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Tribune & Qeorgian
Wednesday SPORTS
May 29,2013 X. \^f IV A Vj
Andy Diffenderfer
Sports Editor
Cabrera
building
on Triple
Crown
The things that separate
the average player from the
superstar are not only talent,
but also the desire to get bet
ter.
Tiger Woods has won
about a million tournaments
and will likely win dozens
more, but he bores the pub
lic silly talking about his con
tinued quest — the process,
he calls it — of improving.
In baseball, we have a slug
ger that achieved a great
milestone last year, and is on
track in 2013 to dwarf those
numbers.
It would have been easy
for the Detroit Tigers’
Miguel Cabrera to rest on
his laurels a bit after a 2012
in which he bagged the first
Triple Crown since Boston’s
Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
However, the numbers the
slugger put up last year may
just be a glossy footnote after
this season’s final pitch.
After blasting 44 homers,
driving in 139 runs and
sporting a .330 batting aver
age, Cabrera has supplanted
Albert Pujols as the unques
tionably the most feared hit
ter in the sport.
And instead of tapering off
a touch after such lofty to
tals, he has only become
more intimidating.
Watching Cabrera in the
batter’s box is watching the
best in his craft at work. The
best the opposition can do
now is keep the ball in the
park and hope for a line drive
at somebody.
The Venezuelan — a scary
blend of hitting for power to
all fields, and hitting for av
erage — is rapidly becoming
one of the best of all time, if
he isn’t already. Apart from
his Triple Crown statistics
last season, his 109 runs
scored and 205 hits ranked
second in each category
throughout the majors.
In 2013, fans could be
watching an individual offen
sive display never before
seen, as a .400 batting aver
age, 50 home runs and 200
RBIs could be within Cabr
era’s reach at his current clip.
Following Sunday’s play, the
third baseman is averaging
more than an RBI per game.
Though Sunday’s win over
Minnesota, he already had
14 home runs, 57 RBIs and
was hitting a cool .385. The
average leads the majors by
about 30 points, the RBI
total is 11 more than any
body else, and Cabrera is tied
for second in the majors in
home runs — despite playing
in a home park that caters far
more to pitchers.
Tvo weeks ago, the
Rangers intentionally walked
Cabrera — with men on first
and second — in a game he
hit three home runs and
knocked in five.
The option of pitching
around him wasn’t very ap
pealing either, as doing so
meant facing Prince Fielder,
who is on pace himself for
more than 130 RBIs. Fielder
See CABRERA, page 10
Wildcat netters selected all-region
Tribune & Georgian file photos
Sarah Sailors (left) and Ingrid Wilcox were among the Camden County High players picked for the all-Region I -AAAAAA
team.
Five CCHS
girls earn
i-AAAAAA
recognition
Andy Diffenderfer
sports@tribune-georgian.com
Camden County High
had six players selected to
the all-Region 1-AAAAAA
tennis squad, and the fact
four of the half-dozen are
rising juniors signals the
best may be yet to come for
the court ’Cats.
Lexa Loden, Katie Hart,
Ingrid Wilcox, Ani Vonk
and Sarah Sailors were cho
sen from the Camden girls,
and Nathan Miller earned
recognition from the boys.
Selections were made based
solely on performance in
region matches, and the 1-
AAAAAA credentials of the
Wildcat six were glowing.
“All the players that have
received all-conference
have improved drastically
and worked extremely hard,
and earned what they de
served,” CCHS assistant
coach Daniel Breag said.
Making head coach Dan
Vonk smile is the fact he has
two years each of Loden,
Hart and Ani Vonk taking
the court for the girls, and
Miller for the boys. Both
the girls and boys teams
reached the state playoffs in
the initial season of Region
1-AAAAAA, the deter
mined Lady ’Cats serving
their way to the Final Four.
“Between Lexa and Katie
Hart, it’s wonderful,” the
head coach said, looking
ahead to next season’s
lineup. “That gives us a lot
of flexibility in terms of how
we adjust our lineup below
that.”
Loden played No. 1 and
No. 2 singles this year, and
also lined up at No. 1 dou
bles, posting records of 16-
4 overall and 6-0 in region
matches. For the sopho
more, summer won’t be a
time to relax — only an op-
por-
t u n e
time to
add
more
tools to
a grow-
i n g
game.
“I’m
going
to work really hard,” Loden
said, as consistency with
groundstrokes and ap
proaches will be points of
emphasis as she hits the
summer courts for tourna
ments. “The offseason work
plays a really important
role.”
“Lexa made big strides
about midway through the
season,” coach Vonk said.
