Notebook: Clayton Girls Soccer Team on Hot Streak

As the high school spring sports season begins to wind down and we enter postseason competition in each of the spring sports, we’d like to give fans and supporters of area teams an update.

Here is a recap of what went down last week and a brief look at what is coming up for area teams:

CLAYTON

Among the biggest news in all of Missouri state high school sports last week was the sudden firing of popular Clayton football coach Sam Horrell.

The school self-reported in late April what it deemed to be violations of the Missouri State High School Activities Association by-laws by the coach, including reports that Horrell conducted weight-lifting and training with eighth-grade students at .

Then early last week, the school received word from MSHSAA that the coach’s actions were violations of organizational by-laws and that the organization would begin to look into possible punishments for the school and the coach.

Clayton decided to act first, firing Horrell on Wednesday. Clayton athletic director Bob Bone could not be reached for comment.

On Friday, the story took another turn when several hundred students walked out of class during the school day and gathered on the school’s front lawn to protest Horrell’s firing.

A Facebook page called Bring Back Coach Horrell has been set up, and members of the football team have said they plan to attend Clayton Board of Education meetings on May 18 and June 8 to hopefully discuss with district administrators why Horrell was fired and whether or not he could be brought back.

Horrell was the Greyhounds’ head football coach for six years. He worked as an assistant coach for five years before that.

Meanwhile, the Clayton girls soccer team has been on fire lately, winning each of its past four games and clinching a share of the Suburban East Conference title.

Sophomore forward Meg Sutter had two hat tricks in the four wins, scoring three goals in a 3-1 win over Parkway North on April 28, and then scoring three more in a 6-0 victory over University City last Wednesday.

Clayton pulled off one of its biggest wins of the season April 29 when it knocked off Normandy, 10-0.

That was an incredible day for freshman Caroline Avery, who notched a hat trick of her own with her first three varsity goals, while teammate Bree Northern, who normally starts in goal for the ‘Hounds, netted three goals as well.

The Greyhounds water polo team was eliminated from the state playoffs Saturday, losing to No. 1-ranked Saint Louis University High School, 22-2.

Clayton had extended its run the previous day, staging a thrilling comeback in a first-round playoff game against Parkway Central.

The Greyhounds trailed 5-3 heading into the fourth quarter against the Colts, but rallied with three goals in the final minutes to pull out a dramatic 6-5 win.

Senior Brett Virgin-Downey, who finished the year with 70 goals, 25 assists and 165 total points, was selected first team all-Suburban South Conference by a panel of league coaches.

The Clayton baseball team has been on a rough streak lately.

Clayton has lost seven straight games, including 4-2 and 9-0 setbacks against Priory and Westminster Christian last week.

Somehow the ‘Hounds need to get their bats going this week. In those losses to Priory and Westminster, Clayton went just 4-for-46 at the plate and only one time in 14 innings of play managed to get more than one runner on base at a time.

The Greyhounds have two regular season games left this week before the start of district playoffs.

On Tuesday, Clayton will host Windsor at 4:15 p.m., and on Wednesday, the ‘Hounds will play St. Mary’s at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, IL, to close the regular season.

The playoffs will begin Saturday for Clayton, opening with a first-round game at home against Priory at noon. If the ‘Hounds win that game, they will face the winner of the Westminster-Priory first-round game in the district semifinals at 4 p.m. Monday.

That game, and the district championship game on May 18, will be played at .

MAPLEWOOD RICHMOND HEIGHTS

The spring sports teams at MRH were put through the fire a bit last week.

The MRH baseball team lost four straight games, including 14-0 and 16-1 decisions against Brentwood and Bowling Green.

The one shining individual performance for the Devils last week came from starting pitcher Kevin Sapp, who pitched a complete game and struck out seven in a rematch against Brentwood on May 3.

Unfortunately for Sapp, the defense behind him was a little shaky and committed five errors, which helped aid the two runs Brentwood scored to win.

The bleeding hasn't stopped for the MRH girls soccer team after it heroically won its season opener, 1-0, against Jennings.

Unfortunately, the Blue Devils haven’t won a game since, and after losing three times last week, they are now 1-18 on the season.

What’s worse is that MRH has gone six straight games without scoring a goal. That’s one problem the team will have to correct as it moves into the last week of the regular season.

MRH will play several games before beginning the playoffs next week. MRH will host its final home games of the season, against Valley Park on Tuesday and Bayless on Wednesday, with both games set to begin at 4 p.m.

MRH will travel to John F. Kennedy High in Manchester for a 6 p.m. game on Friday in the regular-season finale.