R-C Sports Notebook: Building up the walls

I received an e-mail several weeks ago from a reader asking why there is no hall of fame for track & field at Douglas High School.

I had the question on my list of things to bring up for future stories, but before I could even get there , the school beat me to the punch.

Members of the Douglas High Block D letterman's club and the Tiger football team worked throughout the day Saturday to help several local contractors and masons construct two 8-foot-plus brick walls on the northeast side of the Big George Sports Complex that will be turned into honorary walls of recognition.

Members of the high school football hall of fame, school record holders in football and in track and donors to the all-weather track project will be commemorated on individual plates or tiles on the walls.

We'll have a story with more details on the project in Friday's edition.

When completed, the walls will be a nice monument to both the standout athletes that have competed on the field and track at Douglas High.

Now if only there were something for soccer, tennis, volleyball, golf, cross country, skiing and softball.

Perhaps an all-sports hall of fame selection committee might be an option in the future. You never know.

An article appearing in Sunday's Reno Gazette-Journal about the history of Northern Nevada sports mascots had a number of inaccuracies about Douglas High School.

It mentioned that the school had opened in 1915. Actually, Douglas opened in 1909 and had already won two state boys' basketball championships by 1915.

It also stated the school yearbook was called "The Tiger" from 1917 to 1937, but the athletic teams didn't begin using Tigers as their nickname until 1938.

There is some myth and some truth to that.

Indeed the yearbook, and the school newspaper for that matter, were called "The Tiger" beginning in 1917 when Douglas moved to the campus where Carson Valley Middle School is currently located.

But it would appear the athletic teams also started taking on the "Tiger" nickname in 1917 the same year.

The R-C doesn't record the Tiger nickname being used until 1923 (incidentally the same year the Tigers began playing organized football), but we do know that Douglas began wearing orange and black in 1917.

Just venturing a guess here, but seeing as how the school's colors were orange and black beginning in 1917, and the school's newspaper and yearbook each bore "The Tiger" as a masthead, it's a safe bet that the school's athletic teams began bearing the Tiger team name that same year.

In defense of RGJ reporter Justin Lawson, who did a fine job on a broad variety of school mascot histories in his article, it can be extremely difficult tracking down Douglas High history.

I have been trying to piece together a history of Douglas High athletics in my five years here and the further back in time one goes, the harder it becomes to find details like win-loss records and final standings. My hope is to one day be able to publish a year-by-year volume online or in print, but I'm still a good 60 or 70 years away.

Anyone with any old records or statistics from Tiger sports would be more than welcome to submit to us at The Record-Courier. I would be very appreciative.

Here's a great example why extreme sports like the Moto X World Championship conducted over the weekend are having some difficulty making the step up into the ring of major mainstream sports.

After Douglas High grad Matt Buyten won a gold medal in the Step Up event in a sudden-death overtime round, runner-up Ronnie Renner reacted by showing the officials his middle finger and wiping his buttocks with the event banner.

Buyten, though, has become quite the competitor in the world of freestyle motocross. Watch for him this summer in the X-Games, where he is a two-time gold medal winner.

Who was the last softball pitcher at Douglas High to throw a no-hitter?

- In the sixth home game of the year, Douglas catcher Jordan Hadlock hit Tiger Field's first home run of the season in a 9-3 win over North Valleys Saturday afternoon.

- April is simply the month for Douglas no-hitters. Tyler Hoelzen's no-hitter against North Valleys Saturday was Douglas' first since D.J. Brady tossed one against Hug in a five-inning 10-0 win two years ago on the same weekend, April 15, 2006. Brady also no-hit South Tahoe the week prior in a complete-game 2-0 win at Governor's Field on April 8, giving him 12 consecutive hitless innings.

He finished his career with three no-hitters, having tossed one against Hug in a five-inning in a five-inning win on April 14, 2005.

Brady's 2006 stretch was part of a larger streak for the Tigers as his two no-hitters were sandwiched around a five-inning combined no-hit effort from Adam Burnside and Brandon Bernard earlier in the week, giving Douglas 17 innings without allowing a hit.

- As well as Hoelzen threw Saturday (and he threw pretty darn well), the Douglas defense came up with a number of big plays to preserve the no-hitter along the way. Among the highlights were third baseman Kameron VanWinkle knocking down a one-hopper and firing it to first for the out to lead off the fourth inning and second baseman Jeff Crozier digging a grounder out with one out in the sixth before flipping it to a stretching Kyle Flagg at first base for the out.

On the whole, the defense was flawless in the game, going seven innings without an error and even coming up with several pickoffs on runners who'd reached on walks.

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional baseball and softball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like this week, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

Baseball

1. Jordan Hadlock (Douglas); 2. Joe Wieland (Manogue); 3. CJ Maldonado (Reed); 4. Glenn Wallace (Reno); 5. Rob Valerius (Carson)

- Hadlock has been simply crushing the ball as of late and has been particularly solid in big games and in clutch situations. Add to it that he is hands down the best defensive catcher in the region and a pretty good relief pitcher on top of that and you have my No. 1 pick. Wieland is a strong of an ace pitcher as there is in the Northern 4A this year. Maldonado continues to be the hitter I simply would not want to see in any situation.

Galena's Jacob Anderson belongs on this list, but Carson's Valerius has been a workhorse and has the Senators in a great position heading into the final stretch of the year.

Softball

1. Ashleigh Rahming (Reno); 2. Mallary Darby (Spanish Springs); 3. Samantha Baker (Reno); 4. Jaci Carlsen (Spanish Springs); 5. Ashley Collier (Spanish Springs)

- At this point, any one of Spanish Springs' studs could probably take the top spot, but I'm banking on Rahming carrying Reno in the playoffs. She is strong defensively, she is one of the top three or four pitchers in the region and she sports a pretty big bat. My final vote will probably be Rahming if Reno wins the title and Darby is Spanish Springs wins it all. Darby has been all but unhittable in Northern 4A play.

The top athletes, regardless of sport, at Douglas High determined by production during competion, overall value to their team, ability to perform with consistency in routine situations, performance compared to others at the same position throughout the stae/region, ability to come up big in clutch situations, versatility, attitude, sportsmanship, overall athletic ability, heart, potential at the next level, and a host of other intangibles (emotional leadership, role-playing value, work ethic, etc.) This is all, of course, just my opinion.

Spring Sports (Through April 5)

1. Jordan Hadlock, catcher/pitcher, baseball

2. Jessica Gorton, hurdler/field events, track & field

3. Haley VonSchottenstein, swimming

4. Derrick Jenkins, middle distances, track & field

5. Sarah Hartley, sprinter/field events, track & field

6. Tim Rudnick, shortstop/pitcher, baseball

7. Katrina Morgan, catcher, softball

8. Stephanie Harper, pitcher, softball

9. Thomas Wicker, golf

10. Tyler Hoelzen, pitcher/outfielder/first baseman, baseball

2007-08 school year

1. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/track

2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball

3. David Laird, football/basketball

4. Jose Alcaraz, soccer/track

5. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track

6. Brock Peterson, football

7. Sarah Hartley, soccer/basketball/track

8. Jeff Nady, football/basketball

9. Jessica Gorton, basketball/track

10. Eddie Vega, soccer

Since I've been here (2003)

1. Luke Rippee, football/basketball/baseball (2003)

2. Brittany Puzey, basketball/softball (2003-04)

3. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/softball/track (2004-08)

4. Tyson Estes, football/basketball/baseball (2003-05)

5. Ryan Pruitt, football/wrestling/baseball (2005-07)

6. Mike Gransbery, soccer/basketball (2004-07)

7. Kayla Dunn, volleyball/softball (2004-05)

8. Keith Olson, basketball (2004-07)

9. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track (2005-present)

10. Nate Whalin, football/basketball/baseball (2004-07)

For those that may have missed the latest drama unfolding in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, it was discovered last week that a longtime Red Sox fan working on the construction crew for the new Yankee Stadium buried a Red Sox shirt in the concrete being poured for the ballpark.

This probably should have been the end of the story. It would have become an obscure part of the stadium's trivia and nothing else.

But the Yankees' top brass actually made the call to jackhammer through two feet of concrete for more than five hours Saturday afternoon to unearth the rogue jersey. They located the shirt based on drilling in the general area where the Red Sox fan, Gino Castignoli, had been working.

Not really sure who got the last laugh here.

Sure the Yankees prevented a baseball jersey from being forever encased in concrete within the bowels of their new park, but exactly how much did it cost them to undo at least a day's worth of work -- not to mention the untold amount of materials and labor it will take to repair the drilling?

What does it say about their belief in the future of their own organization if they honestly thought a cotton T-shirt would have any effect whatsoever on the team's performance on the field?

Cot's Baseball Contracts

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/

A clearinghouse for MLB contracts, named for Cotton Tierney, who was the NL's fifth-leading hitter in 1922 & playe d the next season for $5,000.

This site is unique in that it gives team-by-team, player-by-player breakdowns of Major League Baseball payrolls and baseball contracts.

You can read with jealousy about your favorite player's incentives, clauses, bonuses, agents, etc. or you can look for your underrated, underpaid heroes.

For those who take an interest in the financial side of the game, it's a great resource.

Stephanie Harper, this year's primary starter in the circle, tossed one against Hug in Reno during a 19-0 win on April 13, 2006 - her freshman season.