Sports
Notebook: Orchard Farm Baseball, Girls Soccer Finally Lose
Orchard Farm baseball and girls soccer are each having stellar seasons.
The highly-touted Orchard Farm baseball team played four games in three days this week, but could not come away unscathed. The Eagles split the games and will play at home against Elsberry on Monday (5 p.m.) with a 9-2 record.
Orchard Farm lost to red-hot Westminster, 9-8, on Tuesday but bounced back to win both games in a doubleheader on Wednesday, defeating Whitfield, 11-6, and also Lutheran St. Charles, 9-3. The Eagles lost on Thursday night, 5-2, to Priory.
Orchard Farm is currently atop the Eastern Missouri Conference with a 4-0 record. Coach Phil Kendall has relied on three players to drive his potent offense, which is averaging over 11 runs per game. Junior first baseman and pitcher Spencer Pugh is batting a team-best .524 on 22 hits and has added 17 RBI. Senior shortstop Zack Jones is hitting .513 with three home runs and a team-high 20 RBI. Junior outfielder Nick Knobbe is hitting .419 for the Eagles.
On the mound, Pugh is 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA and has 35 strikeouts in 26 innings. Senior Daniel Kuehler has a 4-0 mark for a well-balanced team that has a chance to make a late postseason run in May.
Orchard Farm girls soccer also dropped its first game of the season this week. The Eagles were defeated by Winfield, 2-1, on Thursday night and stand at 9-1. Their next match is against Belleville East on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Gordon Moore Ballpark in Alton, IL.
Junior goalkeeper Abby Gruendler has four shutouts and is allowing just 1.1 goals per game. Junior midfielder Alexis Robbers has 18 goals and junior forward Brooke Burckhardt has 13 as the tandem has been dominant throughout this season for coach Brandon Cox.
Francis Howell North baseball is 12-5, despite a tough 7-6 loss to powerful Vianney on Thursday night. The Knights allowed three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to drop the nonconference game. will play Fort Zumwalt West (7-6) at T.R. Hughes Ballpark on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Coach Bob Dunahue’s team features some big-time star players. Junior infielder Braxton Martinez is hitting an eye-popping .537 with three home run and 27 runs batted in. Senior catcher Mike Wilson, meanwhile, is hitting an astounding .556 (.615 on-base percentage) with 25 hits. Senior Chris Volpo is his staff ace. Volpo is 4-0 this season, with a 0.64 earned-run average and he has 22 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. He is also batting .438 with 15 RBI.
The Duchesne girls soccer team defeated Warrenton, 4-1, on Thursday night to raise their season mark to 5-4. The game was the GAC North opener for each team. has been led offensively by senior forward Kristin Montgomery (four goals). Sophomore goalkeeper Alli Wilcox is only allowing 1.1 goals per game in her five victories in the net. Next for the Pioneers is a match at St. Dominic (8-2) next Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.
(Have some local sports news, or story ideas? Please email Patch sports editor Brian Doolittle at briandoolittle@hotmail.com)