BioWaveGoFriday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Eaton is ready for Talawanda. After their 3rd and final scrimmage, Eaton is ready to begin the regular season next Friday against Talawanda. Expectations are high after last seasons playoff run. Returning quarterback Cole French did not disappoint as he looked steady at the helm. I don't know what his completion rate was, but it had to have been high. Very few dropped balls and most of his passes were on the money. He and the spread offense work well together. When the scrimmage was over, Eaton had scored 4 TD's to Tipp City's one.
On the other side of the ball the defense had a good night overall. Lots of pressure on the Tipp quarterback. He had little time to throw. The running game was all they had. It was the big play that was the Achilles heel of the Eaton defense. They held Tipp to just a few yards a carry then all of sudden Tipp ripped a big carry for 50-60 yards. This happened at least twice and lead to their one score. Then the second time the defense held on a 4th and short causing Tipp to give up the ball on downs at about the 10 yard line. But overall the defense gave a good accounting of themselves.
The one thing I would like to see improved is the running game. Sure with the spread, you think pass first. And with a seasoned quarterback that is your strong hand. But you need to be able to run from time to time to keep the defense honest. Plus on those cold and windy Fridays, you need to be able to run when the pass isn't working for you. There was one decent gain for 15 yards, but overall they didn't do so well on the ground.
Coach Neanon had this to say after the scrimmage: "It was a good place to start, I really liked our defensive intensity - we got some nice pressure on their quarterback. That is something that we have been working on, so it was pleasing for us. Overall intensity wise I thought we played well. I thought our passing game looked good tonight. Our receivers caught the ball and Cole ready the defense well and picked out the guys who would be open. The offensive line gave him plenty of time, and if Cole has the time he can pick a defense apart."
Neanon expects Talawanda to use a ground attack. "They have big line splits and they will try to spread you out and they have a big quarterback who makes good reads on the option. They are not a huge team, but they have good quickness. On defense they use that speed to close on the ball."
On OSHAA allowing teams to have three scrimmages this year. "Overall I think it was a positive. We got to look at a lot of kids early on and fill out the depth chart. A lot of our young guys got playing time in game situations. On the negative side, there is always the chance for injury and so you just want to get out healthy."
Also I am doing some audio clips. So check it out on my Sports webpage, there is a link to right. The TVS audio is there now and Eaton's will be there shortly. Oh and if there are any young aspiring broadcasters out there - contact me. My voice is a monotone.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A new look at TVS. By my count TVS won the scrimmage 4-2 over New Miami. South scored both on the ground and in the air. The offense has an entirely new look under first year head coach Lance Engleka. He is the former offensive coordinator at Middletown where they ran the spread offense. That was the South offense of choice for the entire scrimmage. Many times spread teams will go to a different formation when it is short yardage - but South stayed with the spread thru out. Although South did use the pass effectively, they were able to keep New Miami of balance by running for yardage as well.
The South quarterbacks had a good eye for the most part - I think there was just the one interception, and the South receivers had good hands - very few dropped balls. They had a few holds on the line, and a few miscues, but for a first scrimmage they did well. And New Miami did have a couple of horses at tackle. Two big kids that looked to be over 6 foot and over 250 pounds. Defensively they had some let downs, but in the last part of the scrimmage, when it was down and distance, they did a good job against New Miami. South was up 4-1 and they had some subs in the game late when a New Miami quarterback ran a keeper for about 50 yards just before the scrimmage was over. Lots of red jerseys around the ball which you like to see on defense, plus they had a few sacks and tackles for loss.
New Miami has a new head coach as well - Coach Jewitt - if my memory is right he coached at Carlisle for awhile. One thing he did that was actually beneficial for the TVS defense was the variety of formations he used. The old T formation, Double wing, and the spread offenses. So the team had to adjust to a variety of looks. New Miami does not have much depth with about 22 - 24 players in all. On the other hand, South had 41 dressed for the scrimmage. Towards the end that difference in depth meant that they stayed stronger, longer.
Coach Engleka stated the entire experience was positive. "From an offensive standpoint we want to be uptempo in everything we do. Right from the get go we did what we needed to do, we were able to run the ball and we were able to throw the ball. We want to do what we want to do - when we want to do it. We both ran and threw the ball well when we wanted to.
Dylan Ashley and Cole Cottingim did really well at quarterback today. Our offensive line did a good job of getting into guys and moving them off the ball. We want our line to move the line of scrimmage back three yards and they did a great job of doing that. Our recievers made some real athletic plays. On the defensive side we told the guys to line up right, play fast and physical. Those are the three things we want to do, and today we did those three things. The type of offense they were running we had not seen before. And they did a good job against them; and if we can do those three things all year - line up right, play fast and physical we will be successful this year.
The defensive line did a good job of putting pressure on the quarterback. Our linebackers were coming up strong. Our free safety Zane Cottingim did an outstanding job today did an outstanding job of filling in the alley. Overall we were pleased with everything."
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Ready for Fall? If you are like me you are ready for fall sports to kick off. The Reds just don't have the chemistry that they had last year. They have shown signs of what they can be - like when they beat up the Giants. Then they fell on their face at Houston. Playing to the level of their competition. Although they are not mathematically eliminated, it is safe to say that they will spend the playoffs like the rest of us - on their couches with the remote control.
The Browns could be a team that sneaks up on folks. I can see them upsetting some teams this season. But the Bengals, oh the Bengals, ran by Mike Brown who was shocked and amazed that his franchise was voted amongst the worst in sports. New offense, new receivers, new quarterback, shutdown corner Joseph gone - for them 3 or 4 wins will be an accomplishment. This season the Bengals gear stays in mothballs.
