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.0000.00other Schnitzer:
lly STEvE PATCH
thought it worked only on grownups.
surprise when 9-year-old Brenton
tells you he personally unleashes it all
at Southside School, and with perfectly
results.
ou know, whenever talk gets 'round to that
L-fevered preoccupation of male pre-
and guys say, 'I could whup you," says
acknowledging another time-honored rite
oneupmanship.
musing.
he says, summoning all the chin-stroking
one can muster with vocal chords squeaking
of adolescence, "I really don't care.
JUst say 'Whatever.'"
****
feigned in-
as good as a wink
Wrong cliche.
truth, though,
third.grader
y by his
before he
dirt-bike racing's
throne the
already was
) in the
lg, family-
his grandfather,
• was the first
to ever come outta
Brenton's dad,
grad Del Schnitzer.
pro, also. I'm a
rider right
so it just came natural
introduction
world was
me since he
months old,"
)de by
started riding
with me on the
every once
back
go runnin' past
that I
le back with him,
over."
couldn't pick
says Brenton's
was at a race
a bike for sale
I , , .
think It was,
paid for it
and we bought it at
t and rode
and
casts a twinkle-
the direction of
too.
did
the only
remember..."
'I don't
know
WHAT
happens
• eT T e
mstae fits
helmet. '
with a victory nearly five years
ago and has trophies galore
now for both dirt, track and
motocross.
"But, well, I like it better if
I win, says Brenton, sounding
almost apologetic.
And what's he do if he loses?
Sulk? Throw a fit?
t4
Congratulate the winner,
says Brenton.
Dad interjects, nodding ap-
proval. =The first thing you do
is you go over and tell the
other guy, 'Good ride,' Right?"
The champ nods, looking
faintly amused.
SO YOU DELVE deeper: Is
he actually friendly with all
his rivals? They're not mortal
enemies or anything like that,
are they?
ell." says Brenton, "when
they're out on the track they
are."
know , inside his
helmet when he gets on the
, $
track, he say . "As you can
' r
tell, he s a p etty mild, easy-
going kid.
,But when he gets on the
race track he definitely wants
to win."
THAT'S ALL WELL and
good,, of course, says Del. But
there s something far more ira.
this age particular-
"The whole thing is sup-
posed to be for fun and for
sport and all that stuff," he re-
minds. And that s one reason
I've made it clear to him -
talked to him over and over
' " r
agam - to tell me if m getting
overbearing.
"Cuz I don't wanna push
him. I've done my racing and
accomplished what I'm going
isn't every- to accomplish. And, anyway,
Our young champ, like I said, it's for FUN."
ted his race career HE GRINS "Now, I break
00owling
Or
3/9/99 Clark 0, Terry Paterson 483; Bull 4, Jeff
I,.| .-,, %. a- Oodburn, 263. Thompson 580; White 1, Jody Coots 533;
1. _, I: IO s Waylett 728. Timber 3, Amos Waylett 728; Castle 3, John
| tt! . ribsr=e 8-4, Orient 7-5, Still- Clark 607, Harveys 1, Jeff Harvey 576; Dri-
ft, | "'q%..Whits ,/-5, Bull 7-5, Dies 6-6 ant 3, Mark Hearst 650; Dies 1, Willie
" |' ",lirt'L , Moose 5-7, Mor 5-7, Owens 583; Stillwell 3, Rich Huisingh 511;
| -8, Mor 1, Wes Goodburn 580; First 3, Arden
New AMP, state champ Brenton Schnitzer
the rule sometimes," he says.
"But we do have this deal that
we're not s'posed to talk until,
um- whatever - 20 minutes
after a race, or somethin'.
"Because when you get done
the adrenalin's goin' and you
can get upset. It's better to
wait to talk "till you're both
cooled down and all that stuff.
"So we try to keep it on a
coaching level - and never any
yelling or anything like that."
IN ANY EVENT, says Del,
race time he'll go out and blow
'era away. They won't even
come close to him."
The reason is simple if
not immediately apparent,
adds Dad.
"He's riding good, smooth
lines,., he says, "-and he's
thlnking all tb time.,."
