Athletes of the Week March 9
Iseabal Cryne
The 5-foot-9 left-handed freshman and starting goalie for the Mercer University Bears was in the cage for a dramatic 13-12 win at Davidson, in which she recorded eight saves. It was the second straight win for Mercer following a 16-6 win over Gardner-Webb, in which Cryne recorded five saves. Izzy’s step up to Division I high-performance surprises no one who watched her play Atlantic Lacrosse before going on to Cape as a goalie on the last four state championship teams. Izzy is a mobile, athletic goalie who has great anticipation and focus, sees the ball, stops it and makes those tough clearing passes at a level where attack players turn to defenders after each save. Mercer plays in the Southern Conference.
Cody Dmiterchik
Call Codeman Blue and bring the crash cart. Cody Dmiterchik is now a senior baseball player at Wesley College. He always gets his money’s worth between the lines, and that goes back to his playing days at Cape, where, in addition to baseball, he was a running back and part-time quarterback for the football team. In a 9-7 win over the Moravian Greyhounds March 4, Cody had a pair of RBI singles. Then versus Hampden-Sydney in a the second game, he cracked a first-inning home run in an 8-4 loss. Cody was named Wolverine of the Week for Wesley for his hot start to the season, going 10-for-21 (.476) with two home runs, seven RBIs, two runs scored and a double. He started every game as a junior, batting .304 with 15 multi-hit games. Wesley is 2-3 on the season.
Luke Oliphant
Luke played in Lewes Little League then at Sussex Tech, and now he is a starting outfielder for the University of Massachusetts Minutemen. UMass just completed a four-game southern swing, playing in Kissimmee, Fla., where they lost three times to the Pitt Panthers and got a win over St. Peter’s. In the season-opening game versus Pitt March 2, Luke walked in the top of the ninth inning, advanced to third on a pair of groundouts, then scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 2-2. He is the nice guy who becomes very annoying if you allow him to reach a base safely. UMass plays in the Atlantic 10. The Minutemen will play three games at Central Connecticut this weekend.
Riley Shields
The Alvernia University softball team is off to a 6-0 start, with all wins coming off the spring swing through Clermont, Fla. The Golden Wolves picked up a pair of wins March 7 highlighted by pitcher Riley Shields throwing six scoreless innings in a 6-1 win over Penn State Brandywine. Alvernia has two more games in Florida before returning home to Reading, Pa., to play Penn State Berks in a March 15 doubleheader. Shields is a sophomore who pitched Cape to a 14-4 record and state tournament appearance in 2016, throwing every meaningful inning. In fall 2015, Riley was the goalie for the Cape field hockey team that defeated Delmar 3-1 for their fifth consecutive state championship.