Which brings us to the other professional team in Ohio - the Ohio State Buckeyes. Lots of turmoil. Anyone who hasn't graduated is suspended for the first 5 games. We have gotten spoiled in the Tressel era. It was taken for granted that we would win the big 10, beat up on Michigan, and play in a major bowl. Although the interim head coach, Finckel is intense, I don't know if he can overcome all the off field churn to get the team focused. It will be interesting to see if Braxton Miller can work his way into a starting QB spot - he seems more like the real deal than Pryor.
So what's left - my favorite sport, High School football. Looking forward to seeing some great players this fall. Cole French was phenomenal at Eaton. But his favorite receiver graduated, along with some very good linemen. Still I think that Eaton is in reload mode and should do well this season. A bit further down 35, Bowling is back as a Junior QB for Dixie. And he faces similar challenges - two very good receivers graduated along with some key linemen. Dixie had a great season last year, but being the smallest school in the SWBL, they have little margin for error.
In the CCC, look for Covington and Miami East to be at the top. But I think Bradford could be ready to make a challenge. They return a lot and Enis seems to have made a difference as head coach. Likewise Bethel returns some good players, I can see them in the top half of the league. Derringer seems to get the best out of TCN, they had a good young quarterback last season. It will be interesting to see if he continues to improve. South has a new coach, numbers are up, so maybe South will rise again. Ansonia graduated a lot and I am not sure they will get much help from the underclassmen. National Trail has a new coach, I heard they held up OK against Centerville in 7 on 7's, so maybe they are onto something.
Finally, I have the capability of updating the blog from my phone. So I will be posting quarterly updates on the games that I am attending. I know from the stats that a fair number of folks follow the blog from out of state and overseas. So this will be a way to get results closer to real time. First game will be TVS vs. Dixie.
The Browns could be a team that sneaks up on folks. I can see them upsetting some teams this season. But the Bengals, oh the Bengals, ran by Mike Brown who was shocked and amazed that his franchise was voted amongst the worst in sports. New offense, new receivers, new quarterback, shutdown corner Joseph gone - for them 3 or 4 wins will be an accomplishment. This season the Bengals gear stays in mothballs.
Which brings us to the other professional team in Ohio - the Ohio State Buckeyes. Lots of turmoil. Anyone who hasn't graduated is suspended for the first 5 games. We have gotten spoiled in the Tressel era. It was taken for granted that we would win the big 10, beat up on Michigan, and play in a major bowl. Although the interim head coach, Finckel is intense, I don't know if he can overcome all the off field churn to get the team focused. It will be interesting to see if Braxton Miller can work his way into a starting QB spot - he seems more like the real deal than Pryor.
So what's left - my favorite sport, High School football. Looking forward to seeing some great players this fall. Cole French was phenomenal at Eaton. But his favorite receiver graduated, along with some very good linemen. Still I think that Eaton is in reload mode and should do well this season. A bit further down 35, Bowling is back as a Junior QB for Dixie. And he faces similar challenges - two very good receivers graduated along with some key linemen. Dixie had a great season last year, but being the smallest school in the SWBL, they have little margin for error.
In the CCC, look for Covington and Miami East to be at the top. But I think Bradford could be ready to make a challenge. They return a lot and Enis seems to have made a difference as head coach. Likewise Bethel returns some good players, I can see them in the top half of the league. Derringer seems to get the best out of TCN, they had a good young quarterback last season. It will be interesting to see if he continues to improve. South has a new coach, numbers are up, so maybe South will rise again. Ansonia graduated a lot and I am not sure they will get much help from the underclassmen. National Trail has a new coach, I heard they held up OK against Centerville in 7 on 7's, so maybe they are onto something.
Finally, I have the capability of updating the blog from my phone. So I will be posting quarterly updates on the games that I am attending. I know from the stats that a fair number of folks follow the blog from out of state and overseas. So this will be a way to get results closer to real time. First game will be TVS vs. Dixie.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Local Athletes State Bound
Two local athletes will be going on to state – regional Champion Myranda Schoen from TCN threw the discus 114’6” to win her event. South’s George Holman was a 4th place finisher in the 1600m run and so he will be running at state. The always tough Southwest Regional track meet was a heartbreaker for a number of athletes who had aspirations of going on to the next level. Many athletes would have their best performances of the season at the meet but it wouldn’t be enough to be a top 4 finisher and go on to state. But as I found out, several athletes will have opportunities after their high school careers have finished.
Dixie had two near misses with John Isaacs finishing 5th and William Stapleton finishing 6th in their events – high jump and 3200m run. Stapleton took an astounding 30 seconds off of his best time but still just missed going to state. De’Aaron Isaacs finally got a medal in the 300m hurdles. Last season he tumbled over the last hurdle while in first place and was disqualified. This season he did finish, but ended up in 8th place. South’s Steve Balthis and Ryan Burns also came close to qualifying for state, but their performances were just shy. South girls relay teams finished outside the medal range even though the 4X400m relay team won their heat.
And looking to the future, De’Aaron will be going on to Miami University on an Academic Scholarship; he will be studying music and drama . Megan Uzzel didn’t do as well as she would have liked in the pole vault, finishing out of a medal. But she will be going on to Ashland where she plans to continue her track career. Tony Prater, also from Dixie, will be attending Kentucky Christian and playing football there. Finally South’s George Holman will attending the University of Detroit Mercy where he will continue his running career with a scholarship.
Coach Fahrenholtz from South had hoped that Steve Balthis would have made it to state,” but still he had a great season, and great career here – he just didn’t have a great day. In any other year his long jump would have gotten him to state, but it didn’t this year. In the 2 mile run 6th place was under 10 minutes – so the competition was great in all the events.” On George Holman, “His time of 4:30.11 is a personal record for him. I am happy for him, he ran well. He is our one and only going to state – it was a tough year here at regionals.”
