By Tommy Keeler Jr. - tkeeler@nvdaily.com STEPHENS CITY -- Erin Manuel always knew she wanted to be a coach. Manuel was coached by her father for many years. He coached her travel team -- the Shenandoah Valley Mavericks -- and has been a big part...
Senior starred as pitcher, third baseman as Warriors reached Region II tournament By Greg Brill - sports@nvdaily.com STEPHENS CITY -- From an early age, Nick Merchant learned to respect the game of baseball and to play hard at all times. That said, all the work...
By Greg Brill - sports@nvdaily.com STEPHENS CITY -- Blake Adams remembers well the look he and his Sherando teammates got from baseball coach Pepper Martin following an 8-3 loss April 6 at James Wood. The Warriors had just dropped a third-straight Northwestern District game and...
Dennis paced Warriors' high-powered offense by tallying area-best 27 goals By Jeremy Stafford - jstafford@nvdaily.com STEPHENS CITY -- Big players score in big games. Those words, spoken by Sherando coach Rob Kilmer, reverberated in Brittini Dennis' skull as she took the pitch against Brentsville on...
Sherando's top singles player leaves soccer behind, captures district title as sophomore By Tommy Keeler Jr. - tkeeler@nvdaily.com STEPHENS CITY -- During a United States Tennis Association tournament match on April 4 in Newport News, Kaleb Nguyen broke his thumb as he braced himself sliding...
WINCHESTER -- Kim Riordan knows all about many of the volleyball teams in the area. The 1998 Sherando graduate understands all the local rivalries and now this season she gets to be a part of them as a coach.
HARRISONBURG -- Millbrook's Schavon Springer ran a different preliminary than Pulaski's Amber Church and Harrisonburg's Mandy Kaufmann on Friday night in the trials of the 100-meter hurdles.
Winning a state title in any sport is hard enough; so to repeat as state champions, even for a Clarke County track and field team that brings 22 male and female athletes to Saturday's Group A state meet at Radford University, is a rare feat in its own right.
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Handley's John Adams went to the Region II boys tennis tournament at Boar's Head Sports Center in Charlottesville expecting to play tennis, not participate in a marathon.
STEPHENS CITY -- In a pitcher's duel, the key to victory is making the other team crack first. Unfortunately for Sherando in its matchup against Briar Woods in the Region II Quarterfinals, the Warriors broke under pressure, allowing the Falcons to snag a 2-1 victory.
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- After two hours on a bus, Sherando's girls soccer team played 77 minutes on equal footing with one of Region II's premier teams. It was those other three minutes, and Jefferson District Player of the Year Monica Matsumoto, that frustrated the Warriors' attempt to get the win in the regional quarterfinals.
After traveling two hours to Stephens City from Western Ablemarle High School, it took just five singles matches for the two-time defending Group AA state champs to end Sherando's boys tennis season Saturday. Western Ablemarle won all but the No. 1 singles match between Sherando's Kaleb Nyugen and Joey Manilla, which was stopped after Sherando lost all of the two through six matches.
NOKESVILLE -- Soccer games are won with goals, and the players who score them are rightfully singled out. But Thursday it was the players who prevent goals that propelled Sherando to a stunning 2-1 victory over unbeaten Brentsville in the Northwestern District girls soccer tournament finals.
NOKESVILLE -- As they walked to their dugout upon arriving at Brentsville on Thursday night, several of Sherando's players had to take a second glance at the ridge at the lip of the infield grass and wonder if they were going to be the victim of a crazy hop.
MINERAL -- Ashley Rasmussen and Tootie Jackson, who compete in the discus and shot put for the Skyline girls track and field team, are like most close teammates.
STEPHENS CITY -- Trevor and Trey Scott are typical brothers. They are competitive, there to back each other up whenever needed and, most importantly, always ready to pick on one another.
STEPHENS CITY -- Much of Zach Carney's time Tuesday night was spent with a scorebook in his hands. But once Sherando baseball coach Pepper Martin called on Carney to pinch-hit late in the Warriors' Northwestern District semifinals game against James Wood, the junior proved that he was just as skilled with a bat in his hands as a pencil.
WINCHESTER -- Being one of the top scorers in the area, Sherando forward Matt Brady tends to draw a lot of attention from defenses. On Tuesday night he used that to his advantage.
STEPHENS CITY -- It was the same story for Handley all season: Build a lead, keep it throughout the game, then squander it in the last inning. Tuesday's Northwestern District semifinals game was no different for the Judges.
STEPHENS CITY -- Nikki Rhodes is a brick wall. She's a defensive back, a forward, a field rat and a defensive MVP. She's called Boom-Boom, Bam-Bam, Boom-Foot and Tippy-Toe Rhodes.
