Kubasaki's Haustyn Lunsford and Nile C. Kinnick's Koboyo Awesso try to play the ball during Saturday's Perry Cup Golf Group playoff match. The Red Devils won 3-2. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – It was a potential preview to a Far East tournament and Saturday’s Gold Group playoff in the Perry Cup certainly provided plenty of suspense.
Tyler Smith scored his eighth goal of the season and Will Wetherwill added his second, both in the first half, as Kadena blanked Nile C. Kinnick 2-0 on a frigid Saturday afternoon at Samurai Field.
With the win, the Panthers edged out Okinawa island-rival Kubasaki and the Red Devils by goal differential. Earlier, the Red Devils survived the Dragons 3-2 and Kubasaki scored a last-minute win over Kadena in the three-team round-robin Gold Group.
“We never gave up,” Panthers junior Tuck Renquist said. “We believe in ourselves and we got the result we wanted. We’re very happy.”
Wetherill took a through pass from Eli Whipp to put the Panthers up 1-0 in the first minute. Smith boosted the lead and closed the scoring four minutes later off another through pass, this one from Yoshua Whipp.
Players and coaches on the three teams acknowledged afterward that they could see each other again at the Far East Division I tournament, to be hosted by Kinnick April 24-26.
“It definitely helped get us ready,” Renquist said. “I think we’re prepared now and we’re looking forward to winning Far East.”
The other two Gold playoff matches were just as tense and tight.
Senior Elias Alvord booted a free kick from 25 yards left, arcing high and over goalkeeper Owen Ruksc to power the Red Devils over Kubasaki.
Kinnick’s Leon Awesso and Yuta Raqueno and Kubasaki’s Frank Stare and Allan Tennison traded first-half goals, Stare getting his tournament-best ninth goal on a penalty kick, as the first 40 minutes ended 2-2.
“I can’t believe for having such a young team, they played as well as they did,” Kinnick coach Tim Rippeth said. “I’m super proud of them.”
It was a vastly different outcome from Kubasaki’s 4-0 shutout of Kinnick the night before. And Dragons players said it showed they couldn’t take anything for granted.
“It’s about who wants it more,” Kubasaki junior Jaden Oshana said. “At the end of the day, we’re all after the same thing. It’s about who’s more hungry.”
Kadena's Will Wetherill goes up to head the ball against Nile C. Kinnick's Talan Farrington during Saturday's Perry Cup Gold Group match. The Panthers won 2-0, capturing the group and championship by goal differential. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Cameron Giddens heads the ball in front of the net during a corner kick by Kubasaki during Saturday's Perry Cup Gold Group match. The Red Devils won 3-2. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Tuck Renquist and Nile C. Kinnick's Takuya Raqueno and Leon Awesso scramble for the ball during Saturday's Perry Cup Gold Group match. The Panthers won 2-0, capturing the group and championship by goal differential. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Matthew Yulee and Nile C. Kinnick's Takuya Raqueno battle for the ball during Saturday's Perry Cup Golf Group playoff match. The Red Devils won 3-2. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Frank Stare lets fly his match-winning penalty kick during Saturday's Perry Cup Gold Group match. The Dragons won 2-1 over Kadena, which ended up winning the group and the championship via goal differential. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Newcomer Witt powers Red Devils girls
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Who is Hailey Witt and where in the world did she come from and make such a strong early-season statement?
The junior striker netted seven goals in two matches Saturday, giving her 11 for the season, as Kinnick’s girls ran the table in the Trojan War Cup hosted by Zama. The Red Devils blanked Robert D. Edgren 10-0 and host Zama 6-0 in their two Saturday matches.
“She’s starting to find her rhythm with us,” longtime Red Devils coach Nico Hindie said of Witt, who moved to Yokosuka over the summer from Woodland Park, Colo.
Witt and Mikaila Joi Miranda lead the Red Devils with 11 goals each and junior midfielder Bree Withers has nine. Witt and fellow newcomer Giovanna Kennedy “are working very well with (Miranda) and Bree,” Hindie said.
Humphreys’ Donaldson also filling the net
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – Another player filling the net with goals is Nicole Donaldson, a returner from last season who has more than doubled her goal total of 2022 in just two matches.
Donaldson scored four times and Annabelle Ko once as Humphreys opened the season with mixed results, a 5-1 road win at Taejon Christian and a 3-2 home loss to Yongsan International School of Seoul. Sophia Cho had all three goals for the Guardians.
E.J. King's Madylyn O'Neill drives the ball upfield past Matthew C. Perry's McKenzie Mitchell during Saturday's Trojan War Cup match. The Cobras won 2-1. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
Giovanna Kennedy, one of a handful of Nile C. Kinnick newcomers, scored thrice during the Red Devils’ 10-0 win over Robert D. Edgren a 6-0 win over Trojan War Cup host Zama. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick’s Ainslie Rochholz dribbles against Zama‘s Olivia Parish during Saturday’s Trojan War Cup match. The Red Devils won 6-0. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick newcomer junior Hailey Witt, with ball against Zama‘s Olivia Parish, has 11 goals thus far this season and scored seven times during the Red Devils’ two wins Saturday in the Trojan War Cup. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
Zama baseball, softball teams make their marks
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – Zama’s baseball team was expected to do well in the Red Devil Classic. What was not expected was Saturday’s performance by the Trojans softball team.
Lorelei Holt’s bases-clearing double in the first inning boosted Zama’s softball team to their first win in three years, 8-5 over tournament host Nile C. Kinnick. Holt also got the win, pitching 2 2/3 innings of three-hit ball and striking out seven.
Yokota, E.J. King and Matthew C. Perry each won three games in the six-team, round-robin tournament.
The Samurai, behind the pitching of Ella Mhay Dixon, Megan Bronk and Yanisa Santiago, also have surprised in the early part of the season; one of their wins was a 29-0 rout of Kinnick on Friday. Santiago hit a grand-slam home run in a 12-3 Perry win over Robert D. Edgren.
On the baseball diamond, David King threw a no-hitter over four innings and Kierstyn Aumua batted 2-for-2 with two RBIs to power the Trojans baseball team past Yokota 5-0. Zama went 5-0 in the tournament and the Panthers 2-1-1.
“Our bats came around,” Trojans baseball coach Dirk Schmiedel said. “And we got some good pitching from David King. He threw a lot of strikes. If he wasn’t striking them out, he got a lot of ground-ball outs. What a great weekend.”
Dragons are 2-0 against Kadena on diamond
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – Dylan Oldroyd went 2-for-3 with five RBIs and two stolen bases, while Nick Adams pitched one-hit ball with six strikeouts as Kubasaki’s baseball team improved to 2-0 over Kadena with an 11-1 win Friday at Kadena’s Four Diamonds complex.
The Dragons went on to split a twin bill Saturday at Camp Foster against Chuo Baseball Club, losing the opener 5-4 and taking the nightcap 6-1.