George Holman was asked about going out for the early lead in his race, “Part of my stragedy was to get out there early and stay with the leaders and stay with them as long as I can.” George held the lead for most of the race and was overtaken late but finished a solid 4th. This will be his second 1600m run at the state meet.
Dixie’s Coach Hughes also agreed that this was a tough meet. “I was happy with the numbers of the guys that made it to the meet. They worked hard all season, it didn’t go quite as well as we wanted it to. John Isaacs just missed in the high jump, and our 2 miler, Stapleton had the best performance for us of the day and still didn’t make it – it was his best run ever. Sophomore John Nguyen didn’t make it in hurdles, but he got some good experience. De’Aaron Isaacs didn’t make it, it wasn’t quite his year. He got his first medal for 300m hurdles, but it really wasn’t the medal he was really hoping for. The 4X200m team scored points for us and had a personal best. the 4X100m team just missed scoring points, finishing 9th. Kenny Beard, the head track official, remarked that the first and second finishers here will finish really well in state too.”
Regional results: 110m hurdles TVS Steve Balthis 7th; 4X200m relay Dix John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan, Tony Prater 7th;1600m TVS George Holman 4th;300m hurdles Dix De’Aaron Isaacs 8th; 3200m Dix William Stapleton 6th; Discus Myranda Schoen TCN 1st; high jump Kate Yeazel NT 6th; High Jump Dix John Isaacs 5th; Long Jump TVS Steve Balthis 6th; Pole Vault TVS Ryan Burns 6th, Jordan Krickenbarger 8th.
Two local athletes will be going on to state – regional Champion Myranda Schoen from TCN threw the discus 114’6” to win her event. South’s George Holman was a 4th place finisher in the 1600m run and so he will be running at state. The always tough Southwest Regional track meet was a heartbreaker for a number of athletes who had aspirations of going on to the next level. Many athletes would have their best performances of the season at the meet but it wouldn’t be enough to be a top 4 finisher and go on to state. But as I found out, several athletes will have opportunities after their high school careers have finished.
Dixie had two near misses with John Isaacs finishing 5th and William Stapleton finishing 6th in their events – high jump and 3200m run. Stapleton took an astounding 30 seconds off of his best time but still just missed going to state. De’Aaron Isaacs finally got a medal in the 300m hurdles. Last season he tumbled over the last hurdle while in first place and was disqualified. This season he did finish, but ended up in 8th place. South’s Steve Balthis and Ryan Burns also came close to qualifying for state, but their performances were just shy. South girls relay teams finished outside the medal range even though the 4X400m relay team won their heat.
And looking to the future, De’Aaron will be going on to Miami University on an Academic Scholarship; he will be studying music and drama . Megan Uzzel didn’t do as well as she would have liked in the pole vault, finishing out of a medal. But she will be going on to Ashland where she plans to continue her track career. Tony Prater, also from Dixie, will be attending Kentucky Christian and playing football there. Finally South’s George Holman will attending the University of Detroit Mercy where he will continue his running career with a scholarship.
Coach Fahrenholtz from South had hoped that Steve Balthis would have made it to state,” but still he had a great season, and great career here – he just didn’t have a great day. In any other year his long jump would have gotten him to state, but it didn’t this year. In the 2 mile run 6th place was under 10 minutes – so the competition was great in all the events.” On George Holman, “His time of 4:30.11 is a personal record for him. I am happy for him, he ran well. He is our one and only going to state – it was a tough year here at regionals.”
George Holman was asked about going out for the early lead in his race, “Part of my stragedy was to get out there early and stay with the leaders and stay with them as long as I can.” George held the lead for most of the race and was overtaken late but finished a solid 4th. This will be his second 1600m run at the state meet.
Dixie’s Coach Hughes also agreed that this was a tough meet. “I was happy with the numbers of the guys that made it to the meet. They worked hard all season, it didn’t go quite as well as we wanted it to. John Isaacs just missed in the high jump, and our 2 miler, Stapleton had the best performance for us of the day and still didn’t make it – it was his best run ever. Sophomore John Nguyen didn’t make it in hurdles, but he got some good experience. De’Aaron Isaacs didn’t make it, it wasn’t quite his year. He got his first medal for 300m hurdles, but it really wasn’t the medal he was really hoping for. The 4X200m team scored points for us and had a personal best. the 4X100m team just missed scoring points, finishing 9th. Kenny Beard, the head track official, remarked that the first and second finishers here will finish really well in state too.”
Regional results: 110m hurdles TVS Steve Balthis 7th; 4X200m relay Dix John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan, Tony Prater 7th;1600m TVS George Holman 4th;300m hurdles Dix De’Aaron Isaacs 8th; 3200m Dix William Stapleton 6th; Discus Myranda Schoen TCN 1st; high jump Kate Yeazel NT 6th; High Jump Dix John Isaacs 5th; Long Jump TVS Steve Balthis 6th; Pole Vault TVS Ryan Burns 6th, Jordan Krickenbarger 8th.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
South and Dixie Do Well at District
Both Twin Valley South and Dixie boys found success at the district track meet. The two teams dueled for the championship and when the day was done, South took home the first place hardware, while Dixie was runnerup. And the girls teams added to their respective medal counts as several local teams sent athletes to the regional meet to be held next week in Troy. Athletes had to finish in the top 4 in their event to qualify. And it was great weather in an otherwise wet spring. A track official remarked to me that this was only the second meet all season that he had attended where there was no rain! The hot weather made for some good performances.
Steve Balthis from Twin Valley South had an impressive meet, he qualified for all 4 of the events that he participated in. Another athlete had to over adversity to go to the next level, Myranda Schoen from TCN qualified in 2 field events – winning the shot and second in the discus. She had a noticeable limp from a pulled hamstring when she entered the circle for her throws, but was able to persevere. But she missed a trifecta due to the injury which caused her to be scratched from the 100m dash.
