History in the Major Leagues: Indians vs. Cubs

Danny Doherty

Staff Writer

We’re getting close people. The improbable Cubs V. Indians World Series is knocking at America’s doorstep.

 It’s been over 100 years for the Cubbies, and more than 60 for the Cleveland faithful since the baseball title has been regained in their home. We’ve seen losing seasons, a play that ruined Bartman’s life, and everything in between. And up until two years ago, this matchup, these teams competing for a winning record, was something that was written up in fairytales.

 Joe Maddon and Terry Francona. Plastered with young talent, winning trades, huge free agents, and brilliant general managers, the keys in these teams success has been the men at the helm of the team. Francona came from a long, successful history in Boston, and in a few years has a taken a roster of misfits and built them up into a team that swept Boston in Big Papi’s finale just a week ago. Maddon took a handful of some of the best young talent in the game, and gave the Cubs the best rotation in the game, and one of the most dynamic and multidimensional lineups today. Without these two at the helm, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

 Now into the teams themselves. The Cubs have compiled two franchise starters, transformed a lackluster Orioles’ pitcher into a Cy Young winner, and turned an Ivy League pitcher into the statistically best pitcher in baseball. Not to mention having arguably the most sought after young lineup in the game (Rizzo, Bryant, Russell, Soler, Heyward), not to mention last year’s postseason star (Schwarber) has missed the entire year. The Indians have grown from the helm, making an inefficient starting rotation into one that makes the most out of every situation. Combined with arguably the best bullpen arm in the game today from a deadline trade with the Yankees, Francona didn’t need Jonathan Lucroy at the deadline to make the most fundamental lineup in baseball click, starting with the young talent of their own in Francisco Lindor.

 When it comes right down to it, on paper the Cubs have the edge. They’re due, they have the talent, the support, and have been in this place last year. The Indians are the underdogs. They look to bring Cleveland its second major title this year, but have a long ways to go, and with limited postseason experience on the team, an uphill battle will be fought to get there.

 The teams of Hollywood’s Henry Rowengartner and Wild Thing (further proving the insanity of this matchup) look to make for one of the most exciting postseason clashes in recent baseball memory.

*UPDATE They did it folks, and Indians took game one. Shutout the Cubbies. Indians in 6, betting on it.

Eagles and Carson Wentz defeat the Vikings

Will Kelley and Parker Cane

Staff Writers

Carson Wentz, the Eagles savior. Last year in the 2016 NFL draft Carson Wentz, the six-foot-six, 240-pound quarterback out of North Dakota State was drafted. In his college career, he lead his team to back to back NCAA Division 1 FCS national championships in 2014 and 2015. His record as a starter was 20-3 in the two seasons. Wentz went 2nd overall after Jared Goff the new addition to the newly moved Los Angeles Rams. Many people were sceptical about Carson Wentz because he didn’t come out of “Top line” colleges like other top five picks like. Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State), Jared Goff (Cal), Joey Bosa (Ohio State), and top pick cornerback Jalen Ramsey out of FSU. The Eagles 3-0 hot start was no joke. Right now,  Carson Wentz has seven TDS, one interception, 1,186 yards and RPG of 99.9. Very good for a rookie quarterback in his first couple of games.  Carson Wentz’s play was exceptional, he passed for 770 scrimmage yards mostly to WR Jordan Matthews and led the Eagles to 3 straight wins.  The Eagles Offense was very good these first three games of the season but due to a recent suspension,  star Right Tackle Lane Johnson was suspended for performance enhancing drugs. He will miss up to week 14 of the Eagles season.

 Three Sundays ago, the Eagles faced the new young Detroit Lions, star receiver Marvin Jones and QB Matthew Stafford combined for 205 receiving yards. Carson Wentz had a very good game but late game pressure caused an interception to seal the game, many people called this a typical “rookie mistake.” Two Sundays ago the Eagles played the Redskins at Washington. The Redskins put tremendous pressure on Wentz even on the first play of the game. Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan sacked Wentz for a loss of six yards, in the process he ripped Wentz’s jersey almost in half. Throughout the game the Eagles offensive line struggled due to the loss of Lane Johnson and outside Linebackers had an easy path right to Wentz’s back.

 Last weekend the Eagles played the hot 5-0 Vikings at home at 1:00 PM. The Eagles played exceptional on the defensive side of the ball, allowing 10 points and only 282 yards, much better than the previous weeks. The defense sacked Sam Bradford six times and got hit 12 times. In the first couple minutes of the game, Wentz turned the ball over three times in 10 minutes and had two interceptions. He was picked off twice by star cornerback Xavier Rhodes. The game was almost scoreless heading into halftime, but a speech by head coach Doug Pederson, probably talked some pep into the Eagles. The Eagles came out on the second half very hot and hungry. They forced the Vikings to a field goal their first drive. On the following kickoff, Josh Huff, draft pick out of Oregon State returned the kick for a 98-yard touchdown. The Eagles defense continued to have success and force Bradford to throw away the ball. Dropped passes hurt the Vikings. The Eagles offense played well, chipping away at the Vikings’ defense throughout the game. Screen passes to Ryan Mathews and Nelson Agholor helped to the Eagles get big yardage gains. With the score being 24-3,the Vikings had a late game touchdown but the Eagles were able to hold them off and continue their playoff quest.

