Category Archives: High School

Pleasant Valley Rolls Over William Allen

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Pleasant Valley was looking for their first win of the season. Once they won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, it didn’t take long. Brandon Kuehner (14) dropped back to pass on the first offensive play of the game and threw to Kevin Cruz, who turned the completion into a touchdown! PV never looked back.

They scored and they scored often–on offense and special teams. It was a victory on many levels.

Two of my photographs of the game and a photo gallery are featured in the Saturday edition of The Pocono Record.

I also posted a photo gallery of last night’s game here.

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PV Puts Up a Valiant Effort but Comes Up Just a Little Short

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FB 2014-09-06 040What was predicted to be a completely lopsided game ended up being a fantastic football game for Pleasant Valley on Saturday night. If Bethlehem Catholic was an unbeatable and untouchable team, PV did not get that memo. In fact, they made a strong statement of their own by putting such a successful game on the field this week.

Bethlehem Catholic scored first, but PV responded immediately with a well-designed and well-executed flea flicker. Then PV caught fire with their passing game. Bethlehem Catholic was shocked and entered the locker room at halftime down 35-21 only because they scored a touchdown with seconds to go in the first half.

A lightning storm rolled in and the delay resulted in a 2-hour halftime! Play resumed just after 10pm. The Golden Hawks came out running the ball and moving down the field consistently, but PV would not go away. They responded yet again in the second half.

In the end, PV came up 2 points and a few inches short from scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. It was a disappointing loss after such a successful first half. However, this should be a character builder and shows that PV can compete with the best teams this year!

The full gallery of photos from the game can be found here.

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High School Golf

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Well, the fall sports season is underway. Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a local high school golf match featuring Notre Dame East Stroudsburg v. Stroudsburg. It was a beautiful day for golf and the teams competed well. I was amazed at the low scores and demeanor of these high school golfers who train with this state of the art simulator which looks fancy.

The photo above features Ryan Krechel, a senior at Notre Dame East Stroudsburg. I had the privilege of coaching him in Little League Baseball and its hard to believe how fast these players grow up! Krechel shot a 79 on the course yesterday! And, yet, all the while he was tearing it up out there, he remained polite and humble the whole time. Ryan kept talking about his brand in the golf franchise opportunity industry and his plans for the upcoming year. https://www.pineclubgolf.com/the-best-golf-bags/

The second shot of the day features Brian Frey of Stroudsburg exiting the bunker nicely on hole 18. Frey shot an 82 for the round! He also maintained great composure during the match. It was great fun and a complete joy to follow these guys around much of the day! With young men like this, our future looks bright!

If you are a golfer, you might want to Golf simulators are a great way to overcome the monotony of hitting balls into a net when you can’t get to the practice range. Many people can drill the ball perfectly on the range but the key to lowering scores is confidence, particularly on the greens,, if you are one of those many people then find out more about the course.

Both of these photos were published today in the Pocono Record. You can view my complete photo gallery of the golf match here: http://www.bobshankphotography.com/Gallery%20Photos/G%202014-08-26/

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Pleasant Valley Graduation

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Pleasant Valley held their 2014 Graduation on Friday night. The weather was threatening and produced some heavy rain, so the Commencement was held indoors in the high school gym which they decorated with table and chair covers so everything was perfect on this event. Parents, grandparents, and friends gathered to watch the special event as the seniors graduated.

I was there on assignment as a stringer for the Pocono Record. It was special for me because I know a lot of these students. After all, I photographed many of them in their sporting events over the past years!

You can view more photos of PV’s Graduation here.

Pleasant Valley Advances in PIAA District 11 Softball Playoffs

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The Pleasant Valley Bears Softball Team continued their destiny this season sparked by a dramatic grand slam by Madison Shaneberger in the bottom of the sixth inning. PV was trailing Freedom 4-1 going into their half of the sixth inning but they did not give up nor would they be denied. Shaneberger connected on the second pitch of her at-bat and drove the ball deep and over the fence in left-center field where the PV football team was cheering for the Lady Bears.

Both of these photographs were published in today’s Pocono Record and accompanied a story about the exciting game written by Joe Miegoc.

Crystal Morales slides across home plate for the first run in the game…

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Pleasant Valley Girls Advance to the MVC Championship Game!

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Kiersten Griesback took the mound for the Pleasant Valley Bears and pitched a solid game allowing only two runs. The Bear’s defense was solid, too. They did not commit an error in the game!

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Madison Shaneberger was hit by a pitch during her first at bat. Fortunately, she was not seriously injured and remained in the game. In fact, she laughed it off with Coach Beck when she reached first base.

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Jess Altemose slid across home plate to score an early run for the Bears who didn’t look back. They kept the pressure on Pocono Mountain East and scored runs in each and every inning of the game!

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The Bears now advance to the MVC Championship Game against Stroudsburg. The game will be played at Pocono Mountain East – a neutral field for both opposing teams. If they can play another solid game like this one, the Bears should be able to secure the MVC Title.