South coach Farenholtz was all smiles at the end of the meet. “Steve Balthis qualified in all 4 of his events. And George Holman won the 1600m run, and also qualified on his relay team. Bobby Green finished second in the shot and this was his first year of doing it. He is a junior so he will be back next year. We had great performances today – the 4X100 relay team, well that was their best time all year. They picked the right time to run there best. We scored in all of the field events. Ryan Burns and Jordan Krickenbarger both qualified in the pole vault. Burns has been playing catcher on the baseball team this spring, so we just picked him up – we are hoping that he gets even better for next week. It’s been a fun day for us”.
TVS girls Coach Mabry is sending some athletes to Regionals as well. “Haley Glander is going on two relay teams, but she just missed qualifying in the open 100 and 200. Finishing 5th in both races. It would have been nice if she could have moved up one spot. But both relay teams, the 4X200 and 4X400, ran their best times today. The 4X100 ran their best time of the year – but it just wasn’t fast enough. But next week the girls aren’t running as many races, so they will be fresher and we have time to prepare”.
Coach Via from Dixie was ecstatic about Megan Uzzel who was district champion in the pole vault. “She put in a lot of work in the off season. She won last year with a 9 foot jump. She spent the season breaking her own records and has the school record this year – 10 feet.” Coach Hughes, boys coach from Dixie, was pleased with the Dixie boys team, “The winning 4X100m relay team ran a personal best today. This is back to back championships for our 4X100 team. Our high jumper, John Isaacs was also a district champ. He’s had a good year, tied our school record with a 6’6” jump earlier in the spring. We double qualifiers in the 300m hurdles, De’Aaron Issacns and John Nguyen. This will be De’Aaron’s third year at Regionals. Both he and John have been working really hard this year. Stapleton, our distance runner, has had a good meet – he will be going to regionals in two events”.
Other regional qualifiers are: TVS 4X800 (George Holman, Anthony Botting, Josh Perry, Nick Guerhing); 110m hurdles TVS Steve Balthis, Dix De’Aaron Isaac. 100m dash TVS Steve Balthis. 4X200m relay TVS (Hayley Glander, Kim Perry, Alyssa Wysong, Katherine Leach). 4X200m relay Dix (Tony Prater, John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan).
1600m run TVS George Holman, Dix William Stapleton. Girls 4X100m PS (Taylor Fultz, Jessika Evans, Mackenzie Steele, Cassie Crawford). Boys 4X100m Dix (Tony Prater, John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan). TVS (Tyler Leach, Brandon Gorby, Ryan Burns, Jacob Hemmelgarn). 300m hurdles Dix De'aaron Isaac, Dix John Nguyen, TVS Jacob Hemmelgarn. 800m TVS Kim Perry, TCN Makayla Conley. Boys 3200m Dix William Stapleton; Nick Guehring TVS.
4X400m TVS (Ashton Beneke, Kim Perry, Abbey Voge, Hayley Glander). 4X400m relay Dix Tony Prater, Patrick Bain, John Nguyen, De'aaron Isaac). Discus Myranda Schoen TCN. High Jump John Isaacs Dix, Steve Balthis TVS. Long Jump Steve Balthis. Girls shot Myranda Schoen TCN; boys shot Bobby Green TVS. Pole Vault Dix Megan Uzzel. Pole Vault Jordan Krickenbarger, Ryan Burns.
Both Twin Valley South and Dixie boys found success at the district track meet. The two teams dueled for the championship and when the day was done, South took home the first place hardware, while Dixie was runnerup. And the girls teams added to their respective medal counts as several local teams sent athletes to the regional meet to be held next week in Troy. Athletes had to finish in the top 4 in their event to qualify. And it was great weather in an otherwise wet spring. A track official remarked to me that this was only the second meet all season that he had attended where there was no rain! The hot weather made for some good performances.
Steve Balthis from Twin Valley South had an impressive meet, he qualified for all 4 of the events that he participated in. Another athlete had to over adversity to go to the next level, Myranda Schoen from TCN qualified in 2 field events – winning the shot and second in the discus. She had a noticeable limp from a pulled hamstring when she entered the circle for her throws, but was able to persevere. But she missed a trifecta due to the injury which caused her to be scratched from the 100m dash.
South coach Farenholtz was all smiles at the end of the meet. “Steve Balthis qualified in all 4 of his events. And George Holman won the 1600m run, and also qualified on his relay team. Bobby Green finished second in the shot and this was his first year of doing it. He is a junior so he will be back next year. We had great performances today – the 4X100 relay team, well that was their best time all year. They picked the right time to run there best. We scored in all of the field events. Ryan Burns and Jordan Krickenbarger both qualified in the pole vault. Burns has been playing catcher on the baseball team this spring, so we just picked him up – we are hoping that he gets even better for next week. It’s been a fun day for us”.
TVS girls Coach Mabry is sending some athletes to Regionals as well. “Haley Glander is going on two relay teams, but she just missed qualifying in the open 100 and 200. Finishing 5th in both races. It would have been nice if she could have moved up one spot. But both relay teams, the 4X200 and 4X400, ran their best times today. The 4X100 ran their best time of the year – but it just wasn’t fast enough. But next week the girls aren’t running as many races, so they will be fresher and we have time to prepare”.
Coach Via from Dixie was ecstatic about Megan Uzzel who was district champion in the pole vault. “She put in a lot of work in the off season. She won last year with a 9 foot jump. She spent the season breaking her own records and has the school record this year – 10 feet.” Coach Hughes, boys coach from Dixie, was pleased with the Dixie boys team, “The winning 4X100m relay team ran a personal best today. This is back to back championships for our 4X100 team. Our high jumper, John Isaacs was also a district champ. He’s had a good year, tied our school record with a 6’6” jump earlier in the spring. We double qualifiers in the 300m hurdles, De’Aaron Issacns and John Nguyen. This will be De’Aaron’s third year at Regionals. Both he and John have been working really hard this year. Stapleton, our distance runner, has had a good meet – he will be going to regionals in two events”.
