Things learned, observed on Day 2 of Far East high school spring sports tournaments
Published: May 22, 2012
A tip of the hat to Matthew C. Perry Samurai boys soccer striker Tyelor Apple, whose three-goal performance in a 7-0 victory over Zama American gave him 62 for the season, topping by one the old Pacific single-season record of 61 set four years ago by Seoul Foreign’s Remco Rademaker.
But Apple felt a lot better earlier Tuesday, when his Samurai rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to tie defending Far East Boys Division II Tournament champion Yongsan International-Seoul 2-2.
“So good that we made that statement this morning,” Apple said. “We’re taking it one day at a time, focusing on tomorrow. We’re not in the finals until we get there.”
The Samurai took the second seed out of Pool B, while the Samurai got the top seed based on goal differential.
On the girls side, the big battle for top playoff seed came down to the Samurai and Daegu American, with Perry prevailing 3-1 thanks to goals by Apple’s sister, Sierra, and Sasha Shibazaki and Ghia Ulrey.
The baseball and girls softball tournament Division I playoff seeds took on an air of familiarity. Seven-time Okinawa district champion and 2010 Far East champion Kubasaki got the boys’ top seed, while Kadena’s girls, who had won nine straight Okinawa titles until earlier this month and won Far East in 2010, earned top playoff honors.
While the weather has been cooperating most everywhere else, rain turned MacArthur and Ranger Fields at Naval Air Facility Atsugi into slippery slopes, forcing the last games in each of the D-I and D-II pool-play round to be canceled. Turns out, neither were critical in determining playoff seeds, since the teams involved were to face each other anyway in the playoff opening rounds.
This is when it gets serious. Track and field starts in a few hours, too.
