|
|
SPORTS
Shelton reaches milestone
By
Brian Blair
NH Correspondent
He has
more than 200 career wins as the head baseball coach of the University
of the Cumberlands Patriots. He has more than 400 wins in his
career as a baseball coach. He is a 1990 graduate of Owen County
High School. His name is Brad Shelton.
After graduating from Owen County, Shelton attended Asbury College.
He spent two seasons as an associate scout for the Texas Rangers
and then became the head coach at St. Catherine College. Shelton
spent six seasons at the Junior College in Springfield. He says
the thing he is most proud of during his time at St. Catherine
is that 40 players went on to sign with four-year colleges. Two
of his players were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
Shelton was named Fellowship of Christian Athletes Kentucky Male
Coach of the Year in 2000.
The Owen County graduate is now in his sixth year in Williamsburg
as the coach of the Patriots. The season before Shelton arrived;
the Patriots went 7-34. In 2002, in Shelton’s first season,
the team went 34-29 making it the biggest turnaround in college
baseball on any level. He credits the quick results to Cumberland
being a good place for kids to come to school and having an administration
that supports the program and wants to win.
In 2004, the Patriots finished the season with a record of 45-11.
During the season, the team was ranked as high as #3 in the NAIA
national poll. Last year, Shelton guided the team to a record
of 39-16 and the Mid South Conference Championship. The team also
advanced to the NAIA Regional for the fourth time during Shelton’s
tenure.
Despite all of the wins, the coach says above all else he wants
his players to know that he and his staff care about them on a
personal level. He was quick to point out that he could not have
achieved what he has without having good players.
Though he may be far from home, he has not forgotten Owen County.
He credits Coach Dunavent for helping him become who he is today.
Shelton says that outside of his own father and grandfather, he
respects his former coach greatly. He said he remembers how organized
and disciplined Dunavent was and how even though Owen County is
a small school he would make sure the team always played a competitive
schedule.
After playing Georgetown College over the weekend, the Patriots
have a record of 33-16. The team will begin play in the Mid South
Conference Tournament this weekend.
Shelton is married to Candace Isaacs and has two sons, Tyler,
who is six and Clay, who is four.
Rebels
play close to the best
By
BRIAN BLAIR
NH
Correspondent
It is said that close
only counts in horseshoes. Do not tell that to the Owen County
baseball team. The Rebels played four games this week and even
though they won all four it does not mean they were not close.
In three of the wins the Rebels won by a combined three runs and
the winning runs came in the team’s final at bat.
Seven innings were not enough on Monday against Walton-Verona.
Owen County needed nine innings and 19 strikeouts by Trey Lenear
to get the win. Michael Ogden scored a run in the first, thanks
to a pair of Bearcat errors. Walton then managed to tie the score
in the top of the fourth inning. The next run would not come until
the bottom of the ninth inning when Jordan Cox gave new meaning
to the term walk-off win. Jared Perkins led off the ninth with
a walk and advance to second on a Collin Gamble sacrifice bunt.
Brice Hamilton then reached on an error and Danny O’Toole
was intentionally walked to load the bases. Cox then walked to
force in Perkins and gave the Rebels the win. It would not be
the only time during the week Perkins would be involved in either
scoring the winning run or driving it in.
On Tuesday, Gallatin County paid a visit to Owenton and was sent
home disappointed. The Rebels pushed across a run in the bottom
of the first courtesy of a Ogden walk and a Perkins RBI groundout.
The Wildcats then scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning
to go out in front. Lenear scored a run in the bottom of the sixth
inning to cut the lead to 4-2.
The lead remained the same for the Wildcats heading into the Rebels
final at bat. Matt Harris opened up the inning with a walk and
Ogden reached on a fielder’s choice. Daniel Neely then singled
to score Harris and the lead had been trimmed to one at 4-3. That
is when Perkins came to the plate and hit the first pitch he saw
over the fence to give the Rebels the 6-4 victory. “I knew
that one was gone,” said Perkins. Ogden was the winning
pitcher for the Rebels.
Coach Osborne and the rest of the Rebels were able to relax some
on Thursday as the Rebels defeated Williamstown 13-7 in Owenton.
The Rebels were the guests on the scoreboard as the game was scheduled
to be played in Williamstown, but was moved to Owenton due to
rain in Grant County.
Owen County scored five runs in the first inning, two of which
came on another Perkins homerun. The Rebels added three more runs
in the fourth inning. Two of the runs scored on a single by Gamble.
They then added a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth.
Perkins pitched the first four innings to get the win, while Neeley
came on to throw the last three innings and secure the win.
Saturday afternoon proved to be another close game for Owen County
as the Rebels hosted Henry County. Lenear was again on the hill
and again went the distance to get the win. The senior right-hander
struck out 14 Wildcats, giving him a total of 33 strikeouts for
the week. Lenear also helped his cause with his bat as he drove
in Neeley for the first run of the game in the bottom of the first
inning. Neeley also scored in the bottom of the sixth inning on
a double by Perkins to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead. The run would
prove to be most useful.
Things would get interesting as the Wildcats came to bat in the
top of the seventh inning. Lenear struck out the first two batters
before walking the next hitter and hitting the next hitter with
a pitch. The Wildcats then scored a run thanks to an error, but
the tying run was thrown at home plate sealing the victory for
the Rebels.
With the four wins, the Rebels improve to 9-2 on the season. They
will play at Trimble County on Thursday and at Gallatin County
on Friday. Owen County will then participate in the Kentucky/Indiana
Slugfest on Saturday at Gallatin County.
Dalton
inks “Letter of Intent” to play at Union College
(Front):
Tasha Dalton, Gladys Dalton, Jimmy, Shannon Dalton and Amanda
Dalton. (Back):
Coach
U.
Rebel
senior, Jimmy Dalton has signed a National Letter of Intent to
play football at Union College. Dalton played three years for
the Owen County Rebels, transferring from Covington Holmes after
his freshman year. Jimmy is a multi-talented athlete who led the
Rebels in tackles from the linebacker position his final two years.
Dalton also played fullback, halfback and punted. Jimmy led the
team off the field as well, providing an emotional spark at key
times during his tenure.
Jimmy has performed well in the classroom by maintaining a 3.00
GPA since transferring to the smaller school. He is involved in
the Drama department and the Yearbook as well as intramural activities.
Jimmy plans on continuing his education in both the acting field
and special education so that he can one day coach football.
Rebel assistant football and basketball coach, TJ Wesselman, an
alumnus of Union College and OCHS, was instrumental in Dalton’s
recruitment for the Bulldogs.
Jimmy is the son of Shannon and Jimmy Dalton Jr.
Cheerleading
informational
meeting
is Tuesday
There
will be an informational meeting for parents and students for
Maurice Bowling Middle School cheerleading tryouts at 6:30 p.m.
on Tuesday in the MBMS library. Students currently in the fifth-,
sixth-, and seventh-grade are eligible to try out. A sign-up sheet
is located in the school offices of the middle and elementary
schools. For more information, call Margaret Forsee at (502) 484-9001.
Softball
team falls in All “A” Semifinals
By
Brian Blair
NH Correspondent
.A busy
week of softball for Owen County ended with a loss to Trimble
County in the semifinals of All “A” Classic. The Lady
Rebels played games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before
playing in the All “A” on Saturday at Eminence.
The week got off to a good start on Tuesday when Owen County welcomed
Gallatin County to Owenton. The Lady Rebels got on the scoreboard
in the first inning when Sheila Wilson walked and then scored
on a Phalisha Hall ground out. It would be the only run Lauren
Wooten would need. The senior hurler stuck out 14 batters and
allowed only two hits to the Lady Wildcats to secure the 1-0 win.
The results were not as good on Wednesday as Grant County paid
a visit to Owen County. The Lady Braves scored three runs in the
third, two in the fourth and one in the sixth inning for a 6-0
win. The Lady Rebels did not help themselves by committing five
errors in the game while managing just three hits. Cassie Hamiton,
Lauren Lowe and Samantha Toole each hit singles. Wooten stuck
out six for the Lady Rebels.
Owen County again played at home on Thursday, because of inclement
weather in Williamstown. Instead of traveling to play the Lady
Demons, it was a home game for the Lady Rebels. Owen County again
pushed across a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sheila
Wilson led off the game with a triple and scored when Hamilton
singled. Hall then reached on a error and Jensen Wainscott singled
to load the bases. The Rebels were not able to score another run
as the next two hitters each struck out.
The Lady Rebels opened up a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third
inning when Lauren Lowe walked to begin the inning and scored
on a Jensen Wainscott single. Owen County then turned into its
own worst enemy in the fourth inning when Williamstown dented
the plate four times. The Lady Demons only had one hit in the
inning, but were able to score due to four errors committed by
the Lady Rebels.
Williamstown was able to make the lead stand up thanks to good
pitching and some well placed defenders in the bottom of the seventh
inning. With two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, Hall
hit a solid line drive to the Williamstown first baseman who was
playing right on the line. She made the catch to end the game.
Hamilton had two hits and Lowe walked twice for the Lady Rebels.
Wooten added five more strike-outs to her season total.