Other regional qualifiers are: TVS 4X800 (George Holman, Anthony Botting, Josh Perry, Nick Guerhing); 110m hurdles TVS Steve Balthis, Dix De’Aaron Isaac. 100m dash TVS Steve Balthis. 4X200m relay TVS (Hayley Glander, Kim Perry, Alyssa Wysong, Katherine Leach). 4X200m relay Dix (Tony Prater, John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan).
1600m run TVS George Holman, Dix William Stapleton. Girls 4X100m PS (Taylor Fultz, Jessika Evans, Mackenzie Steele, Cassie Crawford). Boys 4X100m Dix (Tony Prater, John Isaacs, Doogie Hauser, Ryan Jordan). TVS (Tyler Leach, Brandon Gorby, Ryan Burns, Jacob Hemmelgarn). 300m hurdles Dix De'aaron Isaac, Dix John Nguyen, TVS Jacob Hemmelgarn. 800m TVS Kim Perry, TCN Makayla Conley. Boys 3200m Dix William Stapleton; Nick Guehring TVS.
4X400m TVS (Ashton Beneke, Kim Perry, Abbey Voge, Hayley Glander). 4X400m relay Dix Tony Prater, Patrick Bain, John Nguyen, De'aaron Isaac). Discus Myranda Schoen TCN. High Jump John Isaacs Dix, Steve Balthis TVS. Long Jump Steve Balthis. Girls shot Myranda Schoen TCN; boys shot Bobby Green TVS. Pole Vault Dix Megan Uzzel. Pole Vault Jordan Krickenbarger, Ryan Burns.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Dixie Ends Season Against Waynesville
The Dixie Greyhounds baseball has enjoyed success this season as they have in past seasons. But despite a 12 game winning streak earlier in the season, the team sputtered down the stretch and finally lost to Waynesville in the opening round of the state tournament. Dashing their hopes of back to back district titles. It was a frustrating loss for the seniors, a group that was used to success.
Dixie was able to get the lead when Greg Leonard and Wes Smith crossed the plate in the second inning. This gave them a 2-1 lead over the Spartans. Waynesville threatened in the 4th inning, advancing a runner to third base. But a timely double play by the Greyhounds got them out of danger. Aaron Worley unofficially had 6 strikeouts by the 5th inning so he was throwing a decent baseball. He had only lost one game the entire season.
The one run lead seemed to be holding fine as the team entered the 6th inning. The first Waynesville hitter reached base, but the next batter popped out to the catcher when he tried to bunt. The next batter flied out. Then came a 2 out rally, a coaches bane. The next batter was walked, and the damage was done when a bases clearing double on a ball hit in the gap scored two runs to give Waynesville the lead. Another batter was walked and finally the next batter grounded out to end the eruption.
Dixie went down 1-2-3 in to end the 6th inning. They did manage to get their first hitter on base in the final inning when he hit a blooper just over the heads of the infield. He advanced to second on a ground out. The next batter went down swinging and now Dixie was down to their final out. Dixie had a slim chance, but things would have to break the right way for them. Unfortunately the base runner was thrown out on a failed steal attempt trying to get into better scoring position. So that was game, set, and match for Dixie.
Coach Bingham was crestfallen after the game, “We gave the game away - had some errors that hurt us, and the kid from Waynesville pitched a very good game. We hit balls, but we hit then right at them – didn’t have anything fall. ” Despite this loss, the team did end up in second place in the league.
And Coach Bingham gave props to a successful senior class, “Aaron Worley, Josh Bingham, Ethan Hayes, and Wes Smith were the core of this group. Aaron ended up with 7 wins against 2 losses and is second all time in wins at the school. Ethan has been a solid player behind the plate, hits the ball hard, and is one of the all time RBI leaders. Josh was strong for us in 2009 and helped us in that district championship run, he has been solid for us in the outfield. Wes is 3-1 and has been a really good pitcher for us despite injury. All of these seniors will be missed.” He went on to say that this was the winningest class in school history averaging 18 wins per season.
The Dixie Greyhounds baseball has enjoyed success this season as they have in past seasons. But despite a 12 game winning streak earlier in the season, the team sputtered down the stretch and finally lost to Waynesville in the opening round of the state tournament. Dashing their hopes of back to back district titles. It was a frustrating loss for the seniors, a group that was used to success.
Dixie was able to get the lead when Greg Leonard and Wes Smith crossed the plate in the second inning. This gave them a 2-1 lead over the Spartans. Waynesville threatened in the 4th inning, advancing a runner to third base. But a timely double play by the Greyhounds got them out of danger. Aaron Worley unofficially had 6 strikeouts by the 5th inning so he was throwing a decent baseball. He had only lost one game the entire season.
The one run lead seemed to be holding fine as the team entered the 6th inning. The first Waynesville hitter reached base, but the next batter popped out to the catcher when he tried to bunt. The next batter flied out. Then came a 2 out rally, a coaches bane. The next batter was walked, and the damage was done when a bases clearing double on a ball hit in the gap scored two runs to give Waynesville the lead. Another batter was walked and finally the next batter grounded out to end the eruption.
Dixie went down 1-2-3 in to end the 6th inning. They did manage to get their first hitter on base in the final inning when he hit a blooper just over the heads of the infield. He advanced to second on a ground out. The next batter went down swinging and now Dixie was down to their final out. Dixie had a slim chance, but things would have to break the right way for them. Unfortunately the base runner was thrown out on a failed steal attempt trying to get into better scoring position. So that was game, set, and match for Dixie.
