— Camas-Washougal, WA Post-Record A6 Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Weekday 1Cyan Magenta Yellow Black TUESDAY A6

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black TUESDAY A6

SportS

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

It was a sunny 56 degrees Sat-urday afternoon, when the Cam-as High School baseball players stepped onto the shiny green grass to play Hudson’s Bay at Propstra Park.

“Look at this,” said head coach Joe Hallead as he tilted his head to the sky and shielded his eyes. “Is that blue? Tell me it’s not a painting.”

“When it’s sunny, I feel like ev-erybody is more happy and ready to play better,” added senior Jace Schumacher.

Schumacher had a good day at the plate. He delivered three hits and scored two runs to help the Papermakers beat the Eagles

8-2.“It’s a pretty good feeling

standing on base after those hits,” Schumacher said. “This is my first year on varsity, and I feel like it’s my time to shine.”

After leading off the second in-ning with a double, Schumacher came around to score the first run for Camas on a tee shot over the center fielder’s head off the bat of Connor McClellan. The Papermakers added another run in the inning to go up 2-0.

Hudson’s Bay capitalized on a couple of walks and a squeeze bunt to tie the score in the fourth inning. Camas regained the lead in the bottom of the inning after Connor Zepponi stole third base and came around to score on a throwing error.

Papermaker starting pitcher

Dylan White tossed four-plus innings of three-hit ball to pick up the victory. Luke Minder and Tyler Hallead shut the door by pitching two-plus innings of scoreless relief.

“Hudson’s Bay really put the pressure on us,” coach Hallead said. “They stole bases, bunted guys over and even tried to steal home. For an inexperienced team to be able to battle through all that, put runs on the board and keep adding shows we are moving in the right direction.”

Austin Barr gave the Paper-makers some breathing room by smashing a 2-run home run over the right field fence. Camas add-ed two more runs in the inning to go up 7-2.

“He left that fastball a little bit elevated, and I was able to get

some backspin on it and carry it out of here,” Barr said. “It felt great to get a hold of that one. I give all the credit to my team-mates. They were up the whole time when it was a close ball game, and they showed a lot of heart.”

Barr also gave props to Trent Johnson for calling his home run from the dugout.

“It’s cool to be able to share a moment like that with Trent,” Barr said. “His ‘Spidey Sense’ was tingling on that one.”

The long ball invigorated the Papermakers. Schumacher sin-gled up the middle for his third hit in the game, Reilly Hen-nessey looped a single into right center and McClellan walked to load the bases.

An incredible catch by the

right fielder robbed Spencer Hunt of an extra-base hit, but Camas still scored two runs on the long fly out.

A lead off single for the Eagles in the sixth inning was erased on a double play turned by Hen-nessey and Gabe Heredia. Tyler Hallead then struck out the next batter on three pitches.

Nate Culver doubled in the bot-tom of the sixth. White brought the runner home on a sac fly. The Papermakers retired the side in the seventh. Tyler Hallead struck out the last batter.

“All 18 guys did something to help us win a ball game,” coach Hallead said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and been in a lot of big games. These are the wins I love the most, when everyone is a part of it on every pitch.”

Camas uses bats, gloves and speed to beat Hudson’s Bay

Panthers compete in their first league meet today

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

Raindrops stabbed the Panthers like daggers and the wind chilled them to the bone, but the oppor-tunity to compete brought out their fire and desire.

Joe Harris and Karsten Short grabbed first place in three events to help the Washougal boys track and field team beat White Salmon and Stevenson by more than 70 points March 20, at Fishback Stadium. Kaitlyn Johnson finished first in four events to propel the Panther girls to victory by more than 40 points.

“I was very impressed with our kids. I felt like they showed a lot of great character,” said head coach Dave Hajek. “They rose to the occasion and competed. I didn’t hear any of them complaining that it was too cold or too wet.”

Short won the 100- and 200-meter dashes, with times of 11.66 and 24.3 seconds. He also landed in first place in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 9.25 inches.

“The cold weather wears you down,” Short said. “You get a burst of energy at the start, and then it’s gut check time. Just keep going, keep pushing and keep your legs moving.”

Short has played a lot of football and basketball, but this is his first season of track and field. Building

speed, agility and endur-ance is important because he is going to be a senior next year.

“I just want to keep racking up as many points as I can in these meets to help our team win. If we win a league title, and my numbers aren’t there, I’ll still be happy,” Short said. “Competition propels you. I’m as competitive a person as I can be. I hope that con-tinues for me in whatever I do.”

