) =’ SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013 Tue DALLAS POST PAGE 9 SPOrts @p0RTS BRIEFS SOFTBALL CLINIC The Dallas High School softball team will hold its second develop- ment clinic for girls ages 7-14 from noon to 2 p.m. today, April 21 at the Back Mountain Little League Field. . This clinic will have a brief review of Session 1, go over base running, proper infield and outfield position- ing and offensive execution drills. i For more information, call call Brent Berger at 793-1126 or Bill Kern at 498-5991. FUN NIGHT BENEFITS TEAM :- In the event of rain, the clinic will held in the Dallas High School asium. The Dallas High School track and ield team will host a Family Fun Night from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 at Leggio’s Italian Restau- rant, Dallas location. A percentage of all sales during hat time period will support the JR. MOUNTS REGISTRATION The Dallas Junior Mounts Football and Cheerleading Association will hold registration from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 25 at the Dal- las American Legion. Any boy or girl who is 5 years old by Aug. 1 is eligible. Please bring a recent photo, a birth certificate and two proofs of residency. SOCCER REGISTRATION Back Mountain Youth Soccer Asso- ciation will hold registration for the fall 2013 intramural soccer season from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27 at the Dallas Middle School cafeteria. Age groups U-6 through U-18 will be accepted. Eligible players must be at least 5 years of age before Aug. 1. New players must show proof of age. All players must register online atwww.bmysa.org. Computers will be available at registration. CAR WASH/BAKE SALE The Dallas Mountaineers High School Baseball Booster Club will sponsor a car wash and bake sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday May 5 at Newell Fuel. Members of the high school base- ball team will be on hand to wash cars and an array of baked goods will be sold. All proceeds will go to support the Dallas School District baseball program. Car wash tickets are $5. RAIDERS REGISTRATION The Kingston Township Raid- ers will hold registration for mini football and cheerleading from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 18 at the Kingston Township Municipal Building, 180 E. Center St., Shavertown. arents should bring the child's th certificate, two proofs of resi- ncy and a photo of the child. Registration fees are $50 for cheer- leading and $60 for football with a $10 sibling discount. FASTPITCH PLAYERS SOUGHT The Endless Mt. Blast U14 travel fastpitch program is still looking for a few qualified players to round out its teams for the upcoming season. Anyone interested is asked to call 840-6433 or email ronh@sbsmod.com. FILE PHOTO/ THE TIMES LEADER Brian Stepniak delivers a pitch against Plains during Wyoming Valley American Legion playoffs in Rice Town- ship early in his career. Stepniak has made a verbal commitment to pitch for Hartford University. Mountaineer diamondmen on WINNING STREAK By TOM ROBINSON For The Dallas Post he high school baseball season features just about a dozen games jammed into the time between when fields are ready for use in the spring and schools are going through graduations and other year- end activities: At Dallas, however, 2012 felt like a long year on the high school baseball diamond. “There is a positive vibe in the pro- gram this year,” said Mountaineers coach Ken Kashatus. “Last year, even though there were only 14 games, it felt like a long year.” Even after a painful extra-inning crossover loss at Hazleton Area on Tuesday when a sixth-inning lead got away, Dallas is 3-1 and alone in first place of Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. It took the Moun- taineers only three games to surpass the win total from all of 2012 when they were 2-12. “It was as brutal a loss as losses can get,” Kashatus said. “Youre on the cusp of being 4-0 and instead, you're 3-1 with some tough games coming up.” Kashatus said it is important for the Mountaineers to remember what they have accomplished as they try to shake off the first disappointment of a season in which they have outscored conference opponents, 28-10. “It’s tough to beat Hazleton at Ha- zleton,” he said of the second-place team in Division 1. “We were right there; we just had to make one more play. “But, if you asked me if I would sign up for 3-1 back in January, I would say ‘absolutely’.” The Mountaineers are enjoying success with largely the same players who went through a trying season in 2012. Leading the way is Brian Stepniak, who has verbally committed to play Division I baseball at the University of Hartford as a pitcher. Stepniak has followed up an out- standing swimming season in which he earned two individual and one re- lay medal at the state championships. “He’s ahead of schedule compared to where he has been in the past be- cause he did some stuff in the offsea- son even with the huge time commit- ment to swimming,” Kashatus said. “He knew baseball was his bread and butter and what he’s going to do in the future, even though he’s an excel- lent swimmer.” Stepniak had a 2.57 earned run av- erage last season while also hitting 341. Until an infield error led to an un- earned run Tuesday, Stepniak was in position to improve his pitching record to 3-0. He struck out eight in seven innings and got a no-decision. Kashatus credits the seven-runs- per-game average to each of the first six batters in the order clicking. “The lineup has pretty much writ ten itself,” he said. “With the way the first six guys have been hitting, I can’t imagine the lineup changing.” Ryan Zapoticky has returned to baseball for the first time since his freshman year and is leading off while playing in the outfield. Zapoticky, the Dallas quarterback, is headed to Ship- pensburg University for football and had spent previous springs getting healthy for football season. Nigel Stearns, who had the pitch- ing win against Lake-Lehman in the first week, hit his second home run of the season against Hazleton Area. Greg Petorak leads the team in extra-base hits with two doubles and two homers. Petorak and Stepniak, who bat third and fourth behind Zapoticky and Stearns, are the team captains. Stepniak is in his fourth year as a starter while Petorak is in his third. Catcher Bill Gately hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw this season to fuel a 5-2 win at Tunkhannock. Left fielder Dominic Oliveri is in the sixth spot. The Mountaineers have seven home runs in four games. “The two, three, four, five and six hitters have all hit home runs,” Kasha- tus said. “We only had one inside-the- park homer last year. “We're making strides from last year with a lot of the same guys.” As a result, 2013 is not feeling like such a long season for the Mountain- eers. Gorski returns to LL helm By TOM ROBINSON For The Dallas Post The last time Brian Gorski was the head coach of the Lake-Lehman baseball team, the Black Knights won Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 championships in 2007. Gorski is back in charge this- season, but the program is fac- ing a challenging season before the Shavertown Gorski resident can have the Black Knights back to chasing titles again. “We're going through both a tran- sition and a rebuilding year,” said Gorski, who spent five years as a high school coach then put in time as both a Back Mountain Little League and Back Mountain Junior Legion coach during his time away. Lake-Lehman moved up a divi- sion within the WVC to a higher classification for District 2 and po- tential Pennsylvania Interscholas- tic Athletic Association play. The Black Knights used to play with the WVC’s smallest schools, but are now in the middle division of the three following realignment. They also jump up from Class AA to AAA, the second-largest of the PIAA’s four classifications in base- ball. The move to a more difficult schedule comes at a time when Lake-Lehman has just three return- ing starters — Jeff Carter, Pete Bo- rum and Scott Bean. “Undoubtedly, we need to start hitting the ball,” Gorski said after the Black Knights managed just one hit against Berwick Tuesday to fall to 14 in conference play. “We need to have multiple hits in multiple innings and to start com- ing up with clutch hits. We're defi- nitely struggling putting runners on base.” Gorski, who teaches govern- ment and history at Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School, is em- phasizing fundamentals and basics with his baseball team as he always had. During the early struggles, he is seeing positives upon which the Black Knights can build. “We are playing extraordinarily good defense and our pitching is keeping us in the game, but we are not yet getting run support,” he said. The three veterans give Lake- Lehman players something to build around. All have had success in the past. Carter batted .405 last season. Borum hit .335 and had a 1.31 earned run average. Bean struck out 30 in WVC play. yun eden? Shutlock to St. Francis Dallas High School senior Buddy Shutlock, front center, signs a letter of intent to play football for St. Francis of Loretto University at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. From left, first row, are Michael Shutlock, father; Buddy Shutlock and Melanie Shutlock, mother. Second row, former head coach Ted —1Jackson, Sr. and former assistant coaches Jonathan Saba and Bob Mahle. 18 BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas freshmen end season at 13-3 The Dallas freshman girls basketball team completed a successful season in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division | League with a conference record of 10-2 and an overall record of 13-3. From left, first row, are Samantha Pollick, Lauren Dotter, Talia Kosierowski, Breezy Coolbaugh, Marian Bednar. Second row, Courtney Devens, Paige Evans, Maddie Kelley, Sara Lojewski, Catherine Dillon and Coach Johnna Schickram.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers