Monday, March 26, 2007

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, March 22, 2007, Thursday

Copyright 2007 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

March 22, 2007 Thursday

CENTRAL EDITION

SECTION: SPORTS DAY HIGH SCHOOL; Pg. 5

HEADLINE: Little things add up Duncanville: Baseball coach wants to see team do better with basics

BYLINE: From Staff Reports

BODY:

Duncanville baseball coach Bob Rombach is looking for a few clutch hits and for his team to make the routine plays

Duncanville got a little of both in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Arlington. But Rombach wants more.

Duncanville has left the tying or winning run on base in the seventh inning in losses to Highland Park, Southlake Carroll, South Garland and Fort Worth Southwest. That's the difference between a 10-5 record and Duncanville's 6-9 record.

Duncanville (2-1 in District 8-5A) made seven errors in its lone district loss, a 6-3 defeat to Arlington Lamar. All of the runs Lamar scored were unearned.

"It's a predicament we've been in," Rombach said. "Most of the teams we've played have made the routine play, which isn't common in high school."

Todd Wills

SOFTBALL

Richardson Pearce off to strong start

Richardson Pearce is having a breakthrough softball season. At 15-6, the team has won more games than it did each of the last five seasons.

First-year coach Nicholas Raya said much of the credit goes to sophomore pitcher Allison Schmidt and seniors Rachael Grimes and Cortney Immel. Schmidt has won her last three games, with 34 strikeouts and two earned runs allowed.

"Cortney is the team leader," Raya said. "She's the girl who gets the girls motivated and pumped up. And Rachael makes our offense go. She's one of the best hitters in the area."

Grimes, a first baseman, is batting .450. Immel plays third base. Raya starts five sophomores and one freshman, Nicole Aaron.

Dave Lance

HOCKEY

Former Highland Park player commits to Cornell

Locke Jillson, who graduated from Highland Park in 2006, said he has orally committed to play hockey for Cornell starting in the 2008-09 season. The center/right wing has been playing for the Dallas Stars midget major AAA travel team, and he plans to play junior hockey next season.

Cornell has produced several NHL players, including Hall of Famer Ken Dryden and former Stars standout Joe Nieuwendyk. Cornell has won two national titles and made 16 trips to the NCAA tournament.

But academics were a big reason Jillson picked Cornell over fellow Division I hockey powers North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College. Jillson hopes to study in Cornell's industrial and labor relations program, and he thinks that could help him land an internship in an NHL front office down the road.

Greg Riddle

GRAPHIC: PHOTO(S): (FILE 2006) Locke Jillson scored eight points in the playoffs for Highland Park last year and was named to the All-Area second team.