Everett Scott “Scotty” Adley was your typical 11 year old boy who loved playing outside.  From skateboarding, football, basketball to lacrosse, he loved it all.  Over the Memorial Day weekend, Scotty was involved in a boating accident and unfortunately did not survive.  After hearing about this from Brian DeSpain (president, 1Lacrosse), Coach Fritts joined the Face Book group “Play For Scotty.”  Sam Houston has a great connection to the Kingwood lacrosse program with Wil Nielsen, Sam Lockett and Nick Williams playing for the Bearkats.  Coach posted his condolences for the family on the group site.

The post he received back from Scott’s father (Scott Aderly) just broke his heart.  It said “Funny you should post. Scotty and I were talking about the possibility of playing lacrosse in college and he said he just didn’t think he could go all the way to the east coast (which of course would change) to play. He said he wanted to play at SHSU because it was close and I could see all the games and that he loved the mascot and colors better than any of the eastern teams too!”

“This just put me over the edge” said Coach Fritts.  “This father just lost a child and then I find out the boy wanted to come to Sam.  I had to do something for this family… for this boy.”  What did Coach do?  With in 24 hours he had paperwork from the Office of Advancement at Sam Houston State creating the “Scotty Adley Memorial Lacrosse Scholarship.” This will be administered by the school with all the regular criteria for a lacrosse scholarship but with one added condition… the recipient player must come from Kingwood, Texas.

The paperwork was signed by Fritts on June 10th and the scholarship will become official when school president, James Gaertner, completes the final signature line.

“His (Scotty’s) story, his love of life… for the sport of lacrosse, just touched me so deeply.  11 years old and he wanted to come play at Sam Houston so his family could see him play along with liking our mascot and school colors… it just ripped me a part.  Can’t repeat it enough, I just had to do something for this boy… for his family” said Fritts.

So the next time you’re tied 12-12 with 30 seconds left to go… and you don’t feel you have the energy left for one more goal… think about Scotty… and “Play For Scotty!”

Donations are also being accepted at Christian School of Kingwood, where Scotty was a student.

Here’s how the lacrosse community can help…

Scotty’s family is asking that donations be made in Scotty’s name to the following:

Christian School of Kingwood (CSK) – Scholarship Fund in the Name of Scotty Adley:
2901 Woodlands Hill Dr.
Kingwood, TX 77339
Attn: Linda Copeland

But what really tops off the season is when players are recognized on the national level.  Zach Fry (Midfield) and Greg Kremen (Defense) were both named 3rd Team All American while John Messer (Defense) place on the Honorable Mention.  Last year the team had just one on the All American list.  The exposure in Denver at the nationals solidified the spots for these three.  “Without Denver and these guys being seen by the other coaches on the Selection Committee, I wouldn’t have had much to negotiate with during the selection process” said Coach Fritts.    Fritts is on the Selection Committee and elaborated on the process.  “It (process) was great to be a part of.  We all get a list of the nominees which came from all ten conferences around the country.  If the nominee is there at nationals, each of us has a responsibility to scout him and see what he has.  The Friday night before the championship game, we are on a two hour conference call voicing our opinions.  It was a very respectful process and at times quite ‘open’ as far as opinions go. ”

The Academic All American is to Fritts the “Cream” of the Student/Athletes.  “This is what we’re here for… an education first and if you can excel in the class room and on the field… my hat is off to all those who achieved this honor.”  To qualify for the Academic All American honor, you must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and have been selected to your Conference’s 1st or 2nd team.  Doing just that are Zach Fry, John Messer, Donny Meyer and Nick Williams.  Worth noting is Brendan Gawronski missed this honor by .01!  “That’s how picky they are!  They wouldn’t even round up .01 for Brendan.  I’m sure he’ll get it next year!  Either way, I’m very proud of all the young men here who have achieved national recognition.”

It’s very humbling when you lose a game (22-3) by the score you beat your divisional opponents by.  It’s a little easier to swallow when it’s the #1 ranked team and two-time National Champions the “Tommies” from St. Thomas University.  “Wow!” Said Coach Fritts!  “Very impressive ball club and absolutely eye-opening for the entire team.  It (22-3 loss) is exactly what the doctor ordered for us!  We have a much better idea of what and where we need to train for next season to compete better at the national level.”