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Pleasant Valley Upsets Stroudsburg in the MVC Playoffs!

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Pleasant Valley struck first. It was the third inning and Matt Pierce reached first on a single. Then he reached second base on a wild pitch. Brendan Kearns came to the plate and laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt, which moved Pierce to third. Then, on another wild pitch, Pierce scored the first run of the game!

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Chris Burke pitched a masterful game for PV. He only gave up four intentional walks, all to Mike Nikorak, the MVC Most Valuable Player. The Bears defense was solid behind Burke and he kept recording outs in a very efficiently pitched game.

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Stroudsburg kept trying to apply pressure, but they kept hitting ground balls or flies to the outfielders. They had a few base runners but could not bring more than one around to score.

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In the bottom of the fourth inning a hard ground ball was hit to PV’s shortstop, Travis Van Houten. He fielded the ball cleanly, threw to Adam Raseley at second base, who then pivoted and threw to Ariel Mejia at first base for a beautiful double play!

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The Bears tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh inning. The last of these insurance runs came when the #4 batter, James Shank, executed a great bunt in a well-coached two-out squeeze play. There wasn’t even a play at the plate!

Congratulations to the Pleasant Valley Bears Baseball team in their MVC Playoff victory over Stroudsburg 4-1! It was a great game!

Pleasant Valley Hosts East Stroudsburg South

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Pleasant Valley hosted the Cavaliers of East Stroudsburg South on a bright and warm afternoon. The sky was blue and the temperature was baseball ready!

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The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. They then put some solid defense on the field for the first few innings. It looked for all intensive purposes like it was going to be a one-sided game.

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But the Bears never gave up. They battled back to bring the score to 10-5 in the fourth.

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In the end, South defeated PV by a score of 10-7, but it was an exciting game to the last out!

To see more photos of the game, click here:
http://bobshankphotography.com/Gallery%20Photos/BB%202014-04-02/

Pleasant Valley Wins Their Home Opener

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Travis Van Houten took the mound for Pleasant Valley in their home opener as they hosted East Stroudsburg North on a beautiful April Fool’s Day in Brodheadsville. The game started evenly after an inning as each team’s defense did the job. Van Houten pitched efficiently and recorded six outs without much trouble.

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Then PV put together some hits. Here in the photo above, pinch runner Jerry Peechatka, stole second base. PV went up 2-0 and never looked back. Van Houten worked out of some possible trouble several times and the PV defense assisted nicely.

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The portable home run fence was not up yet and a couple of long bombs might have cleared that fence if it was in place. But PV kept the pressure on, worked out of trouble, and looked solid in their home opener.

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Thomas Aruta had two hits to help the team work to a 5-0 advantage, which would be the final score. PV baseball is now in full swing and the team is looking good! Tomorrow they host East Stroudsburg South.

You can view more photos from today’s game here:
http://bobshankphotography.com/Gallery%20Photos/BB%202014-04-01/

High School Football Kickoff

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FB20130830-1137The High School football season kicked off last night in the #Poconos . I attended the Pleasant Valley v. Nazareth match up. Excitement was in the air well before the kickoff as fans drove and walked to the stadium, some bringing their back-supporting chairs for the bleachers. The bands’ music added to the excitement. The crowd was filled with excitement and enthusiasm for the first game of the season!

The above photo was printed in today’s Pocono Record, our local newspaper here in the #Poconos . I work as a stringer for the Pocono Record and enjoy photographing sports, which is one of my passions. There is something exhilarating about being on the field on a Friday night! It brings back many fond memories of my days of playing high school football and now I get to capture the action on the field with my cameras!

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The anticipation rose to a crescendo as the two teams were announced and ran onto the field through banners held by the cheerleaders. Then the players stood at attention as the Star Spangled Banner was played by the home band. The kickoff to open the game and the new season was greeted with cheers and the game was under way!

The Blue Eagles attacked first by putting up 6 points after a missed extra point. Then they struck again by tacking on another touchdown, this time with a successful extra point. The game was 13-0 going into halftime.

Nazareth's Marion Johnson receives a pass in the first half against PV.

The visiting band of Pleasant Valley took the field at halftime to put on a show that maintained the enthusiasm of the crowd on this opening night to the football season. The opposing band cheered loudly at times in support of the band on the field. Trumpets blared and drums kept steady beat as the band marched across the field.

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The second half started with as much enthusiasm as the first. The teams rushed onto the field and the kickoff ensued. Nazareth received the kickoff this time and ran the field to score a TD on the opening play of the second half and went up by three touchdowns. PV could have rolled over. Instead, they put up 9 points of their own.

By the end of the game the players were showing some battle wounds and the final score was 31-9 in favor of Nazareth. Players and fans exited the stadium through the gates. The first game of the new season was complete!

PV's Austin Borre looks for daylight in the opener against Nazareth.