Sports
Notebook: Hazelwood Central Baseball Races to 5-1 Start
Junior pitcher Jonathan Harris is back for the Hawks. He was the Suburban North Conference Player of the Year in 2010.
The baseball team will not go undefeated in 2011. The Hawks dropped to 5-1 after losing to University City on Saturday, 8-3, in the final of the North County Classic at Hazelwood East.
Hazelwood Central will play at Hazelwood West (3-2) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Hawks will host Riverview Gardens (1-3) on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Hazelwood Central coach Van Vanatta led the Hawks to a 20-6 mark in 2010, including a 12-2 record in the Suburban North Conference to tie Hazelwood West for first place. Vanatta returns junior outfielder Matt Dezort this season. Dezort batted .419 in 2010 and scored a team-high 38 runs and had a team-high .570 on-base percentage last season.
Junior pitcher Jonathan Harris is also back for the Hawks. He was the Suburban North Conference Player of the Year last season when he had an 8-0 record, 48 strikeouts and a 2.49 earned run average in 45 innings. Harris also hit .475 on a team-high 38 hits with 22 RBI.
The McCluer baseball team is facing a very busy week, and the Comets hope to climb back to .500 after their 2-5 start. McCluer coach Bryan Durnin led the Comets to a 7-19 record last season, including a 3-10 mark in the Suburban North Conference.
The Comets feature senior center fielder Lance Jeffries, who batted .327 last year with seven home runs and 21 RBI. He enters this week with a .462 batting average and four home runs and 11 RBI. Junior shortstop Jermaine Richmond is batting .350 with seven RBI.
McCluer hosts Pattonville on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and will play at Ritenour (4-4) on Thursday at 4 p.m. and at SLUH (6-0) on Friday at 4:15 p.m.
It has been a rough start for the McCluer North baseball team as the Stars will bring an 0-3 mark into their Suburban North Conference home game Tuesday against Riverview Gardens at 4 p.m. will also play a league game at Pattonville on Thursday at 4 p.m. and will then host Parkway North (3-4) on Friday at 4:15 p.m.
McCluer North was 11-14 in 2010 under head coach Mike Sevier.
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