Scoring the three goals for Sam Houston were Wil Nielsen (unassisted); Nick Williams assisted by Zach Fry and Alex Badour (unassisted).

Sam Houston – 11  Missouri State – 9

In the consolation game, Sam Houston played much better!  Donny Meyer and Austin Atwood dominated face offs going 14/16 and 5/6 respectively.

But the big story was Freshman Attackman Brendan Gawronski who netted 6 goals and assisted on one other.  “Brendan just kept finding the soft spots in their defense and as much as he found them, his teammates found Brendan as all 6 goals had an assist tied to them! His hands were quick and ‘soft’ this game.  Every pass that came in contact with him, he finished it.”  In fact, only one goal that game (Badour) was unassisted.  “When 50% of your goals are tied to an assist, you feel good about a TEAM effort.  When 10 goals out of 11 have an assist… you just shake your head in total bewilderment.  THAT is total TEAM ball” said Fritts.

Besides Gawronski, other scorers on the day were Wil Nielsen (2g/3a); Logan Holmes (1g/1a); Zach Fry (1g/2a); Alex Badour (1g/1a) and Nick Williams (1a).

The KATS are done for the year!  Overall record is 11-3 and we’ll sit and wait for the year end polls to come out and see where the Kats end up.

2008: 0-8 record

2009: 6-5 and a Conference Championship appearance

2010: 11-3; Undefeated Conference Champions and 1-1 at the nationals in Denver, Colorado

Coach Fritts had this to say… “I was in bed when I got the phone call about the bracket.  Looked it up online myself and then started putting the scout report on St. Thomas together.  We’re not the same team that lost to Kennesaw State in March.  The guys are much more patient and we’re hitting on all 6 cylinders.  The loss to Texas Tech was one we felt we should have kept the ‘W’ and the win over Texas A&M proves that we can play with some of the best talent in the country.  Our DI schedule this year served its purpose… to prepare us for the tough competition at nationals.”

The game is scheduled for 10am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010.   Field assignment at Dicks Sporting Goods Park is not known at this time.

If you know any of these players and see them in class or walking by on campus, please stop and shake their hand as they “represented” Sam Houston State University in a huge way!

Wil Nielsen – Attack, 1st Team
Nick Williams – Attack, 2nd Team
Brendan Gawronski – Attack, 2nd Team

* Zach Fry – Midfield, 1st Team
Logan Holmes – Midfield, 2nd Team
* Donny Meyer – Midfield, 3rd Team
Sam Lockett – Midfield, 3rd Team

* Greg Kremen – Defense, 1st Team
* John Messer – Defense, 1st Team
Travis Cottle – Defense, 2nd Team

Avery Flores – Goalie, 1st Team

Donny Meyer – FOGO (Face Off/Get Off) there is only ONE selection for this… it’s all Donny!

Tyler Tyson – Long Stick Midfield, 1st Team
Forrest Schmidt – Long Stick Midfield, 3rd Team

Individual League Awards
Most Valuable Player – Zach Fry
Rookie of the Year – Greg Kremen
Offensive Player of the Year – Wil Nielsen
Defensive Player of the Year – Greg Kremen

* = All American Nominee

With this win and Conference Championship, Sam Houston will receive the AQ (automatic qualifier) to the national playoffs held in Denver, Colorado.  The team flies out two weeks from today (Sunday) but still doesn’t know who their first opponent will be.  Reason is there are some conferences around the country who have not held their championships yet so the MCLA (national group) cannot finalize the tournament seeding.

More updates are coming!

Congratulations to the Sam Houston State University Men’s Lacrosse Team!!!

2010 Champions!!!!!

Stephen F Austin came to Huntsville but the Lumberjacks were just not ready as the Bearkats awaited them in their “DEN.”  One hour before game time and SFA only had 7 players… 20 minutes and counting, a few more trickled in.  By game time, SFA had about 13 players, enough for three subs.  You just can’t come to Pritchett Field short-handed to play Sam Houston, especially when such a huge rivalry is on the line.

It’s 12 midnight and Coach Fritts advised us he just got home as I-45 south was closed.  We’ll get more of the victory over SFA tomorrow after the Championship game.

