BADMINTON

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Badminton is a sporting activity that is mostly played at picnics. But it is also a sport that is practiced in a competitive atmosphere at some high schools, colleges and some clubs.
Phoenixville’s team took first place in the Pennsylvania State High School Badminton Championships Doubles in the event held at Quakertown High School on May 10. The Phantom team also took second place in the singles event.
Phoenixville Area Middle School sent players Zak Miller and Henry Hancock to the competition. They train at the Phoenixville Area YMCA and Phoenixville Civic Center and play at the Kimberton Badminton Club.
In an exciting doubles finals match against Arun Singh and Julian Bouckenooghe of Moravian Academy, Miller and Hancock won the first game, 15-12, lost the second one, 15-13, and then copped the decisive third game with a convincing 15-9 score.
All four players received trophies for their efforts.
It is a sport that is more difficult than it first appears but can be played by boys and girls and men and women of all ages and abilities.

Posted by
Barry Sankey

MIKE PIAZZA RETIREMENT FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Mike Piazza officially announced his retirement from Major League Baseball Tuesday after 16 years in the big leagues.
Piazza, a 1986 Phoenixville Area High School graduate, was named National League Rookie of the Year back in 1993. He was a 62nd-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 amateur draft.
But he worked his way into becoming arguably the greatest hitting catcher in Major League Basehall history. He is considered a sure-bet first ballot Hall of Famer in Cooperstown, N.Y., when his time comes up.
Piazza, 39, batted .275 with eight home runs and 44 runs batted in as a designated hitter for Oakland Athletics last season. He became a free agent and did not re-sign for the 2008 season.
He became a 12-time All-Star and made the National League team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.
Piazza finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 runs batted in for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida Marlins (one week in 1998), Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006) and Oakland (2007). Piazza’s 396 homers are the most by a catcher by far in the history of the majors. His 201 hits in 1997 were the most by a MLB catcher in a single season.
Piazza helped lead the Mets to back-to-back playoff appearances with the 2000 team winning the NL pennant before falling to the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Piazza, the son of Vince and Veronica Piazza, made the announcement in Beverly Hills, Calif.
He married to the former Alicia Rickter on Jan. 29, 2005 and on Feb. 5, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter who is named Nicoletta Veronica Piazza.
While playing in the Phoeniville youth baseball system, Piazza lived with his family in Valley Forge. Mike starred at the Phoenixville Youth Babe Ruth League (PYBRL) at Vic Marosek Park as well as the Phoenixville Babe Ruth League (PBRL) at deSanno Field and Phoenixville American Legion baseball teams besides the high school squad. He played mostly first base at the scholastic level. Piazza established power-hitting records in the old Ches-Mont League before he graduated.
His coach at the high school and American Legion levels was John “Doc” Kennedy, who guided the Phantoms for 20 years before retiring and becoming an assistant coach at Villanova University.
I have covered Mike Piazza’s illustrious baseball career all the way through to the top. I have found him cooperative most of the time so it was a welcome experience to write about him. He remembered his early days in Phoenixville, the people who helped him and his friends on his way to stardom.
Piazza was born in a Norristown hospital, and his father was a friend of Norristown native Tommy Lasorda, a longtime official and manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because of that, there was often references to Mike being from Norristown. But to be correct, Mike attended Phoenixville schools, made his home here and played his youth baseball all the way through the Phoenixville system.
He simply had ties to both the Phoenixville and Norristown areas so both areas claim Piazza as a favorite son.

Posted by
Barry Sankey

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PARK IN PHOENIXVILLE

For years, there has been talk of a new baseball only field/stadium in the Phoenixville area.
It made sense since baseball was such a hot item in the community for many years and helped produce the likes of Major League Baseball players Mike Piazza, Andre Thornton and Creighton Gubanich as well as many other high-quality players like minor leaguers Brett Illig, Steve Shoemaker and Rob Mitchell.
Now there is talk of a minor league park coming to Phoenixville. It would be a nice commodity to have, and Phoenixville is a central location to many other nearby communities to draw spectators from.
It might also heighten the interest of baseball in the town. Numbers and crowds are not what they used to be.
Phoenixville Area High School won a PIAA Class AA state championship in 2001, but since then the Phantoms have struggled for victories at the scholastic and American Legion levels. Down below at younger ages, the youth leagues and Babe Ruth Leagues have not had the success they formerly achieved.
Phoenixville has always been a big sports town. There are so many choices for kids to play these days, but having a minor league ballpark would simply be another feather in Phoenixville’s hat.
It is a very busy place for a small-town community.

