From the first female wrestler to place in school history to multiple high-level achievements in baseball, 2012 was a memorable year in South Kitsap’s sports scene. Here is a look back at some of the more significant events during each month of the last year.
January
• 13: South Kitsap’s Nars Martinez scored a game-high 29 points and the Wolves produce 28 points in the third quarter alone en route to a 71-58 win at Mount Tahoma.
• 14: Drew Polley, a 2004 South graduate, placed 21st with a 2-hour, 14.58-minute run during the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston.
• 24: The Wolves defeat Stadium 84-0 to close out their 19th consecutive undefeated Narrows League wrestling season. The victory gives South 184 consecutive wins in dual league matches since its last loss against North Thurston in December 1992.
February
• 1: A trio of South seniors signed on letter-of-intent day. Kicker Aaron La Deaux signed with Minot State University in North Dakota, while goalkeeper Brianna Smallidge inked with Seattle University and basketball player Jackie Steiger headed to Western Oregon.
• 4: Kolby Fenton (106 pounds) and Eddie Meisner (220) placed first at sub-regionals. The Wolves advanced 19 wrestlers to regionals out of the tournament.
• 6: Jason Hammel, a 2000 South graduate, was traded by Colorado with reliever Matt Lindstrom to Baltimore for starter Jeremy Guthrie. Hammel had a 7-13 record with a 4.76 ERA in 2011.
• 8: Senior Maile Keanu scored 13 of her game-high 29 points to lead the Wolves to a 67-63 win at Mount Tahoma to help them secure second place in the Class 4A Narrows League with a 12-2 record. Keanu also had 21 rebounds.
• 10: Three Wolves scored at least 10 points, but South’s boys basketball team saw its season end with a 49-42 loss against Gig Harbor in a one-game playoff for the league’s final district berth in Tacoma. The Wolves finished with an 11-10 record.
• 11: Meisner overcame a 3-2 deficit to pin Kentwood’s Matthew Herrick in 4:55 minutes to claim the 220-pound 4A Region III Championship in Auburn. He was among six Wolves to advance to state out of the tournament.
• 11: Damien DeRego placed third in the 100-yard freestyle (49.62 seconds) and the 100 breaststroke (1:04.33) at districts to advance to the state championships in both events. DeRego was South’s lone competitor to advance to state.
• 15: Senior Taylor Sunkel scored a game-high 23 points to lead South to a 67-49 in its district opener against Kentridge.
• 18: Taylor Buie scored a game-high 32 points as Emerald Ridge ended the Wolves’ season with a 54-48 in a winner-to-state, loser-out district playoff game. South finished with a 17-6 record in coach Mike Hulet’s first season.
• 18: Sophomore Amberlee Brasch becomes the first female in South history to place in the state wrestling tournament. She finished fourth at 137 in the girls’ bracket when she pinned Kelso’s Mykal Baron in 2:46 minutes at Mat Classic XXIV at the Tacoma Dome. Meanwhile, Meisner finished fifth at 220, while Damien Medeiros was eighth at 285.
March
• 15: South senior Ericka Hobson, who plays both catcher and shortstop for the Wolves, announced she will compete next season at Scottsdale Community College. Hobson said she eventually hopes to transfer to Arizona State University.
April
• 1: Aaron Cunningham, a 2004 South Kitsap graduate, made the Cleveland Indians’ opening-day roster, which was announced by general manager Chris Antonetti. He was acquired by Cleveland during the offseason from San Diego for minor-league pitcher Cory Burns.
• 4: Alissa Buss, Ashley Gidican and Hannah Spohn each have three hits as South Kitsap beats previously undefeated Olympia, 12-3, in a 4A Narrows fastpitch game. The Wolves improve to 3-0 in league play with the victory.
• 11: D.J. Sigurdson resigns after 15 seasons as the Wolves’ football coach to become an assistant principal at the high school. His tenure was highlighted by an appearance in the 1997 state championship game. Sigurdson’s 107 wins are the second most in program history behind Ed Fisher (196).