Optimistic Hopes For The 76ers This Year

Lear Asplundh and Nathan Newman

Staff Writers

With the 2016-2017 NBA season upon us, the Philadelphia 76ers seem to be poised for a breakout year. First overall pick Ben Simmons, out of LSU, will be paired with rookie Joel Embiid to create an exciting front court. Hall of Fame players have touted Ben Simmons to be a LeBron James-type player. They share great court vision and a gifted passing ability, as well as excellent athleticism.

Combining Simmons with Joel Embiid, a very efficient post scorer, could create a dangerous pick and roll offense. The 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Dario Saric, is also coming over from Croatia. The 6’10 forward will bring a lot of potential and excitement to the 76ers this year. Saric, who has spent the past five years overseas, will bring a shooting and passing ability that the Sixers need desperately.

With a very young core of players brought to the team by former GM Sam Hinkie, the Sixers needed a veteran presence from free agency. Bryan Colangelo has done a great job filling this void by signing point guards Sergio Rodriguez and Jerryd Bayless. Although all of this talent has been added to the roster in such a short time, the team will probably continue to struggle. The young core of players has a lot to learn before they find success in the NBA.

As the 2017 draft nears, this year’s draft class is showing potential to be great. The Sixers have the rights to swap draft picks with the Sacramento Kings, which could potentially land them a top three pick. The Sixers also have the Los Angeles Lakers’ top three protected pick. The 2017 draft could be the last piece of the puzzle for the talented young Sixers team to become great.

Projected Starting Five:

1. PG Sergio Rodriguez
2. SG Jerryd Bayless
3. SF Robert Covington
4. PF Dario Saric
5. C Nerlens Noel

Projected Win Total:

27-55

NHS XC Update: Peshek PRs by a Minute; Chris Cammarata and Matt Firth Medal

Joshua House

Staff Writer

Congratulations to the Lions Cross Country Team on a strong start to the season at the Moravian and Ablington Invitationals. The boys’ team placed 3rd out of 18 at Moravian with strong performances by Junior Chris Cammarata medaling with a time of 17:19 in 9th and Senior Matt Peshek 17:22 in 11th. (That’s about a 5:30 pace per mile) The girls’ team had a great first race with the fastest time ran by Senior Tabitha Liucci (22:41) and a strong performance by Freshman Danielle Herbert (23:35). Also notable performance by JV medalist Matt Firth coming in the Top 10 with a time of 19:26 (6:15 per mile).

 The following week at the Abington Invitational performances were decent even with the brutal 90+ temperatures. Senior Matt Peshek ran a quick 17:43 on the hilly course which landed him 14th and a medal. Girls’ runner Julia Mycek came back from missing Moravian to run a strong 23:10 followed by another strong performance of Danielle Herbert (24:23). Injuries were a problem with Chris Cammarata dropping out due to a calf injury, and Tabitha Liucci did not run due to illness. The JV team only ran a 3k due to the these temperatures with notable performances by Seniors Evan Patrohay (11:29) and Eric Luo (11:30).

 Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have remained strong even with the loss of Head Coach Mike Clarke and four varsity runners on both teams.

 Varsity runner Eric Cammarata said: “All that matters is districts.”

 Also with the boys’ team being bumped up to AA it will make it even that much harder for states. They both look to make an impact on their big upcoming race on Sept. 24 at Hershey Park’s Foundation Invitational where over 130 teams will participate.

New Hope-Solebury Girls' Volleyball is ready

Brooke Black, Jacqueline Vergis, Caroline Maloney

Staff Writers

“The New Hope-Solebury Girls’ Volleyball team is looking fresh this season, quite literally” says senior Caroline Maloney.

 Coach Roy Watson has started his fourth season at NH-S by integrating the new freshmen talent that he has to work with. The team has played three games this fall season and has already won two out of the three. The loss was to Octorara High School, where our girls endured a nail biting five set fight that ultimately ended in favor of the Braves, a team who traveled two hours to the home of the Lady Lions just to play.

 Interestingly enough, unlike past years, this season the varsity lineup consists of almost half freshman players. Linked to this is the time and energy these girls have put into their club volleyball experiences out of season. Coach Watson has always encouraged the girls to go out for club, and this year we’re really seeing the impact of his tireless work ethic and passion to pass on his love for the game. Like previous years, several girls attended the Penn State volleyball camp along with the annual week-long skills camp held here at New Hope in July. A lot of the freshmen coming into the high school from the middle school had an opportunity to bond with the upperclassmen, including captains Skylar Sherman, Caleigh Roach and Rachel McMahon, before the season had begun.

 The team is currently represented by all four grades, with varsity captains in both senior and junior classes. The captains have enjoyed the mix of ages, giving them different skill sets and new knowledge added to the team. The team is confident that they will continue to succeed throughout the 2016 fall season with Coach Roy Watson and Coach Chris Marchok.

Baseball team looks forward to a great year

Justin Horak and Deven Smith

Staff Writers

Fall baseball was started this year to help improve the game play of the team for the spring season. This fall season the team has practice every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. each week for six weeks. The head coach of varsity and this fall league team is Tony Vlahovic. Coach Len Lehman of the spring JV team is the assistant coach.

 The team has a strong underclassmen roster including  freshman,  Will Renson, Justin Horak,and Cameron Mertz, and sophomores: Michael Lehman, Jack Gawson, Blake Doherty, Derek Smith, and Connor Campbell. The team is led by two seniors and captains, Chris Thompson and Danny Doherty.

 The team has games every weekend against teams that are from 30 to 60 minutes away from New Hope. The team had it’s first home game this past Saturday, where New Hope dominated 16-1. The team had another game on Sunday that was about 1 hour and a half away New Hope won that game as well,  9-1. The Fall ball league is about getting ready for the upcoming high school season in the Spring, getting to know your coaches, making new friends, and just having fun and playing the sport that you love to play.

 Speaking of the coaches, Coach Vlahovic is a very knowledgeable of the game and extremely nice to all the players, same with Coach Lehman. They're both very good coaches because if someone makes a mistake some coaches usually would yell at them but they don’t even raise their voices.. They usually say shake it off and get the next one, then they will explain what that person did wrong. They will correct the mistake and make sure it will not happen in the future. The coaches care more about people learning the game then the result of the game itself.  In the winter the baseball team will be having winter workouts indoors not on the high school campus. Usually the team has winter workouts in the middle school gym but now the team can't do that because of the construction. Winter workouts will now be in Doylestown and will be comprised of going to the cages to just keep hitting so that the team stays loose and keep improving until the season starts. When the season starts, New Hope will hopefully take to the field in March (weather permitting) and start working on all things baseball to get ready for high school baseball!.

 In closing, the whole team is excited for both the fall and springs seasons and play America’s pastime! Coach Vlahovic has been the head coach for the Varsity team for multiple years now but this year is the second year for Coach Lehman and the team is excited to be coached by both.  All of the freshmen and sophomores on the fall league team have experience being coached by Coach Lehman because they also had him as a middle school baseball coach before he moved up to high school. The team is looking forward to a great baseball experience at New Hope-Solebury with our teammates and Coach Vlahovic and Coach Lehman!  

College football starts out crazier than ever

Brendan Shadle & Blake Doherty

Staff Writers

Only 2 weeks deep, and college football has been berserk. With the combination of the NFL & MLB postseason coming up, sports fanatics go crazy this time a year. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays have made college football fans sit at the edge of their seats, from the outstanding competition and number of upsets in the NCAA.  

   Week 1 offered four major upsets including a #3 Oklahoma, #5 LSU, #16 UCLA, and #10 Notre Dame falling to Texas in double overtime. Week 2 added another two “Top 25” teams falling to unranked opponents. Central Michigan took out #22 Oklahoma State on a lateral on the 12 yard line that turned into a miraculous fourth quarter touchdown.  

  There were also a number of blowouts throughout the two weeks of. #23 Baylor, #1 Alabama, #6 Ohio State, #7 Michigan, #21 Oklahoma State, and #19 Louisville were some of the teams that absolutely obliterated their opponents, with a combined score differential of 331 points, with each team winning by more than 45 points (all were week 1 rankings.) Week 2 also started off with another bang. The week 2 opener included #13 Louisville derailing Syracuse, outscoring them 28-7 in the first quarter alone. Louisville quarterback, Lamar Jackson, is the defining college football right now and making a statement. The heisman contender already has 8 touchdowns through the air and the ground, and more than one-thousand combined yards. Lamar Jackson and the explosive offense rank 1st among all NCAA in offense and average a little less than 700 per game. While the defense doesn’t receive much recognition because of the high octane offense, the cardinals defense also remains in the top 25 this year as well. The heisman candidate and #10 Louisville are taking on #10 Florida State at its home stage September 17th. Can the cardinals continue their success in hopes of making the college football playoffs, and earning themselves a their first ever national championship?