WINCHESTER -- After more than four hours of tennis, which featured 280 points and 38 games across three sets, Sherando's Kaleb Nguyen was the last man standing -- literally and figuratively.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando took advantage of two goals in the first four minutes of play to take a record-breaking 3-0 victory over Warren County on Friday in the opening round of the Northwestern District girls soccer tournament.
NOKESVILLE -- James Wood's Kari Pope and Headley Wilson zone out everything around them during a match. They're not thinking about the score or who they're playing. Maybe that explains why as Handley's Katie Gordon served for the match in the second set, they were unaware of how dangerously close they were to losing for the first time in almost a year.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando senior Nick Merchant told coach Pepper Martin on Thursday that he wanted to pitch in the Warriors' Northwestern District tournament quarterfinal against Handley. Martin decided to let Merchant start the game and put him on a pitch cout. Merchant didn't disappoint as hed led the Warriors to a 6-2 win over the Judges in baseball action on Friday.
WINCHESTER -- It was a long afternoon Thursday at James Wood for Sherando's Kaleb Nyugen and Handley's John Adams. The pair played three matches with district championships on the line within five hours. Two of those matches were against each other.
FRONT ROYAL -- Bing Crosby Stadium served as the neutral site for the Northwestern District baseball championship tie-breaker between the Sherando Warriors and the Brentsville Tigers on Thursday.
STEPHENS CITY -- Two days after beginning their game against James Wood, the Sherando Warriors kept their chances of becoming district champions alive by finishing what they started, blanking the Colonels 4-0.
WINCHESTER -- On the first day of the Northwestern District Track and Field Championships, Warren County's boys and Skyline's girls proved just how strong they are in the field events.
QUICKSBURG -- The Generals may have lost, but they went down fighting. In its home finale, Stonewall Jackson fell, 8-4, to Shenandoah District foe Buffalo Gap on Wednesday. But even with the loss, head coach Michael Hunt was gushing about the performance of his seven seniors.
STEPHENS CITY -- Finally back on the field, in a game that actually yielded a result this time, Tre Porter and the rest of Sherando's baseball team didn't waste the opportunity.
Daily Staff Reports SHENANDOAH -- Stonewall Jackson's boys soccer team took care of business against its main competition, Wilson Memorial, and polished off the rest of the Shenandoah District in convincing fashion to claim the league title for the first time since 2006. That title,...
Sherando players and coaches rush to unravel the tarp and cover the field after rain started falling in the third inning of the Warriors' game against James Wood on Monday afternoon. The game was eventually postponed. Dennis Grundman/Daily
WINCHESTER -- James Wood went from being at the bottom of the Northwestern District tennis two years ago to finishing second last year. With a 5-4 win over Sherando on Thursday, the Colonels moved a step closer to duplicating last year's feat.
STEPHENS CITY -- Nicole Musser started the game pitching for Sherando, was relieved by Amanda Lutz in the fourth inning, and re-entered the game as a pitcher in the sixth inning in the Warriors' 4-1 win over Brentsville on Thursday in a Northwestern District softball game with first-place implications.
WOODSTOCK -- Ashley Ebersole found the perfect way to cap off her senior night on Thursday. The senior belted a two-run homer, her seventh of the season, in the bottom of the eighth to give the Falcons an 8-6 win over James Wood in Northwestern District action.
WINCHESTER -- Sherando Warriors freshman Tre Porter drew his first starting pitching assignment against the Handley Judges on Saturday in a Northwestern District baseball game.
WINCHESTER -- The host Colonels haven't won the Apple Blossom Invitational in so long that not one James Wood coach could remember how many years it's been.
WINCHESTER -- Henkel-Harris Field showcased two of the best pitchers in the area Saturday morning in a game so well-played that it was a shame one team had to lose.
WINCHESTER -- There's a little extra excitement in the air for James Wood's boys track team as it gets ready to host today's 41st annual H. Brian Landes Apple Blossom Invitational.
WOODSTOCK -- Central started off slowly, but led by Ashley Ebersole's fifth homer of the season the Falcons got back on track for a 6-2 Northwestern District softball win over Millbrook on Friday.
Daily Staff Reports QUICKSBURG -- For one inning, it all came together for the Stonewall Jackson baseball team. On a night when the Generals struck out 13 times, the fourth inning saw the home team make solid contact batter after batter as the 10-run frame...
WINCHESTER -- As his shot flew past diving Handley keeper Stefano Frantellizzi in the final minute of overtime, Ryan Witt spun around on his heels and pumped a single fist into the air.
WINCHESTER -- Brittini Dennis scored on a breakaway and then went sprinting back up the sideline, pointed into the stands and waved goodbye to one of the spectators.
STEPHENS CITY -- One big inning and Nicole Musser's pitching were just about all Sherando needed to defeat Warren County, 5-1, Thursday in Northwestern District softball action.
WINCHESTER -- James Wood took advantage of two Handley errors and came up with some timely doubles to pull out a 3-1 Northwestern District baseball victory over the Judges on Thursday.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sarah Wolfe attended a tennis camp at the University of Virginia as a seventh-grader and was able to hit with top Cavaliers player Somdev Devvarman. The experience was one the Sherando freshman hasn't forgotten.
Two former Strasburg players are making a big impact on their college squads: Christopher Newport's Parker Neal (Strasburg '06) and Charleston's Nick Barnes ('07).
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh and then scored the winning run in the eighth as the Warriors defeated Millbrook, 4-3, in Northwestern District baseball action on Wednesday.
STEPHENS CITY -- Using its speed on the basepaths to manufacture runs, Fauquier scored for runs in the top of the first en route to a 10-6 win over Sherando in non-district softball on Tuesday.
FRONT ROYAL -- Central picked up its first win of the season rallying for a 2-1 Northwestern District win over Skyline on Tuesday night in girls soccer action.
WOODSTOCK -- Sherando coach Erin Manuel was disappointed with her team after Tuesday's lopsided loss to Brentsville and has been preaching the last few days about the importance of staying focused no matter what the score is.
WOODSTOCK -- The regulation, seven-inning game has been the perfect length for Central lately, as the Falcons pulled off their second consecutive come-from-behind win in the seventh inning on Thursday.
Daily Staff Reports Baseball Millbrook 10, Warren County 5 WINCHESTER -- Quinn Courtney went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Pioneers past the Wildcats in Northwestern District action. Michael Dillow went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs for the...
BERRYVILLE -- Clarke County's Brianna Smith was in a hurry to get the game over with. Smith hustled around the bases with seven steals, swiping home twice as the Eagles pounded Stonewall Jackson, 15-0, in a five-inning game.
STEPHENS CITY -- It's a good thing the Warriors scored when they did. After Sherando put up six runs on Kettle Run in the first two innings, Cougars coach Ty Thorpe replaced starting pitcher Justin Reinaldo with reliever Jamie Driver.
FRONT ROYAL -- Sherando's winning recipe for knocking Skyline off its undefeated Northwestern District throne was a perfect blend of small-ball, home runs and one back-breaking inning.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando's road-weary baseball team finally got to christen their newly renovated field with a sweet 5-1 Northwestern District victory over rival Handley on Thursday evening.
Daily Staff Reports STEPHENS CITY -- Danielle Walls had two hits, including a double to rally Handley past Sherando, 7-5, in Northwestern District softball action on Thursday. The Judges trailed 5-0 entering the sixth inning, but scored two in the top of the sixth and...
FRONT ROYAL -- Sherando coach Patrick Anderson wasn't so much impressed with how many goals the Warriors scored as he was with the variety of ways in which they scored.
FRONT ROYAL - The Warren County Wildcats were considerably wilder in their fielding, and other aspects of defensive execution, and the Sherando Warriors capitalized on the opportunities with an 18-6 win in Northwestern District baseball action Monday night.
FRONT ROYAL -- Skyline never recovered from a first-inning home run by Page County, as they lost 8-0. It was the Hawks' first loss of the young season.
WOODSTOCK -- The spring of 2007 was a special time for the Central softball team. Following a winless campaign in 2006, Jill Yew's first season as the Falcons' head coach, pitcher Brea Hinegardner and catcher Ashley Ebersole were reunited at Central, after playing years together in various leagues, and paraded the Falcons to nine wins in 2007 and 11 in 2008.
WINCHESTER --Millbrook coach Michelle Long has seen enough of Nicole Musser during her high school career. Musser has always had success on the pitching circle against the Pioneers and Wednesday was no different.
WINCHESTER -- Handley used timely hitting to knock off defending Northwestern District champion Brentsville, 6-4, on Wednesday in softball action. The win snapped Brentsville's 17-game winning streak in the district.
QUICKSBURG -- Stonewall Jackson coach Nate Hissong stands in the middle of a barren field, his soccer team scrambling in every direction around him and dribbling soccer balls as they go.
WINCHESTER -- Often meaningless before a pitch has been thrown, the early-season expectations for James Wood -- as they were last Tuesday -- haven't always been so high.
SALEM -- The image of Jake Crawford leaping into the outstretched arms of Millbrook coach Chris Haines spoke more to the jubilation of the moment than words ever could.
STEPHENS CITY -- Kristina Salazar and her Skyline teammates were incessantly reminded by their coach, Andrew Lacey, to be less passive throughout Tuesday's game.
