WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010

GOLF BOYS’ LACROSSE

Prep’s Murias saves the day

over St. Stephen’s/SA

by Christian Swezey

In a 6-5, triple-overtime victory over host St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes Tuesday in Alexandria, George- town Prep senior defenseman Robert Posniewski had more goals than the players he guard- ed.

Posniewski scored a goal in

CHARLIE RIEDEL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tiger Woods, right, and Mark O’Meara walk to the seventh tee during a practice round. “The whole scenario, it’s going to be cool to have a front-row seat for it,” Matt Kuchar said of playing with Woods.

The marquee group

Woods will join Kuchar and Choi in most-watched threesome

by Barry Svrluga

augusta, ga. — By early af- ternoon Thursday, the crowds will start to thicken around the first tee at Augusta National. Lunch will be ending, the Mas- ters will be underway, and Tiger Woods will make the short walk from the putting green, through the throngs, to the tee box from which he will begin his return to competitive golf. In an individual sport,

Woods’s re-entry into the game following a lurid sex scandal would seem to be a singular en- deavor, and the eyes of almost all those surrounding that first tee will surely fall on his broad shoulders. But in the back- ground on that same tee box at 1:42 p.m. will be two men — K.J. Choi, a 39-year-old from South Korea, and Matt Kuchar, a 31- year-old from Florida via Geor- gia Tech — who will undoubted- ly be affected by Woods’s return, because they have been chosen to play with him in the first two rounds of the Masters. “The whole scenario, it’s go- ing to be cool to have a front- row seat for it,” Kuchar said late Tuesday afternoon. “I’ll be play- ing golf, but it’ll be great stories to tell at the same time.” The stories, though, likely

won’t be about his personal suc- cess. Long before the revela- tions of his personal indiscre- tions, Woods had a reputation for — directly or indirectly — having an effect on his playing partners. The possible explana- tions were endless. He’s intimi- dating. The crowds that follow him are distracting. The media around him is disconcerting. Whatever the reason, there’s something there. “When you play with Tiger,”

Choi said through an interpret- er, “there’s a certain — it’s very hard to explain — but a certain aura or atmosphere that’s very different than as opposed to playing with other players,” It plays out at the Masters. Of-

ficials from Augusta Nationals declined Tuesday to outline any guidelines for how they choose the threesomes for the first two rounds, though tournament chairman Billy Payne may ad- dress the matter at his Wednes-

MASTERS NOTEBOOK

Nicklaus sidesteps questions about Woods

by Barry Svrluga

augusta, ga. — Whether he wants to be or not, six-time Mas- ters champion Jack Nicklaus is tied to Tiger Woods because Woods, as a child, made it his life’s goal to break Nicklaus’s rec- ord of 18 major titles. Woods, who is returning to

competitive golf this week after a sex scandal sent him into a self- imposed hiatus of nearly five months, said Monday that his pursuit of Nicklaus’s mark was less important to him now as he tries to sort out his life. Nicklaus was asked about that Tuesday. “Why do you think he’s here?” Nicklaus said. “I mean, I don’t think he’s here for his health or anything. He’s here to play golf. I mean, that’s what he is; he’s a very good golfer. It’s the first ma- jor of the year. He’s taking large steps to get his life back in order, and he wants to play golf.” This season has long seemed to be an important one in Woods’s pursuit because the ro- tation of courses includes three — Augusta National, Pebble

Beach and St. Andrews — on which Woods has won seven of his 14 major championships. Nicklaus otherwise sidestepped questions regarding his feelings about Woods since news of his personal failings became public late last year. “It’s been none of my business,

so I’ve stayed away from it, frankly,” Nicklaus said. Asked if Woods, at any point, disrespected the game, Nicklaus said, “I’ll stay away from that.” Nicklaus, 70, played the last of his 45 Masters in 2005. He will serve as an honorary starter for the first time Thursday, joining Arnold Palmer in hitting cer- emonial opening tee shots.

Cabrera takes a look

The 2009 Masters will mostly be remembered as the tourna- ment Kenny Perry let slip away by bogeying the final two holes. Overlooked, in some ways, is eventual champion Angel Cabre- ra — who had to make a miracu- lous recovery from the trees on the right side of the 18th fairway on the first hole of a playoff with Perry and Chad Campbell, then

beat Perry with a par on the next hole.

When Cabrera returned this week, he wanted one thing: To take his caddie, one he didn’t use here last year, to that spot. “I’m the one who wanted to go see that shot,” Cabrera said. “He was a perfect excuse.” . . . Two-time Masters champion

Phil Mickelson, who has just one top-10 finish in seven PGA Tour events this season, said he didn’t know if his wife Amy, who was stricken last year with breast cancer, will be able to join him here this week. Amy Mickelson is still undergoing treatment for the disease. “We are okay long-term,”

Mickelson said. “But day-to-day has been difficult, and the medi- cines and so forth have been challenging, and has made the quality of life not what we” would like. . . . Raymond Floyd, 67, who won the 1976 Masters, announced that he will not compete in this year’s tournament and is retiring from competition at Augusta Na- tional.

svrlugab@washpost.com

day news conference. But there was, in fact, talk about it among the players because of what a pairing with Woods would mean for their own lives. “I think most of us in the field thought, ‘It’s probably going to be me,’” Kuchar said. In his 13 previous Masters as

a professional, Woods’s average score in the first two rounds is 71.6 — or just below par 72. But the scores of his playing part- ners — who have ranged from amateurs such as Kuchar, back in 1998, to accomplished inter- national players such as Angel Cabrera, the defending Masters champion— average out at 74.2, more than five strokes worse over the opening two rounds. More over, nearly half of

Woods’s playing partners — 11 of 24 — have missed the cut, and though eight players have shot rounds in the 60s, eight have also shot 78 — or worse. “It’s never easy being paired with Tiger in terms of your whole tournament,” three-time major champion Padraig Har- rington said Tuesday. “I’m sure the stats will show this out, but guys who are paired with Tiger on Thursday and Friday, . . . they may beat him on Thursday and Friday, but they don’t have as good a weekend because that’s a lot of energy used up. There’s more focus and more stress. “And there will be questions

on Thursday, ‘How do you feel about playing with Tiger?’ And questions on Friday about, ‘How did you feel about playing with Tiger?’ And they are all ques- tions that are getting off the path and adding a bit more stress to the week.” Indeed, the best finish of any- one paired with Woods in the first two rounds of the Masters: Paul Casey’s tie for 10th in 2007. No one else — not reigning Brit- ish Open champ Stewart Cink in 2000 or ’09, not Cabrera in ’03 or ’08, not Robert Allenby nor Darren Clarke nor Sergio García nor Mike Weir — has broken into the top 10 after opening the tournament playing with Woods. “The [fan] anticipation of his round and the scrutiny and ev- erything is so intense here,” Cink said, “that it just feels a lit- tle different than other places.”

There are also actual differ- ences at Augusta National. At other professional golf tourna- ments, a large group of media is allowed inside the ropes. When- ever Woods opens a major, per- haps 100 reporters and photog- raphers follow his group. Before each shot, that group — along with the massive throngs out- side the ropes — must be settled so the players can concentrate on the shot before them. At the Masters, no media is al- lowed inside the ropes. “It’s like your own little world when you’re out there in between the ropes,” Harrington said. Thus, one potential distraction is re- moved, one of which Woods is well aware. During his pre-tour- nament news conference Mon- day, Woods apologized to his fel- low players because, in his ab- sence, his sordid situation became a line of questioning for them. He also is aware that his presence, in any tournament in the near future, could put ten- sion on his playing partners — less so here. “If there’s one week that you would rather have a pairing with me, considering the cir- cumstances,” Woods said, “it would probably be this week.” Neither Choi nor Kuchar ob-

jected to their fate Tuesday. Choi, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour who finished third at the 2004 Masters, has played with Woods several times over the course of their careers, and he said, “I’m used to it.” He said friends had even joked with him — asking, “Wouldn’t it be cool?” — about drawing Woods in his return to the game. Ardent golf fans first were in- troduced to Kuchar, in fact, dur- ing the first two rounds of the 1998 Masters, when his partner was none other than Woods. Ku- char, then a 19-year-old college kid using his father as a caddie, opened with an impressive even-par 72 to Woods’s 71. Since then, Kuchar has played with Woods just once — a few years back at a PGA Tour stop outside Boston. Now, this. “It’s going to be exciting,” Ku- char said. “I’m going to be a first-hand witness to his first round back.”

svrlugab@washpost.com

transition and the players he guarded scored none. That in- cluded Posniewski’s matchup against junior David Solomon, an All-Met last year who entered with 27 goals and 21 assists. Pos- niewski guarded Solomon for much of the fourth quarter and all three overtimes. Solomon had an assist in the matchup but no goals. The defensive effort led to the winning goal, by senior midfield- er Fern Murias, with 2 minutes 48 seconds left in the third overtime. The game pitted two of the top teams in the area, if not the coun- try. Between them, top-ranked Georgetown Prep (9-2, 1-0 In- terstate Athletic Conference) and No. 3 St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (9-1, 0-1) have players who have com- mitted to Maryland, Syracuse, Georgetown, Princeton, Notre Dame and Virginia, among oth- ers.

“It was like the NCAA basket- ball championship game where it was tough to see Butler lose,” Georgetown Prep Coach Kevin Giblin said. “Both teams left it on the field today and it was tough to see one of them lose.” The Saints had a celebration of

SOFTBALL

Schmeiser powers Northern in rout

11

by Katie Carrera

Northern sophomore Lindsey Schmeiser backed away from the plate in the second inning on Tuesday against Arundel, adjust- ed her helmet and realized with a 3-1 count it was time to swing away. Odds were, she’d get a pitch that she liked.

Schmeiser connected with the

next pitch and sent the ball over the fence in right center field for a solo home run. During ensuing at-bats, her teammates shouted, “Get another one, Lulu!” She obliged with two more home runs — giving her four this season — to lead the top-ranked Patriots to an 11-0 win over No. 9 Arundel. “All three were outside pitches and on 3-1 counts,” said Schmeis- er, who scored five runs, and had four hits and five RBI in her five trips to the plate against the Wildcats. “I’ve always been ag- gressive, but in the last couple years I’ve learned how to see a pitch, see a strike, just kind of wait for my pitch, fouling it off until I get what I want.” While Arundel (1-1) faced the

BASEBALL

Versatile Branthover lifts DeMatha

10

by Josh Barr

Michael Branthover spent

Monday afternoon touring the Virginia Tech campus and meet- ing with Hokies football coach Frank Beamer. On Tuesday, the All-Met punter showed he has more than just a strong right leg. With the fourth-ranked De-

Matha baseball team having just taken a one-run lead, Branthover stepped to the plate and delivered a game-breaking two-run single as the host Stags went on to a 10-4 victory over second-ranked Se- verna Park in a rare meeting of top private and public schools. It was a sloppy game, with both teams making key mistakes. De- Matha had three runners thrown out on the base paths, while Mary- land 4A defending champion Se- verna Park failed to capitalize on opportunities at the plate and in the field. The Falcons (3-2) left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, then were almost out of a bases- loaded jam in the bottom of the inning before an errant throw spoiled a potential double play. With the score tied at 2, Chris

Sella scored the go-ahead run on the throwing error, then Bran- thover batted. His single to right field scored Danny Seeba and Kyle Riffe and put the Stags (7-1) in control. It was a much different feeling, Branthover said, than a long punt.

DEMATHA NORTHERN

ARUNDEL

0

In the circle: Without Martinez, who pitched every inning for the Wildcats in 2009, Arundel turned to sophomores Marissa Mazella and Erica Henkel in the circle. Offensive juggernaut: The Patriots have posted a whopping 58 runs in their first six games this season. Against Arundel, six different batters scored runs. “We’re still a work in progress,” Radford said. “We have five freshmen and two sophomores, three of whom start. Hopefully we’ll keep getting better as they learn.”

two-time defending Maryland 3A champions without their regular starting pitcher — senior Kayla Martinez was absent for personal reasons — Northern’s stalwart junior Kaitlyn Schmeiser, Lind- sey’s sister, struck out 12 and gave up just one hit for the Patriots (6-0).

Lindsey Schmeiser always has had a knack for hitting. She re- corded her first home run of the season early in a 7-2 win over Cal-

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

Georgetown Prep players pile on senior midfielder Fern Murias after his game-winning goal in the third overtime of the IAC matchup.

