spring sports buzz 2016

Previews of the Lebanon Yellowjackets, Stoutland Tigers and Conway Bears

Spring Sports BuzzSpring Sports Buzz

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Spring 2016 edition

2016 LHS BASEBALL

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARC FISHERPictured is the Lebanon High School baseball team. In the first row, from left, are Luke Winfrey, Wyatt Milliken, Cannon York, Tanner Angst, Cory Dudley, Dylan Rodden, Dalton Vyrostek, Christian Watson and Jordan Bailey. Second row, are Kenyon Breedlove, Kendrick Tiller, Dakota Shockley, Trace Winfrey, Cody Lundgren, Bart Sandoval, Austin Hurney and Cooper Hutson. Third row, are Dillon Leck, Jarod Braddy, Cole McBride, Connor Hicks, Lane Groce, Waylen Lindsey, Levi Pettyjohn, Keaton Winfrey and Kameron Heinrichs.

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4 WEEKEND, MARCH 19, 2016 LEBANON DAILY RECORD 4WEEKEND, MARCH 19, 2016

By Israel Potoczny and Aaron JenningsThe Daily [email protected]

Coming off a solid sea-son on the links in 2015, the Lebanon boys’ golf team is gearing up for a big season in 2016.

The Yellowjackets won more matches than they lost a year ago and enter the season with high ex-pectations.

“With success last year, success is coming again this year and we are look-ing forward to this year,” Sullens said. “We have high expectations, not just me, but the whole team. We’re really excited and we can go a long ways. Everyone I talk to says we are going to be good, and we’ll see.

“My outlook is we’ll be pretty good if we keep our heads on straight and stay focused on the game.”

The ‘Jackets featured four seniors, including Harrison Carr, Lawrence Bowling, Troy Eidson and Nathan Armistead.

“Lawrence and Harri-son are probably both go-ing to be varsity players, but you never know, it’s always open if someone can improve their scores they can move up,” Sul-lens said.

Carr advanced to sec-tionals last season and Sullens said as many as six players could record a qualifying score this season.

“I hate to pick someone out and say look at this

guy or look at that guy,” Sullens said. “We have several that can play. In high school golf, you are lucky if you have two kids that can play, really lucky if you have three.

“We have several that can really play and we have several that are out here competing for a var-sity spot, which is really good. They push each other, encourage and sup-port each other, but they want to beat each other and I like that mental-ity.”

Sullens said the team is full of players who spend considerable time at the golf course during the spring and summer, playing the game on their own time.

“You can’t kick them

off the course, they are constantly playing and it’s going to show up in their scores this year,” Sullens said.

Because the team has a host of seniors and play-ers with golf experience, Sullens said the group has a good maturity level.

“And, they have the ability to make the shot they are trying to make,” Sullens said. “I’ve been really impressed with the consistency of their play so far this season, but we’ll just have to see how it plays out. We just have to keep our heads on straight, stay focused, and it could be a fun year.”

The team is working on its short game, from 50 to 100 yards in, as well as its putting. Sullens said

those elements are often key to recording a good score.

“You don’t want to three putt, you want to one, or two putt at the

most,” he said. “They say, ‘Drive for show and putt for dough.’ and that is really true.

“You have to be good around the green.”

LHS GOLF TEAM HOPES TO BUILD ON 2015 SEASONSenior Harrison Carr returns after advancing to sectional

LDR photo/Aaron Jennings

Pictured are the Lebanon High school boys’ golf team seniors. From left, are Nathan Armistead, Harrison Carr, Lawrence Bowlin and Troy Eidson.

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LDR photo/Aaron JenningsPictured is the 2016 Lebanon boys’ golf team. From left, are Jack Ehrhardt, Tryn Titus, Lawrence Bowlin, Hayden Brogdon, Harrison Carr, Cooper Hess, Troy Eidson, Nathan Armistead, Wyatt Griffin, Isaiah Parodm and head coach Rod Sullens.


