Dixie Readies for Post Season

Both Dixie baseball and fastpitch are wrapping up their regular season this week and readying themselves for state tournament play. Dixie fastpitch dropped a game against Monroe 4-2 and then lost a game against Oakwood 6-5. Against Monroe, Dixie spotted the visitors a lead and tried a late 7^th inning rally that fell short. Courtney Hawk was 2 for 4; Abbey Owens and Stacy Rader had singles. In the Oakwood game which was senior night, the damage was done in the 5^th inning when Oakwood jumped ahead with a 3 run inning. This game was cut short by rain. Katie Honeywell had a double and an RBI for Dixie. Still the team won 8 regular season games this season a huge improvement after winning only one game last year.

“We played really well, but had just a few errors,” declared Coach Perry after the Monroe game, “This season we have done a great job at working hard and have improved greatly. We won 8 games this year as opposed to 1 game last year. The seniors did a great job leading this team. Courtney Hawk is true leader that lead this team for the past two years. She will be continuing her career at Lake Erie College. She is always pushing the girls. Madison Buxton has done a great job for us behind the plate. Stacey Rader has played a great center field for us. She made multiple diving catches this season.” In the tournament, Dixie plays Miami East, “We know they are a number 4 seed. We think that if we play our best like we did against Madison and Waynesville last week, that we should have a chance to beat them.”

Although Dixie graduates the middle of their defense: catcher, short stop and centerfield – they will have back their sophomore pitcher and most of their team. So that will give them a solid core to build upon. Dixie plays their first round game Monday, May 7^th at Miami East.

Dixie baseball kicked off their week with a resounding win over Franklin Monroe. They dominated the game from the first inning on – scoring 7 runs on route to a 14-2 victory. The pitchers mound was a bit of merry go round for the Greyhounds. Seth Angel, Luke Bowling, and Josh VonBehren all shared pitchers duties.

Greg Leonard, Josh VonBehren, Travis Wright, and Anthony Schaffer all had two hits. Christian Evans had 3 RBI's to go along with his home run. Christian Evans had 2 stolen bases. Defensively Greg Leonard had 4 putouts.

Dixie split a double header against Milton Union. In the first game Milton prevailed 5-2; Jacob Campbell was 3 for 4 in this game. Dixie turned the tables on Milton in the second game winning decisively 9-1. Seth Angel was the winning pictcher. Christian Evans was 3 for 3; Jacob Campbell's bat was hot in this game too as he was 2 for 3. Josh VonBehren was 2 for 3 as well.

Dixie vanquished Newton 14-4. Josh VonBehren was the pitcher of record. Anthony Schaffer was 2 for 2 on day. This win put Dixie's record at 12-13, a hair under .500 for the season. Dixie will be playing at Blanchester on May 7 in the state tournament. If they win the opening round, they will play a familiar foe – Middletown Madison.