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Sports

Notebook: Merkle Lifts Duchesne Tennis to Second Place at Districts

Duchesne senior Ty Merkle wins the individual title at the No. 1 slot in singles at the GAC North tennis tournament.

The Duchesne tennis team experienced team and individual success at the Gateway Athletic Conference North tournament on Wednesday. The Pioneers placed second to Fort Zumwalt South in the eight-team competition.

Duchesne senior Ty Merkle provided the team’s highlight with his individual title at the No. 1 slot in singles. Merkle defeated Fort Zumwalt East's Dylan Gilbert, 6-0, 6-2. In doubles, the Pionners won the title at the No. 2 spot with Nick Koval and Patrick Brennan. At No. 1, Merkle and Justin Park lost the championship, 8-4, to Fort Zumwalt South.

Merkle is Duchesne’s best chance to claim a state championship. He qualified for state in 2010 and placed eighth overall. His older brother, Zach Merkle, qualified for state four times before graduating in 2008.

The Class 1 District 6 tournament will be May 14 at Zumwalt South, with sectional play one week later.

Duchesne hired Monica Steinhoff as its new girls basketball coach this week. Steinhoff has been an assistant for the past three years under Pat Steagall, and is a 1988 Duchesne graduate.

One of the top players in the area during her playing career, Steinhoff left school as the Pioneers’ all-time leading scorer with 1,971 points. In her senior season, Duchesne made the Class 3 championship game, losing 59-58 to Marshfield. Steinhoff went on to excel at the University of Missouri, St. Louis and became that school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,023 points.

The Pioneers went 11-14 last season, including 5-2 in the GAC North. Duchesne has not advanced past districts in the past four seasons.

The St. Charles West girls soccer team entered this weekend with a 13-3 record and are in first place in the GAC North at 7-0. Fort Zumwalt East is in second place at 4-1. The Warriors defeated Fort Zumwalt North on Tuesday, 7-2, and will play at Francis Howell (14-4) on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then will host St. Charles on Monday at 6 p.m. Junior Aleesa Mays leads the Warriors with 12 goals while freshman goalkeeper Miranda Pierce has six shutouts.

The Francis Howell North baseball team has a solid 14-11 record, but the Knights have struggled to a 1-5 league record in the GAC South. Howell North will bring a six-game losing streak into the weekend, and will play at St. Charles West on Monday at 4:15 p.m.

Junior Braxton Martinez is batting .530 with seven home runs and 39 runs batted in for the Knights.

(Have some local sports news, or story ideas? Please email Patch sports editor Brian Doolittle at briandoolittle@hotmail.com)

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