“She had some huge wins
for us.”
Another lOth-grader,
Hart fashioned an 18-3
record playing all the sin
gles positions and some
doubles too. At No. 2 and
No. 3 singles, she went 5-0
in region matches.
“The
girl is
so fo
cused,”
coach
Vonk
said.
“The
differ-
e n c e
with
her is, she steps on court
and whoever she’s playing
better be ready to fight.”
“I really focused on hav
ing a strategy for each style
of play I was going to en
counter,” Hart said.
Hart said the Final Four
is very reachable against
next year for Camden. In
her quest to bolster her di
verse arsenal, she plans to
play summer tournaments
and attend a camp directed
by former Clemson head
coach Chuck Kriese.
Wilcox, seeing time at
No. 3 singles and No. 1
doubles, was named all-re
gion after going 15-4 over
all and a perfect 6-0 in
region play. Coach Vonk
praised the senior for her
tenacity and “a forehand
weapon that very few peo
ple could deal with.”
“She had an awesome
year and an awesome ca
reer,” he added.
Among the region’s best
in doubles were Sailors and
Ani Vonk.
The doubles specialist
Sailors, a senior, was 17-4
overall and 6-0 in 1-
AAAAAA, and concluded
her CCHS career with a
66-19 mark. A great team
leader, said her head coach,
Sailors could be counted on
for her consistency and
court smarts.
“She’s going to hit the
right shot,” coach Vonk
said.
“She
will do
what
ever
she’s
got to
do to
win.”
A n i
Vonk
saw time at No. 1 and No.
2 doubles, and as another in
See NETS, page 10
Hart
Ani Vonk
Tribune & Georgian file photo
The Little Wildcat basketball camp at Camden County
High will tip off June 3.
Special guests
planned for Little
Wildcat camp
Submitted photo
Swimmer Angel Lara (right) signed earlier this month with South Georgia College. Tiger
coach C.M. Jenkins is at left.
Lara signs with South Georgia
Young players can enjoy
four days of fun-filled
hoops instruction at the
Little Wildcat Basketball
Camp Monday through
Thursday, June 3-6, at
Camden County High
School.
Among the guests will be
Kwame Brown of the
Philadelphia 76ers, former
NFL wide receiver Travis
Taylor, and former Harlem
Globetrotter Larry
“Gator” Rivers.
Dribbling, shooting,
passing, rebounding, de
fense and team play will be
stressed at the clinics,
which are for boys and girls
ages 5-14. Sessions run
from 9 a.m. to noon each
day. The cost is $50 per
camper, and $35 for each
additional sibling.
The clinics will be spon
sored by the CCHS boys
basketball program and
head coach fly Randolph.
Players will receive daily
instruction from Camden
coaches and players, and
can compete in team play
and free throw and hotshot
contests.
Individual awards will be
handed out for skills, and
all campers will get a camp
T-shirt. Parents are wel
come to the awards cere
mony, which will be
Thursday, June 6.
For more information,
call (912) 729-7318.
Andy Diffenderfer
sports@tribune-georgian.com
Getting the chance to
swim in college has long
been a goal for Angel Lara,
and the Kingsland resident
will soon get that opportu
nity at South Georgia Col
lege.
Lara signed with the Dou
glas school May 9, and has
some high goals as he pre
pares this summer to enter
collegiate swimming.
“By the time I leave, I
want to break some school
records,” he said. “I want to
give them my all.”
Lara visited the campus
earlier this month and felt a
good vibe in the Tiger pro
gram, started in 2010 by the
current head coach, C.M.
Jenkins. Jenkins showed
Lara around the school, and
the team, the young com
petitor said, really gets along
and works well together.
“That’s what I’m looking
for,” Lara said. “Coach
Jenkins seems like a really
good coach.”
Lara said his best events
are the 100 breaststroke and
the 100 butterfly, and those
races, he believes, will be a
good fit at $outh Georgia.
For Lara, the appeal of
swimming is that it is an in
dividual and a team sport.
“I’ve always been in the
water,” he said. “I would stay
in there for hours.”
Lara has some ideas of
what he wants to do in the
longer term.
“I want to have a job that’s
in the water,” he said, per
haps looking toward becom
ing a Navy diver.
Lara, who competed for
three seasons for Camden
County High, will sign up
for classes in late June, and
the second week of August
will start in Douglas.
The season there starts in
August and runs through
March, and the swimmer
plans to put in a lot of work
to be ready for the chal
lenges.
“I want to give it every
thing I’ve got,” he said.
