West Salem senior Tayler Gunesch
Dayton softball coach Rob Umbenhower leaves his team’s huddle at the pitcher’s circle in the OSAA Class 3A state championship game on Friday, June 5, 2015.
McNary sophomore Marissa Kuch
McNary senior Giorgio Corrieri
Sprague freshman Daniel McClung
South Salem sophomore Anna Despain
Dayton High softball coach Rob Umbenhower was named Section 8 Coach of the Year for softball by the National Federation of State High School Association Coaches Association.
Section 8 includes Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.
Umbenhower, in his 16th year as head coach at Dayton, coached Dayton to a 27-5 record and its third state championship in the spring.
Umbenhower is the No. 7 winningest softball coach in Oregon history with a record of 410-144.
He will be honored at the May 21 Oregon Athletic Coaches Association Awards Banquet.
Athletes of the week
Marissa Kuch, Giorgio Corrieri, Anna Despain, Daniel McClung and Tayler Gunesch were honored as athletes of the week by the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club on Jan. 29.
Kuch, a sophomore on McNary’s swim team, won the 50 and 200 freestyle races against Sprague and holds school records in the 200 and 500 free.
Corrieri, a senior exchange student on McNary’s swim team, won the 100 free and 100 backstroke against Sprague.
Despain, a sophomore for South Salem’s swim team, is undefeated this season, including winning the 200 free and 100 breast against North Salem. She owns the school record in the 500 free.
McClung, a freshman on Sprague wrestling team, is ranked third in the state and placed second at the Larry Owings Invitational and Reser’s Tournament of Champions.
Gunesch, a senior point guard at West Salem, scored 12 points, had five assists, five steals and five rebounds against McMinnville and had 13 points, six assists, five steals and six rebounds against West Albany.
The group meets most Friday mornings during the school year at Goudy Commons at Willamette University. For more information, contact Don Kerzel at don@kerzels.com.
Baseball
The South Salem Saxons JBO Tryouts will take place Feb. 20-21 at South Salem High School.
Midget age level players, ages 9 and 10, will try out from 9-11 a.m. Feb. 20 and from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Feb. 21.
Junior age level players, those 11 and 12, will try out from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 and from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 21.
Senior players ages 13 and 14 will try out from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 20 and from 9-11 a.m. Feb. 21.
For more information, go to the Saxon JBO website http://www.leaguelineup.com/saxonbaseball.
Banquet
Central High School will recognize the top athlete from each sport at the Panthers Awards Dessert from 4-6 p.m. on June 4.
The cost is $5 and proceeds will go to purchasing plaques for the athletes.
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler