Linn High School - Wildcat Yearbook (Linn, MO)

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Warming up the batters, Shaun Spang and Coach Pfeiffer pitch as Eric Dudenhoeffer, Barry Hendrix and Tim Cavender field. Practicing for his turn at bat, Steve Wilmesher perfects his swing. Varsity team members are ffirst rowj David Tyree, Tim Cavender, Steve Wilmesher, Shaun Spang, Manager Lori Whertvineg fsecond rowj Coach Dave Pfeif- fer, David Moffett, Kenny Bonnot, Shan- non Campbell, Darren Patterson, Michael Brandt, fthird rowj Spencer Kemmer, Tommy Brandt, Mike Bunch, Dan Souchek and Scott Homfeldt. A W - Me- - 'W--f-'A ., Young team never loses hope Rumpled baseball players stag- gered into the fieldhouse at 6:00 a.m. every morning to practice for upcoming games. Groggy and disoriented they prepared for a challenging year. lt was hard to get up and function so early in the morning, said Tommy Brandt, sophomore. As the morning and afternoon practices continued, the team gradually improved. Although the team was left with fewer hitters and less experience after six seniors graduated, the players continued to be competitive. Sophomore David Moffett said, We showed everyone we could play some tough games even with less hitting talent. 36 1 Sports When we played Hallsville the first time we beat them 2-1. We ex- ecuted well, didn't have any errors and hit the ball. Shaun Spang pitched a heck of a game, said Tommy Brandt. The team that gave the Wildcats their most memorable They never gave up and kept fighting, said Coach Pfeiffer. vic tory also proved to be their most formidable opponent, knocking them out of districts with a score of 10-1. Trying to live up to the previous year's district winners was difficult for the younger Wildcats. Everybody was always comparing us to last year's team and we fell short. l guess they expected more, said David Moffett. Youth and inexperience were blamed for most of the teams prob- lems, including a disappointing record of IO-10. Our record wasn't as good as last year's because we didn't have the experience. We made a lot of mental mistakes and didn't react to things until after they'd already happened, said Coach Dave Pfeiffer, adding, Overall, the team matured a little and became aggressive.

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B? . , K . f . z' - 7 .1:V'1' '-X4 .. 4, , X, - ,.,. W ' Gig. . www ' e , f . - ,W , 73? '.J'5iQf.? :444' 'af 6 f f',',f- h 'fy C, L ff-4 . Xsw,+ 7' , 0 nn 'fx if. w.,..,,, an Members of the boys track team are lfirst rowj Tony Hudson, Doug Luebbert, Andy Backues, Mike Oidtmang lsecond rowj Doug Voss and Jeremy Peters. Running the last leg of the relay, Jeremy Peters hopes for victory. I , , If Small team successful in small ways A cloud seemed to hang over the boys track team both sym- bolically and literally the day of the district meet at Osage. The Wildcats weren't as suc- cessful as they hoped winning on- ly two medals and advancing none to state. The two who placed were Doug Luebbert, taking eighth in the high jump and Tony Hudson coming in fourth in the 3200 meter run and third in the 1600 meter run. Doug's third place was one off from qualifying for state. The one thing I will always remember about district track is that it rained all day, said Tony Hudson. Districts was the worst meet for me because l ran bad, jumped bad and everone did bad, said Doug Luebbert, sophomore. Many of the boys were success- 4 '-1-iaxww-ima'-'v-f -.,..--f ful during the year and felt they didn't need to earn a medal to feel accomplished. My best meet was at the Osage Relays when I had my best times in the 300 hurdles and best height in the high jump, said Andy Backues. Only two had been in track before, said Coach Thompson. Coach Lonnie Thompson said the team had many strengths. Our main strength came in our distance runners, lead by Tony Hudson and including Craig Hale, Doug Voss and Jeremy Peters. Strength also came in the high jump with Doug Luebbert leading the way. Andy Backues proved to be an asset in hurdles and Greg Samson successfully and con- tinually improved in the long jump said Coach Thompson. The only main weakness in the Wildcat team was inexperience. With the return of only two run- ners, the team consisted of two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman. Our team was small and inex- perienced but next year we will know what to expect, said Jeremy Peters, sophomore. Sports f 35 - ' P 3' ..+-,.a.i1al1lr'y,s.-f- v-f--..1,q,...AF--,-ww...-.nf--... ,--.-.

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4 xt'KE,, W-L,,,,,,4 A ,.A,, Q., , -,,..,. 4. .......,.....-.....,....:-,-..,......v-f-f.....-........ Q. 4-,.....s.:.,. ,......, -,. Y. ,--- 1 Y.,-- ,--V ,,,.-. Vildcats. comparing ind we fell ted more, ence were rams prob- appointing :ord wasn't ecause we ience. We stakes and until after ned, said , adding, red a little 5? 3, Wt, ft n ff X 4, , Q 5, L, y 1 Q r if : f 40 4 f 1, 3 sg-A 4 , N f ' -,Jw 56 w f.! QQ 4:1 mn 30 Q-:1 2.- '1 Si? xv.: Gen 3' 'S FV H.. :' on E 0 O? 25 S' o 'Ps .-Q'-l I-. m3 5. 2. :s CP Xxkx Hurling the ball over the plate, Shaun Spang strikes out an opposing player. X X KKK' Q, f My f' x ,X , , ffj 6,1 35 ' r ' .--mqiigwlinaipfa-f'er d4aia--.V ---A we - -- - '-- F- f' Discussing pitching tactics Coach Pfeiffer Mike Bunch and Steve Wilmesher develop a strategy to win Sports f 37