Sam Houston (5-0) vs Centenary College (4-1)

Pritchett Field – 3pm

Does that make the Sam Houston – Stephen F Austin game an easy win?  “Not by any means” says Coach Fritts.  “You have to understand the history of our two schools.  Not just lacrosse but in football, basketball, baseball… any sport, any organization, it just doesn’t matter who is UP or who is down.  The score always starts out 0-0 and there is too much rivalry to get caught up in records when we play.”

Undefeated season is surprisingly not new to Fritts as his 1984 team swept the division with a perfect 10-0 mark.  “Those were some games back then!  We played everyone in our division (A&M, Tulane, Rice, LSU, U of H) twice (home/away) and beat them all both times.  LSU, U of H,  and Rice were the only games with large margins.  A&M, Tulane along with Texas and TCU, were never separated by more than 5 goals. ”

SFA game is Saturday night at 6:30pm in Pritchett Field.  The DII Championship game is Sunday at 3:00pm, also in Pritchett.

It was 8-0 at the end of the 1st quarter with UTSA and 16-0 at the end of the first half.  “My players hate running time” says Fritts.  “It’s frustrating for them to travel so far and then end up playing about half of a real game.  But, as the adult here, I have to think about what the other team is feeling.  I’ve been on the end of blowouts worse than this UTSA game and no one offered to go running time back then.  Not only is it demoralizing for the losing team but things usually start to get cheap as they’d rather hurt you than properly play and defend you.”

Scorers for Sam Houston:

Sam Lockett (2g); Nick Williams (2g); Wil Nielsen (2g/4a); Brendan Gawronski (4g); Austin Atwood (1g/1a); John Messer (1g); Logan Holmes (5g); Donny Meyers (1g); Forrest Schmidt (1a); Zach Fry (3g/3a)

Final regular season game is this Tuesday (April 20) at Pritchett Field against rival SFA!!!  Game time is 6pm! Come support your Bearkats as they seek to close out their division schedule UNDEFEATED!

KATS took a 2-1 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and went into the half leading 6-3.  To open the 2nd half, A&M scored in the first ten seconds! “Exactly what we didn’t want to see” said Coach Fritts.  “It was what we spent half time talking about… ‘Don’t let them back in.’”  The Aggs would score again before Sam Houston got things going.  “Tech lit us up for 5 goals in the 3rd quarter on Sunday and it stuck in our minds not to let that happen again.”  A&M got 3 but so did Sam and the 4th quarter started with a 9-6 lead.  The 4th quarter, especially at Home, means great Sam Houston lacrosse and it came through again as the defense held A&M to just one goal in the 4th while the offense put 3 more in the net.

Sam Houston was flagged for 13 penalties (11 minutes) while A&M only saw the penalty box for 4 (3.5 minutes).  “Our Man-Down team was just incredible.  Twice we were two men down and they only scored once on that.  Two total extra man goals during 11 minutes… just incredible.”  That Man-Down team is made up of Goalie Avery Flores and Defensemen John Messer, Travis Cottle, Greg Kremen, Tyler Tyson, Forrest Schmidt and Brian Eckhoff.  Fritts added “Never, in the history of Sam Houston lacrosse, has there been such a collection of defensive talent.  It’s amazing what these guys can do on the field.”

Offensively, the Kats were thrown a curve ball.  Alex Badour went down in the Texas Tech game on Sunday with a broken collarbone.  For an opponent like A&M, you need as much offensive power as you can at all times.  With Coach Fritts, Zach Fry, Logan Holmes, Nick Williams and Badour, all met and outlined the plan.  It was decided to rotate Fry or Holmes to Attack when the 2nd Midfield was in and bring Nick or Wil Nielsen up from the Attack to run Midfield.  “It worked.  Plain and simple, it worked due to the hustle and endurance of those four. We settled the ball more on offense to give everyone time to catch their wind and got good scoring opportunities with our patience. ”

A major contributor to the win was ball control.  With help from the wings on faceoffs, Donny Meyer and Austin Atwood were credited for winning 68.5%!  “For people who don’t know this game, understand, that number is HUGE… off the charts in a game like this!”

Scoring:

Zach Fry 6 goals/2 assists; Wil Nielsen 3 goals/1 assist; Logan Holmes  2 goals; Brendan Gawronski 1 goal; Nick Williams 3 assists; Donny Meyer 1 assist.