Competing in the javelin event for the first time, Harris finished second with a throw of 131-3. He also won the 110-hurdles (16.02), the triple jump (38-2.75) and the discus (119-8).

“I feel like I’ve gotten stronger from playing foot-ball and lifting weights,” Harris said. “Everything is for track. It’s my favorite. I’m doing everything I can out here to be strong, quick and light on my feet.”

Johnson snagged first place in the 100 (13.58) and the triple jump (30-2.5). She also anchored Ka-tie Wright, Maddie Braun and Kelsey Lagerquist to victory in the 800 relay (1:58). Johnson, Braun, Ellie Schmid and Serene Dunn won the 400 relay (59.2).

“Last year, there was only four of us doing the relays every time. This year, we are trying out all of these different girls to find the right combination and to see who really has the heart and the passion for it,” Johnson said. “It starts with the handoffs.

Harnessing success in

Washougal

Dan Trujillo/PosT-recorD

Joe Harris glides to first place in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 16.02 seconds, March 20, at Fishback Stadium. He also finished first in the discus (119 feet, 8 inches) and the triple jump (38-2.75), and second in the javelin (131-3).Camas track and

field teams shine at Battle Ground

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

Solar power energized the Papermaker track and field athletes Saturday, at the Tiger Invitational in Battle Ground.

“After snow on Thurs-day cancelled our meet, it’s nice all that melted away and we got this great sunshiny day,” said senior Zack Marshall. “When the sun is shining down on you, it’s a blessing. You know everyone is going to do a little bit better.”

Marshall earned Male Athlete of the Meet af-ter clinching first place in all four of his events. His efforts helped the Camas boys rise above ri-vals Union, Skyview and 14 other schools to bring home the team trophy.

“Whenever we beat Union, it’s always some-thing to smile upon,” Mar-shall said. “It was great hearing all the first places from Camas. Not only were we winning and compet-ing, but we were also set-ting personal records and breaking meet records. This was just a great start to our year.”

Head boys coach Rod Raunig admitted to get-ting caught up in all the excitement. Like many of the Papermakers, he was keeping track of the points between events and trying to remain focused.

“Winning was actually very unexpected, which makes it even more spe-

cial,” Raunig said. “This early in the season, it is very hard to tell just how well you stack up across the events. I think this shows that we are a very deep and talented team.”

The Camas girls also beat Skyview for sec-ond place behind Union in the team standings. Freshman Alexa Efraim-son shattered the meet and school record in the 800-meter run, when she won the event with a time of 2 minutes, 17.52 sec-onds.

“I’ve been sick all week, and was unable to do any hard work outs. Being able to break that record proved to me that I could push through those symp-toms and still get a good time,” Efraimson said. “I was so happy when I crossed that finish line. I knew I made one of my goals.”

Efraimson also an-chored Kimi Knight, Aus-ten Reiter and Camille Parsons to victory in the 1,600 relay. Reiter ran a fantastic second leg of the race. The senior caught up to the leaders on the final turn, passed them on the homestretch and handed the baton to Parsons. With a Union runner breathing down her neck, Efraimson kicked it up a notch on the final lap to help Camas win with a time of 4:09.

“That just sort of fin-ished things off better than I could have ever imagined,” Efraimson said. “Our team is really special. I know we’re going to go a long ways.”

Marshall was thrilled with how his day started and ended. He came out of the gate like a house on fire

Solar flaresPhoTos By Dan Trujillo/PosT-recorD

Zack Marshall was named Male Athlete of the Tiger Invitational Saturday, at Battle Ground High School. The Camas senior captured first place in the 100 (11.15 seconds) and 200 (22.75), and helped the Papermakers win the 400 and 1,600 relay races.

Alexa Efraimson won the 800 with a record time of 2:17.52.

and won the 100 dash in 11.15 seconds.

“That win just woke me up and got me ready for the day,” he said.

Kyle Schrader, Daniel Ryan, John Payne and Marshall finished first in the 400 relay (44.16). Marshall then dusted off the competition in the 200 (22.75). Schrader, Marshall, Jared Smith and Zach Eagle locked up first place at the meet for the Papermakers by winning the 1,600 relay (3:36.15).

“It was all of us pull-ing together to get that big win,” Marshall said. “A lot of the races had close finishes. It reminds me of how tense these invites are and how fun they are.”

After taking a year off to focus on football, Marshall is back on the track with a vengeance. Raunig said he deserved to be named Male Ath-lete of the Meet.

“Zack is just as impor-

See CHS track, page A8 See WHS track, page A8