Salisbury High School Spring Sports Underway

The spring sports season is underway at Salisbury High School. The varsity baseball team, after finishing the 2009-10 season at 7-9, and tied for third place in the Colonial League South, looks to improve this season with two returning honorable mention players from the Colonial All League Team. Junior catcher, Colby Kulig, will be handling the work behind the plate, and senior Tyler Tocci, returns to the outfield.  The varsity baseball team will open its season on Monday, March 28, at Dieruff High School and then play its first home opener Wednesday against Palisades.

With a lot of newcomers to the girls and boys track and field teams this year, Coach Doug Hensinger believes it might take some time before the team finds its groove.

"Difficult to say how the team will do this year because we have so many newcomers. Over half of the team never did track and field before," Hensinger said. "Everyone is working hard so things may fall into place sooner than we think."

Three of the returning track and field members from last season, Hailey Kester and Taylor Gonoude on the girls team and Alex Foulke on the boys team, will be a key factor in Salisbury's success. Kester placed fifth in states last year in the pole vault event. Foulke, who participated in the 400m at Districts last season, finished in second place and also qualified for states. Gonoude, who participated in the 1600m and 3200m at Districts last season, medaled in both events.

The girls team finished 2-9 last season and the boys finished 3-8. The track and field team will begin its season Tuesday, March 29, against Bangor and Palisades High School. The game will be played at Bangor and is scheduled to start at 4:00p.m.

The Salisbury boys tennis team is off to a strong start this season, winning two out of their first three matches. The Falcons defeated Jim Thorpe on Thursday, March 17, and followed up with another victory the next day against Tamaqua.

The girls varsity soccer team returns this season with nine seniors on its roster. Coach Mark Allinson, who is in his 18th season at Salisbury, believes his team is capable of reaching the post-season.The team finished last season with a 7-6 record and finished in fourth place in the Colonial Team South.

"Infusion of younger talented players will provide more quality depth than we have had in previous years," Allinson said.

The goal, he said, " is to mesh as a team and to improve as the season progresses."

Two Colonial League First Team players will be returning, senior goalkeeper Lauren Fischer and junior forward Kelsey Hadinger. Hadiner has accumulated 38 goals and 13 assists over her career. The Falcons opened their season Friday with a 4-1 victory against Lehighton Area High School, but lost to Allentown Central Catholic on Saturday, 4-1.

Varsity softball coach Brian Covely said he expects his team to improve this season and believes their experience will help significantly.  They played well in a number of scrimmages, although they lost their season opener game Saturday against Bethlehem Catholic 10-0.

"We are looking for a better season than last. A lot of our girls have a year of varsity experience and they know what to look for," Covely said.

 The Falcons will play against Dieruff High School at 6 p.m.  Monday, March 28, at Dieruff High School.