WOODSTOCK -- After being out-rebounded in the first half, Central coach Roger Wilkins gave his team a pep talk about the importance of pulling down the boards in the rest of the game. The players responded to his words and Central dominated on the boards and used its height advantage to pull out a 70-51 Northwestern District tournament quarterfinal win over Sherando. The fourth-seeded Falcons will play at top-seeded Handley on Wednesday in the semifinals.
STEPHENS CITY -- The skin on Blake Adams' scalp is flushed to an almost crimson luminescence, and is visible between the tiny wisps of his shaved blonde hair.
By Tim Tassa -- Daily Staff Writer WINCHESTER -- The joyous screams inside the visiting locker room boomed throughout the hallway just after Sherando's 67-56 Northwestern District quarterfinals victory over James Wood on Thursday. "Isn't that the prettiest sound in the history of the world?"...
WINCHESTER -- Handley had six days to stew and think about its loss last week to Millbrook. On Monday night, the Judges got back on the court to take out their frustrations on Sherando.
STEPHENS CITY -- Millbrook wrestler Derrick Borlie remembers the last time the Northwestern District tournament was held at Sherando High School: He was "embarrassed" and pinned in the championship bout by A.J. Bakos.
WINCHESTER -- Sherando has struggled at times this season putting points on the board, but on Friday night the Warriors found the perfect recipe for success.
STEPHENS CITY -- Lynn Metheny admits that even though she has a son attending William and Mary and a daughter at James Madison University, she will be wearing "a little bit more orange and blue" from now on.
STEPHENS CITY -- Before he signed an official letter-of-intent to play football at the University of Virginia on Wednesday -- National Signing Day -- Ross Metheny digitally addressed those he may soon guide in offensive huddles.
At least one area player is still holding out hope for a FBS scholarship. James Wood kicker Andrew Lloyd recently decided to accept an offer to walk-on at a major school, but there's still a possibility he could be offered a scholarship by another program.
FRONT ROYAL -- With the frequency of Skyline's perimeter shot attempts, a few are bound to fall through the cylinder in peculiar, odd and extraordinary fashion.
STEPHENS CITY -- For a moment, the final minute of Thursday night's game between Sherando and Strasburg had an eerie resemblance to the teams' previous meeting: The Warriors led the Rams by three points, and Strasburg guard Bub McKelvey was standing alone behind the 3-point arc.
STRASBURG -- The Group A Strasburg Rams hosted the Group AA Sherando Warriors in a rare late season non-district girls basketball action on Wednesday night. The game was arranged to fill a hole in the Rams' schedule caused by Rappahannock leaving the Bull Run district.
Ross Metheny ate, relaxed, watched some film, bowled and ate some more. The Sherando quarterback and University of Virginia commit will sign his National Letter of Intent on Feb. 4, but this weekend, Metheny tripped to Charlottesville for an intimate look at the program he'll officially join in a couple weeks.
STEPHENS CITY -- Dustin Pierce's shot didn't roll around the rim, it just sat there, balancing on the edge, steadied by the backboard. After what seemed an eternity, the ball fell through the basket, giving the Millbrook Pioneers a one-point lead over the Sherando Warriors in overtime. The Pioneers maintained that lead, eventually ousting the Warriors, 57-53.
STEPHENS CITY -- The Millbrook Pioneer offense was more hard and blunt than precise and surgical. Either way, the Pioneers defeated the Sherando Warriors 69-35 as they rode a 19 point performance by Tylesa Harper-Scott at Sherando High School.
STEPHENS CITY -- Coming into Friday night's game against Sherando, James Wood junior Trae Tinsman knew that the Colonels' record wasn't indicative of the team's talent.
STEPHENS CITY -- All variations of shots were functioning for Rams' junior Jenna Smoot. Her mid-range jumper was nice, she was solid from the free-throw line and her inside game was even better against Sherando's post on Tuesday.
By Jeremy Stafford -- Daily Staff Writer STRASBURG -- It wasn't at all pretty, but the Sherando boys basketball team ended a two-game losing skid, defeating the Strasburg Rams, 39-36, in a game decided more by turnovers and offensive ineptitude than by solid defense and...
STEPHENS CITY -- Coming off a disappointing loss to Handley, the Sherando Warriors can at least view their 54-51 loss to Skyline on Monday night as a positive.
WINCHESTER -- Derrick Dehaney ran around the court and gestured to the Sherando crowd as the clock hit all zeroes, and teammate Matt Brady let out a yell as the Warriors headed to the locker room.
STEPHENS CITY -- Clarke County coach Brent Emmart leaned against a wall just outside of the Sherando gymnasium and emitted a deep sigh, a sign of his frustration with the numbers 29 and 23 -- Sherando's offensive rebounds and his team's turnovers in the Eagles' 48-44 loss on Wednesday.