Coach Bingham was crestfallen after the game, “We gave the game away - had some errors that hurt us, and the kid from Waynesville pitched a very good game. We hit balls, but we hit then right at them – didn’t have anything fall. ” Despite this loss, the team did end up in second place in the league.
And Coach Bingham gave props to a successful senior class, “Aaron Worley, Josh Bingham, Ethan Hayes, and Wes Smith were the core of this group. Aaron ended up with 7 wins against 2 losses and is second all time in wins at the school. Ethan has been a solid player behind the plate, hits the ball hard, and is one of the all time RBI leaders. Josh was strong for us in 2009 and helped us in that district championship run, he has been solid for us in the outfield. Wes is 3-1 and has been a really good pitcher for us despite injury. All of these seniors will be missed.” He went on to say that this was the winningest class in school history averaging 18 wins per season.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Well Graher has stepped down as head coach at Trail. The guy who got Mississinnewa Valley turned around met his match at the Blazers. The team has only won a single game in the last 3 years. So a lot of room for improvement. Not sure who they can manage to bring in at that program. No tradition, tough for an incoming coach to build enthusiasm for a program like that. A difficult uphill battle for anyone.
Dixie is resodding their football field this spring and looks to be doing some regrading. So if nothing else the field will be looking sharp this fall. Dixie graduates a lot, but I like their quarterback.
Coldwater on ESPN? Heard a rumor that ESPN is thinking of putting a Coldwater game on TV. It would be an August game and they would move it a Sunday start time.
Dixie is resodding their football field this spring and looks to be doing some regrading. So if nothing else the field will be looking sharp this fall. Dixie graduates a lot, but I like their quarterback.
Coldwater on ESPN? Heard a rumor that ESPN is thinking of putting a Coldwater game on TV. It would be an August game and they would move it a Sunday start time.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
South Football Under a New Head Coach
South Football will be under the helm of a new coach this fall. Lance Engleka was recently voted in by the school board after the resignation of the old coach and has hit the ground running. He has already met with the team and is implementing a strength and conditioning program for the kids. “Even with baseball and track in season, the workouts have been well attended. I like the leadership that I am seeing from the seniors.”
He has an Ohio background, but has spent some time out of state. He spent 4 years in the Navy, and coached at Buford high school outside of Atlanta, Georgia where he helped coach the offense. In Ohio he graduated from Miamisburg high school, he attended Miami University where he played baseball, and coached football in Centerville and most recently in Middletown – again on the offensive side of the ball.
Middletown was his most recent coaching position and they featured the spread offense. Coach Engleka stated that most fans think of a spread offense as constantly throwing the ball. But the system at Middletown allowed more flexibility and so there times when they ran more out of the spread than passed. It was adjusted according to the players you had at time. At different times they had strong players in various positions and so they adapted the offense to match the skillsets they had to work with. So the spread offense is something that we could be seeing more of from South.
It is noteworthy that Engleka has been with winning programs – Buford had a phenomenal run where they made the playoffs several years in row, the football team even received a letter of commendation from the Georgia state legislature and Middletown has made the state playoffs the last two years, even defeating perennial powerhouse Moeller the year before last. This year Wayne beat them on the way to the State Championship. Although he has a lot of experience with large Division I schools like Centerville and Middletown, he stated that Buford was closer to TVS in size – so that gives him some perspective on small school football where there will be many players going both ways.
Although he comes in with a lot of coaching experience on the offensive side of the ball, he is not neglecting the defense. Coach Householder, an alum of New Mexico State University, and who has spent about 30 years in football either as a player or coach will be in charge of defensive duties. He was most recently coaching in Springfield. Coach Engleka is expecting big things from him. Coaches Maddox and Albright are being retained and will round out the coaching staff.
One thing that struck me is that towards the end of our conversion he stated that he enjoyed seeing the players during the strength and conditioning sessions. It gave him a chance to meet and get to know the kids off the field – so that that they knew that this was more than just about football. That is a perspective that I like to see. He also came off as sincere and focused. Attributes that we like to see in our coaches. South football has been very cyclical with long valleys between the peaks. Here’s hoping that South rides to a new peak with their new coach.
South Football will be under the helm of a new coach this fall. Lance Engleka was recently voted in by the school board after the resignation of the old coach and has hit the ground running. He has already met with the team and is implementing a strength and conditioning program for the kids. “Even with baseball and track in season, the workouts have been well attended. I like the leadership that I am seeing from the seniors.”
He has an Ohio background, but has spent some time out of state. He spent 4 years in the Navy, and coached at Buford high school outside of Atlanta, Georgia where he helped coach the offense. In Ohio he graduated from Miamisburg high school, he attended Miami University where he played baseball, and coached football in Centerville and most recently in Middletown – again on the offensive side of the ball.
Middletown was his most recent coaching position and they featured the spread offense. Coach Engleka stated that most fans think of a spread offense as constantly throwing the ball. But the system at Middletown allowed more flexibility and so there times when they ran more out of the spread than passed. It was adjusted according to the players you had at time. At different times they had strong players in various positions and so they adapted the offense to match the skillsets they had to work with. So the spread offense is something that we could be seeing more of from South.
It is noteworthy that Engleka has been with winning programs – Buford had a phenomenal run where they made the playoffs several years in row, the football team even received a letter of commendation from the Georgia state legislature and Middletown has made the state playoffs the last two years, even defeating perennial powerhouse Moeller the year before last. This year Wayne beat them on the way to the State Championship. Although he has a lot of experience with large Division I schools like Centerville and Middletown, he stated that Buford was closer to TVS in size – so that gives him some perspective on small school football where there will be many players going both ways.
Although he comes in with a lot of coaching experience on the offensive side of the ball, he is not neglecting the defense. Coach Householder, an alum of New Mexico State University, and who has spent about 30 years in football either as a player or coach will be in charge of defensive duties. He was most recently coaching in Springfield. Coach Engleka is expecting big things from him. Coaches Maddox and Albright are being retained and will round out the coaching staff.