• 18: With a full count, Vince Sablan hit the go-ahead home run off left-handed starter Mark Lane that easily cleared the 370-foot wall in right-center field to guide the Wolves to a 5-3 win in extra innings in a 4A Narrows baseball game at Bellarmine Prep.
May
• 5: Junior Kailyn Skjonsby became South’s first girls singles’ player to win a league championship since Stephanie Davison in 2005 when she defeated Olympia’s Alli Bautista 6-3, 6-1 at the University of Puget Sound.
• 17: Eric Canton is named as South’s new football coach. Canton, a 1986 South graduate, becomes the first alumnus to coach the Wolves’ football team since Maynard Lundberg (1933-39).
• 19: Ashley Lockhart and Ashley Chamberlin both had RBI hits in the fourth inning to lead the Wolves’ fastpitch team to their first state-playoff appearance since 2003 with a 2-1 win against Skyview.
• 26: South’s 1,600-meter relay finished sixth in 3:24.15 minutes at Star Track XXX at Mount Tahoma High School. On the individual side, junior LaForrest Church finished fifth in the 800 in 1:53.12 and senior Kelsie Forcier was fifth in the discus with a throw of 127 feet, 6 inches.
June
• 25: Former Seattle Sonics Brent Barry and Detlef Schrempf express optimism about the return of the NBA to the Puget Sound region during the latter’s annual celebrity golf tournament at McCormick Woods.
July
• 2: Hammel makes his first appearance since 2008 at Safeco Field. The Baltimore Orioles’ right-handed pitcher allowed four runs on seven hits through 6 2/3 innings. It was one of Hammel’s few shaky outings during a season where he finished with an 8-6 record and a 3.43 ERA to help the Orioles reach the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
• 9: Andrew Canady, a 14-year-old who competes for Southern Junior Little League, won the Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit and Run national championship at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
August
• 5: Dave Villwock, a 1972 South graduate, finished third during the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair. Steve David piloted the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto to the Seafair trophy on Lake Washington for a third consecutive year.
• 31: Adam Gascoyne rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown as South defeats Kentridge 37-20 to make Canton a winner in his debut at Joe Knowles Stadium.
September
• 14: The Wolves defeat rival Gig Harbor 38-25 to set up what Canton calls a ‘league championship game’ the following week at Bellarmine Prep. South’s win against the Tides pushes its record to 3-0.
• 21: Five turnovers help undo any upset Wolves’ upset hopes in a 31-12 loss at Bellarmine Prep.
• 28: South Kitsap Southern Little League celebrated its 40th anniversary with a $10,000 check from 710 ESPN Seattle and Farmers Insurance to makeover at the Virgil Stacey Memorial Complex in Olalla.
October
• 9: South’s girls soccer team transitions to a 3-5-1 scheme that produced immediate results in a 4-0 win at Stadium. Sophomore midfielder Hailey Parker scored twice during the match.
• 17: Senior Jessica Peterson placed fifth in 19:07.86 seconds during the 5-kilometer 4A Narrows League at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.
• 26: Central Kitsap capitalized on three South turnovers to claim a 21-14 win in the regular-season finale for both schools at Silverdale Stadium.
November
• 2: Camas amassed 337 yards of total offense during the first half en route to a 43-12 win that ended the Wolves’ season in the 4A state play-in football game. South finished with a 6-4 record.
• 3: Hunter Mar scored on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute to secure a 1-0 win for Kentridge against the Wolves in the 4A West Central District Tournament at Art Crate Field. South finished with a 9-4-3 record.
• 24: Port Orchard’s Josh Klatman finished the 2012 season with a win at the USA BMX Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. The 21-year-old South graduate raced in an eight-competitor race as the field was whittled down from 32 to 16 riders before the final eight competed for the one-lap title on a 1,300-foot course.
December
• 18: South won the final seven matches against Central Kitsap to claim their 187th consecutive dual league wrestling win since 1992 with a 49-28 victory.
• 21: Senior Bryce Broome, who had eight interceptions during the fall for the Wolves, was voted onto the Class 4A Associated Press All-State 4A football team. Broome had eight interceptions for South.
