Spring Roundup: May 3 - May 7

Park Hill Baseball
Park Hill Baseball clinched a conference championship this past week as they won four out of their five games. The most recent was a convincing win to close out the week against second place Truman 15-5. The Trojans, 8-0 in conference, now hold a two game lead in the conference standings going in this week’s last round of games.

Earlier in the week they defeated Oak Park 4-1 on the heels of pitcher Clay Smith who only allowed one run and a first inning resulting in three runs lead by Nick Hughes’ two stolen bases, RBI’s from both James Vega and Alex Otto, J.D. Weyer’s double, and a bases loaded walk by Alex Kennedy which brought in another run. Against Raytown South, the Trojans dropped a close one by a score of 5-4 despite a strong pitching performance from Luke Burnidge. A double-header against William Chrisman later in the week led to two more victories as Vega pitched a complete game in game one with Adam Vanderpool’s two-run home run sealing the win, 4-1. In game two, the Trojans won 6-4 behind Nathan Shores who not only pitched, but contributed on offense with a double.

Park Hill is now 13-5 overall with scheduled matchups with Staley and a meeting with rival Park Hill South for this Thursday as they head into district playing starting this Saturday. Facing a tough district field, the Trojans would have to run up against Kearney and Liberty, two teams who have dealt Park Hill losses during the regular season. Now officially available at deadline, the Trojans are expected to be a two or three seed.

Park Hill Boys Golf
After last week’s district tournament, Victor Soderholm remains Park Hill’s sole competitor to move on to the state golf tournament in Sedalia at the Sedalia Country Club on May 17th. His 79 was good enough to qualify for the tournament after an 84 was established as the cut off.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
The Park Hill girls weren’t able to avenge their early season lose to Park Hill South last week, as they fell below the .500 mark to 7-8 in a 3-0 lose. They’ll play two away games this week against North Kansas City and William Chrisman before district play begins next week.

Park Hill Boys Tennis
The Park Hill Boys tennis team defeated Truman at the beginning of last week to clinch another conference championship. They concluded their regular season on Friday with a win against visiting Barstow to improve to a 10-3 record on the season. At the Brandon McPherson Tournament some of the best teams in the region including Rockhurst, Park Hill South, and Blue Springs South were on hand. Park Hill took third in both doubles flights along with fifth and sixth place singles finishes to conclude the day in second place overall behind defending state champ Rockhurst.

“It was a good showing from our guys,” coach Ryan Kalis said.

They’ll head into the district tournament this week with three-time state qualifier Same Barth and junior Michael Jones as their singles players. Mike Merchant and Brian Hillix have been playing well together so they’ll par up in the doubles bracket along with Brian Willis and Austin Caldwell. Their district will feature some tough competition from the likes of Liberty and Park Hill South, but the Trojans have high expectations for the team as well as their top individuals.

Park Hill Girls Track
For a second consecutive year, the Park Hill Girls Track team fell short of a conference championship to rival Park Hill South. The Trojans’ 129 team points was just 21 points behind the first place finish of the Panthers.

Helena Hudson once again placed first in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.48, followed up by a second place finish in the long jump. The 4x100 relay team of Angie Reagan, Aneisa Jamerson, Rodisha Willard, and Hudson also took first along with Kyleesha Weston’s first place discus finish. Jordan Cox in the shot put placed second.

One main difference for Park Hill came in the 300 hurdles when Park Hill South took first, second, and third accounting for a 24 point addition to their team score. Coach Tari Garner looked to districts to be held this coming weekend at Park Hill District Stadium.

“It’s going to be tough, but we’re looking to get many of our girls to the sectional meet,” Garner said. “Sectionals is probably the biggest hurdle among the two in getting to state because the competition is so hard.”

Park Hill Boys Track
The Park Hill Boys Track team brought home a conference championship last week at Staley High. With strong performances across the board, Park Hill’s 194 team points was 88 points ahead of second place finisher Park Hill South.

Nick Smith continued his dominate run as he took home first place last week. It continues an outstanding season for Smith who set the school record in the shot put earlier this year. Adrien Esaw won his second 300 hurdles in as many weeks with a time of 41.69. Park Hill’s relays performed, but the 4x200 and 4x800 relay teams were the only to place first, as the 4x400 and 4x100 teams led for a majority of their races before Park Hill South came back to barely end in the final stretch. Cain Winebrenner continued his success with another 4:40 mile, good enough for first place. De’Rion Rambo (100 meter sprints), James Leach (800 meter sprints) Jack Pearl (discus), and Luke Bossert (pole vault) also brought home conference titles.

With the close second place finishes in the relays and the absence of state champion long jumper Trace Norfleet due to an injury which caused him to miss the season, it’s easy to see how Park Hill could have run even further away with the conference meet.

“Trace decided with his doctor it wasn’t a very good idea to return,” coach Mark Gourley said. “Not good overall for us, but other guys stepped up and picked it up.”

The district meet will be held this Saturday at Park Hill and the Trojans will be looking to earn another title in front of the home crowd.