And what's he think of
the spoils that await him in
his son's style isn't particular- the pro ranks he looks to join
ly the sort to arouse rampant one day?
passionate begin with. In fact, Does he covet the high
it's downright lulling, times? Fabulous wealth?
Deceptively so, to be sure. Beautiful women fighting over
'Teah, he's so smooth that it him?
doesn't look like he's on fire," Nine-year-old state champ
says Dad. 'here'll be kids out Brenton Schnitzer shrugs, his
there that I'll see in practice shoulders and eyebrows in
that look like they're goin' perfectly noncommittalunison,
faster than him. And I'll go, "Uhhh, I don't care," he tells
TCell, he's got his work cut out you.
for him today.' "Just so I don't have to
"And then when it comes work..."
"He'd find out that I wasn't
on the back with him, and
then he'd fall over.'
BRENTON LEADS during a recent race.
Merriman 579; Moose 1, Jim Robinson 538.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
DOUBLES 3/3/99
Men's Hi Game: Dave Franzen, 212.
Men's Hi Series: Mike Seelig, 490.
Women's Ht Game and Series: Dab Bilyeu,
157 and 432.
Standings: #2 24-8, #5 19-13, #1 17-15,
#4 16-16, #3 15-17, #6 5.27.
#4 4, Dave Franzen 487; #6 0, Chad
Sweltzer 476; #2 2, Bryce Jacot 478; #5 2,
Josh Heideman 442; #1 3, Mike Seellg 478;
#3 1, Dale Ackley 453.
Under Coach Roo uidge:
Climber baseball
launches new era
By STEVE PATCH
There's a whole new look to
Climber baseball this spring -
from the top, anyhow.
Those below the varsity vats'
upper echelon have a different
perspective, of course. And be-
cause of it they're not puzzling at
the new guy with the lunge bat.
Prior to taking over the varsity
reins, see, he was their head
coach.
"SO THE YOUNGER kids
know what to expect," says Jon
Rooklidge, so-described successor
to head coach Ken Aries, who
stepped down at the end of last
season after six years at the
helm.
He grins. "What's funny," he
says, "is other teams' coaches
know more about our kids than
know about our kids. I've never
really seen our kids play, and I've
only been in this program - as an
assistant at the jayvee level - for
two years."
WHAT HE LACKS in specif-
ics he more than makes up for in
general knowledge, though. Des-
pite being only 11 years out of
high school himself, see, Coach
Rooklidge has been immersed in
the game of baseball for consider-
ably longer yet.
"Grew up in Longview," he tells
you, holding forth in the succinct,
carefully articulated manner by
which he's known in the Shelton
High School social studies class-
room as well.
"Played Little League - the
whole schmear. Played high
school. Played junior college, at
Lower Columbia. Played some
semi-pro.
"I TOYED WITH some fall-
practice stuff at the University of
Portland but found out at that
point that the talent level at
Division One was probably" - he
grins - "another step beyond
where my level was."
And what position was it he
played?
Coach grins anew. "Believe it
or not," he says, "I was a pitcher.
I was the rare short pitcher - five-
foot-nine, five-ten - out there."
HIS COACHING experience
goes back a ways as well, as it
happens.
"I started as a freshman bas-
ketball coach at Columbia River
High School - while I was in
college," says Rooklidge. "Needed
some tuition money. Then I ended
up coaching baseball at that
school, and they were a state-
ranked program."
His mentor there was so good,
says the new Climber boss, he's
now a scout for pro baseball's
Colorado Rockies.
"AND AT THAT same time,"
says Rooklidge, "I took a summer
job helping my college coach with
this Legion program he'd started
in Longview, and I ended up do-
ing that for about the next four
years.
"And he's now the coach at
Washington State. He got the
head job there about four or five
years ago.
"So there's two real dynamic
Coach Jon Rooklidge
coaches that I got to learn from.
So probably from the age of 19 to
about 23 I was really submerged
pretty thick into baseball."
AND WHAT KEY to winning
baseball did he glean from his
notably successful mentors?
"What I've learned is that you
have to teach your kids the fun-
damentals, and you have to teach
them the right way," says Rook-
lidge. "That way they're able to
succeed as the competition level
rises."
Bad habits don't die easily, re-
minds the coach. "It's like a golf
swing," he says. "Wanting to fix
that slice won't fix it. You've gotta
repeat it and repeat it and repeat
it and repeat it. And that's the
key. Then it becomes a learned
thndamental."
THE CLIMBERS he inherits
this spring, says Rooklidge, in-
clude plenty of veteran :leadership
- most notably from half a dozen
returning varsity mainstays: sen-
iors Josh Arndt, Matt Dickinson,
James Aries, Mani Thompson and
Brent Armstrong and junior Ja-
cob Ozga.
Four of them come back with
all-league celebrity - first-team
honorees Arndt (center field, .281
leadoff, 12-13 in steals, three tri-
ples, one homer) and Dickinson
(third base, team highs of .426
average and 21 rbi plus three
homers and five doubles) and sec-
ond-teamers Aries (pitcher, 1.98
era, 36 strikeouts in 35 innings)
and Thompson (catcher, .417
average, six doubles, one homer,
13 rbi).
Armstrong can do a little bit of
everything, notes Coach. He bat-
ted .246 last year and had a pair
of doubles, and he even did some
relief work on the mound.
And young Ozga? "Jacob
played with me as a freshman, so
I'm real familiar with him" says
Rooklidge. "He'll help us on the
mound. He's a competitor. He
goes after people. And he's got a
good bat, too."
ROUNDING OUT the varsity
lineup are jayvee grads Jesse
Boelk (junior second-baseman),
Jeremy Howard (junior southpaw
pitcher), Emil Daily (junior,
pitcher/utility player), Mike Mur-
dock (junior catcher/DH) and
Ryan Jones (sophomore short-
stop); senior transfer Ryan Jones,
a pitcher from South Kitsap, ju-
nior Doug Richert, and soph-
omores Brian Corey, Zach Sheetz
and Dustin Tobey.
Jayvee players, led this year by
long-time middle school mentor
Gene Crater, include juniors
Adam Beeler and Eric Hera,
sophomores Zach Bowman,
Shawn Brady, Derek Cahoon,
Adam Fosbre, Ethan Peterson,
Justin Thomas and Jason Winans
and freshmen A.J. Mell, Ian San-
derson and Casey Williams.
C-teamers, under coach Mark
(fresh-from-basketball) Jensen,
include Chris Nadeau, John
Richardson, Garrett Ronning, An-
drew Wilford, Chris Boelk, Sean
Burleson, Angelo Fantozzi, B.J.
Farrell, Michael Heldreth, Josh
Henderson, Adam Julius, Robert
Magee, Dan Moore, Tim Murdock,
Evan Noreen, Steven Shehan,
Curtis Snyder, Rob Watson and
twins Brett and Bryce Kilmer.
Assistant coaches include Ken
Dickinson, Ed Stewart, Barcley
Bohning and Tim Rhoades.
KEY TO VARSITY success
this spring? Coach Rooklidge
makes no bones about it .....
"What we have to overcome is
our finish last year," he says, al-
luding to the late tailspin that led
to the '98 Climbers' 5-15 despair.
"Things didn't go the way the
players anticipated. And that's al-
ways a tough thing to overcome,
cuz you've gotta climb above that
mentally."
ONE REMEDY, of course, is
winning. But the Climbers' new
coach isn't about to get ahead of
himself on that front.
"The first thing we wanna do,"
he says, "is be fundamentally
sound and approach things the
right way. Obviously we need to
go from the bottom of the league
last year to the top of the league
to reach the playoffs, and I don't
think that that is beyond us.
"I think we've got some good
players, and we can get there.
Now, if we reach the higher level
right away, that's super. If it
takes a little bit longer it takes a
little bit longer.
"The bottom line is you have to
do things right. And if we do
things right I think we're going to
succeed..."
Bats off to a 1
The Climber varsity baseball
boys got off to a 1-3 start the past
week, following up a 3-1 win over
River Ridge in their March 16
opener and then subsequently
losing 6-9 to Timberline, 6-9 to
Bremerton and 2-8 to Olympia
The latter, Monday, launched
their Rivers League chase.
River Ridge 100 000 0 - 1141?
Shelton 001 020 0 - 3/2/0
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-2, Brant
Armstrong 1-3, Matt Dickinson 1-3, Mani
Thompson 0-3, Mike Murdock 0-1 with a
walk, Jesse Boelk 0-2, Ryan Gonzales 0-2,
Jacob Ozga 0-3, Jeremy Howard 0-3.
Shelton rbi - Josh Arndt 2, Mani Thomp-
son 1.
Shelton pitching - Brant Armstrong
pitched three scoreless innings, allowing
one hit, striking out two and walking one to
get the win. Jeremy Howard went three as
well, allowing one earned run on three hits
and a walk while striking out five, and Josh
Arndt pitched no-hit ball for an inning, with
no walks or strikeouts.
Timberline 431 010 0 - 918/?
Shelton 200 004 0 - 6/913
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-2 with a
walk and an rbi, Brant Armstrong 0-3, Matt
Dickinson 2-3, Mani Thompson 1-3 with a
homer and two rbl, Mike Murdock 1-3, Jesse
-3 start
Boelk 1-3, Ryan Gonzales 1-3 with a walk,
Jacob Ozga 1-2 with a walk, Jeremy How-
ard 2-3.
Shelton pitching - Ryan Jones three in-
nings, three hits, two runs, three strikeouts,
no walks; Jacob Ozga one and two thirds in-
nings, five hits, seven runs (three earned),
three strikeouts and two walks; Matt Dickin-
son one and a third innings, no hits, no runs,
one walk.
Bremerton 003 501 0 - 918/?
Shelton 001 022 1 - 6/815
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 1-5 with an
rbi, Brant Armstrong 0-4 with an rbi, Matt
Dickinson 2-4 with a double and two rbi,
Mani Thompson 2-5 with a double and an
rbi, Mike Murdock 0-1 with a walk, Jesse
Boelk 1-3 with a walk, Ryan Gonzales 0-2
with three walks, Emil Daily 1-2, Jacob Ozga
1-3 with a walk and an rbl and Jeremy How-
ard 0-4.
Pitching - Jeremy Howard (two innings,
two hits, no runs, four strikeouts, no walks),
Jacob Ozga (1.2 innings, two hits, one run,
three strikeouts, no walks), Emil Daily (one
inning, one hit, three unearned runs), Matt
Dickinson (one inning, no hits, two walks,
two strikeouts, one earned run), Brant Arm-
strong (one-third inning, two hits, one walk,
four runs, three earned), Josh Amdt (one in-
ning, one hit, one strikeout, no runs).
Olympia 002 023 1 - 8/8/?
Shelton 010 000 1 - 2/4/3
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-4, Brent
Armstrong 1-3 with an rbi, Matt Dickinson 0-
3, Mani Thompson 1-3, Mike Murdock 0-0,
Jesse Boelk 1-1 with a walk, Ryan Gonzales
0-4, Brian Corey 0-2, Emil Daily 0-0 with a
walk, Jacob Ozga 1-2 with a walk and Jere-
my Howard 0-3.
Shelton pitching - Jeremy Howard (five
innings, six hits, four earned runs, one walk,
six strikeouts), Ryan Jones (three batters,
three errors, three unearned runs), Jacob
Ozga (two innings, two hits, one unearned
run, no walks, two strikeouts).
SUNDAY NIGHT MIXED
DOUBLES 3/7/99
Men's Hi Game: Gary Morrison, 223.
Men's Hi Series: Duffy Kammerzell, 593.
Women's Hi Game and Series: Linda
Combs, 188 and 508.
Standings: Skookum 33.11, Misfits 29-
15, Olsen 27-17, Schwans 25-19, Just 22-
22, Four 22-22, Gamblers 21-23, Spare 21-
23, Missed 14-30.
Just 0, Ed Cochran 487; Misfits 4, Roger
Smith 551; Schwans 3, Duffy Kammerzell
593; Missed 0, Laura Safford 377; Spare 4,
Dennis James 560; Gamblers 3, Linda
Combs 506; Skookum 1, Gary Morrison
572; Four 1, Fred Semeral 462; Olsen 3,
Dennis Lundgren 409.
Thursday, March 25, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 19
.0000.00other Schnitzer:
lly STEvE PATCH
thought it worked only on grownups.
surprise when 9-year-old Brenton
tells you he personally unleashes it all
at Southside School, and with perfectly
results.
ou know, whenever talk gets 'round to that
L-fevered preoccupation of male pre-
and guys say, 'I could whup you," says
acknowledging another time-honored rite
oneupmanship.
musing.
he says, summoning all the chin-stroking
one can muster with vocal chords squeaking
of adolescence, "I really don't care.
JUst say 'Whatever.'"
****
feigned in-
as good as a wink
Wrong cliche.
truth, though,
third.grader
y by his
before he
dirt-bike racing's
throne the
already was
) in the
lg, family-
his grandfather,
• was the first
to ever come outta
Brenton's dad,
grad Del Schnitzer.
pro, also. I'm a
rider right
so it just came natural
introduction
world was
me since he
months old,"
)de by
started riding
with me on the
every once
back
go runnin' past
that I
le back with him,
over."
couldn't pick
says Brenton's
was at a race
a bike for sale
I , , .
think It was,
paid for it
and we bought it at
t and rode
and
casts a twinkle-
the direction of
too.
did
the only
remember..."
'I don't
know
WHAT
happens
• eT T e
mstae fits
helmet. '
with a victory nearly five years
ago and has trophies galore
now for both dirt, track and
motocross.
"But, well, I like it better if
I win, says Brenton, sounding
almost apologetic.
And what's he do if he loses?
Sulk? Throw a fit?
t4
Congratulate the winner,
says Brenton.
Dad interjects, nodding ap-
proval. =The first thing you do
is you go over and tell the
other guy, 'Good ride,' Right?"
The champ nods, looking
faintly amused.
SO YOU DELVE deeper: Is
he actually friendly with all
his rivals? They're not mortal
enemies or anything like that,
are they?
ell." says Brenton, "when
they're out on the track they
are."
know , inside his
helmet when he gets on the
, $
track, he say . "As you can
' r
tell, he s a p etty mild, easy-
going kid.
,But when he gets on the
race track he definitely wants
to win."
THAT'S ALL WELL and
good,, of course, says Del. But
there s something far more ira.
this age particular-
"The whole thing is sup-
posed to be for fun and for
sport and all that stuff," he re-
minds. And that s one reason
I've made it clear to him -
talked to him over and over
' " r
agam - to tell me if m getting
overbearing.
"Cuz I don't wanna push
him. I've done my racing and
accomplished what I'm going
isn't every- to accomplish. And, anyway,
Our young champ, like I said, it's for FUN."
ted his race career HE GRINS "Now, I break
00owling
Or
3/9/99 Clark 0, Terry Paterson 483; Bull 4, Jeff
I,.| .-,, %. a- Oodburn, 263. Thompson 580; White 1, Jody Coots 533;
1. _, I: IO s Waylett 728. Timber 3, Amos Waylett 728; Castle 3, John
| tt! . ribsr=e 8-4, Orient 7-5, Still- Clark 607, Harveys 1, Jeff Harvey 576; Dri-
ft, | "'q%..Whits ,/-5, Bull 7-5, Dies 6-6 ant 3, Mark Hearst 650; Dies 1, Willie
" |' ",lirt'L , Moose 5-7, Mor 5-7, Owens 583; Stillwell 3, Rich Huisingh 511;
| -8, Mor 1, Wes Goodburn 580; First 3, Arden
New AMP, state champ Brenton Schnitzer
the rule sometimes," he says.
"But we do have this deal that
we're not s'posed to talk until,
um - whatever - 20 minutes
after a race, or somethin'.
"Because when you get done
the adrenalin's goin' and you
can get upset. It's better to
wait to talk "till you're both
cooled down and all that stuff.
"So we try to keep it on a
coaching level - and never any
yelling or anything like that."
IN ANY EVENT, says Del,
race time he'll go out and blow
'era away. They won't even
come close to him."
The reason is simple if
not immediately apparent,
adds Dad.
"He's riding good, smooth
lines,., he says, "-and he's
thlnking all tb time.,."
And what's he think of
the spoils that await him in
his son's style isn't particular- the pro ranks he looks to join
ly the sort to arouse rampant one day?
passionate begin with. In fact, Does he covet the high
it's downright lulling, times? Fabulous wealth?
Deceptively so, to be sure. Beautiful women fighting over
'Teah, he's so smooth that it him?
doesn't look like he's on fire," Nine-year-old state champ
says Dad. 'here'll be kids out Brenton Schnitzer shrugs, his
there that I'll see in practice shoulders and eyebrows in
that look like they're goin' perfectly noncommittalunison,
faster than him. And I'll go, "Uhhh, I don't care," he tells
TCell, he's got his work cut out you.
for him today.' "Just so I don't have to
"And then when it comes work..."
"He'd find out that I wasn't
on the back with him, and
then he'd fall over.'
BRENTON LEADS during a recent race.
Merriman 579; Moose 1, Jim Robinson 538.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
DOUBLES 3/3/99
Men's Hi Game: Dave Franzen, 212.
Men's Hi Series: Mike Seelig, 490.
Women's Ht Game and Series: Dab Bilyeu,
157 and 432.
Standings: #2 24-8, #5 19-13, #1 17-15,
#4 16-16, #3 15-17, #6 5.27.
#4 4, Dave Franzen 487; #6 0, Chad
Sweltzer 476; #2 2, Bryce Jacot 478; #5 2,
Josh Heideman 442; #1 3, Mike Seellg 478;
#3 1, Dale Ackley 453.
Under Coach Roo uidge:
Climber baseball
launches new era
By STEVE PATCH
There's a whole new look to
Climber baseball this spring -
from the top, anyhow.
Those below the varsity vats'
upper echelon have a different
perspective, of course. And be-
cause of it they're not puzzling at
the new guy with the lunge bat.
Prior to taking over the varsity
reins, see, he was their head
coach.
"SO THE YOUNGER kids
know what to expect," says Jon
Rooklidge, so-described successor
to head coach Ken Aries, who
stepped down at the end of last
season after six years at the
helm.
He grins. "What's funny," he
says, "is other teams' coaches
know more about our kids than
know about our kids. I've never
really seen our kids play, and I've
only been in this program - as an
assistant at the jayvee level - for
two years."
WHAT HE LACKS in specif-
ics he more than makes up for in
general knowledge, though. Des-
pite being only 11 years out of
high school himself, see, Coach
Rooklidge has been immersed in
the game of baseball for consider-
ably longer yet.
"Grew up in Longview," he tells
you, holding forth in the succinct,
carefully articulated manner by
which he's known in the Shelton
High School social studies class-
room as well.
"Played Little League - the
whole schmear. Played high
school. Played junior college, at
Lower Columbia. Played some
semi-pro.
"I TOYED WITH some fall-
practice stuff at the University of
Portland but found out at that
point that the talent level at
Division One was probably" - he
grins - "another step beyond
where my level was."
And what position was it he
played?
Coach grins anew. "Believe it
or not," he says, "I was a pitcher.
I was the rare short pitcher - five-
foot-nine, five-ten - out there."
HIS COACHING experience
goes back a ways as well, as it
happens.
"I started as a freshman bas-
ketball coach at Columbia River
High School - while I was in
college," says Rooklidge. "Needed
some tuition money. Then I ended
up coaching baseball at that
school, and they were a state-
ranked program."
His mentor there was so good,
says the new Climber boss, he's
now a scout for pro baseball's
Colorado Rockies.
"AND AT THAT same time,"
says Rooklidge, "I took a summer
job helping my college coach with
this Legion program he'd started
in Longview, and I ended up do-
ing that for about the next four
years.
"And he's now the coach at
Washington State. He got the
head job there about four or five
years ago.
"So there's two real dynamic
Coach Jon Rooklidge
coaches that I got to learn from.
So probably from the age of 19 to
about 23 I was really submerged
pretty thick into baseball."
AND WHAT KEY to winning
baseball did he glean from his
notably successful mentors?
"What I've learned is that you
have to teach your kids the fun-
damentals, and you have to teach
them the right way," says Rook-
lidge. "That way they're able to
succeed as the competition level
rises."
Bad habits don't die easily, re-
minds the coach. "It's like a golf
swing," he says. "Wanting to fix
that slice won't fix it. You've gotta
repeat it and repeat it and repeat
it and repeat it. And that's the
key. Then it becomes a learned
thndamental."
THE CLIMBERS he inherits
this spring, says Rooklidge, in-
clude plenty of veteran :leadership
- most notably from half a dozen
returning varsity mainstays: sen-
iors Josh Arndt, Matt Dickinson,
James Aries, Mani Thompson and
Brent Armstrong and junior Ja-
cob Ozga.
Four of them come back with
all-league celebrity - first-team
honorees Arndt (center field, .281
leadoff, 12-13 in steals, three tri-
ples, one homer) and Dickinson
(third base, team highs of .426
average and 21 rbi plus three
homers and five doubles) and sec-
ond-teamers Aries (pitcher, 1.98
era, 36 strikeouts in 35 innings)
and Thompson (catcher, .417
average, six doubles, one homer,
13 rbi).
Armstrong can do a little bit of
everything, notes Coach. He bat-
ted .246 last year and had a pair
of doubles, and he even did some
relief work on the mound.
And young Ozga? "Jacob
played with me as a freshman, so
I'm real familiar with him" says
Rooklidge. "He'll help us on the
mound. He's a competitor. He
goes after people. And he's got a
good bat, too."
ROUNDING OUT the varsity
lineup are jayvee grads Jesse
Boelk (junior second-baseman),
Jeremy Howard (junior southpaw
pitcher), Emil Daily (junior,
pitcher/utility player), Mike Mur-
dock (junior catcher/DH) and
Ryan Jones (sophomore short-
stop); senior transfer Ryan Jones,
a pitcher from South Kitsap, ju-
nior Doug Richert, and soph-
omores Brian Corey, Zach Sheetz
and Dustin Tobey.
Jayvee players, led this year by
long-time middle school mentor
Gene Crater, include juniors
Adam Beeler and Eric Hera,
sophomores Zach Bowman,
Shawn Brady, Derek Cahoon,
Adam Fosbre, Ethan Peterson,
Justin Thomas and Jason Winans
and freshmen A.J. Mell, Ian San-
derson and Casey Williams.
C-teamers, under coach Mark
(fresh-from-basketball) Jensen,
include Chris Nadeau, John
Richardson, Garrett Ronning, An-
drew Wilford, Chris Boelk, Sean
Burleson, Angelo Fantozzi, B.J.
Farrell, Michael Heldreth, Josh
Henderson, Adam Julius, Robert
Magee, Dan Moore, Tim Murdock,
Evan Noreen, Steven Shehan,
Curtis Snyder, Rob Watson and
twins Brett and Bryce Kilmer.
Assistant coaches include Ken
Dickinson, Ed Stewart, Barcley
Bohning and Tim Rhoades.
KEY TO VARSITY success
this spring? Coach Rooklidge
makes no bones about it .....
"What we have to overcome is
our finish last year," he says, al-
luding to the late tailspin that led
to the '98 Climbers' 5-15 despair.
"Things didn't go the way the
players anticipated. And that's al-
ways a tough thing to overcome,
cuz you've gotta climb above that
mentally."
ONE REMEDY, of course, is
winning. But the Climbers' new
coach isn't about to get ahead of
himself on that front.
"The first thing we wanna do,"
he says, "is be fundamentally
sound and approach things the
right way. Obviously we need to
go from the bottom of the league
last year to the top of the league
to reach the playoffs, and I don't
think that that is beyond us.
"I think we've got some good
players, and we can get there.
Now, if we reach the higher level
right away, that's super. If it
takes a little bit longer it takes a
little bit longer.
"The bottom line is you have to
do things right. And if we do
things right I think we're going to
succeed..."
Bats off to a 1
The Climber varsity baseball
boys got off to a 1-3 start the past
week, following up a 3-1 win over
River Ridge in their March 16
opener and then subsequently
losing 6-9 to Timberline, 6-9 to
Bremerton and 2-8 to Olympia
The latter, Monday, launched
their Rivers League chase.
River Ridge 100 000 0 - 1141?
