Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Myor earns All-OAC honors, graduates as all-time RBI leader

Elyria's Caitlin Myor, Baldwin-Wallace's lone senior, finished a solid softball career at Baldwin-Wallace last month.

She earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors and leaves B-W tied as the career RBI leader with 123 (Nicole Loudin 2006).


The Yellow Jackets finished the season with a doubleheader sweep of Wilmington College, winning the first game (7-2) and the nightcap (6-5). B-W finished the season
24-16 overall (10-8 OAC), its first winning season in three years.
swalker@MorningJournal.com



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Monday, June 29, 2009

Grabowski returns to Baldwin-Wallace as Quarterbacks Coach

Avon Lake native Keith Grabowski, a 1992 graduate Baldwin-Wallace, is returning to the college this fall, as the Yellow Jackets Quarterbacks Coach.

Last year, Grabowski was the head coach at Brookside, after head coaching stints at Brush and Ashtabula Lakeside.

He's mostly remembered in the area as the head coach of Amherst from 2004-07, which included Southwestern Conference Coach of the Year and Lorain County Co-Coach of the Year in '04. He led the Comets to their second-best record in school history and their second playoff victory ever. He also was head coach at Fairview from 2001-03.

Locals on the Yellow Jackets include: Brookside's Rudy Ackerman (sophomore), Amherst's Ryan Kish (junior) and Dave Cantu (sophomore), Elyria Catholic's Joe Fitch (sophomore), Jayson Graham (sophomore) and Brian Hart (sophomore), Avon's Matthew Kiessling (freshman), North Ridgeville's John McGraw (junior) and Eric Proszek (sophomore), Elyria's Nick McGreevy (junior) and Mitch Tulk (junior), Avon Lake's Scott Nealon (senior), Edison's Josh Oswald (junior) and Firelands' Nate Slack (freshman).

The Yellow Jackets will have eight games televised on SportsTime Ohio, including all five home games. The eight STO games will be against Franklin, JCU, Marietta, Mount Union, Otterbein, Muskingum, Heidelberg and Wilmington.

swalker@MorningJournal.com


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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

College Signings III


I am proud to bring you the list of College Signings III.
  • Amherst’s Cody Wenrich will continue his football career, at Ohio Northern University. Last year he was All-Lorain County, All-District and All-Ohio.
  • Andre James (Admiral King) will play football at Ashland.
  • Miles Jones (Admiral King) will play football at Ashland.
  • Michael Taylor (Admiral King) will play football at Ashland.
  • Ryan Garrison (Admiral King) will play football at Hiram.
  • John Gerber (Admiral King) will play football at Hiram.
  • Najerron Clipper (Admiral King) will play football at Notre Dame College (Ohio).
  • Danny Wise (Brookside) will play football at John Carroll University.
  • DJ Pohorence (Vermilion) will continue his bowling and golf career at Notre Dame College (Ohio).
  • Cassie Gleisner (Wellington) will play softball at the University of Akron. Gleisner was an honorable mention All-Ohio selection this season after going 17-3 with a 0.63 ERA, while also batting .422 with 23 RBIs.
  • Kara Dill (Keystone) will play softball the University of Kentucky. She was a first team All-Ohio selection and was co-Lorain County Miss Softball. She batted .545 with 19 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. She also went 7-3 on the mound with a 0.57 ERA and 97 strikeouts.

Coaches, parents or athletes can submit college signings or story ideas to swalker@MorningJournal.com.

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Pohorence to play two sports at Notre Dame College


Vermilion’s DJ Pohorence has decided to play dual sports at Notre Dame College of Ohio next season.

Pohorence signed to golf and bowl at the NAIA college in South Euclid, Ohio.

On the alleys for Vermilion, Pohorence led the Sailors to the state championship four straight seasons and were runner-up in 2007. They also won the North Shore Conference the last two years.

On the golf course, Pohorence earned three varsity letters. He was Vermilion’s team captain this season and also won the team’s Scholarship Award for having the highest GPA on the team.
swalker@MorningJournal.com


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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Sito named All-AMC Second Team and Scholar Athlete


Elyria’s Jack Sito just finished his college baseball career at Notre Dame College of Ohio with honors.

Sito was named to the All-American Mideast Conference Second Team, along with being named to the Scholar Athlete team for the second-straight season.

The left fielder hit .353 (59-for-167) with 17 doubles, five triples and five home runs on the season. Sito was a AMC First Team selection as a freshman (2006) and Honorable Mention All-AMC last year. He closed out his career with Notre Dame College's highest career slugging percentage (.577) along with the school's all-time leader in triples (12), home runs (17) and hits (163).