LHS HOPES TO BUILD ON SUCCESSYellowjackets are coming off consecutive 13-win seasons


Pictured is the 2015-16 Lebanon High School girls’ soccer team. In the first row, from left, are Brittany Simpkins, Ashley Mendoza, Lily Woolsey, Skyler Hough, Alyssa Long, Isabell Hernandez, Keshian Grimes and Jessy Ra. Second row, are Caitlea Porch, Megan Glasser, Marissa King, Abbey Schmidt, Klara Schoenmeyer, Antonia Pena and Shelby Burrow. Third row, are Becca Tucker, Ajsia Dearborn, Zephanie White, Alexis McGhee, Katie Brandon, Mariah Mitch-ell, Haleigh Dearborn and Taylor Veurnik. Fourth row, are Emily Wilson, Aidai Kadyrbaeva, Baylei Palmer, Shyla Simmons, Lexi Wapelhorst, Alee Becker and Morgan Lowrance. Fifth row, are Hannah Hilton, Darian Cuglietta and Taylor Mitchell.


Coming off a 13-12 season a year ago, the Lebanon girls’ soccer team is gear-ing up for the 2016 season with high expectations.

Lebanon will be led by a pair of play-ers who have already committed to college programs, led by senior Becca Tucker, who has signed to play at Evan-gel, and junior Lexi Wapelhorst, who has committed to play at MidAmerica Nazarene.

The ‘Jackets graduate just four se-niors from last year’s squad, and will rely on a deep senior class this season.

Last year, Lebanon saw its season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion as the Yellowjackets fell to Waynesville in PKs, 3-2, in the opening round of the Missouri Class 4 District 9 tournament. Lebanon had defeated the Tigers earlier in the season.

“Last year’s district loss to Waynes-ville was probably the hardest games I’ve coached and one of the hardest losses we’ve had,” Jernigan said. “We really felt like we had a good chance to win that game, but we didn’t.

“The end of last year was a feeling that we hope we don’t have to feel again. Waynesville played a great game but we all knew we could have played better.”

Leading the way this season is Wapelhorst, who has already set nu-merous school records, including career goals and single season goals scored.

“She’s somebody that everyone will be looking at,” Jernigan said.

Jernigan said Tucker is a big part of a defensive backfi eld that is the heart of the program, featuring junior Mariah Mitchell and others.

“They’ve been terrific back there and we’re really expecting them to be leaders,”

New in goal this year will be Ab-bey Schmidt, who Jernigan said, “Is a basketball girl that decided to play soccer, so we’re excited about her.”Several players in the senior class are currentely fi ghting for playing time with a talented group of un-derclassmen. The ‘Jackets have xx seniors out for the team, in addition to Tucker, including, Caitlea Porch, Lily Woolsey, Klara Schoenmeyer, Isabell Hernandez, Darian Cuglietta, Emily Wilson, Taylor Veurnik and Taylor Mitchell.

“There are spots open and they are really fi ghting for those spots,” Jernigan said. “Our experience is defi nitely a strength. We only gradu-ated four seniors, so we have a lot of varsity experience coming back and a really solid junior class that has been building since they fi rst started.”

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Lebanon had a re-cord number of athletes qualify for sectionals, but were unable to push any through to the state championships. How-ever, Lebanon head coach Shane Rebmann said the program experienced suc-cess with a pair of record setting performances by Gracie Calhoun (300-me-ter hurdles) and Kelsey Winfrey (800).

“We really had a good season, but it may not have looked like it if all you looked at were state quali f iers ,” Rebmann said.

This year, the Yellow-jackets have 80 boys out

for track including a host of athletes returning.

“We have a lot of tal-ented kids, and I’m sure I’ll forget about some-body, but there are a lot of really good athletes out,” Rebmann said. “I think it shows that people are buying into what we are doing, but they are also seeing the value of track as well and getting enjoy-ment out of improving every day.”

Leading the way are Zack Ivey, Brandon Hors-ley, Trei Walters, Dillon Wagoner and Aust in Blain. They will all be competing to run in the 100 and 100-meter relay spots.

“That is a good group of kids that can really compete,” Rebmann said.

“I expect those guys to put together a good relay team and score a lot of points for us. There is a lot of experience there with those guys.”

Also in the mix is soph-omore John Berry.

“He is as explosive as it gets and I would expect to see him run on the 100-meter relay team as well,” Rebmann said.

Junior Keon Carter is expected to be the anchor of the 400 and 800 group, along with Logan Hart.

“We are going to need (Hart) to step up big, and I expect Carter to be running the 400 in 50-51 seconds this year and if he does that he’ll be close to sectional range,” Reb-mann said.

