Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 6-21-17

18 I SPORTS I
June 21, 2017
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The Duchesne girls soccer team at state 2017
sports
breifs
By JONATHAN DUNCAN
High school girls soccer
It wasn’t quite a perfect finish in the
Class 2 and 3 girls state soccer tournaments
for the Duchesne Pioneers or the Fort Zumwalt
South Bulldogs, but both teams came
away from Swope Soccer Village with
good vibes after the June 4 weekend.
Four-time defending champion Duchesne
had their hopes for a school-record fifth
consecutive state championship ended by
eventual champion Cape Notre Dame in a
2-0 semifinals loss on May 31. The Pioneers
did not pout, though. Duchesne bounced
back and turned in a championship effort
the next day, pulling off a 3-2 victory to
claim third place in the tournament.
“It’s always nice to make it to the Final
Four, and it’s a successful season if you
made it there. From there, anything can
happen,” Duchesne coach Patrick Turner
said.
Junior Maria Wilder scored two goals
and senior forward Natalie Schroeder
scored her first career goal in her final
game to lead the Pioneers to the third-place
trophy.
After being 7-10 late in the season, the
Pioneers finished the season winning seven
The Fort Zumwalt South girls soccer team at state 2017
of eight games to reach state for the fifth
straight season.
In the Class 3 Tournament, Fort Zumwalt
South’s girls made their first trip to
the Final Four and the Bulldogs acquitted
themselves fairly well thanks to a hardearned
third-place finish.
Fort Zumwalt South lost a heartbreaking
semifinal match to Webster Groves in the
semifinals on June 1, battling them to a 0-0
tie in regulation but losing 3-1 on penalty
kicks. The Bulldogs, who did not allow a
regulation or overtime goal in either game,
were equally stout in the third-place game
a day later as they battled Washington to
a 0-0 tie. Per state rules, both teams were
awarded a third-place trophy due to state
time limits on third-place games.
“I think in both games, we were the better
team [offensively] but we just couldn’t find
the back of the net,” Fort Zumwalt South
coach Jim Layne said. “We did a great job
defensively and giving our team an opportunity
to be successful.”
Fort Zumwalt South was led by senior
forward Claudia King, senior center back
Stacy Muehling, senior midfielder Madison
Schmied and senior goalie Grace
Gehner.
The bar has been raised by this group of
Bulldogs. “This group was phenomenal,”
Layne said. “They kind of came out of
nowhere.”
High school baseball
All that stood between Fort Zumwalt
West and a storybook ending to the 2017
baseball season was one out. One measly
out.
The Jaguars, winners of six straight playoff
games, were that close to claiming the
school’s first state title, but Jefferson City
scored a run with two outs in the seventh
and added another with a walk-off hit
batter, beating the Jaguars 2-1 for the Class
5 championship on June 3 at CarShield
Field in O’Fallon, Missouri.
“Without a doubt, both battled, and both
pitchers kept making pitches. Unfortunately,
we just came out on the wrong side
of a great high school baseball game,” Fort
Zumwalt West coach Eric Gough said.
“What an experience being in that, and
what a ride.”
Despite loading the bases in three different
innings and coming up empty, the
Jaguars still got ahead, thanks to Tyler Eckman’s
two-out, RBI-double. That would
be the only run they could get against Jefferson
City and their ace lefthander Jacob
Weirich.
6/13/17 8:37 AM
The Jaguars were unable to close the deal
over the final six innings as Jeff City won
its first title in 28 years. In the end, Fort
Zumwalt West’s 24-15 record, plus the program’s
first district title, sectional, quarterfinal
and semifinal rounds, made the trip to
the state tournament well-worth all of the
hard work and struggle.
“It just shows that all the hard work
and all the years of hard work that Coach
Gough has put in,” junior third baseman
Jake Verschoore said. “He’s building us
toward more and more winning baseball.
The teams are just getting better and better
as we go.”
Gough said that the community and
school support during the magical run to
the title game was nothing short of amazing.
“It’s been such a fun ride to see all the
fan support from the alumni, the administrators,
staff, the teachers and family
and friends, and maybe most importantly,
future Fort Zumwalt West baseball players,”
Gough said.
As the game ended, the Jaguars coach
shed a few tears, but not because of the
loss. “I cried my butt off yesterday, not
because we finished second in state, but
because I’ll never get to coach these guys
again,” Gough said. “Those seniors, I’ll
never be able to coach again. I’m so proud
of what they accomplished this year.”
Student and athlete
community service
During the 2016-17 academic year,
Francis Howell High activities, clubs and
sports were actively involved in the community
through outreach and charity fundraising
efforts. Leadership development,
community service and outreach are all
vital components of the school’s activities
and sports.
School programs took part in 51 projects
over the course of the 2016-17 school
year, benefiting 25 different charities. For
the year, $40,034 was raised for charities
and 6,949 hours of service were performed.
Over the past two school years,
the Howell Activities department has
completed over 12,000 hours of community
service and donated more than
$65,000 to local charities.