Josh Brown - The Appalachian

Pitching for the Mountaineers, sophomore Andrew Kline fires one at a Georgia Southern opponent. The Mountaineers trailed the Eagles in a three-game home series 19-1, 13-1, 8-4, this past weekend. The Mountaineers host UNC Asheville today at 3 p.m. at Red Lackey Field.

Mountaineers post only six runs against Eagles in three-game home set

Josh Dernosek - Sports Beat

The Appalachian State University men’s baseball team fell short of a win this weekend as they hosted the Georgia Southern University Eagles (25-15, 12-6 Southern Conference) in a three-game series at Red Lackey Field.

Offensive power was lacking for the Mountaineers (10-23, 5-13 SoCon) throughout the weekend as they posted only six runs in the three-game set. The Eagles did not have the same problem, putting 40 runs on the board for the weekend.

Offensively, the Eagles looked as if they knew what pitches were coming before the Mountaineer hurlers toed the rubber.

Friday’s game set the pace for Georgia Southern with a 19-1 triumph over the damp Mountaineers on a rainy day in Boone. After posting three runs in the first inning the Eagles were rolling and Appalachian did not know what to do to contest.

Led by Chad Hall’s 4-for-4 performance, the Eagles notched a season-high 22 hits on a weak Appalachian pitching staff. Kyle Shiplett, reigning SoCon Pitcher of the Week, left the game in the third frame after an injury that weakens an already struggling staff.

Ty Racette went 2-for-4 and Chris Downard batted 2-for-3 on the day, but the duo’s presence was not felt in the Georgia Southern ousting.

GAME TWO: GSU 13, ASU 1
After the first inning and another three-run start for the Eagles, the dejected Mountaineers slowly began to realize more of the same offense seen Friday was on the way. Tim Johnson’s solo homerun in the fourth inning cut the Eagle lead to 6-1, but it was the only offense seen from the Mountaineers all day. The shot to right-center field is Johnson’s sixth on the season.

The Eagles added seven more to the scoreboard to give them the 13-1 win and Adam Ennis his third loss of the season, making him 0-3.
Brett Lewis pitched seven innings and gave up one in his victory outing for the Eagles, putting him at 6-5 on the season.

GAME THREE: GSU 8, ASU 4
Appalachian looked like they were tired of losing on Sunday and made a valiant effort with a late game rally, but still fell short to the Eagles 8-4.

The Mountaineers showed signs of brilliance on the defensive side, holding the Eagles’ offensive power to only eight after they proved scoring is not a problem in the previous games. Brian Chapman took the loss for Appalachian, making him 2-6 but pitched a decent game for head coach Troy Heustess.

Offensively the Mountaineers worked for every run they could muster off the Eagles’ pitching aces. Appalachian pulled within two in the seventh after Racette and Graham Thompson opened the latter half of the inning with singles. Derek Smith’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners up one base setting Ben Welborn up to knock in a few runs.
Welborn succeeded with a single, scoring Racette, then Downard hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Thompson. The lead was cut to 6-4 and things were looking good for Appalachian.

Appalachian’s rally ended there, and the Eagles added one run in each of the remaining innings to finish the game and sweep the tired Mountaineers.

Both teams return to action with non-league games Tuesday.
Appalachian entertains UNC Asheville at 3 p.m., while Georgia Southern travels to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer at 7 p.m.

Josh Brown - The Appalachian

The Mountaineers hosted the Appalachian State Inviational Friday, claiming 14 victories in both men’s and women’s events.
The Mountaineers now set their sights on one of the final events of the season, the Southern Conference Championships.

Following success at Invitational, ASU sets sights on SoCon Titles

Chris Boyce - Sports Beat

Six days before the start of the Southern Conference Championships, the Appalachian State University track and field team hosted Friday its first and only home meet of the season, the Appalachian State Invitational.

Warming up for what they hope to be a successful weekend in Johnson City, Tenn., this Friday at the 2002 Outdoor Track and Field Southern Conference Championships, the Mountaineers claimed 14 victories in both the men’s and women’s events.

Appalachian State placed four runners in the top six in the men’s 100-meter dash. Sprinter Ernest Wiggins claimed the top spot with a time of 10:53. Teammate William Reginald finished second with a time of 10:71. Jason Green and Holt McPherson rounded out the top six with finishes of fourth and fifth place respectively.

Reginald added to his performance by taking the men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 21:44.

Appalachian State’s Bob Smith gathered victories in both the discus and hammer throws while Lashana Poole compiled a triple crown, winning the shot-put in addition to both the discus and hammer throw.
Hurdler Ryan Linebarger added to his impressive season with a victory in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, finishing with a mark of 14:50.
The sisterly duo of Ronda and Tondra White propelled the Mountaineers to the top two places in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, with Ronda claiming first place with a time of 14:52.

Winthrop University enjoyed a solid performance, taking three victories in the women’s events including the 100-, 200- and 800-meter events.

Winthrop’s Octavia Goode claimed victories in both the 100- and 200-meter races with times of 11:93 and 24:79 respectively.

Appalachian State also grabbed the women’s 4x100 relay race with a time of 46:78.

The weekend event, which hosted over 300 college athletes, was only the first part of the spectacle, when nearly 700 high school athletes took part in the Appalachian State High School Invitational on Saturday.

