Boys Tennis: South squeaks by Tigers 4-3

Blake Olmscheid
7-6(9), 6-0 winner at No. 1 singles

Farmington won three of four singles matches but went winless in three doubles contests in a 4-3 season-opening loss Thursday afternoon at Lakeville South.

"South is a pretty deep squad and it really showed in doubles where they were too much for us," Tiger coach Jack Olwell said. "But we won three exiting singles matches, each in a most gratifying way."

Blake Olmscheid put together a late rally in winning a 7-6 (9) first set and then cruised to a 6-0 win in the second for a victory at first singles.

At third singles Ivan Rodriguez started his season with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win, rallying from deficits in both sets. He was down, 1-4 in the second before winning five straight games.

Bennett Lagro made his varsity debut by winning a hard-fought, three-set match at third singles 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

Ben Cline lost 1-6, 1-6 at second singles while the three Tiger doubles teams managed to win just one game among them.

The Tigers will be seeking their first win on Monday when they travel to Simley for a non-conference dual meet.

Girls Golf: New look for 2012

Brianna Swenson
Team's low scorer in 2011

The Tigers sport a new coach and a lot of new players as they prepare for the 2012 season.

Jon Stock, who has coached in the Farmington middle school football program the past five years, takes over as head coach and inherits just three letterwinners from last year squad that finished at the back of the pack in the Missota Conference.

"We have a couple of strong players returning and we have many new players," Stock said.

"I've never coached the sport before, but I've been playing it for decades. It's a great game and it's an honor to be coaching it here."

The three returning letterwinners--senior Megan Elliott, junior Alexis House and sophomore Brianna Swenson--expect to form the nucleus of the varsity lineup.

New faces expected to battle for the other spots include senior Amanda Steinkeoway and freshmen Kaitlin Jokinen, Jessica Olson, Jessica Singewald and Halea Wright.

Stock is not familiar with the competition his team will face in the Missota Conference this spring but perennial powers Red Wing and New Prague both return strong teams and are expected to be contenders.

Former Tiger softball coach Heather Ballstadt will coach the middle school golfers.

The new-look Tigers open season play Saturday, Apr.14, with an appearance at the Faribault Invitational at the Legacy Golf Club

Boys Golf: Seniors dominate Tiger lineup

Tommy May
All-Missota Conference honorable mention in 2011

The Tigers lost four seniors to graduation and another varsity letterwinner from 2011 is playing baseball this spring but coach Jon Holmes likes what he sees in his 2012 squad.

"We have a good group of kids that have been playing high school tournament golf for a few years now," he said. "Many of them have been at the varsity level and this is a big positive in golf since they know what to expect and will hit the course ready to play."

Holmes returns six monogram winners from last spring, including seniors Tommy May, Mitch Reed, Jake Hanson, Tony Lelani and Ryan Kelly and eighth-grader Eric Holmstrom.

May was the team's low-scorer last season and received all-Missota Conference honorable mention.

While the letterwinners and seniors Victor Simones and Josh Cordes should get first crack at the varsity lineup, Holmes is counting on one or more of the younger players to push them.

"This situation should be an incentive for the young players to step up," he said, "because there will be a changing of the guard next year."

Juniors Grant Hauswirth and Garrett Heidelberger and freshman Sam Newcomb are among the newcomers expected to make a run at varsity playing time.

Holmes said Chaska and Chanhassen are far and away the class of the Missota Conference this spring.

"Realistically, I'm not sure we can beat them," he said, "but we hope to be gunning for third or fourth place. That is an aggressive goal but one that I am confident we can accomplish if we give it our full attention. It's time for us to make a move up."

Lakeville North, the defending champion, figures to be the team to beat in the race for Section 1 honors.

Holmes will be assisted this spring by his father, Terry Holmes. Ryan Hamen will handle the middle school coaching chores.

The Tigers tee off their 2012 season Wednesday, Apr. 11, with a non-conference dual meet with Rosemount at Fountain Valley.

Softball: Tigers nip Shakopee 3-2 in opener

Allie Rice
Two-run double in the first inning
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Paul Harrington coaching era got off to a rousing start with a 3-2 Missota Conference victory over defending league champion and long-time nemesis Shakopee Thursday afternoon at Tiger Field.

"The girls said we haven't beaten them for at least four years," Harrington said, "so it's nice to get that monkey off our back.

"We have been working extra hard on our defense and we didn't commit an error. That was nice to see...Our timely hitting was a big key. We made our hits count."

Farmington took a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat when Ashley Betzold reached on an error and raced home on a double to deep left-center by Allie Rice.

Shakopee bounced back with solo runs in the fourth and sixth innings before the winners rallied for a pair of scores in the home half of the sixth.

Betzold and Amber Doyle each rapped base hits and then Taylor Yousse came through with a two-out single to plate pinch-runner Hailey Monroe. Taylor Hakaana provided the game-winner with a single that scored Doyle.

Ashley Betzold
Nine strikeouts in season opener
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Betzold pitched the entire game for the Tigers in what Harrington termed a "solid" performance. The junior righthander scattered nine hits while striking struck out nine.

"She got in some jams, but she pitched her way out of most of them with minimal damage," Harrington said.

The Tigers will be looking for more of the same results next week with a pair of conference home games on the docket, Monday with Holy Angels and Thursday against Northfield.

Tiger Scoreboard: April 6, 2012

Softball
Farmington 3 Shakopee 2

Baseball
Shakopee 5 Farmington 0

Boys Tennis
Lakeville South 4 Farmington 3