Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-24-17

20 I SPORTS I
May 24, 2017
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
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Francis Howell JV girls soccer team completes 14-1-2 season.
[Francis Howell athletic department photo]
sports
briefs
By JONATHAN DUNCAN
Lindenwood baseball
The Lindenwood Lions baseball team
recently completed two of the biggest
accomplishments in the program’s history
– winning its first MIAA Conference Tournament
championship and earning its first
Division II Tournament bid.
Scoring 26 runs on May 14 in the final
day of the Midwest Intercollegiate Athletic
Association Tournament, the Lions
claimed the conference tournament title
with a 12-8 win over Central Oklahoma.
With that victory, the team also claimed an
automatic bid into the NCAA Division II
Tournament, another first in school history.
Down 6-1 in the title game, Lindenwood
caught up with Central Oklahoma at 8-8
in the sixth inning. The Lions went ahead
to stay in the top of the eighth thanks to a
pair of unearned runs. Kyle Teter ripped a
single to score Tyler Muehling [Jefferson
College/St. Peters] and Connor Behrens
drove home Ryan Sosnowski [Fort Zumwalt
South] from third.
In the top of the ninth, Lindenwood
tacked on two more tallies, boosting its
lead to four runs.
Connor Law started and allowed just two
runners in four innings of work. Marshall
Shill pitched three-and-one-third innings
of relief.
Drew Quinones [Fort Zumwalt South]
led the Lions hitters with three hits, three
runs driven in, three runs scored and a
home run. Sosnowski, Teter, Behrens and
Paul Sherwood all had two hits.
Lindenwood made it into the finals on
the strength of a 14-4 win over host school
Missouri Southern. The Lions rallied back
twice from deficits and took control with
four runs in the sixth and seven runs in the
seventh inning.
Blake Beckman earned the win on the
bump and Brendan Feldman picked up the
save.
Sosnowski and Race Singbush both
drove in three runs.
Lindenwood went 4-1 in the tournament.
High school soccer
It was another superb spring on the field
for the Francis Howell girls junior varsity
soccer team.
Francis Howell’s JV kickers finished out
the 2017 campaign with a sparkling 14-1-2
record.
Howell went 2-0-1 in the Borgia Tournament
to start the season in mid-March and
then reeled off eight straight wins through
mid-April.
“We were kind striving for the undefeated
season coming in and we came up
one game short of that goal, but we had
a good group of girls and we’re fortunate
that we’ve got a school that’s pretty deep
when it comes to soccer, football and other
sports,” Vikings coach Michael Enright
said.
Enright, who has been at the school for
the past 10 years said that the junior varsity
program has been very strong the past four
seasons averaging better than 10 wins and
less than two losses a season.
“I know that in the time I’ve been here,
we’ve had some pretty good seasons, especially
with the junior level the past few
years,” he said.
One of the best things about the season
was going undefeated in Gateway Athletic
South Conference play, as Howell’s only
blemish was a scoreless tie against Timberland
late in the season.
Sophomore Bella Kinnaw and freshman
Claire Samuel were the top two offensive
threats. Each scored 12 goals to lead the
Vikings.
Freshman Cat Eyler and sophomore
Taylor Kirkpatrick provided playmaking
and solid ball distribution from the left and
right wings respectively.
Sophomore Ally
Lowry stepped into goal
for the Vikings and gave
them strong backline play
between the pipes as she
recorded eight solo shutouts.
This group will move
on to help the Vikings
varsity and should provide
them a major boost
on the field next year.
“I think they will be
able to go on next year and help the varsity
squad and meld with the nine seniors that
will be returning,” Enright said. “Hopefully,
we will try to win a conference
championship.”
High school golf
The recent Class 4 boys golf tournament
held at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club
in Joplin turned out to be a fairly productive
two-day event for Timberland golfer
David Meindl and Fort Zumwalt East
golfer Nick Heimann.
Fort Zumwalt East golfers Tom
Buffington and Nick Heimann at
Class 4 Tournament in Joplin.
[Paul Heimann photo]
Meindl finished 11th in the field as he
tied De Smet Jesuit’s Kevin Wahle and
Lafayette’s Max Kreikemier.
Meindl shot a 74 and 78 for a two-day
total of 152, finishing the tournament 8
over par.
Heimann, a junior at Fort Zumwalt East,
made his second straight state appearance,
shooting 77 and 78 for a total of 144. Heimann
finished 11 shots off the pace.
It was not exactly the finish Heimann
was seeking in his second consecutive trip
to state, but he was still pleased with his
effort in the event.
“It was a good week and I had a chance to
play some solid golf again. Unfortunately, I
couldn’t get a medal but I was right there,”
Heimann said. “So it’s a positive outlook
for next year.”
Fort Zumwalt East senior Tom Buffington
finished with a two-day round of 162,
which was good for 44th in the field of 96
golfers.
For Buffington, medaling in the tournament
was not nearly as important as
being able to play in it again for the fourth
straight season. He is the first golfer in Fort
Zumwalt East history to
qualify for the state tournament
all four years.
“It’s just nice to have
one record that can never
be broken and only tied,”
Buffington said. “I didn’t
do as well this year as
I would have liked and
bring home first place,
but it was a really fun
experience and I really
learned a lot.”
Fort Zumwalt East coach David Biesenthal
felt that Buffington getting to state in
his senior season was a perfect end to an
outstanding four-year career as a Lion.
“For Tom, he got to go out on a high
note,” Biesenthal said. “He birdied his last
hole to kind of cap off his fourth straight
year of the state tournament. To be able to
do that, that’s quite an accomplishment in
itself and I think he was pretty happy.”
Adam Bosciewicz, of Francis Howell,
rounded out the St. Charles area golfers
that competed at state. Bozciewicz finished
in 75th place and was 26 shots off the pace.