Sports
Europe Athletes of the Week: April 7, 2011
April 6, 2011
Kelsey Freeman, a sophomore All-Europe pitcher-first baseman on the Ramstein softball team, opened her 2011 season Saturday by pitching a complete game, five-inning no-hitter as Ramstein began its drive for a fourth straight European D-I title. (Courtesy photo)
Kelsey Freeman, a sophomore All-Europe pitcher-first baseman on the Ramstein softball team, opened her 2011 season Saturday by pitching a complete game, five-inning no-hitter as Ramstein began its drive for a fourth straight European D-I title. (Courtesy photo)
Luke Ostergaard, a freshman pitcher for Sigonella's baseball team, opened his high school career by starting and winning two games on the road, striking out 20 batters in the process. (Courtesy photo)
Luke OstergaardSigonella baseball
Last week - Ostergaard, a freshman pitching for one of the smallest schools in DODDS-Europe, opened his high school career by starting and winning two games on the road against Division II schools Vicenza and Aviano.
Ostergaard struck out a combined 20 batters, allowing just four total earned runs and nine hits while limiting his foes to a .230 batting average, according to Sigonella head coach David Berryhill, He pitched four innings and struck out nine Friday in Sigonella’s 8-7 victory at Aviano, and tossed a five-inning, complete-game victory Saturday, 15-2, at Vicenza.
Ostergaard, who batted .416 in his varsity debut, benefited from a Jaguars defense that committed just four total errors in its 3-1, season-opening trip to northern Italy, Berryhill wrote in his Monday email,
The freshman also got a boost, his mother told Sig coach Matt McKown, from some unusual coaching the last two years. Ostergaard played for a local team, the Paterno Warriors, whose Cuban coaches provided what Ostergaard’s mother called “excellent” instruction to her son.
Kelsey FreemanRamstein softball
Last week - Freeman, a 6-foot-2-inch sophomore All-Europe pitcher-first baseman, opened her 2011 season Saturday by pitching a complete game, five-inning no-hitter as Ramstein began its drive for a fourth straight European D-I title with an 11-0 blanking of Kaiserslautern.
According to Ramstein coach Kent Grosshuesch, Freeman struck out seven in posting her gem, and allowed no K-town runner to reach third base.
Freeman, who picked up right where she left off last season — a campaign that saw her compile an 8-0 record and strike out 59 batters — will only get better, Grosshuesch predicted in a Monday email.
Freeman “is intimidating with her fast ball that rises or drops depending on her grip,” Grosshuesch wrote. “(She) also has a mean change-up.”
Freeman, who batted .615 and drove in 20 runs last season, moved to first base in Saturday’s nightcap, a 20-7 Ramstein victory. She ended her day at the plate 5-for-8 with a double and five RBIs, Grosshuesch reported.