Shelton 001 020 0 - 3/2/0
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-2, Brant
Armstrong 1-3, Matt Dickinson 1-3, Mani
Thompson 0-3, Mike Murdock 0-1 with a
walk, Jesse Boelk 0-2, Ryan Gonzales 0-2,
Jacob Ozga 0-3, Jeremy Howard 0-3.
Shelton rbi - Josh Arndt 2, Mani Thomp-
son 1.
Shelton pitching - Brant Armstrong
pitched three scoreless innings, allowing
one hit, striking out two and walking one to
get the win. Jeremy Howard went three as
well, allowing one earned run on three hits
and a walk while striking out five, and Josh
Arndt pitched no-hit ball for an inning, with
no walks or strikeouts.
Timberline 431 010 0 - 918/?
Shelton 200 004 0 - 6/913
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-2 with a
walk and an rbi, Brant Armstrong 0-3, Matt
Dickinson 2-3, Mani Thompson 1-3 with a
homer and two rbl, Mike Murdock 1-3, Jesse
-3 start
Boelk 1-3, Ryan Gonzales 1-3 with a walk,
Jacob Ozga 1-2 with a walk, Jeremy How-
ard 2-3.
Shelton pitching - Ryan Jones three in-
nings, three hits, two runs, three strikeouts,
no walks; Jacob Ozga one and two thirds in-
nings, five hits, seven runs (three earned),
three strikeouts and two walks; Matt Dickin-
son one and a third innings, no hits, no runs,
one walk.
Bremerton 003 501 0 - 918/?
Shelton 001 022 1 - 6/815
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 1-5 with an
rbi, Brant Armstrong 0-4 with an rbi, Matt
Dickinson 2-4 with a double and two rbi,
Mani Thompson 2-5 with a double and an
rbi, Mike Murdock 0-1 with a walk, Jesse
Boelk 1-3 with a walk, Ryan Gonzales 0-2
with three walks, Emil Daily 1-2, Jacob Ozga
1-3 with a walk and an rbl and Jeremy How-
ard 0-4.
Pitching - Jeremy Howard (two innings,
two hits, no runs, four strikeouts, no walks),
Jacob Ozga (1.2 innings, two hits, one run,
three strikeouts, no walks), Emil Daily (one
inning, one hit, three unearned runs), Matt
Dickinson (one inning, no hits, two walks,
two strikeouts, one earned run), Brant Arm-
strong (one-third inning, two hits, one walk,
four runs, three earned), Josh Amdt (one in-
ning, one hit, one strikeout, no runs).
Olympia 002 023 1 - 8/8/?
Shelton 010 000 1 - 2/4/3
Shelton batting - Josh Arndt 0-4, Brent
Armstrong 1-3 with an rbi, Matt Dickinson 0-
3, Mani Thompson 1-3, Mike Murdock 0-0,
Jesse Boelk 1-1 with a walk, Ryan Gonzales
0-4, Brian Corey 0-2, Emil Daily 0-0 with a
walk, Jacob Ozga 1-2 with a walk and Jere-
my Howard 0-3.
Shelton pitching - Jeremy Howard (five
innings, six hits, four earned runs, one walk,
six strikeouts), Ryan Jones (three batters,
three errors, three unearned runs), Jacob
Ozga (two innings, two hits, one unearned
run, no walks, two strikeouts).
SUNDAY NIGHT MIXED
DOUBLES 3/7/99
Men's Hi Game: Gary Morrison, 223.
Men's Hi Series: Duffy Kammerzell, 593.
Women's Hi Game and Series: Linda
Combs, 188 and 508.
Standings: Skookum 33.11, Misfits 29-
15, Olsen 27-17, Schwans 25-19, Just 22-
22, Four 22-22, Gamblers 21-23, Spare 21-
23, Missed 14-30.
Just 0, Ed Cochran 487; Misfits 4, Roger
Smith 551; Schwans 3, Duffy Kammerzell
593; Missed 0, Laura Safford 377; Spare 4,
Dennis James 560; Gamblers 3, Linda
Combs 506; Skookum 1, Gary Morrison
572; Four 1, Fred Semeral 462; Olsen 3,
Dennis Lundgren 409.
Thursday, March 25, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 19