GEORGETOWN PREP

6

ST. STEPHEN’S/SA

5

Beating the best: The Saints and Little Hoyas helped the IAC to an 8-1 record against the MIAA, Baltimore’s elite conference.

A lot of points: Including Tuesday’s

game, Milley has 26 goals this year.

their own with 27 seconds left in the second overtime. Solomon fed junior Peter Milley in front of the cage and Milley scored the ap- parent winning goal. As the Saints players and fans began to storm the field, the referees disal- lowed the goal and ruled that Milley had stepped in the crease before he scored. In the third overtime, the Saints won the faceoff but Georgetown Prep senior defense- man Alex Blonsky intercepted a

pass and fed Murias in transition. Murias took advantage of the un- settled situation and scored past senior Ben Levy (13 saves). Murias scored two goals and

Posniewski added three take- aways. Milley scored three goals, sophomore Brent Armstrong added two and Solomon had two assists for the Saints. “I’m proud of our effort,” Saints Coach Andy Taibl said. “We’re ex- hausted. I’m proud we played so hard with three goals in the fourth quarter. I’m hoping we can learn a lot from our losses.” Posniewski quarterbacks the

defense and the man-down unit. His first goal as a high school player came in the third quarter yesterday and gave the Little Hoyas a 5-2 lead. “This was a huge game,” Pos-

niewski said. “For my first high school goal to come in a big game like this is awesome.”

swezeyc72@yahoo.com

Little Hoyas triumph in three overtimes

KLMNO

S

HIGH SCHOOLS

D3

vert on March 31. But on that day, she didn’t handle the pressure of a strong start, and she went 0 for 3 in her next at-bats, including a strikeout in her final appearance at the plate. “After the Calvert game, I told

her, ‘You’re better than that. We need you to be better than that.’ She showed it,” Northern Coach Robert Earl Radford said. “She’s just been incredible for us. I may have to rethink her position [as the leadoff batter] in the lineup.” After notching a pair of hits and runs by the end of the second inning against the Wildcats, how- ever, the shortstop didn’t let any- one’s expectations affect her swing. In the fourth inning, an- other solo shot put Northern up, 5-0. She scored again off a home run by her sister Kaitlyn in the sixth before wrapping up a vir- tuoso performance with a three- run homer in the seventh. “I don’t think it’s sunk in,”

Lindsey Schmeiser said. “Every- one always says go get a home run, but I’m just trying to put the ball in play. Some days it works out.”

carrerak@washpost.com

SEVERNA PARK

4

MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST

DeMatha’s Henry Faunce (41) is hugged by a teammate after scoring in the fifth inning.

“A 55-yard punt is pretty good, but this is better because you’ve got your whole team behind you,” said Branthover, a junior who was a part-time starter in right field last year and now has taken over the role on a daily basis. “A punt is just for field position. [But suc- ceeding] is the same thing. You’ve got to be a team player on the football field and on the baseball field.” Branthover said his future most

likely is on the football field, where opposing coaches consider him one of DeMatha’s top weap- ons. He does not yet have any scholarship offers, though Stags football coach Bill McGregor ex- pects they will come in time.

Missing leader: Severna Park assistant Jeff Karr ran the team Tuesday with Coach Jim McCandless absent because of personal reasons, according to school athletic director Wayne Mook. It was unclear when McCandless will return to the team. Relief trouble: After Severna Park starting pitcher Brandon Ellis was lifted one batter into the fifth inning, three relievers allowed nine hits and one intentional walk to 15 batters. The Falcons held out top starter Sean Willey to face Chesapeake on Wednesday.

On the baseball field, Branthov- er was one of three football play- ers to make key contributions Tuesday. Center fielder and lead- off batter Ryan Burbrink, a wide receiver, had two hits and scored twice. Nikolay Uherek, potentially next season’s starting quarter- back, allowed two unearned runs in three innings of relief. “It’s great to have athletes that

play other sports, they bring a lit- tle more to the table when push comes to shove,” DeMatha Coach Sean O’Connor said. “Playing in front of a few hundred people is easier when you’ve played [foot- ball] in front of five or six thou- sand.”

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