Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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'T ,,,,, l The het result When the 1980 state tennis rankings were compiled, three of the top ten teams CStratford, Westchester and Memorialj, were in District 17-4A, making it the toughest district in the state. Stratford's team, led by the new coach, Bruce Eaton, battled diligently all year. It was a lot of work, said Coach Eaton, but it was worth it. We have a good team, and a good bunch of kids. The girls did especially well winning the first place trophy out of thirty teams at the Austin Tournament. l enjoyed the season, said Senior Bruce Laborde. The new coach helped us a lot. My doubles partner Andy Schroth and l came in third in district. Upsetting the second seed doubles team from On a chilly afternoon, Junior Jodi Smith practices net drills. The net is one ot the most important parts of the game when playing doubles, said Jodi. Memorial, Seniors Steve Rippy and Bill Pugh placed fourth in district. In the boys singles, Freshman David Givens lost in the semi-finals of district. In girls doubles, Senior Sally Payne and Junior Sharon Nall placed fourth. We had a really good team, said Sally, and l'lI really miss being on the team next year. I enjoyed it. In district play, the top two doubles team and singles players in district moved on to regionals. Freshman Bekki Robins showed a strong finish as she placed third in girls singles. The team did really well, said Junior Lee Ann Givens who represented Srr3rf0rd at During a sunny afternoon, Senior fegi0t'ialS. We held up Steve Ftippy hits a torehand volley. Str-atf0rd'S name and placed That was a good shot, said Steve, hi h in all the bi and so was the season. Coach Eaton 9 9 worked us hard, but we were deter- tournaments- We had 3 Very mined to do good, and we did. spirited team. sfff.. i . . if ,,,, . I r . . , , fm , 1'f f 'f f, ' . .. Wwwweeml -+me- ' . . . . i ' -- ---- ' ff W L f 2 f f if ' A Je W e r r 5 ' V-,,,.mq. r .trg - it frr' i ,, i r '.. iw. ' 1 siseegasr jfff2 lf',yif il ffl fi ,gf-fri---, i?ijl t..fl- ' 'T 'rr' Q T - Senior Andy Schroth's doubles team partner, Senior Bruce Laborde enjoys an afternoon practice, Bruce believed that this season was the best that the boys had ever done. Positioning herself to hit the ball, Junior LeeAnn Givens practices one day alter school. LeeAnn believed that the tennis team held up Strat- ford's name placing high in all big tournaments and having a great sea- son. tennis 139

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.Q .,,,, r .iq N 'J , ,V I FNB Y f' ff isxwf ff f z' J' ff 1 K J' V, 3' ,1 f . y if ,ff J , ,,g- I 4 H IZ A if Qw gmmr it A ,, f new at' V ,VVV A , ,,,,,, .gi Playing against Senior Bruce Laborde, teammate Senior Andy Schroth hits a backhand. The back hand's a very important shot, said Andy. lt's when you make a solid swing straight behind you. During an afternoon practice, Senior Bill Pugh practices ground strokes. We worked on ground strokes because they're the most important part of the game, said Bill. Practicing one afternoon, Senior Warming up, Junior Diana Patterson Andy Schroth hits a slice serve. gets ready to senre the ball. Diana felt That's when you come over the ball this season was good because we and hit it just right, explained Andy. tied first in district. 138 tennis

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7 .X V... ...F ., -kit.. ass- .. .. -. .- ..t.r..,,,,,, .. X.. N, r if piffi 1.s:f,fx.z,, ,. ..f . - ms g., . Wx-'F -ws? is - wr, . get 7, f. Koch takes control Despite playing with a relatively young team, the Varsity Baseball team finished the year with a 13-12 record. With new coach Gary Koch, the team was picked to finish next to last in district, but instead ended up 7-7 in third place. The Spartans also beat Westchester two out of the three times the teams met, and upset Hastings, who was undefeated in the first half of district, 2-1 in their second meeting. Senior Shortstop Bryan Luciani was the leading hitter for the season 1.3465 and district 1.4225. Chris Larkin was second in hitting for the season 1.3445 and third in district 1.297, and Jose Garriga was the third hitter for the season 1.3335 and second in district 1.3675. Senior Kent Hudson was the leading pitcher with a 5-4 season record, a 3-2 district record, and a1.81 ERA, Sophomore Colby Ward was second with a 1-5 season record, 1-2 district record and a 3.26 ERA, and Junior Greg New was third with a 6-2 season record, 3-2 in district, and a 3.27 ERA. lt was a very interesting year, said Varsity Coach Gary Koch. They learned a lot, and l learned a lot. There was a great deal of improvement. l'd say the high points of the season were going 4-1 over the Easter break and winning our last two games. The first round district scores were as follows: Spring Branch, 3-4, Elsik, 5-0, Westchester, 5- 4, Northbrook, 3-4, Spring Woods, 2-Og Hastings, 9-11 g and Memorial, 2-1. The second half scores in district were as follows: Spring Branch, 1-11, Spring Woods, 5- 7, Westchester, 3-8, Elsik, 5-Og Northbrook, 3-105 Hastings, 2-1, and Memorial, 4-3. lt was a pretty good year, said Senior Kent Hudson. We did better in the beginning of the year than we did later. A lot of times we would get the pitching and not the hitting or the hitting and not the pitching. We weren't very consistent. We didn't have all the talent that last year's team had, but we had better pitchers and hitters. We had a good time, and Coach Koch was a good all around coach. I'd say the best part of our year was beating Westchester two out of three times, said Junior First Baseman Mike Struffolino. We did a lot better than everyone expected us to do, and Coach Koch helped us get there. I think we'll have a great team next year. lt was a good year, said Junior Greg New, but it could have been better. Coach Koch did a greatjob. Next year we'lI have a good team because everyone will be back. We proved to everyone that Coach Koch can coach on the varsity level, said Brian Luciani, Co-Most Valuable Player of the team. We had ou toughest games against Spring Branch. They physically intimidated us, and we got clobbered. The high point of our season was beating Hastings. We were very proud to finish third. We were as good as I expected, said Jose Garriga, the team's other Co-Most Valuable Player. Coach Koch was a good coach because he let you play the way you wanted to play. The high point of my season was hitting a homerun. You have to hit one to know how it feels. 1copy continued on page 142 140 varsity baseball