Coach Wainscott and his team then traveled to Eminence on Saturday
to play in the All “A” Classic. The Lady Rebels faced
Carroll County in their opening game and the Lady Panthers proved
to be not much of a challenge. Owen County won the game 10-0 in
five innings.
Wilson opened the game by reaching on an error and later scored
on another error committed by the Lady Panthers. Owen County pushed
across two more runs in the second inning and Wainscott’s
double in the third inning scored two more runs. The Lady Rebels
then finished off the Lady Panthers by scoring five times in the
fifth inning. Wainscott contributed an RBI single in the inning
and Sarah Bihl drove home Hall and Wainscott with a single. Toole
then reached base on an error that scored Hall and later scored
herself on a passed ball. Wooten struck out ten while allowing
just four hits.
In the semifinals, the Lady Rebels squared off against Trimble
County. The Lady Rebels got on the board in the bottom of the
third inning when Wilson scored on an error following a Lowe sacrifice
bunt. It looked like Owen County was heading to the championship
game until Trimble County tied the score in the top of the seventh
inning after a one-out double and a two-out single.
In the eighth inning, Trimble County scored two runs, but Owen
County came right back and plated a pair of runs to tie the score
once again. Kristen Haines scored from third on a Lowe ground-out
and Wilson scored on a passed ball.
The Lady Raiders then scored twice in the top of the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Owen County was able to score one
run but was unable to push across the tying run. Wooten pitched
all nine innings striking out seven.
The Lady Rebels will be in action this week as they hit the road
to play Trimble County on Thursday and Shelby County on Friday.
Youth
soccer training camp is July 9-13T
he British
are coming.
The number one youth soccer company in the United States, Challenger
Sports, has been invited to hold one of their nationwide British
Soccer training camps right here in Owen County.
The Owen County Youth Soccer League have teamed up to host the
week-long British Soccer camp during the week of July 9 –
July 13 at the Actaris Soccer Fields.
The camp will run Monday through Friday and each child will be
coached by a member of Challenger’s British coaching staff
flown to the USA exclusively to work on these programs. This camp
is just one of 1,600 that Challenger Sports are running throughout
the United States and Canada for a record-breaking 85,000 boys
and girls of all ages.
Challenger has become the largest soccer camp provided in North
America by consistently combining high-quality, age-specific soccer
instruction, along with equally important elements of character,
cultural, and nutritional education.
Each day the children will practice and master new individual
skills and understand small group and team tactics through Challenger’s
innovative camp curriculum. Campers will also scrimmage each day
in the always popular Camp World Cup.
The Challenger coaching staff believes that teaching soccer skills
is only a part of the process of educating young athletes. The
coaches will also take time out of the busy weekly schedule to
teach lessons on respect; responsibility; integrity; sportsmanship;
and leadership and discuss how these core values relate to soccer,
family and school.
Challenger has also teamed up with national restaurant chain Mr.
Goodcents® Subs and Pastas to introduce a new and much needed
element to the young athletes on health and nutrition. Challenger
has created a fun and interactive way to help the campers learn
how important it is to eat a balanced diet – Campers will
get to design and draw their own healthy sandwich, selecting a
balance of ingredients from each of the food groups.
The most popular part of each camp is the Camp Word Cup. The coaches
use this daily tournament to teach the players about life, customs
and traditions of other countries. The campers are asked to make
up cheers, bring flags, dress up and learn as much as they can
about the country they represent.
The Owen County Youth Soccer League is offering British Soccer
camp sessions for the following ages and prices:
•Ages 3-4 9 a.m – 10 a.m. First Kicks Cost $60
•Ages 4-5 10 a.m - 12 p.m. Mini Soccer Cost $83
•Ages 6-16 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 1⁄2 day a.m. camp Cost
$99
•Ages 6-16 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. 1⁄2 day p.m. camp
Cost $99
•Ages 8-16 9 a.m.-12 pm;
1-4 p.m. Full day camp Cost $143
Teams are also welcome to attend and receive a week of focused
instruction to prepare them for the fall season.
Each camper will receive a free camp T-shirt, soccer ball, player
evaluation and end of camp gift. In addition, any child who signs
up online at least 45 days prior to camp will receive a genuine
British Soccer replica jersey (value $30).
To sign up for the camp either visit www.challengersports.com
or contact the coordinator, Dolores Dempsey, at 484-2649.
Challenger’s British Soccer Camps have been running in the
United States for more than 20 years. In addition to coaching
youth players throughout the country, Challenger also provides
year-round club trainers, runs European Soccer Tours, holds soccer
tournaments and now manufactures and sells its own brand of soccer
apparel. To find out more about Challenger Sports visit their
Web site www.challengersports.com
|
|