One thing that struck me is that towards the end of our conversion he stated that he enjoyed seeing the players during the strength and conditioning sessions. It gave him a chance to meet and get to know the kids off the field – so that that they knew that this was more than just about football. That is a perspective that I like to see. He also came off as sincere and focused. Attributes that we like to see in our coaches. South football has been very cyclical with long valleys between the peaks. Here’s hoping that South rides to a new peak with their new coach.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Brookville One - Two at TVS Invitational
The Brookville boys and girls track teams had a strong showing at the Twin Valley South Invitational Friday night. The girls team finished first and the boys team was second – edged out of first by only half a point by Covington which scored 98 while Brookville scored 97.5. Despite the threat of bad weather by the local forecasters there was a good sized crowd on hand. The parking lot at the school was full and people were parking along the access road. The umbrellas popped up like mushrooms as a couple of bands of rain passed thru – but each time it rained for about 30 minutes and was gone. Temperatures were reasonable for this time of year and overall it was well ran track meet.
Team finishes for local girls teams: Brookville 1st,Eaton 3rd, Valley View 4th,Madison 5th, National Trail 8th, Dixie 9th, TCN 10th, TVS 10th(tie). Boys teams finishes: Covington 1st,Brookville 2nd, TVS 3rd, Dixie 4th, Eaton 5th, Valley View 6th, Madison 8th, TCN 13th,National Trail 15th.
Girls 4X800 Brookville 1st,Valley View 3rd,Eaton 5th,Dixie 7th; Boys 4X800 Brookville 1st, Valley View 3rd,TVS 4th,Eaton 5th,Dixie 7th; Girls 100m hurdles Ashley Neavin Eaton 1st, Kari Shank VV 3rd, Mackenzie Lingenfe BV 4th, Zanna Spears Eaton 6th; Boys 100m hurdles Steve Balthis TVS 1st, De’aaron Isaac DX 3rd, Jordan Krickenbarger TVS 4th, Deon Smith Eaton 5th.
Girls 100m Dash Michelle McKinney Eaton 1st, Danielle Sedwick BV 2nd,Myranda Schoen TCN 3rd, Allison Bundy MD 4th, Katie Clark VV 5th, Kari Shank VV 6th,Hayley Glander TVS 7th, Katherine Leach TVS 8th; Boys 100m dash Trent Vore BV 1st, Ryan Jordan DX 3rd, Joe Lang VV 4th, Nathan Clark Eaton 6th, Kody Eby TCN 7th.
Girls 4X200 Brookville 1st, Madison 3rd, Valley View 4th, TVS 5h, Dixie 6th, Eaton 7th; Boys 4X200 Eaton 1st, Dixie 4th, Valley View 5th,Trail 6th, TCN 7th; Girls 1600m Samantha Combs VV 2nd, Courtney Swink BV 3rd, Stephanie Robinson MD 5th, Andrea Hunt NT 7th, Alissa Mayrer BV 8th; Boys 1600m George Holman TVS 1st,Todd Hewitt Eaton 2nd, Sam Bench BV 3rd, Nathan Lee VV 4th, William Stapleton DX 6th, Nick Guehring TVS 7th.
Girls 4X100m Madison 1st, Valley View 3rd, Brookville 5th, TVS 6th, Eaton 7th, Dixie 8th. Boys 4X100m Dixie 1st, Brookville 3rd, TVS 4th, TCN 5th, Madison 6th,Eaton 7th, Valley View.
Girls 400m Michelle McKinney Eaton 2nd, Lilly Malcolm Madison 4th, Lydia King BV 6th, Ally Rutherford BV 7th, Makayla Conley 8th TCN. Boys 400m Ethan Leonard BV 1st, Jake Simpkins VV 3rd, Andre Eddy Eaton 5th, JJ MacPherson 8th TCN; 300m Zanna Spears Eaton 3rd, Kari Shank VV 5th, Ashley Neavin Eaton 6th, Mackenzie Lingenfe 7th, Kelsey Limbert 8th. Boys 300m De’Aaron Isaac DX 1st, Jacob Hemmelgarn TVS 2nd, Billy McGuire 5th, John Nguyen DX 7th.
Girls 800m Samantha Combs 4th VV. Andrea Hunt NT 5th,Kim Perry TVS 6th, Chelsea Tiley 8th; boys 800m Nathan Clark Eaton 1st, Jake Simpkins VV 2nd, George Holman TVS 4th, Jacob Bench BV 5th, Lee Bricker BV 6th, Josh Perry TVS 7th. Girls 200m Michelle McKinney 1st, Allison Bundy Madison 2nd,Brindy Northcutt BV 4th, Katie Clark VV 5th, Taylor Whiteman Madison 6th, Rachel Vore BV 8th;Boys 200m Dash Ethan Leonard BV 2nd, Ryan Jordan DX 3rd, Joe Lang VV 6th, Andre Eddy Eaton 7th.
Girls 3200m Samantha Combs VV 2nd, Courtney Swink BV 3rd, Alissa Mayrer BV 4th,Stephanie Robinson MD 5th, Victoria Stapleton DX 7th. Boys 3200m Todd Hewitt Eaton 1st, Nathan Lee VV 2nd, Matt Sewell BV 3rd, William Stapleton DX 7th. Girls 4X400m BV 1st, Eaton 2nd, VV 5th, DX 7th, MD 8th. Boys 4X400m BV 1st, Eaton 3rd, VV 5th,8th TCN.