Also in the mix is Liam

Kohler, who was a state qualifier in the 800 at Camdenton last year be-fore moving to Lebanon.

“You talk about a kid that has some goals, he has set his goal very high,” Rebmann said. “He wants to earn a medal this year and has worked incred-ibly hard. He has brought a great work ethic to our practices and that is help-ing a lot of our distance kids.”

Returning in distance events is Tharon Roy, who also competes in cross country.

“He really came on late and broke fi ve minutes in the mile late last season,” Rebmann said. “This year he is running faster and is competitive.”

In the mile and two-

mile is junior Dylan Lane, who is a returning varsity runner.

“He has put in hun-dreds of miles over the summer and fall as a cross country kid,” Reb-mann said. “He is a tough kid and is doing a great job.”

Also in the mix is soph-omore Brayden Simpson who was competitive last year in the mile and 800.

“He’s been running with Dylan and Liam and that has only made him better,” Rebmann said. “I think he’s going to be a competitive runner for us this year as well.”

In the hurdles is Hunt-er Sawyers, a sectional qualifier, returns as the ‘Jackets top hurdler.

“He is an outstanding

hurdler and has worked hard to improve h is speed,” Rebmann said. “Technically, he is as good as it gets, and he is getting faster.”

Also in the mix is fresh-man Chris Sandoval and Mark Webster.

“(Sandoval) won most of the time last year in junior high (at Joel E. Bar-ber) and now he is step-ping up to high school,” Rebmann said. “I expect him to do some good things.

“ I t i s p ro b a b l y a s strong a crew as we’ve had in hurdles in a lot of years.”

Senior Anthony Tay-lor is the ‘Jackets lead-ing jumper. He reached

LHS TRACK TEAM RETURN DEPTH, TALENTYellowjackets have 80 boys out for team this spring

see ‘Track’/page 12


SEVERAL NEWCOMERS FOR LHS TENNIS TEAMYellowjackets look to replace Nos. 1-2 singles players from .500 team


Pictured are the Lebanon High school boys’ golf team seniors. From left, are Nathan Armistead, Harrison Carr, Lawrence Bowlin and Troy Eidson.


It’s a year of transi-tion for the 2016 Leba-non boys’ tennis team as the Yellowjackets graduate several key members from a squad that finished 9-9 last season.

Gone is No. 1 singles player Chad How-erton, No. 2 singles player Bennett Brown. Those two formed the ‘Jackets No. 1 doubles team and took home al l -distr ict honors . Also gone is varsity starter Doug Uder.

“We lost a big se-nior class, and a good

senior class and they were a great group,” Lebanon head coach Ron Crowell said. “But we’re looking forward to the challenge this year.”

Lebanon has six se-niors, including var-sity returners Davin Malone, Dalton Beard and Ben Ester. Oth-ers in the senior class include Chris Speer, Tanner Judy and Wil-liam Love.

C r o w e l l s a i d the ‘Jackets biggest strength might be in doubles where Dalton Beard and Ben Ester teamed last season.

“I feel our strength

is going to be in dou-bles this year,” Crow-el l sa id . “We have some guys that have great footwork and play the net really well and are aggressive. I think that is going to be a strength for us this year.

“But to be honest, we are still trying to figure a lot of that stuff out.”

Although spots are officially still being determined, Crow-ell said the ‘Jackets will likely lean heavily on returning varsity starters Dalton Beard,

see ‘Tennis’/page 12

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LDR photo/Aaron JenningsPictured is the 2016 Lebanon boys’ tennis team. In the first row, from left, are Sawyer Nichols, Tanner Judy, Chris Speer, Dalton Beard, Ben Esther and Davin Malone. Second row, are manager Grace Dow, Aaron Crowell, Hunter Ambrose, Cade Winfrey, William Love, Nate Anderson, Zach Johnson and Quentin Steinman. Not pictured are Kyle Moore, Moses Farr and manager Hannah Lowery.

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STOUTLAND BOYS - Varsity/JV Baseball 2016

Date Opponent Location Time3/19-3/26 Stoutland Spring Classic Tournament Home TBA3/28 Tuscumbia Home 5:00pm3/29 Laquey Away 5:00pm3/30 Houston Away 4:30pm3/31 Wheatland Away 5:00pm4/05 Conway Away 5:00pm4/06-4/09 Plato Tournament Away TBA4/12 Iberia Away 5:00pm4/14 Dixon Home 5:00pm4/15 Plato Home 5:00pm4/18 Macks Creek Home 5:00pm4/21 Hartville Away 4:30pm4/22 Licking Away 5:00pm4/27 Newburg Home 5:00pm4/28 Climax Springs Home 5:00pm4/29 Crocker Away 5:00pm5/03 Niangua Away 5:00pm5/10 Richland Home 5:00pm5/12 Fordland Away 4:30pm5/13-5/12 Disctricts Home TBA

LDR photo/Aaron JenningsPictured is the Stoutland High School baseball team. In the first row, from left, are Brian Starner, Thor Mummert, Stone Mathews, Timmy Peterson, Tannor Holden, Evan Mathews and Colten Frey. Second row, are Jake Pendegrass, Colten Shephard, Kane Mathews, Michael Gray, Jessie Hubbs, Brayden Allee, Layton Karr and Dylan Fry. Not pictured is Gabe Allee.

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Pictured is the Stoutland High School baseball team seniors. From left, are Kane Mathews, Michael Gray, Jessie Hubbs, Brayden Allee and Layton Karr.


STOUTLAND — One year after finishing 12-12 and advancing to the semifinals of the Missouri Class x District x tournament to Crocker, the Stoutland Tigers are gearing up for year two under head coach Clint Horn.

The Tigers return its top nine players, including four seniors who played key roles last sea-son.

“We are still a relatively young group, but it is nice to return ev-erybody,” Horn said. “It has been a big step this year and we’re not having to re-coach things, we’re just having to review them.

“It makes pract ice go a lot smoother and we can get a lot more done now.”

Returning this season is senior Kane Mathews, a leadoff batter and catcher who will also throw a few innings on the mound. A left handed hitter, he was an All-Frisco League and all-district selection last season.

“He has a nice swing and kind of sets the table for us every game,” Horn said.

Returning as the Tigers No. 1-2 pitcher on the mound and starting shortstop is senior Michael Gray. He is coming off a fall slate that saw him battle through arm in-jury and only threw nine innings. However Gray is expected to be at full strength during the spring.

Sen ior center f i e lder J ess ie Hubbs is one of the top returning outfielders in the Frisco League,

according to Horn. Hobbs was the Tigers’ No. 3 pitcher before suffer-ing an arm injury during the fall.

“We have to find some innings to replace him there,” Horn said.

Also back is senior Braydon Al-lee, who will start in left field, and Layton Karr is out for the first time since his sophomore season.

Horn said the Tigers will lean on its pitching and defense this fall.

“Losing Hubbs during the fall

STOUTLAND RETURNS NINE STARTERSTeam features four returning senior starters, five seniors total

see ‘Stoutland’/page 12

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STOUTLAND BASEBALL from page 11will hurt, but I think having Evan Mathews and Kane Mathews, they are going to have to step up and take on his (Hubbs) innings,” Horn said. “But between pitching and de-fense, very rarely do we get into a slugfest with people and when we do, we’re usually in trouble.”

Horn said the team hit .280 in the fall and he hopes the batting average can climb above .300 in the spring.

Stoutland went 10-9 in the fall and played

several of its toughest rivals close, including district opponents Plato and Crocker. Stout land beat Plato in extra innings, 6-5, and fell to Crocker three times, but twice played them tough, losing 3-1, and 6-5 in extra innings.

“The expectations are pretty high, but it is going to be a battle in the district,” Horn said. “I expect us to fi nish in the top part of the conference and I don’t think there is a team on our schedule that we can’t compete with … as long as we stay healthy.”

LEBANON TRACKfrom page 8

6-foot last year. Also a basketball player, Rebmann said Taylor has 6-foot-6 potential in the high jump.

Taylor is also in the long and triple jump mix, along with Ivey, Ryan Skeens and others.

“Our jump group has a lot of seniors and juniors and good experience,” Rebmann said.

Rebmann said the ‘Jackets have a large group of athletes out for shot and discuss, led by senior Lane McAdams, a four year varsity performer.

“He’s really stepped into a leader-ship role and we’re very proud of him,” Rebmann said.

Also leading the way is Berry, a sec-tional qualifi er last year in the discus as a freshman.

“That is pretty incredible,” Rebmann said. “He was competing with grown men and he is defi nitely goal driven and he wants to be a state qualifi er.”

Also in the mix is senior Adrian Palmer, Colby Lathrop and several others.

On the girls’ side, the sprinters are led by Jazzlyn Wells, who will run the 100 and 200 and compete in several relays.

“(Wells) is an incredible athlete and a hard worker who has a great attitude,” Rebmann said.

Also in the mix is Avery Hlavacek, a move-in from Iowa who played softball for LHS in the fall.

“She is incredibly fast and will be a big help to our sprinters,” Rebmann said.

Also in the mix is freshman Lexie Mitchell and Grace Calhoun.

Calhoun broke the school’s 300-meter hurdle record last year before suffering an injury late in the season. She will compete in both the 100- and

300-meter hurdles and placed in every meet she competed in last season.

“She is back and looking like she never missed a beat,” Rebmann said. “She is going to play a big part in our relay teams.”

Rebmann said the strenghth of the LHS girls’ track team is likely in the 400 and 800 where the ‘Jackets are led by seniors Cheyenne Black and Mag-gie Plake.

“Those girls have ran on the varsity side for four years now and they have never missed a beat and keep getting faster,” Rebmann said.

Also leading the way is junior Kelsey Winfrey, who is the school record holder in the 800.

“She is a tremendous athlete and could do whatever she wanted to do and do it well,” Rebmann said. “She is focused on running the 400 and 800 and was disapointed she didn’t qualify for state. She ran about three quarters of the race at sectionals with one shoe on and one shoe off, and still broke a record that day.

“She is tremendous, a great leader and person.”

Also returning is Wynter Nekola, who brings a wealth of experience.

“As far as track goes, she might have as much experience as anyone, she has ran in the USA track program for several years and is very versatile,” Rebmann said. “She is a good athlete and could run in the 200 this year. She is also a gymnist and because of that she is really explosive and could run just about anything from a 200 to a 800.”

Also in the 400 and 800 mix is Kam-ber Dallas, Ailleen Farias and freshman Abby O’Connor.

see ‘Track’/page 14

LHS TENNIS from page 9

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Ben Ester and Davin Malone.“Ben Ester has had an outstanding

start to practice, and Malone and Beard, those are our three returning varsity guys and they look very good,” Crowell said. “We’ve had some young guys that have stepped up and have played really well. Caden Winfrey is one of them and he has a chance to win one of those top six spots.

“Tanner Judy fi nished the season very strong last season.”

Crowell said the biggest weakness entering the upcoming season that he has observed as a group is the team’s serve. As a group, it an area that can use

improvement, he said.“We want our fi rst serve to be 70-80

percent and obviously we want our second serve to be 100 percent,” Crowell said. “But we also want to get to a point where we can make our serve an offen-sive weapon as opposed to just getting it in.

“That is probably one of our biggest focuses early on. And even when we have gone inside (due to weather) we have been focused on the fundamentals of our serve and becoming consistent.”

Crowell said the expectations haven’t changed much as the team prepares to open the season.


PITCHERS LEADING THE WAY FOR 2016 CONWAY BEARS

Bears pitching staff returns all but 11 innings from a squad that posted a 1.81 ERABy Israel PotocznyThe Daily Record [email protected]

CONWAY — Armed with a deep and talented senior class, expectations are sky high for the Conway baseball team in 2016.

A year ago, Conway went 27-5 and captured a district title, and this season, head coach Clay Bilyeu returns all but one starter from that squad.

G o n e i s Ty l e r S i m p s o n , who started at first base and made three appearances on the mound. But the Bears return the entire rest of its varsity, including nine starters — eight of whom are seniors.

On Monday, the Bears opened practice and Bilyeu said the squad has been lucky enough to experience quality weather.

“We’ve had a pretty good first week and thought we’ve been pretty productive,” Bi-lyeu said. “We’ve got a mostly senior group so we can jump right in and don’t have to cover the basic stuff, we’ve got a lot of that out of the way.”

Bilyeu said several players who were a big part of a success-ful basketball team throughout the winter have bounced back nicely after a tough loss to rival Fair Grove in the district cham-pionship game.

“I gave them the choice to take a couple days off, but most of them are there and they still have disappointment from it, but I think they enjoy both enough that they are ready to go with baseball too,” Bilyeu said.