Sito, an accounting major, finished his collegiate career with an impressive 3.62 grade point average, to earn the Scholar Athlete honors.

Vermilion’s Mike Wilsey also finished his college career, playing in 44 games, including 42 starts. He batted .317 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs.

North Ridgeville’s Jon Harnish also finished his college career, going 2-4 with a 5.76 ERA on the mound. He appeared in 12 games and notched three starts. He pitched a complete game this season in one of his wins and logged 29 2/3 innings, while striking out 15.

His freshman brother Sean Harnish appeared in 12 games in relief. He pitched in 17 1/3 innings and struck out 12.

Avon’s Danny Yonkof also completed his college career, playing in 11 games, with nine starts. He batted .111 with a double.

NDC Baseball went 10-39 in 2009 and 4-28 in the AMC to finish in ninth place.
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Feldkamp ends season with blast

Admiral King's JT Feldkamp, a sophomore, just finished his first full college season as a full-time catcher at Ohio Dominican in grand fashion at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton, Ohio last Wednesday.

Despite losing a heartbreaking 13-12 extra-inning game to Rio Grande to get eliminated from the American Mideast Conference Tournament, Feldkamp went 4-for-6 with three RBIs, including an RBI single and a two-run home run in a Panther eight-run sixth inning. The homer was Feldkamp's sixth of the season, good for second most on the team.

"We lost an All-American at catcher so I had to step in and catch," said Feldkamp said. "I think I did pretty good, but I think I could've done better. I just want to improve and get better for next year."

He finished with a .316 batting average in 49 games played, including 45 starts behind the plate. He also hit seven doubles, one triple and tallied 26 RBIs.

"College is a lot different than high school," Feldkamp said. "Mostly the speed the pitchers are pitching is the biggest thing ... When you get in a slump, you just gotta know you can get through it. In high school I never really got into a slump. This year facing better pitching, sometimes you start slumping, you just gotta not worry about it."

The Panthers finished the season 31-21 overall and 20-10 in the AMC, good for second place.

"Our season overall was good, but it was kind of disappointing," Feldkamp said. "We didn't win the conference or the conference tournament and that was the first time in five years. I think we should be pretty good next year, we're really young. We didn't have a single senior in the field graduate, so I think we will improve a lot."

Feldkamp is playing for the Ohio Titans this summer, along with Southview graduate Cameron Castro (Lake Erie College).
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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Saturday, June 6, 2009

Chaffins makes come back to notch All-MAC second team honors


New London’s Corey Chaffins came back from an off-season injury last year, to come back and make 14 appearances, including 11 starts at Eastern Michigan. He finished with a 5-3 record with 69 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings pitched, which earned him Mid-American Conference second team honors.

He earned the MAC Pitcher of the Week in the first week of May after striking out 14 in a 6-5 win over Ball State. He also earned Pitcher of the Week honors in April, after he pitched seven solid innings, allowing just four hits, one run, while striking out five in a 7-1 win over Ohio University.

Two seasons ago, Chaffins had a 2-2 record in 14 appearances, including five starts. He struck out 42 batters in 40 1/3 innings pitched.

At New London, Chaffins was the Firelands Conference Player of the Year, the District 9 Player of the Year and he was named to the All-Ohio First Team.

Eastern Michigan bowed out to Toledo in the MAC Tournament, losing 9-6, and finished the season at 25-35.

Corey's brother Derek Chaffins, a freshman, just finished a fine year pitching for Siena Height University in Michigan.

The Saints finished the regular season with 19 wins and lost to Aquinas, 7-2 and Madonna, 11-1 in the WHAC Tournament.

swalker@MorningJournal.com









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Friday, June 5, 2009

Pace commits to University of Michigan for football

Avon Lake’s Christian Pace, an offensive lineman, has decided on his college football career, signing to play at the University of Michigan this fall.

He had quite a few schools interested in, including Iowa, Florida State, Wake Forest, Ilinois, Stanford, South Carolina, Kansas, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina State, Marshall, Ball State, Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Toledo, Buffalo, Kent State, Ohio University and Air Force.
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Witherspoon wins HCAC Award as a freshman at Defiance


Southview’s Blake Witherspoon was one of 12 athletes from Defiance College to earn individual recognition following his performance at the 2009 Heartland College Athletic Conference Championships.

Witherspoon helped anchor the men’s 4 x 100 relay team as they cruised to a HCAC event title with a season-best time of 42.58.

