PHOTO BY CODY PORTER/CPORTER@JESSAMINEJOURNAL.COMEast head coach Mike Bowlin, left, and West head coachYancey Marcum, right, posed for a photo Thursday, Aug.8, at the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce, thelocation of the VisitNich.com Bowl news conference.

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