Conway was 14-2 in the fall with losses to Plato and Nor-wood. The Bears won both its

home tournament and the Sum-mit Conference tournament.

“We played well most of the time,” Bilyeu said. “I think we did a little more experiment-ing with different lineups and people in different places. I feel for the most part it was a good fall. The games we lost, I felt like were both winnable games but that’s the way it goes.”

Bilyeu said the 2016 team reminds him of his 2010 Final Four team, not only because both teams featured eight se-niors who were starters as underclassmen, but because of the depth and quality on the pitching staff.

Conway pitchers recorded nine shutouts in just 16 games in the fal l and Bi lyeu said the pitching will be the Bears strength this season.

Leading the way is senior right hander Hunter Dame, a four year starter who has signed to continue his baseball career at Missouri State Univer-sity. Dame was 9-2 last season with a 0.(3 ERA. He threw 67 in-nings, allowed 34 hits, walked 23 and struck out 117.

“He is putting up statistics that would rival anybody who has ever pi tched here , I ’m sure,” Bilyeu said. “He is a flame thrower and is hitting 90-91 miles per hour on the gun. When we roll him out there, I feel we’re probably the best team on the field, no matter who we are playing.”

Also back is Andrew Huck-aby, an all-state performer last season when he led the team with a 10-1 record and a 0.76

LDR file photo

Conway senior Hunter Dame (12) is one of eight seniors returning for a Bear base-ball team that won a district championship in 2015 and went 27-5. The Bears were 14-2 in the fall and captured the Summit Conference tournament.

see ‘Baseball’/page 14

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ERA. In 64 innings, he allowed 43 hits, walked 22 and struck out 80.

“We have a lot of depth and we have three guys that all give us something a little bit different,” Bilyeu said. “Andrew is our junk ball guy who is going to rely on hitting spots and changing speeds.”

The third option on the Bears pitching staff is Ethan Medlock, a returning three year starter who was 7.2 with a 3.30 ERA last season.

“Ethan’s velocity has gotten a lot bet-ter and I think he is going to have a great senior season,” Bilyeu said. “Last year, he had a great season, but I think he has upped his velocity to where his strike out numbers are going to go up.

“He has a lot of movement to all his pitches and if he throws strikes, we could have three all-state pitchers, I think.”

Also in the mix are three sophomores who could see spot time as they prepare for big roles as juniors and seniors.

Dylan Dampier is a sophomore transfer from Lebanon and will likely see time as the fourth starter.

“I think he’ll see quite a few innings this year and we’ll use him as a closer or in relief too,” Bilyeu said. “I’ve been im-pressed with him the fi rst week of practice and I think he can help us. He’s another big, strong kid that throws pretty hard, especially at the Class 3 level, he’s a guy that can fi ll in at the No. 1 next year and be a legit No. 1 starter.”

Also in the mix are Cooper Keesling and Brody Bilyeu. Keesling is a left handed sophomore, while Bilyeu is a sophomore right hander.

“(Keesling) doesn’t throw real hard, but he might see a few innings,” Clay Bilyeu said. “Brody Bilyeu could see a couple innings, he threw a couple in the fall.

“If they can make a normal jump be-tween their sophomore and junior year, then we’re going to come back next year with a lot better team than people think we will have after losing all the seniors that we have.”

Conway will open the season on March 19 against Pierce City.

LDR file photo

Conway senior Andrew Huckaby (12) is one of eight seniors returning for a Bear baseball team that won a district championship in 2015 and went 27-5. The Bears were 14-2 in the fall and captured the Summit Conference tournament.

CONWAY BASEBALL from page 13

LEBANON TRACKfrom page 12

In the mile and two-mile is Liz Christal, who was a sectional qualifi er last year in the mile as a freshman.

“She has some serious goals, she wants to break the school record in the mile this year and she was within 15 seconds last year,” Rebmann said. “This year, she has really worked on her strength and done a lot of work in the weight room and is a lot more confi dent this year.”

Also in the mix in the mile and two-mile is Maddie O’Connor.

“She is a good athlete who is working on her speed and put in a lot of miles in the summer time and with cross coun-try,” Rebmann said. “She is coming off her best cross country season and has worked hard to get to where she is now.Destiny abd Arianna Landry will com-pete in the long and triple jump.

