R-C Sports Notebook: Depth will be key

It would seem that the very definition of the Douglas baseball team this season is balance.

With nine seniors, six juniors and four sophomores on its roster, the team headed into the season neither senior-laden or youth-centered.

It's three-man rotation includes one senior and two sophomores, with only two losses in a combined 13 starts.

But this squad exhibits balance and depth well beyond just adding up ages and years in school.

Of 20 players on the roster, 11 have taken at least one turn on the mound this season. As a team, they have played at 35 combined positions.

The Tigers' traditionally strong offense has lived up to its billing, outscoring opponents by 106 runs through 20 games, which works out to an average of 5.3 per game.

But even with that, opposing coaches have been hard pressed to work out a game plan for dealing with any one player, much less any segement, in Douglas' batting order this season.

Heading into last weekend's series against Wooster, the top seven batters in the Tigers' order all had between 17 and 14 RBIs on the season. The final two spots in the order have been platooned between approximately four players, who have combined for 28 RBIs, which averages out to 14 RBIs per spot.

11 different players have doubles, six have at least one triple and six have hit home runs.

The pitching this season is just as deep, with the frontline starters averaging 5.5, 3.5 and 3.4 strikeouts per outing and the top three relievers putting up about two strikeouts per appearance.

What it all adds up to so far this season is a 16-4 record overall, 11-1 in league play, a No. 2 ranking in the region and a perfect 7-0 slate at home.

What remains to be see is what this kind of depth can do once the playoffs arrive.

The Douglas High girls' track team placed third at the Fallon Elks Invitational over the weekend in a meet featuring every Northern 4A school and many of the top 3A and 2A schools.

That would have been impressive enough, but the team did so with only four girls putting points on the board. Many of the team's top performers were away on family vacations, but Alicia Sturgess, Skylar Young, Jessica Gorton and Nicole Mehrer each placed in multiple events to secure the third-place finish.

Made even more impressive, the team is still not practicing on a real track. In several weeks they will again be relegated to the school's soccer field while the all-weather track is finally installed.

What coaches Rick Brown and Jim Abbott are accomplishing with the boys' and girls' track teams this season may be one of the best stories in the state by the time the season is over.

Lauren Hoppe, jr., softball and Stephanie Harper, soph., softball: Hoppe hit three home runs in Douglas' two wins over Wooster Saturday, driving in six of Douglas' seven runs on the day. Harper pitched in both games, striking out 10 in the first and two in the second to take wins in both.