The defending South Puget Sound League South Division champion Todd Beamer girls track and field team took a huge step to repeating that honor Wednesday afternoon at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

The Titans moved to 4-0 in the South with a 71-66 win over the Rogers Rams. Beamer’s Taylor Kartes swept the 800 and 1,600 meters and also won the pole vault. Kartes won the 800 in 2:27.6, the 1,600 in a time of 5:41.1 and the pole vault with a leap of 7-6.

Beamer also got individual wins from Mercedes Sullivan in the 200 (26.34), Emma Cortes in the 300 hurdles (51.89), Jessica Niewoehner in the long jump (15-7) and Ashley Sandoval in the discus (110-7 1/2). The Titans also won the 4×200 relay.

Last year, the Titans finished with a perfect record in the SPSL South and are currently halfway through the 2009 season. Beamer’s remaining meets this year include Emerald Ridge, Puyallup, Spanaway Lake and Graham-Kapowsin.

The Beamer boys improved to 3-1 in the South with an 87-48 win over Rogers Wednesday. Senior Duran Ward won three individual events and Anthony Hogan won the 110 hurdles (14.95) and 300 hurdles (41.75) for the Titans.

Ward ran away with the 100 (10.99) and 200 (22.25) and won the high jump with a leap of 6-0. Beamer’s other wins came from D.J. May in the triple jump (41-7), Trevor Mills in the pole vault (9-0), Deshar House in the 3,200 (10:31.7), Sean Cramer in the 800 (2:08.22) and Roy Scott in the 1,600 (4:44.03).

The Puyallup Vikings swept the Decatur boys and girls during Wednesday’s SPSL South meet at Sparks Stadium. The Viking boys won 87-53 and the girls beat the Gators, 82-53.

Decatur got a pair of wins from Tre Kelly in the 110 hurdles (16.2) and the 300 hurdles (43.48), Cameron Warriner in the pole vault (9-6), Keith Arns in the shot put (45-7) and Jordan Recania in the discus (130-2).

On the girls’ side, Decatur’s victories came from Tori Zellerhoff in the 1,600 (5:44.69) and 3,200 (12:23.09), Alaina Butler in the 100 hurdles (17.45), Hannah Herbert in the long jump (14-4), Carly Carson in the pole vault (8-0) and Lindzy Debie in the shot put (35-6).

Baseball

The Federal Way Eagles (3-6 in the North) suffered a pair of tough losses Tuesday and Wednesday in the SPSL North, including a heart-breaking 7-6 defeat Tuesday to the Kentridge Chargers. The Eagles were also beaten 10-8 Wednesday by Auburn Riverside.

Against Kentridge (5-3), Federal Way held a 6-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning. But the Chargers stormed back with five runs to steal the win. It was Kentridge’s fourth straight win.

Things looked bleak at best for the Chargers with one out and nobody on base in the bottom of the seventh.

Then Kentridge’s bats came alive.

Cody Hamada plated the game-winning run with an RBI single to right field. Ben Mora, Hayden Njos, Jason Didis and Shayne Mathews all had RBIs in the inning.

“This is huge,” Kentridge coach John Flanigan said. “Guys were stepping up and making plays. Last year, I don’t know that we would have gotten this one.”

Nick Tanielu finished 2 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs and two stolen bases and T.J. Horsfall also had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Eagles. Tanielu also homered during Wednesday’s loss to Auburn Riverside. The sophomore finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Drew Cratsenberg chipped in two hits and two RBIs.

Jefferson (4-5 in the North) couldn’t get anything going offensively during Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the first-place Tahoma Bears (7-1). Chris Marangon limited TJ to just five hits, which included a home run from Harold Adams. Branden Muraki finished 2 for 3 for the Raiders.

Jefferson did pick up a big non-league win over Beamer Tuesday, 4-2. Kama Frank picked up the win on the mound and Johnny Palko finished 2 for 3 at the plate. Beamer got a pair of hits from Kenny Johnson.

The Titans (6-3 in the South) came back Wednesday with a six-inning win over Spanaway Lake, 11-1. Steven Foster picked up the win after striking out eight in five innings and Mac Gridley finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Decatur (4-5 in the South) dropped a pair to the two best teams in the league Tuesday and Wednesday. Curtis (8-1) beat the Gators, 6-2, Wednesday, and Puyallup (8-1) downed Decatur, 11-2, Tuesday. Matt Elya and Kyle Font both had two hits against Curtis.

Boys Soccer

Jefferson (5-1-3) remained in a tie for third place in the North Division with a 3-2 win over Kentlake Tuesday night. Ernan Roman tallied the game-winner in the 78th minute on a pass from Chris Miller to break a 2-2 tie.

Sophomore Chase Hanson scored the Raiders’ first two goals. The first came in the 39th minute and the second was four minutes later, also on an assist from Miller.

Beamer (6-1-1) fell into a tie for first place in the SPSL South with Rogers after playing the Decatur Gators to a 0-0 tie Tuesday. The tie moved the Gators to 4-3-1.

The Federal Way Eagles (1-6-2) dropped their third game in a row Tuesday night after getting shutout by the Kentwood Conquerors, 6-0. Kentwood (5-3-1) got a pair of goals from sophomore midfielder Chad Fuller and another strong defensive performance by goalkeeper Rodney Greiling.

Kentwood didn’t waste any time jumping on the Eagles as Stefan Bangsund split the pipes in the 13th minute. Less than two minutes later, Fuller scored the first of his two goals.

Sergio Mejia, Eric Alonzo, Fuller and Bryan Carlson added goals for Kentwood in the second half. Greiling notched the shutout in goal, his second in a row and fourth of the season.

Fastpitch

Jefferson’s offense exploded Wednesday for 27 runs during a double-header sweep of the Tahoma Bears. The Raiders (6-3) needed five inning to beat Tahoma in the opener, 11-1, thanks to a two-hitter from senior left-hander Jessica Dickson, who also finished 1 for 1 with three RBIs at the plate.

In the night cap, TJ tallied six runs in the top of the seventh inning and cruised to a 16-5 win.

Junior shortstop Hannah Kiyohara finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs and two doubles, catcher Cassidy DeWaele connected on a home run and had three RBIs, Julia Chanes was 3 for 5 with three RBIs, senior Jayme Carbon was 3 for 4 with two doubles and senior Erin Fujita was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two doubles.

Beamer ended a three-game losing streak with an 8-4 win over the Spanaway Lake Sentinels Wednesday afternoon. The victory kept the Titans in fourth place in the South Division with a 5-3 record.

Beamer trailed 4-2 before exploding for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Emma Blauser limited Spanaway Lake to five hits. Offensively, the Titans got three hits from Stephanie Wong and Brianne Grosche and Sarah Petosa both had two hits. Grosche finished with two RBIs and Petosa had three stolen bases.