“They are twins and have fun all the time,” Rebmann said. “They were both around 30 feet in the triple jump last year.”

Also in the mix is junior Jaiden Of-futt, who was a sectional qualifi er last

year in the triple jump.“She has goals to break school re-

cords and she has really worked hard,” Rebmann said. “She is a really focused athlete.”

Competing in the high jump this year is Janell Lee, who was around 4-10 last year, along with Dallas and Farias.

The throwers are led by Allison My-ers, who is a four-year varsity athlete and was a sectional qualifi er last year in the shot.

“She is a great leader,” Rebmann said. “She has worked hard in the weight room and she is like an assistant coach for us.”

Also in the mix is junior Faith Al-wardt who is returning from a knee injury, and junior Caitlyn Calhoun.

“I would expect (Alwardt) to be near the 100 foot range (in the discuss) and that will make her very competitive,” Rebmann said. “(Calhoun) is a great teammate and is going to make a great addition and is going to do some great things.”

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2016 BASEBALL SCHEDULEDATE TIME LOCATION OPPONENT3/21-3/26 TBA Away Clever ROTB3/22 4:30pm Home Lebanon3/28 4:30pm Home Parkview3/29 4:30pm Home Plato3/31 4:30pm Away Seymour4/4 4:30pm Away Hartville4/5 5:00pm Home Stoutland4/9 10:30am Home Central High School4/9 1:00pm Home Bolivar4/12 4:30pm Home Fordland4/14 4:30pm Home Mansfield4/15 5:00pm Home Laquey4/22-4/23 TBA Away Lebanon Tournament4/25 4:30pm Home Fair Grove4/28 4:30pm Away Norwood4/29 5:00pm Away Clever5/2 4:30pm Away Gainesville5/3 4:30pm Home Strafford5/5 5:00pm Away Marion C. Early5/9 4:30pm Away Skyline5/12 4:30pm Away Dallas Co. High School5/14-5/21 TBA Away Districts

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LDR photo/Aaron JenningsPictured is the Conway High School baseball team. In the first row, from left, are Hunter Dame, Jared Smith, RC Shockley and Chris Vavruska.Second row, are Randall Rosenthal, Tyler Hawkins, Tayler Simpson, Ethan Medlock, Charlie Perryman, Brody Bilyeu, Brett Neal, AndrewHuckaby, Cooper Keesling and Riley Rader.

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Lebanon baseball head coach Dustin Young is hoping a large senior class pays dividends this spring in the same way a large senior class paid off for the football team in the fall.

The ‘Jackets return nine players that had a starting role last season, and feature 12 seniors total, most of whom played a key varsity role last season.

“We have a large group of seniors that can play with each other well and have done so for a while,” he said. “We have a few keys that will defi nitely help us that a team needs in order to be successful. We defi nitely have the leadership and even a terrifi c work ethic. The guys come out and really work as hard as you can expect.

“It’s great when people always want to get better an I think with the pitching staff that we bring back and the offense and the defense that we have, I think the

expectations are pretty high and they should be.”

Young said the team’s biggest ques-tion mark early in the season is at the plate, and perhaps more specifi cally in the middle of the order where the ‘Jackets will be replacing graduated seniors Nick Pearcy and Keaton Warren.

“We graduated some seniors last year that were our run producers, this biggest is the question mark right now is who will be the guy that drives home the runs,” Young said. “I think we have guys that are plenty capable of it, they just have to get a different mindset.

“We really just have to be patient with that and really do our best to fi nd the right people. We have some front runners for the spot but it’s still early and there is a lot of things that can change at any time.”

Young said he expects the strength of the team to be on the mound and in the field behind whoever is pitching. The

‘Jackets return all but a handful of innings from last year’s team, and also return key players at nearly every position from a team that played solid defensively in the fi eld last season.

“The strength that I see on paper right

away is going to be our pitching,” Young said. “I think we are really deep there. Our strength is defi nitely on the mound. We’ve always worked pretty hard on defense and I think we’ve been pretty successful because of it.”


LDR file photo/Israel Potoczny

Lebanon senior Waylen Lindsey delivers a throw to fi rst base during a high school baseball game in this LDR fi le photo. The Yellowjackets feature 12 seniors in 2016.

COACH TALKS ABOUT HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR TEAMHead coach Dustin Young: team features experience, is strong in the field and on the mound

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