Yoemen Sports Network

Lady Yoe end season with pair of defeats

There is no question that Cameron had been playing better softball the second half of 20-3A league play.  The ladies had won three games in a row at one point and took Lexington down to the wire in a 8-6 loss not too long ago.  

However, the positive momentum gained has faded in the final two games of the season as the ladies fell hard to both Rogers (13-3) on the road Friday and then to rival Rockdale (14-5) at home to close out the season on Tuesday.  Cameron finishes 2018 with a 5-9 record in 20-3A. 

Rogers (L 13-3)

Rogers is 23-1 and state ranked for a reason, and they flexed their muscles on Friday in a 13-3 win over Cameron.  The win marks Rogers’ ninth of the district season by 10 or more runs.  

The game was fairly close through the first few innings as Rogers led 2-1 after Cameron had scored a run in the top of the third on a Kenzie Wimmer single to center.  

Down in the district standings, Cameron simply needed to win every one of their three remaining games to make a strong push for the postseason Those hopes took a big hit in a loss to Rogers on the road Friday, 5-2.  Cameron did rebound with a win over rival Rockdale on Tuesday from the Yards of Cameron, 12-9, but a Jarrell win over Franklin on the same night now makes it that much more difficult to get in.  

Rogers (L, 5-2)

It was one bad inning that cost Cameron in a 5-2 loss to Rogers on Friday evening.  In the bottom of the third with Cameron up 2-0, the Eagles managed to send seven straight batters to the plate before an out was recorded.  By that time Rogers had scored four runs, which was more than enough for the win.  

It was pretty much all positives for the Yoe tracks teams this past week from the district meet in Cameron.  Three of the four teams competing took home first place while the varsity girls took fourth.  Several different athletes moved on to the area meet, which took place in Whitney on Wednesday.  Below are results from events.  The top four within each event did advance on to the area competition.  

JV Boys

Team Standings

1. Cameron Yoe (170)

2. Jarrell (119)

3. Academy (115)

4. Rockdale (100)

5. Franklin (53)

6. Rogers (33)

7. Lexington (22)

8. Hearne (0)

Believe it or not, football related activities are about to get going again with the start of the 7 on 7 season on May 3. That is when Cameron will begin play in a league that hey host on May 3, May 7, May 14 and May 21.

Cameron is also entered into state qualifying tournaments on May 12 (Lorena/Robinson), May 19 (Gatesville) and May 26 (Burnet), before jumping into the 5A/6A ast Copperas Cove on June 4, at Belton on June 11, home on June 18 and on the road at Temple on June 25.

Over the next two months, it will be all about getting players in shape and learning the system.

7th Grade Boys (second, 163.5 points)

Highlighting the Academy Relays was the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams for the Yoemen to go along with the individual performances from Za’Kara Bryson with her first place finish in the 100-meter dash and second place finish in the 200-meter dash.  

Bryson’s 12.23 in the 100-meter Dash would have been good enough for sixth at state in 2017.  

Cameron’s 4x100 team ran a 42.92, which is just 0.08 seconds off of Rockdale’s state time from a year ago. The Tigers were the third team advancing out of regionals, behind Crockett and McGregor.  

The 4x200 squad’s 1:29.74 was also opened some eyes, finishing over four and a half seconds faster than second place Rosebud-Lott.  

The 20-3A district track meet will take place this Wednesday and Thursday in Cameron.  

Yoe golf teams finish second in district, advance on to regionals

Another year, another shot at state.  That is what the Yoe and Lady Yoe golf teams have accomplished again in 2018 after both teams finished second in the 20-3A tournament from Temple on Friday. 

The Yoemen shot a 356 collectively in round two, which was nine strokes behind their opening round score of 347, shot a week before from Texas A&M.  

Nikolas Keratsopolous finished with a two-day total of 149 for the first medalist award.  The next closest golfer to Keratsopolous was Tim Handley of Jarrell, which finished with a 156. 

Kobe Young was Cameron’s second golfer, coming in with a  179 (89/90).  Stockton Kruse was third on the team with a 187 (96/91), while Luke Greene’s 188 (91/97) and Jale Walzel’s 221 (103/118) rounded out the scoring.   

With teams now in the thick of the second round 20-3A, each and every game becomes more and more important as teams vie for playoff positioning. Despite falling to both Franklin (7-1) on Friday and Lexington (5-3) on Tuesday, Cameron still has a shot at the postseason, even being three games under five hundred in the district. 

Franklin (L 7-1)

The first round matchup against the district-leading Lions went miserably for Cameron, which fell 11-1. This one was not quite as lopsided but the Yoe bats were held in check once again in a 7-1 loss.  

Cameron had just four hits in the contest and scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth when Jason Llanas hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Luke Greene, but the score was already 5-0 at that point.  

If the Lady Yoe were going to be back into playoff contention in 20-3A, they were going to need to reel off a number of wins in a row.  That was accomplished over the past two weeks as Cameron picked up wins over Hearne, Jarrell and then most recently Franklin last Friday to improve to 5-6 in the district, just one game behind Rockdale, which sat at 6-5. 

Franklin (W, 6-5)

The Lady Yoe used a five-run fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead over Franklin, but had to hold off a comeback and walked things off in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 win. Yareli Contreras was the hero, coming up with a clutch, 2-out single to left field, scoring T’maja Oges to extend the winning streak. 

Franklin began the game with an unearned run followed by an RBI double by Leah Shields in the third to go up 2-0. 

A few weeks ago, the list of candidates for the next Yoe offensive coordinator was narrowed down from nearly 80 to 1 when it was announced that Altair Rice athletic director and head football coach Gary Zeinert was hired to take over the role.  

Zeinert has spent the last five seasons as the head man at Altair Rice, where he compiled a 27-29 overall record and three playoff appearances. Zeinert was also the head coach at Charlotte for two years and has been in the coaching business for 22 years. For Zeinert, it’s now all about taking that next step. 

“As a coach, Cameron checks off all the boxes,” said Zeinert.  “I have been part of teams that have won district championships, part of teams that have won playoff games, and part of teams that have made deep runs, but I’ve never won a state championship and that has kind of been a goal of mine. I feel like coming to Cameron Yoe gives me the opportunity to do that.”