Steven Abramo
Staff reporter
Heartbreak culminates with achievement in a monumental season for Men’s Basketball
A 64-58 setback to Kirkwood Community College in the NJCAA National Championship title game marked an end to a historic season for the Cavaliers. It was a season which saw the team’s first National Championship title game appearance in 10 years, as well as program-best 31 wins.
Guard Nick Larkin and forward David Turner capped off their Cavaliers’ careers emphatically. Larkin did everything on the court, leading the team in assists (6.2) and steals (1.8), and second in points (13.5). Additionally, he became the third player in the program’s history to log 1,000 minutes in a season since 2012.
Turner, meanwhile, finished the season as the team’s leading scorer (13.9 points per game), rebounder (8.1 rebounds) and shot-blocker (2.7). Lastly, guards General Williams and JayQuaylon Mays finished top two on the team in three-point shooting. Williams nailed 52 3-pointers in 2019 at a 45.2 percent-clip while Mays netted 3-pointers at a 41.2 percent-clip.
Two months in, and there’s no signs of cooling down the baseball team’s hot streak
Aside from the solar core and melting magma, there’s not a lot in the world that’s hotter than Cavaliers baseball right now. Winners of 21 in row, the Cavs enter the first week of April with a 29-2 record, and ranked No. 6 in the NJCAA Division I Baseball Rankings.
Following a series win against Allen County Community College on April 1, the team now boasts an impeccable +263 run-differential, which is top five in all Division-I. They are also first nationally in team batting average (.391) and runs (353), second in team on-base percentage (.472), and seventh in batting average against (.197).
Outfielders Anthony Amicangelo and Landen Wood have ripped the cover off the baseball lately. In March alone, Amicangelo registered 33 hits, 11 of them for extra bases, all while producing a .647 batting average (AVG), .723 on-base percentage (OBP), and a 1.743 OPS (on-base plus slugging) in 65 plate appearances.
Wood, in the meantime, collected 32 hits, drove in 12 runs and swiped 23 bags, to go along with a .485 AVG, .521 OBP, and 1.023 OPS in 71 plate appearances last month.
Softball tries to right the waves of an uneasy start to season
A five-game win streak, highlighted by a 6-2 victory against Labette Community College, has steadied softball’s rocky season so far. Now 10-7, the Cavs kick-off a brief two-game road trip at Cowley Community College on April 4.
Freshman outfielder, Emily Fox, has been the team’s most consistent hitter during the season’s first two months. Fox posts a .400 AVG with 18 RBIs (runs batted in) in 51 plate appearances in 2019. She has also reached base in nine of her last 10 games
Lastly, right-hander Kerrigan Dixon has carried the load on the mound this season, pitching in 53 innings already, flashing a 1.45 ERA with 50 strikeouts to just four walks.
Golden Girls prep for a series of upcoming events
A March 24 workshop involving all high school and college dancers highlighted the early portion of the Golden Girls’ spring calendar. Additionally, the team’s trip to Nationals in Las Vegas is only eight days away, and auditions for the 2019-20 Golden Girls are on April 27.