Earlier in the season, Witherspoon won an event title at the Dick Small Track and Field Invitational and was tabbed as the HCAC Track Athlete of the Week.

Witherspoon won three events at the Invite. He claimed individual titles in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes and racked up nearly 25 points. He was also a member of Defiance’s winning 4 x 100 relay team that came within one hundredth of a school record. He also anchored the 4 x 400 team to a second-place finish.

Witherspoon, a state qualifier for Southview last season, topped the HCAC indoor performance list earlier this season in both the 55m and 200m dashes, while earning All-Ohio honors in the 55m.
Bold
swalker@MorningJournal.com






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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Toth finishes solid come-back season at University of Michigan


Lorain’s Anthony Toth (St. Ignatius) finished a solid come-back season with the team’s third-highest batting average on the Wolverines, batting .313. He finished with nine doubles, one triple, 24 RBIs and 42 runs scored.

He started all 55 games at shortstop and finished the season with a .934 fielding perentage.

Toth, who grew up in Lorain, but played high school baseball at St. Ignatius, came back from red-shirt sophomore season, due to injury.

Michigan saw its streak of six straight seasons in the Big Ten tournament field come to a close with a pair of losses to Northwestern, losing 10-6 and 6-5. With the losses, Michigan finished the season 30-25 overall and 9-15 in the Big Ten.
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Hamilton to play on first-ever basketball team at Holy Cross this fall


Vermilion’s Anne Hamilton will get a chance to be on the first-ever basketball team at Holy Cross College in Indiana, when the Saints usher in their inaugural season on October 28th, against Grace College in the McKenna Arena.

Hamilton, who was a four-year letter winner in basketball at Vermilion, signed a letter of intent last week to attend Holy Cross and has a great opportunity in a new program to be a starter as a freshman.

“When I went there and met the coaches, they were real welcoming,” Hamilton said. “I thought it would be cool to be able to be one of the first to play on the team and be a part of their history there.”

St. Francis (Illinois), Mercyhurst, Hiram, John Carroll and Mount Union were just some of her other options, but Holy Cross seemed like the perfect fit for her.

“I’m really excited about it,” Hamilton said. “I’ll be competing with everyone else to get my spot. It’ll be nice, because I’ll probably be playing with the same people for four years so it’ll create a good vibe and we’ll have a strong team in the future.”

She averaged 14 points and nearly seven rebounds per game this past season and earned All-West Shore Conference, All-Lorain County and All-District for three straight seasons.

She was also named the Vermilion’s team MVP and Best Offensive Player in her junior and senior year.

“Anne is a perfect fit for Holy Cross,“ Holy Cross head coach Matt Hunsberger said on the team’s website. “She has worked really hard to prepare herself for college - not only on the basketball court, but more importantly in the classroom … She'll be what I like to call a hybrid center/forward for us who can shoot the 3-point shot and dominate in the post as well. We'll be able to play Anne at any position because of her perimeter game and ball handling skills.”

Hamilton has been busy her senior year. Besides playing basketball, she also throws the shot put and discus for the track team.

“It was definitely a big relief to finally pick and tell everyone,” Hamilton said. “I had school and track, and my college decision. It was hard to tell the other schools, but now I feel relieved and can focus on ending my senior year.”

Her fourth appearance at regionals paid off this year, as she qualified for state in the shot put for the first time in her track career.

“I threw farther this year,“ Hamilton joked, when I asked her what the difference was this year. “And being at regionals for the past three years, I knew what to expect. I knew how they ran the meet and nothing was new for me. I just went there and acted like it was any other meet and threw as far as I could.”

Hamilton will compete at the state track meet this week and then start concentrating on her college basketball career at Holy Cross, where she will major in communications and marketing. In the future, she has a goal of being a public relations person for a professional sports team.

“I’m just really excited to get my college career going,” Hamilton added.

She also thanked her basketball coach Anjie Caffarel, who coached her all four years at Vermilion.

“She’s one of the most important people in my basketball life,” Hamilton said. “She’s been my mentor, on the court and off the court. I owe her a lot.”
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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Monday, June 1, 2009

Chafin invited to USA Baseball Team Trials




Western Reserve's Andrew Chafin, who pitches for Kent State, was invited to the 2009 USA Baseball Team Trials to be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina from June 15-24.

The National Team Trials will be comprised of 36 college players vying for a spot on the final 22-man roster to be announced on June 24.

Chafin, a freshman, is 4-1 on the year and leads Kent State with eight saves and a 1.26 ERA.
swalker@MorningJournal.com

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