The Mountaineers now set their sights on one of the final events of the season, the SoCon Championships.

Winners of both the SoCon’s cross country and indoor track and field championships, the men’s team hopes to complete the trifecta Friday afternoon. The women’s team, meanwhile, looks to cap what has been a strong season with a 2002 Indoor Track and Field Championship already under their belts.

Josh Brown - The Appalachian

Israeli brothers Erez (left) and Alon Cohen are making strides on the ASU tennis team. Both freshmen, Erez is currently top seed with Alon playing at number five for the Mountaineers. The Cohens based their strokes and serves off what they saw the professionals doing. They watched how the pros acted on the court and learned from them in every aspect of the game.

Cohen brothers hope to bring new dimension to Mountaineers

James Nix - Sports Beat

Erez and Alon Cohen have opened the doors for a new era of Appalachian State University men’s tennis.

The Israeli brothers, who have played tennis internationally since the age of 12, bring a much needed splash of international color to Boone.

Both in their freshmen year at Appalachian, the Cohens have taken the tennis team by storm with Erez playing the top position and Alon playing at number five.

As the sons of an Israeli diplomat, Erez and Alon spent most of their lives on the road, living in four different countries before moving to the United States.

Their father played soccer for the Israeli national team for a time and wanted his sons involved in a sport but felt soccer was too dangerous, so he introduced them to tennis said, Alon.

At the age of eight, the brothers began playing tennis with their father. They took a few lessons and tried to play several times a week but nothing serious.

Then the Cohens moved back Israel. That is when they became enthralled by the sport.

“We liked it a lot,” said Erez. “When we would go on vacation we would spend entire days playing tennis, and in Israel, we played daily.”

While growing up, the brothers idolized tennis stars such as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. But no one influenced their game more than Patrick Rafter.

The Cohens based their strokes and serves off what they saw the professionals doing. They watched how they acted on the court and learned from them in every aspect of the game.

Alon and Erez will have their first chance to see their idols play this summer when they take a trip to England to attend Wimbledon.

The first team the brothers played for was the national team in Guatemala at age 12.

This helped the brothers gain a lot of experience.

“I think when you are on a team you always desire to be the best one,” said Alon. “You strive to beat your other teammates and train harder to be the best one.”

They also represented Israel a few times in the United States while still living in Guatemala.

The brothers spent most of their lives in international schools and always wanted to go to college in the United States, said Erez. They also always wanted to represent a U.S. school in tennis.

After looking at many schools in the country, Appalachian seemed their best choice.

“Appalachian is a well-rounded school,” said Erez. “It was a well-rounded decision because of the academics and the tennis team.”

The Cohens feel their biggest accomplishment with Appalachian’s tennis team has been introducing diversity to the team.

“It’s a different culture,” said Alon. “They have a different perspective on things than we have and it was difficult at first, but now we are getting adjusted to each other and getting along better.
They understand more about our culture and we understand more about their culture.”

“The more we travel and the more we spend time together, we become united,” said Erez.

Many collegiate-level tennis teams have more international players, they said. Many of the international players are used to competing at higher levels of tennis, like the Cohens.

Appalachian’s lack of international players has kept the team down in competition, said Alon.

“There are a lot more foreign tennis players in the world,” said Alon. “When they come to the U.S. to play it is at a higher level so I think that might be keeping [Appalachian] down.”

However, the Cohens said they feel it mostly depends on the coach. If a coach can recruit well, it does not matter how many international players there are.

At the number one position, Erez said he is trying to bring leadership to the team but has not been very successful so far.

“I haven’t been so successful, but I will be in the future,” he said. “Right now, I’m a good player at number one, but I’m not such a good leader. Maybe in two years from now I can get used to the role.”

As he progresses with the Appalachian team, Erez said he feels he may have a chance to be ranked in the nation.

“I definitely think that I am going to be ranked,” said Erez. “Probably not next year but maybe the year after that.”

Playing at Appalachian has thrown another hurdle on the court aside from diversity, said Erez. That hurdle is playing doubles with other players.

“Before coming to Appalachian, I only played doubles with my brother,” said Erez. “I’ve had to learn to play doubles with other people.”

“I’m very comfortable communicating with my brother while playing doubles, so when I play with others it is sometimes not as effective, but I’m learning now.”

As far as the Southern Conference goes, the Cohens consider it an extremely tough conference. The Mountaineers have not fared too well this season with a record of 3-7.

“The conference has four teams ranked nationally,” said Alon. “It is a very competitive conference.”

But the Cohens take into consideration how young the team is and feel in the upcoming years the tides will shift in the SoCon.

Many of the SoCon’s top players will be leaving this year or next year, said Erez. Appalachian’s top player still has three years to go.

“In two years we will win the conference,” said Alon. “That’s our goal, that’s why we are here.”

After Appalachian, both Erez, who is majoring in political science, and Alon, who is majoring in computer science, plan to keep tennis a major part of their lives.

Both plan on attending graduate school and see working as an assistant coach as a possibility.

“Who knows where it will take us,” said Erez. “All I know is it will always be there.”

“Tennis gives us a sense of discipline,” said Alon. “When we’re doing good in tennis, it motivates us to do good in other things. It almost obligates us to do well in school.”