Sports

The physicality of Indian River’s varsity football team seems to be showing improvement as the team nears its 2010 season debut, but head coach Jim Bunting is hoping that the mental aspect of the game peaks in time for the season’s start, as well. The Indians have been able to push past Cape Henlopen in the past two season’s openers – last year by a 24-point margin – but with a challenging schedule ahead of them, there’s no room for errors.

Indian River’s varsity field hockey team still has more than a week before their regular opens up, but first-year head coach Cheryl Carey is taking full advantage of the team’s preseason to ensure that the girls are where they need to be.

Based on experience alone, the Indian River varsity soccer team would seem to stand the best chance at making a run for the conference title – if not the state title, as well. The 22-man roster consists of 13 seniors, for whom this year is their last to push for the Delaware state championship.

In the summertime, if 22-year-old Taylor Thornton isn’t in the ocean, he isn’t himself. The West Chester University senior has focused his studies on nutrition and food science in the classroom, but the knowledge he’s acquired through his experience on the water is something he could never get at school. He’s found a way to meld his love for both surfing and fishing into an exhilarating sport, and this past week alone, he landed six sharks in South Bethany – one nearly 7 feet in length and weighing more than 200 pounds.

Key returning players and a new offensive scheme are hoped come together this year for Indian River’s varsity volleyball team, which is looking to improve on last season’s 4-11 record. Head coach Mark Sewell and assistant coach Phil Mead are also optimistic about the team’s new positive attitude, which has been apparent at practices and scrimmages during the preseason.

The football preseason is well under way, from the pros down to the high schools. The weeks leading up to the season’s opening kickoff not only offer coaching staffs a glimpse at the bevy of new talent coming together alongside returning stars, they provide players with the chance to work off the rust, fix the kinks and shake the cobwebs that develop over months away from the gridiron. Such is the case for Indian River head coach Jim Bunting, who said he is pleased to see plenty of young talent stepping up, as well as some familiar faces returning with maturity and leadership.

If ever there was a season that should belong to Indian River’s boys’ varsity soccer team, this is it. With only two starters graduated from last year’s roster, the talent is still high for the Indians. Two of Indian River’s losses on the pitch last fall came from the defending state champion, Caravel – one by way of a second-round elimination in the DIAA state tournament. Missteps at the start of the season against Salesianum and late in the schedule against Seaford may have been discouraging for the Indians, but the rest of the season exhibited skill and talent that head coach Steve Kilby will be looking for again as this season readies for its start.

Indian River’s second-year field hockey head coach, Julene Williamson, took off for personal issues this season, but so far, new head coach Cheryl Carey hasn’t missed a beat. A former field hockey coach with knowledge and love for the game, Carey is putting her experience to the test as the team readies for the upcoming season.

A party to celebrate the cross-country fundraising bike ride of Jack Hogan will be held on Saturday, Aug. 21, from 1 to 6 p.m. The event will be held at 47 Dukes Drive, in Millville, off Route 26, just west of the Fat Tuna. A $20 donation gets participants food, drinks, music and lots of stories. All profits go to Justin’s Beach House.

America’s pastime. The old ballgame. The crack of the bat. As the season is winding down, thoughts are turning to the playoffs and the October tradition of the World Series.

For the second straight year in a row and the third time in the last four years, the Senior League Softball World Series trophy went to the team representing USA Southwest. On Saturday, Aug. 14, the Northside Suburban Little League, playing out of San Antonio, Texas, defeated the USA East, represented by Haverstraw, NY, 3-1, in the 2010 Senior League Softball championship in Roxana.

The Philadelphia Marathon, scores of half-marathons and a myriad of 5K’s, 10K’s and 10-milers – one look at Mary Harmon’s track record, and you’d think she had been running all her life. But that’s not the case.

The first game of the 2010 Senior League Softball World Series featured the home team, outstanding pitching and a tense contest, with District III (Laurel) topping the East squad (Haverstraw, N.Y.), 1-0 on Sunday, Aug. 8.

A warm summer afternoon in Roxana set the scene for the opening day of the 2010 Senior League Softball World Series. Poise, consistency and drive blended together perfectly for the Southwest, playing out of San Antonio, Texas. They were able to hold on to a 4-3 win over the Southeast’s Olive Branch Little League out of Portsmouth, Va., on Monday.

Despite a strong start by Canada (Ontario, Canada), the West team from Tuscon, Ariz., was able to pull back to even before pulling ahead for good in an 8-3 victory in the series opener for both teams on Sunday, Aug. 8.

Sunday evening was the stage for the first tournament matchup between former World Series contenders, as Central’s South Bend, Ind., team squared off against the KMC American Little League, from Rammstein, Germany, representing the EMEA region.

The Southwest contenders in the World Series, from San Antonio, Texas, felt right at home as temperatures rose into the upper 90s at the Pyle Center for their second game of the tournament. Southwest opened up Day 2 of the Senior League Softball World Series with a steady showing at the plate against Canada, and finished strong with 12-1 win, padding their series record to 2-0.

The East team (Haverstraw, N.Y.) on Aug. 9 shook off the effects of their tense 1-0 loss to District III in their Series opener to jump out to a huge lead against EMEA (Ramstein, Germany) and just kept attacking in a 12-0 rout shortened to five innings because of the tournament’s “mercy rule.”

It did not take long for Team East to get going.

Central proved that their return to the Senior League Softball World Series for a second consecutive year was no fluke, as they powered past the Guam Little League team, representing Asia-Pacific, 12-1, on Monday afternoon in Day 2 of the competition.

Latin America (Maunabo, Puerto Rico) had their day off on Sunday, but didn’t appear rusty at all in their 5-3 win over a game West (Tuscon, Ariz.) team on Monday, Aug. 9.

Two veterans in the tournament – both looking for their first World Series title – took to Layton Field for the early game on Tuesday evening. The District III team from Laurel capitalized on pitches to stretch their lead late in the game and eventually lock up an 8-3 win against EMEA, playing out of Ramstein, Germany.

In one of the more exciting contests since Roxana began hosting the Senior League Softball World Series, the Southeast team (Portsmouth, Va.) was able to hold off a scrappy effort by the Canadian team (Windsor, Ontario) in a tight 6-5 game on Tuesday, Aug. 10.

Southwest trailed for the first time in tournament play on Tuesday evening, as they squared off against Latin America. Fierce infields on both sides paved the way for numerous double plays, but, eventually, Southwest pulled out the come-from-behind win, defeating the ASOFEM Little League team from Puerto Rico, 6-4, and becoming the first team in the series to improve to 3-0.

The East (Haverstraw, N.Y.) team notched their second straight win in the Senior League Softball World Series with a sound 7-0 victory over the squad from Asia-Pacific (Guam) on Tuesday, Aug. 10.

In an experience that most people can only begin to imagine, local hero Jack Hogan cruised into La Jolla, Calif., just outside of San Diego, late last week, atop a custom modified bicycle. Some 47 days and 3,800 miles after his journey began in Bethany Beach, Jack had done it.

Kayaking has traditionally been viewed as a low-impact recreational activity, but in Delaware’s Inland Bays, it has the distinction of having a huge impact – on wildlife habitat that is. Since the first “Paddlin’ for the Bays” event in 2007, more than $9,000 has been raised to support habitat restoration efforts in the Inland Bays watershed.

The 2010 Senior League Softball World Series kicked off without a hitch on Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Pyle Center in Roxana and will continue into this weekend. The hosting District III team from Laurel is one of four teams returning to the competition, and plenty of new teams are vying for the championship, too.

Poker – a game created by men (commonly believed to be sailors in New Orleans) and, to this day, predominantly played by men. But that hasn’t stopped self-proclaimed video game junkie-turned online poker phenom Jennifer Leigh from finding her way to the felt. The Wilmington, Del., native is proving that you don’t need a Y chromosome to make it in the game.

This weekend, Dewey Beach will host one of the most anticipated skimboarding competitions in the country.

This weekend, one of lower Delaware’s most anticipated sporting events will take to the diamond once again. Athletes, and their friends and families, are driving and flying in from all across the country, and across the world, for the Senior League Softball World Series in Roxana.