Cardinal Sports — The Villagers Voice

Jr. Cards Finish Week in Thrilling Fashion

August 26, 2015 by Kathy Sands

Nathaniel Wilson takes the swing.

"Save the best for last," is a saying that fits the NCOE Junior Cardinal baseball team in their last game of the week against their last non-conference opponent of the week when they traveled to Wayne City to take on the Junior Indians.

First inning action would find Wayne City jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. Little did anyone expect, but this is where the score would remain until the sixth inning. The top of the sixth is when NCOE would finally break their scoreless streak and cross the plate to tie the game at 1-1. This tie would not last long as Wayne City scored in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the lead at 2-1. NCOE found themselves scoring another run in the top of the seventh and holding Wayne City scoreless to force extra innings with the score knotted at two all. Both teams would threaten each inning of extended play, but defense as well as strong pitching would come up victorious as both teams were kept off the board for four consecutive innings. Finally, in the top of the 12th the NCOE bats came alive, and the Junior Cardinals were able to cross the plate six times to pull ahead by the score of 8-2. This is all the insurance NCOE would need as they held Wayne City scoreless once again and walked away with the six run victory.

Nathaniel Wilson, Trey Simmons, and C.J. Richardson led the team with three hits each in the contest. Wilson also scored two runs and collected an RBI while Simmons and Richardson scored one run and had two RBI's. Others with a hit for the Jr. Cards were Bryce Jolley, Jack Riggs, Peyton Edwards, and Ty Money. Scoring a run for NCOE was Bryce Jolley, Jack Riggs, Ty Money, and Wade Sauls.

Jack Riggs was called on for pitching duties and he went eight innings giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and striking out 12. Nathaniel Wilson came in to relieve Riggs in the ninth inning and threw the final four innings allowing no runs on four hits and striking out nine.

"Defensively we played great and really stepped it up this game. Pitching was strong, but the bats struggled to get going. The team battled all the way until the end where it really came together in the twelfth," stated Coach Shea Smith.

Runs Hits Errors

NCOE 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 8 13 1

W.C. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 5

Crab Orchard halts Lady Cardinal winning streak

April 22, 2015 by Villagers Voice

After collecting two consecutive victories in the week, the NCOE Lady Cardinal softball team knew they had their work cut out for them against the Crab Orchard Lady Trojans if they were going to be able to make this a perfect three for three on the week. Crab Orchard, whom most have picked to be the top team in the Greater Egyptian Conference this season, came into this contest with a 13-1 overall record and an undefeated conference record to this point. Not to mention, the Lady Trojans were returning all but one starter from last year’s team that reached the Class A Regional Championship game.

First inning action was a little rocky for NCOE as they allowed seven Lady Trojans to reach base and five of those crossed the plate to take a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, the Lady Cardinals were able to put the ball in play, but stellar defense by Crab Orchard kept the bases clear. The second inning wasn’t much better for NCOE as their defense was all but flawless and they allowed three more runs to score, putting Crab Orchard ahead by a score of 8-0. This score would hold until the top of the fourth inning when the Lady Trojans struck once again for one run to increase their lead to 9-0.

Hits were hard to come by in this game for the Lady Cardinals, but Brit Peyton and Ally Black each collected a single for NCOE in the bottom of the fourth inning to spoil the no hit bid by Crab Orchard pitcher Brooke Arnold. Unfortunately, they were unable to score. The fifth inning action gave way to one more Crab Orchard run to see NCOE fall behind 10-0 with one more chance to score in order to keep the game going, but once again, lights out pitching and perfect defense did not allow NCOE to cross the plate as they fell by the final score of 10-0.

Ally Black took the mound for NCOE in the contest. Black went four innings, giving up nine runs (seven earned) on eight hits while recording five strikeouts. Caite Weiss relieved Black to pitch one inning giving up one run on one hit while recording two strikeouts.

“Crab Orchard has the best pitcher that we have faced thus far in the season, and one of the best, if not the best that we will see all year. The girl’s never backed down and went up to bat and put the ball in play and made them make a play. Unfortunately for us, they made the plays and never committed an error.” This loss dropped the Lady Cardinals to 4-3 on the year and 2-1 in the GEC.

NCOE will travel to Crab Orchard on Tuesday, April 21, then play at home on April 23 against Hardin County and again on April 24 against Galatia.

Jr. Cardinals place fourth at State

April 1, 2015 by Villagers Voice

After winning their Regional last week, the NCOE Grade School varsity volleyball team traveled to Nashville to compete in the Class M State Tournament.

They first met Christopher in the quarter final and the first game was all NCOE as they won with only 5 servers 25-10. But Christopher had other planes and fought back to win the second game 25-22. So the Cards went to a third game and won in exciting fashion 15-9.

“To get tot he top four is very special,”Coach Melton said. “We really wanted the girls to have this chance,” she added.

That win moved NCOE into the semifinals where they met Unity Point who had handed the Cards their only defeat. The team put up a good fight in the first game, but eventually fell 16-25. In the second game it was all Unity Point as they won 25-10.

“Our defense made a good effort but their outstanding hitter just kept us off pace,” Melton said.The Cards had to immediately regroup to face Lebanon in the third place game. The NCOE squad played hard but the wear and tear of the two previous matches made it difficult to maintain their offense and they fell in two 19-25, 20-25.

“The girls kept it close, but just couldn’t get a lead,” Melton said.

Natalie Wilson led the scoring for the day with 19 point. Curtlyn Hayes followed with 14. Emilee Bishop served 11 points with Baylee Sutton serving 8. Emily Cox had six, Halle Everett 5 and Haleigh Poole two.

Offensively, Everett and Bishop led with 15 kills each. Wilson had three as Brooke Sell recorded two and one each was added by Hayes and Sutton. Wilson ran the offense with 22 assists. Hayes had 5 with Bishop having 3 and Ever 2. Sell and Sutton had one each.

Defensively, Everett and Hayes had 18 digs each. Sutton and Bishop contributed 12 digs apiece with Sell having nine. Cox and Poole had four digs each and Wilson one. Everett had 4 direct blocks and Bishop one.

The day ended with NCOE finishing with a 19-3 record and fourth place in Class M.

“I was proud of these girls all season and how they represented NCOE. They played hard and were so coachable. It was an enjoyable year,” Coach Melton finished.

The team enjoyed the season more because of the great fan support they had all year. Sharing the year with each and their families made it special.

They again thank the Omaha and Norri city Fire Departments and the City Police for the escort into town Saturday afternoon. Thank you to Mr. Flecks and Mr. Reavis for their support throughout the season and Mr. Buchta for his help in getting the court ready for practice and games. Also a thank you goes to The Villagers’ Voice for their coverage all season and the wonderful double page after NCOE’s Regional win. And thanks for Paul Black for all the photographs.

This team represented NC and Booth Schools well, both on and off the court. They are fine student-athletes. Our communities are proud of them.

Cardinals win 2nd place at Wayne City Tourney

March 4, 2015 by Villagers Voice

6th grade boys basketball hold up their 2nd place trophy at the 6th Grade Wayne City Tournament

On Saturday, Coach Shea Smith’s NCOE Fighting Cardinal sixth grade basketball team traveled to Wayne City to compete in a six team tournament. This tournament was set up into pool play with each pool consisting of three teams. NCOE was placed in the pool that also consisted of Mt.Vernon Casey and the host, Wayne City Indians.

First game of the tournament for the Fighting Cardinals pitted them against Casey of Mt.Vernon. This contest started out in favor of NCOE as they jumped out to the 7-3 lead after one quarter of play. The second quarter again was more NCOE as they once again outscored their opponent 10-6 to take a 17-9 lead into the locker room at halftime. Second half action started out good again for the Fighting Cardinals, but, unfortunately, it did for Casey as well. The third quarter is where Casey appeared to be on a mission to close the gap and they went on to outscore NCOE by two points. NCOE, determined to not let their lead slip away anymore than it already had, kicked it into gear and posted nine more points to their total. The strong fourth quarter offense was matched by an intense defense as well, with NCOE holding Casey to only three fourth-quarter points en route to their 35-23 victory.

Jack Riggs led the way for the Fighting Cardinals in the scoring column as he recorded 11 points. Others scoring for NCOE were Ty Money with eight points, C.J. Richardson six points, Joe Melton five points, Lucas Browning two points, Wil Sutton two points, and Nathaniel Wilson one point.

Coach Shea Smith stated, “This was probably one of the best games the kids played this year. They were ready to go and outplayed the other team. We outranked them and wore them out.”

The second game of the day brought NCOE up against the host, Wayne City Indians. With one win in pool play, all the Fighting Cardinals had to do to guarantee a spot in the championship game was win.

First quarter action got under way with NCOE jumping out to an 11-8 lead. Wayne City started to pick up their defense in the second quarter and held the Fighting Cardinal to only seven points. This allowed the Indians to narrow the gap, but at halftime it was the Fighting Cardinals clinging to an 18-16 lead. Wayne City continued to apply their tough defense in the third quarter and for the second consecutive quarter they outscored NCOE 8-7 to find themselves only trailing by one point with one quarter remaining. The fourth and final quarter saw fatigue play a part on the Fighting Cardinals as they were unable to hold their lead and fell by the final score of 37-32.

Ty Money was the top scorer for NCOE in this game as he posted 11 points. Others scoring were Joe Melton with eight points, C.J. Richardson seven points, Jack Riggs four points, and Peyton Edwards two points.

“The team was a little wore out and beat up from the first game and it definitely started to show as the game progressed,” stated Coach Smith. “A couple of calls didn’t go our way towards the end, and we came up a little short.” Although NCOE did not defeat Wayne City in pool play and punch themselves a definite ticket to the championship game, this pool found itself in a three-way tie for first place with each team having a 1-1 record. Due to the three-way tie, tie breaker rules had to be enforced and NCOE found themselves in first place by scoring more points than the other two teams in their pool. This accomplishment earned the Fighting Cardinals a berth in the championship game against the Fairfield Colts on Monday night.

The championship game did not start out the way the Fighting Cardinals had hoped, as they found themselves trailing by double digits following the first quarter of play. Second quarter action saw NCOE start to get things going offensively as they were able to score five points, but once again Fairfield outscored NCOE to claim the halftime lead. The 10 point third quarter was by far the best offensive performance of the night for the Fighting Cardinals, but even after this effort they still found themselves trailing the Colts. The fourth and final quarter saw the Fairfield defense continue to dominate as they held NCOE to only four points. Although they gave a gallant effort, the Fighting Cardinals fell to the Colts in this championship game. “Fairfield has a great group of kids. They are both big and quick, and they came out a little quicker than us and it was hard to fight back,” commented Coach Smith. “I challenged the kids not to quit, to not give up, and they didn’t let me down.”

Leading the scoring column for NCOE in this championship contest was Ty Money with eight points. Jack Riggs followed closely with six points. Other scoring were Joe Melton with two points, C.J. Richardson two points, and Wil Sutton one point.

Coach Smith concluded by saying, “I am so proud of these kids on the season. We still had to find ourselves as a team to start the season and once we did, we hit the ground running.” He also stated, “ We accomplished so much in our short time together. I have really enjoyed watching these kids grow and become better ball players and really start to act like a family.”

Fresh/Soph Fighting Cardinals finish strong

February 18, 2015 by Villagers Voice

On Monday evening, Coach Jim Tucker’s Fresh/Soph Fighting Cardinal basketball team welcomed the Wayne City Indians to town. This game would be the season finale for the Fresh/Soph team, and they were hoping to avenge an earlier season loss they suffered at Wayne City to finish the season strong and on a winning note.

The game started out very close, but it would be NCOE grabbing the 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter action was once again back and forth, however, NCOE would outscore Wayne City 10-7 and take the 19-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. The third quarter was where the Fighting Cardinals came out determined
not to let the game slip away --like that of the first meeting and exploded for 17 points compared to only six from
Wayne City to extend their lead to 36-20 with one quarter remaining.

Defense picked up again for both teams in the fourth quarter and they were only able to score a combined 15 points. This offensive slow down was just what the Fighting Cardinals needed as they claimed the 42-29 victory. Coach Tucker said, “Some guys had to guard people who were taller or faster, but they stepped up and shut down their potent offense.”

Coach Tucker stated, “This was truly a team effort tonight.

Everyone played well on both ends of the court, and it was good to see everything come together for four full quarters of basketball.”

“I am very proud of these young men,” commented Tucker. Trenton Verble and Cooper Wells shared scoring honors in this contest as each scored 11 points. Others scoring for the Fighting Cardinals were Andy Brinkley with seven points, Ben Taylor five points, Jacob Bridges four points, and Jeb Baumgart four points.

Young Cards battle to overcome New Hope

February 18, 2015 by Villagers Voice

On Thursday, Feb. 5, the NCOE grade school volleyball teams welcomed New Hope to town.

The first game was tough as the 8th grade squad found themselves trailing or tied throughout the game. Finally, the team took the serve back to tie the game at 23-all and Haleigh Poole served the last two points for the win. The second game was all NCOE as they won quickly 25-7.

“The first game win took the wind out of New Hope’s sails and they didn’t recover,” Melton stated.

Leading the scoring were Natalie Wilson and Baylee Sutton with 9 points each. Emilee Bishop followed with seven. Curtlyn Hayes scored 5 as Halle Everett had 3. Poole had 2 and Emily Cox one. Offensively, Everett led the hitting with 10 kills and Bishop chipped in 5. One kill each was recorded by Sutton and Hayes. Wilson ran the offense with fifteen assists.

On the defensive side, Everett, Wilson, and Sutton had two digs apiece and Hayed added one. Everett also had one direct block.

The win moved the Cards to 3-0 on the season.

The seventh grade team also added a win to their column. And just like the 8th grade, they were pushed in the first game before winning 25-21 and then won much quicker in the second game 25-9.

Frankie Hayes led all servers with 11 points followed closely by Evie Duncan and Tori Karnes with 9 each. Kilee Roser scored six and Adrienne Frymire four. Frymire led the attack with four kills with Duncan and Roser having 2 kills each and Abby Black one. Black and Karnes also ran the offense with 3 assists apiece and Frymire added one.

“The girls did a good job taking and running their attack.” Anna Martin also contributed to the win.

The 7th grade are now 3-0.

The “C” team had a difficult night as they fell to New Hope 24-42 in a 20-minute timed game. “The girls just seemed to be out of sync the whole game. But they didn’t give up; they kept working,” Coach Black stated.

Scoring for the NCOE squad were Sophie Neal with four points, Kennedy Cook with 3 and two points each for Haley Dagley, and Mattie Wells. Jadydn Ash had one kill for the offense and Emma Gwaltney recorded an assist.

Karnes Competes at State Golf

October 29, 2014 by Kathy Sands

Blake Karnes with his dad and coach, Cliff Karnes, at State Golf meet. ----photo provided

Blake Karnes recently completed his Senior golf campaign by competing in the state golf championship in Bloomington on Oct. 17 and 18. This was the capstone for a very impressive year on the links for the NCOE Senior, which saw him and his teammates win 8 matches throughout the year.

During the course of the year, Blake competed in a total of 11 matches heading into post season play. Blake was the medalist in 8 of the team’s matches. During this year, he averaged an impressive 37 stroke average on 9 holes. This propelled him into the post season. Once in the post season he placed 5th in the regional, and advanced to sectional play. At the sectional Blake battled the elements and placed 8th among individuals to capture a spot in the state finals. Coach Karnes stated that, “Blake has put in a lot of work throughout the entire year, and it was great to see the hard work pay off.” Blake plans on continuing his career at the collegiate level.

Cardinal Volleyball Action

October 6, 2014 by Villagers Voice

Cards Trounce Vienna; battle Bison for strong overall records.

On Thursday, Sept. 25, NCOE welcomed Vienna to Phelps gym for a regular season volleyball match.

The Varsity made quick work of the visitors as they won in 2, 25-7, 25-14.

"The girls finished the week on a high note. I was glad to see their intensity," Coach Melton said.

Taylor Colbert led the serving with twelve points, Jessi Rush added 8 and Sydney Tucker had seven. Megan Sutton had four and MacKenzie Melton three.

Melton led the attack at the net with seven kills with Shealyn Healy contributing four. Hope Everett had 3 kills and Sutton and Tucker each had two. Rush ran the offense with 12 assists setting and Tucker added 2.

The defense kept Vienna down by recording 29 digs, Rush led with 7 digs as Healy, Tucker and Colbert each recorded six. Sutton had three and Melton one. Sutton and Melton each recorded one block. The win moved the Cards to a 12-21 record.

The Jr. Varsity made their match interesting in the first game as they held off Vienna 26-24. The second game was all NCOE with a 25-12 win.

"We lost focus just for a run and Vienna took advantage, but the girls held serve just in time," Black stated.

Britt Peyton and Ally Black led the scoring with 12 and 11 points as Emmy Pruitt added four, Madison Roberson three, and Lexie Money 1.

Money and Melton led attack honors with 5 kills each. Pruitt had two as Peyton and Elizabeth Martin both added one. Peyton also ran the offense with 10 assists in 56 sets. Black and Martin had one assist apiece.

Defensively, Robertson and Black had 3 digs each with Money adding two. One dig apiece was recorded by Pruitt, Peyton, Ashton Healy and Caite Weiss. Pruitt and Melton each had a block.

The win gave the JV Cards an 8-1 overall record.

Grayville

Monday, Sept. 29, the NCOE volleyball teams traveled to Grayville to meet the always-tough Bison. And the first game of the Varsity match proved to be that way as the Cards had to work hard to win 25-20. The second game was all NCOE as the Cardinal defense tore apart Grayville's offense and they won 25-11.

"Hope took out their strong middle hitter. She fell apart and so did their team," Coach Melton said.

Taylor Colbert had a good night at the serving line with 11 points and Sydney Tucker added seven, Jessi Rush had 5, Shealyn Healy 4, Megan Sutton 3, and Hope Everett one.

Everett led the Cardinal offense with 8 kills, and Emily Edwards was back in the line up with 4 kills. Rush added 3, Sutton 2, and Healy one. Rush also led the setting with 8 assists with Tucker adding seven. Sutton kicked in one.

Defensively Colbert and Healy had 5 digs each with Tucker and Sutton having 2 apiece and Rush had one. Everett had 5 blocks and Edwards one.

The win moved the Cards to 13-2.

The Jr. Varsity had much the same experience with the first game being tough and the second being much easier. The JV had to battle to win the first 27-25 and then settled in and won the second 25-13.

"The girls had to settle down and focus. I was glad to see their growth in this match," Coach Black said.

Madison Roberson had a big serving night with 17 points. Britt Peyton added 8, Emmy Pruitt 6, Ally Black 2 and Ashton Healy one.

At the net Pruitt led with 6 kills. MacKenzie Melton was right behind with 5 and Lexie Money added two. Peyton had 8 assists as Melton and Elizabeth Martin both had one.

Defensively, Black led with 6 digs and Roberson added 4. Peyton had two and one each was recorded by Money and Healy.

The win put the JV record at 9-1.

Cards exhibit good momentum in first conference meet of the year with Bearcats

Tuesday, Sept. 30, the volleyball Cardinals hosted the Galatia Bearcats in their first conference meeting of the year. The Cards won 25-20, 25-19.

"It was a well-played match with lots of offense and defense. The girls stepped it up," Coach Melton observed.

Sharing the scoring honors were Sydney Tucker and Shealyn Healy with 7 points each. Taylor Colbert followed with five, Hope Everett recorded four, Jessi Rush 2, and Megan Sutton one.

Everett led the attack with eleven kills and Sutton had eight. Emily Edwards had 3 kills with Rush and Healy having 2 each and Tucker one. Rush ran the offense with 16 assists in 59 sets as Tucker added 4 assists in 20 sets.

Defensively, Colbert led with 9 digs. Rush had six with Healy and Tucker adding 5 each and Sutton with four. Edwards had three blocks at the net and Everett added one.

The Cards' win gives them a 14-2 record and 3-0 conference record.

The Jr. Varsity Cards had to work harder to gain their win as they went 3, 25-15, 22-25, 15-6.

"The team lost focus just long enough to give Galatia a chance, but they gained their momentum back and quickly won the third," Black stated.

Leading the scoring was Ally Black with eleven and Britt Peyton followed with 8. Mattie Colbert had four points, MacKenzie Melton 3, Emmy Pruitt 2 and Caite Weiss one.

Melton led the attack with 6 kills. Colbert added three, Black and Pruitt had 2 each and Elizabeth Martin added one. Peyton had 11 assists and Black 1.

Defensively, Alex Thomas, Peyton and Black had 2 digs apiece and Pruitt added one.

The win gave the JV Cards a 10-1 record and 3-0 record in the conference.

The Freshmen also played a timed 20-minute match, and after trailing early, they put together a nice run on Riley Price's' serving to take the lead late and win 31-26.

Price ended with 10 point to lead the team with Thomas adding 5. One point each was recorded by Ashton Healy, Elizabeth Davis and Weiss.

Colbert led the hitting with 2 kills and Davis and Thomas had one each. Weiss had two assists and Healy one.

Colbert also led the defense with 2 digs as price, Davis, Healy, and Thomas each recorded one. Davis also had one block.

The Freshmen Cards are 3-0 in their season.