Posted by
Barry Sankey

PHOENIXVILLE BOYS TRACK 2008

Phoenixville Area High School captured its fifth straight Pioneer Athletic Conference Championship Saturday at Boyertown High School.
The Phantoms, who finished a perfect 9-0 in dual meets, amassed 181 championship meet points to win the title going away over Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown.
The five straight championships is an unprecedented, amazing feat the Phoenixville boys have accomplished under 31-year coach Jack Kraynak and his capable staff of assistant coaches, almost all of whom have performed for Kraynak at Phoenixville during his long tenure on the staff.
It is also amazing because Phoenixville remains one of the smallest schools in the PAC-10 and there are so many events to perform in in order to succeed at track & field.
The Phantoms always manage to find a way to pile up points in the running events, sprints, middle distances and long distances, as well as the jumping events and the throws. Even when they do not finish in first place, the Phantoms figure in the placing to earn medals and still score big in the overall picture.
Kraynak says part of the success is the tradition of Phoenixville track. Many of the current student-athletes have had older brothers, uncles or fathers who competed at Phoenixville as well as mothers, aunts, cousins and other relatives.
Previous Phantoms from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s have helped perpetuate the success and enhance the work ethic of the current athletes in the first decade of the 21st century.
Phoenixville set two league and school records at the championships as Tony Shirk won the pole vault at 15 feet, 4 inches to win his second straight individual title in the event, and the 4x800-meter relay captured first place in 7:58.30 with juniors Joel Flott, Emeka Nwosu, Travis Stokley and Duane Stanton handling the splits on the relay.
The Phantoms previously set the mark at the Great Valley Relays. Phoenixville has the fourth-best time in the state currently and is aiming to place in the District One meet at Coatesville this coming weekend and in the PIAA State Championships at Shippensburg University the following weekend.
Phoeniville has snapped the 4x800 record that stood from 1988 of 8:01.4, which was established by Jeff Gowman, Chris Fulmer, Matt Paster and Andy Tiefenthaler.
The Phoenixville girls also did well this season. They finished 7-1-1 in dual meets with a loss to Spring-Ford and a 75-75 tie against Boyertown. The Phantom girls had won the past two league championships but came in second to Spring-Ford this spring after what transpired Saturday.
Phantom sophomore Courtney Kedra still captured four gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as well as a leg on the winning 4x100 relay. Kedra also came through with a first-place gold medal in the long jump after winning three gold medals as a freshman last year.

Posted by
Barry Sankey

PHOENIXVILLE GIRLS LACROSSE 2008

Phoenixville’s girls lacrosse team held its annual Senior Night Wednesday with a non-league game against Upper Darby at Washington Field.
Six Phantom seniors were honored prior to the 18-4 victory over the Royals that pushed Phoenixville’s record to 9-5 overall. They are 7-4 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference and are fighting for the Division II title as well as a spot in the Final Four playoffs. Phoenixville also appears headed for the District 1 Class AA playoffs for the first time in several years.
The six Phoenixville seniors are Ginny Smith, Brooke Koniow, Ali Allen, Chelsea DiFebbo, Jackie Labarge and Lauren Fedick.
The head coach is Jen Foresta and she is assisted by Aamina Thornton.
Phoenixville has one final league home game Friday night at 7 p.m. against Upper Perkiomen at the stadium. The Final Four playoffs are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday of next week at a neutral site.
The Phantom are in a battle with Pottstown in Division II of the PAC-10 standings. The Phantoms and Trojans split their two games during the regular season schedule.
Undefeated Boyertown is the Division I leader and the four-time defending PAC-10 champion.

Posted by
Barry Sankey