Category Archives: Pleasant Valley

PV Lady Bears Win PIAA District 11 Semi-Final!

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The Pleasant Valley Softball Team was victorious in the rain-delayed PIAA District 11 Semi-Final against Bangor at Patriot Park on Wednesday night! They now advance to the Championship Game tomorrow night against Parkland. (You can view more photos of this game here.)

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Yesterday’s game resumed with two outs in the bottom of the first inning with a PV runner on first base. Bangor got out of the inning but trailed the game 4-0 going into the top of the second inning.

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Bangor did fight back by putting three runs on the board, but PV responded with four more runs to seal the deal and advance to the Championship Game. They broke a school record by earning their 20th game win of the season. They face Parkland tomorrow for the District Title at Patriot Park in Allentown.

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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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Hit by Pitch – in Softball & Baseball!

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Do these two photographs look similar? They were published in the Pocono Record about one year apart.

Both batters were hit by an inside pitch that completely knocked their helmet off their head! It was a scary moment in each game, but both players were able to stay in the game, none too much for the wear.

Softball and baseball can be a scary game at times, but these athletes take it all in stride. They expect a lot of themselves and put some incredible talent between the lines at every game. Our hats should be off to them (seriously!).

Here is the sequence of photos from each batter getting hit by the pitch:

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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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Showing the Action in Sports Photography

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I really like the challenge of capturing the action of a game with my camera. I always say that each game has a unique story to tell as it unfolds and it is our job to capture that action as sports photographers. It isn’t always easy and there are plenty of things that can go wrong, but there is something mighty special that happens when it all comes together!

Athletes try to put their best game on the field, so shouldn’t we sports photographers attempt to do the same thing, too? Paying attention to every play is a start, but I also think it is a mindset as well. I can tell when my mind starts to wander or when I am not quite in the right mindset during a game. I have to readjust my thinking and sometimes my attitude. The very next play could be the big one!

Capturing the action on the field is all about being ready, good planning and timing, and even a little luck along the way. It is definitely a challenge to tell the game’s story with our photography, but I enjoy and embrace this challenge wholeheartedly as a sports photographer.

Do you think these photographs show the action of the game? Do they tell the game story adequately? What do you think about these photos?

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Never Give Up! (The story behind my most recently published baseball photograph)

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Today I had another sports photograph published in the Pocono Record, but the story behind this photograph is not about me.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140506/SPORTS/405060334

Dan Heckman, the batter in the photo, is an outfielder for the Pleasant Valley Bears. He hasn’t gotten much playing time this season, but Monday afternoon he did and he shined big time! Heckman hit a single in the last inning, producing 2 RBIs on the solid line drive. Earlier he hit a sacrifice fly for another RBI.

So here is a player who hasn’t seen much field time, but he did not give up! He is a team player and had the chance today to be out on the field. He definitely made it count!

Heckman’s lesson to all of us: never give up. Keep your head up, contribute to the team whenever and however you can, and be patient: your chance will come, and when it does, make the most of it. Heckman did!

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/

Baseball Opener!

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Baseball season is under way! The Pleasant Valley Bears traveled to Bethlehem to take on Freedom in the season opener. It was very windy, reminding us we are still in the ides of March, but it was a great day for baseball!

The Bears struck first and the game see-sawed back and forth inning after inning. This was the very first day PV was on the diamond because the winter weather still has a grip on their field in Brodheadsville.

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The game showed much promise for the team and competing with a Lehigh Valley team on the first game of the season is always a great way to start! The new, young players stepped up to the plate, Brendan Kearns hit a home run over the right field wall, and the players worked together to score 4 runs on three hits. Good, patient at-bats helped in the nip-n-tuck game.

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Yep, baseball season is now underway, and PV showed it will be an exciting season to be sure!

 

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.

PV in Another Extra-Inning Battle with Stroudsburg

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Shortstop, Danny Hrbek, turns an unassisted double play in the early innings of this rematch.

Shortstop, Danny Hrbek, turns an unassisted double play in the early innings of this rematch.

Pleasant Valley hosted Stroudsburg in a rematch of an earlier season game that went eight innings. This important game played up to the hype and went nine innings! It was another nip and tuck game for both sides and showed just how evenly matched these teams really are on the diamond. The game started an hour earlier due to impending rain that was predicted to be on the way. The weather storms held off, but the thunder of bats driving balls deep kept the fans on the edge of their seats throughout this thrilling game.

Dylan Pasnak pitched a masterful game against Strodusburg tonight. He was locating pitches, and started out ahead in the counts. It was arguably the best game he put on the mound all season!

Dylan Pasnak pitched a masterful game against Stroudsburg tonight. He was locating pitches, and started out ahead in the counts. It was arguably the best game he put on the mound all season!

Dylan Pasnak pitched a masterful game. He gave up two, first inning runs on three hits. After the game he said the mound was not in great shape at the beginning of the game and it was throwing his stride off a little bit. He fought through it and got stronger as the game progressed. His fastball seemed to actually get faster with each passing inning! His pitches resulted in a lot of ground balls. Some hits went deep into the outfield, but the outfielders did an excellent job tracking them down, including one incredible diving catch by center fielder Troy Van Houten in the top of the fifth inning!

Ariel Mejia slides into second base on a successful steal attempt.

Ariel Mejia slides into second base on a successful steal attempt.

There were times when PV was aggressive on the base paths. Ariel Mejia stole second base, and on another play, Dan Hrbek stole third base and Adam Raseley followed behind to steal second base on a beautiful double steal! This is something PV will have to do more of in the Semi-Final game against Pocono Mountain East in their bid to get to the MVC Championship Game again this year. They are on track and sitting well going into next week’s MVC Championship Games.

Second baseman, Austin Yoffredo, records the putout by throwing to first base.

Second baseman, Austin Yoffredo, records the put out by throwing to first base.

There were a large number of ground outs in this game. Joey Deperno, the Stroudsburg starting pitcher, did well on the mound. He commanded most of his pitches and pitched deep into the game, only being taken out in the 8th inning after he threw 117 pitches. Dylan Pasnak was able to pitch deep into the game, too, thanks to the ground outs, which kept his pitch count just over 100 as well, topping out at 107 pitches thrown. It was a close game between these two teams and even position by position.

Catcher, James Shank, is ready to receive the pitch, but the Stroudsburg hitter has other plans!

Catcher, James Shank, is ready to receive the pitch, but the Stroudsburg hitter has other plans!

This game went into extra innings, knotted up 3 to 3. It took nine innings to determine the outcome when Stroudsburg crossed a runner over the plate on an error. That’s how close this game was and how evenly matched these teams are on the field. In the two regular-season games, they were each decided by one run in extra innings! The regular season is winding down as PV faces Whitehall tomorrow. Then the MVC Finals will be played next week.

Go Bears!