Chestnut Hill Sports

Springside Sticksters Prevail in Prague Tournament
by TOM UTESCHER
Betsy Dougherty, former Springside School lacrosse coach and United States Team captain, slipped behind the Iron Curtain back in the late 1980’s to visit Prague, then the capitol of Czechoslovakia. Dougherty and a few other U.S. Team players, including her sister Julie Williams, received a special invitation to travel to the medieval city on the VlTava River and hold a series of clinics to encourage the growth of the sport in the country, which was part of the Communist Block at the time.

Earlier this month Springside’s 2005 lacrosse team journeyed to what is now the Czech Republic, joining a total of 17 other teams at the eighth annual Prague Cup Tournament. A high school category had been established at the tourney in 2004, and in the second year of competition it was the Springside Lions who finished first in this “Juniorky” division to capture the Prague Cup. There were also two boys high school squads at the event, along with a college division featuring four women’s teams and three men’s teams.

CHA Alums Slug Their Way to Softball Title
by TOM UTESCHER
Scoring more runs than they had in their first two games combined, the Chestnut Hill Academy alumni charged to a 17-7 victory last Monday in the third game of the Club Softball Association championship series, clinching the league crown for 2005.

CHA and fellow finalist Philadelphia Cricket Club were tied at 1-1 after one inning of play, but visiting Chestnut Hill went ahead for good with two runs in the top of the second, and continued on to a 9-1 lead before PCC scored again. CHA had fallen victim to a late rally by Philly Cricket in the second game of the series, but this time the erstwhile Blue Devils put the game out of reach by piling on eight runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Chestnut Hill hurler Norris Jordan went the distance for the win, recording two strike-outs against five walks and seven hits. Cricket Club starter Rich Shepherd registered two strike-outs, eight walks and a dozen hits in six-and-a-third innings before he was relieved by Larry Hyde (K-0, BB-0, H-5).

CHC summer squad levels out at 4-4
By TOM UTESCHER
The absence of power forwards Andrea Carter and Kate Quintus last Wednesday detracted from Chestnut Hill College’s inside game, and a team called City Stars took full advantage of that fact, netting numerous shots from the paint en route to an 83-39 victory over the Griffins in the Malvern League.

It turns out that most of the City Stars are alumni of the University of Scranton, including guard Lisa Harris, who recently resigned as Germantown Academy’s assistant coach in order to pursue a graduate degree. Harris was able to recruit one of her former Patriots players for the summer league team, bringing in guard Becca Buckler, who is heading into her sophomore year at Bates College.