Girls Discus Myranda Schoen TCN 2nd, Caitlin Highley Eaton 3rd, Mikayla Daniel MD 4th, Brooke Lewis VV 6th, Kate Deaton NT 7th, Katie Epperson VV 8th; Boys Discus Josh Behnken BV 2nd, Drew Othersen Eaton 4th, Dylan Steffey TVS 6th, Mike Smiley 7th DX. Girls Shot Andrea Brower Eaton 1st, Kate Yeazel NT 2nd, Mikayla Daniel MD 3rd, Myranda Schoen TCN 4th, Katie Epperson VV 5th, Lainey Linville BV 6th. Boys Shot Logan Shell BV 2nd, Austen Alber 3rd BV, Mike Smiley 4th DX, Drew Othersen Eaton 7th. Robert Green TVS 8th.
Girls Long Jump Alyx Duning NT 3rd, Katherine Leach TVS 4th,Rebekah Stout BV 5th, Andrea Hunt NT 6th, Emily Robbins TVS 7th, Katie Bliss VV 8th. Boys Long Jump Steve Balthis TVS 1st, Chris Daniel MD 3rd, Jacob Hemmelgarn TVS 4th, Ryan Jordan 6th DX, Billy McGuire MD 7th. Girls High Jump Kate Yeazel NT 1st, Haleigh White DX 3rd, Rebekah Stout BV 4th,Stacey Nutt Eaton 5th, Jordan Hickey TVS 6th, Andi Long MD, Kelly Schriever TCN. Boys High Jump Steve Balthis TVS 1st, John Isaacs DX 2nd, Ryan Thobe Madison 3rd, Nick Gillis BV 4th, Nathan Friesel VV 4th,Jacob Hemmelgarn 4th(tie).
Girls pole vault Megan Uzzel DX 2, Cortney Cobb MD 5th, Emma Kroger VV 6th,Heather Thomas TVS VV. Boys pole vault Jordan Krickenbarger TVS 1st, Cody Falldorf DX 2nd, Kyle Forth MD 3rd, Alan Sarver Eaton 5th, John Nguyen DX 7th, David Day VV 8th.
A Shepard in Afghanistan Part 2
This is the second part of a dialogue between myself and Mark Shepard, a retired Army Colonel who is working with the Afghanistan Government. Some of the projects that he has worked on include developing a national firefighting curriculum and also a National Disaster Management Plan. So he interacts with Afghani’s on a daily basis when he is in country. He has been shuttling back and forth from the US, to Europe, and the middle East as part of his work. And he has been forthcoming with his observations and thoughts on Afghanistan and the Middle East in general.
In Marks words -What I can tell you that there are some educational, economic and cultural obstacles that it will take years to fix, not months. A country that has been without an education system since the Soviet Union invaded and not much of one prior to that has a long way to go. The younger generation of Afghans are more easily accepting of us, at least more accepting of the educational and need to join the world community. And, in a community that respects its elders, change comes very slowly. Marriages are still arranged and obeying of elders continues until the sons and daughters reach middle age.
In a country with few jobs, there is not much opportunity for the younger generation to advance. So educated young people are leaving the country to seek their fortunes. So this exasperates the problems in that country, when your best and brightest leave it is a drain on the society. Also he noted that half the society is marginalized – women have few opportunities to participate outside the home. He also noted that the Afghani’s liked Western things, but did not particularly like Western society. The further away from Kabul one gets, I believe the less they think Americans are doing the country much good, unless they are directly connected with a Provincial Reconstruction Teams that are a mix of Military and State Department people that are out in the provinces trying to establish stable forms of local government.
As noted before corruption has been a problem in Afghanistan. There is a move afoot to introduce a more Western style rule of law with a local system integrated with a regional and national justice system where the laws are standardized and enforced equally. Rule of law
includes the entire legal complex of a modern state, from a constitution and a legislature to
courts, judges, police, prisons, due process procedures, a commercial code, and anticorruption measures. All things we take for granted here but simply don’t exit there.
Another aspect of their culture that impedes the growth of knowledge is the reluctance to share information. A technician knows that he is invaluable so long as he is the only one in a unit to have that knowledge; once he dispenses it to others he no longer is the only font of knowledge and his power dissipates. This explains the commonplace hoarding of manuals, books, training pamphlets, and other training or logistics literature. So whether it is a private company or a military unit, there this hoarding of knowledge.
Mark feels that it will take generations of Western influence to profoundly influence the culture of Afghanistan. Historically, Afghanistan has been characterized as a nation of loosely confederated warlords who rule over geographically separate domains. And there has been pressure from voices within the national government to revert to the old ways and permit provincial governors to field their own militias. But this would upset the concept of a Republic style of government. So far they have resisted this urge to go back to the way things were. Hopefully with the coalition leaving around 2014, the international community will pick up where we left off and continue to guide the Afghans toward legitimacy. Without that guidance, it will plunge back into civil war. Until this generation of Afghans are gone, I get the feel of despotism more than democracy. The recent unrest in the Middle East has been long in coming. There has always been resentment against the ruling families in nearly every Middle Eastern Country. I see a real danger of the rise of radical Islam given the vacuum created by the recent coupes and change of government. Chances of this are very high. Time will tell if we have planted a seed of Democracy or if Afghanistan will revert back to their centuries old ways once we have left. I think we all wish for that seed to take root.
This is the second part of a dialogue between myself and Mark Shepard, a retired Army Colonel who is working with the Afghanistan Government. Some of the projects that he has worked on include developing a national firefighting curriculum and also a National Disaster Management Plan. So he interacts with Afghani’s on a daily basis when he is in country. He has been shuttling back and forth from the US, to Europe, and the middle East as part of his work. And he has been forthcoming with his observations and thoughts on Afghanistan and the Middle East in general.
In Marks words -What I can tell you that there are some educational, economic and cultural obstacles that it will take years to fix, not months. A country that has been without an education system since the Soviet Union invaded and not much of one prior to that has a long way to go. The younger generation of Afghans are more easily accepting of us, at least more accepting of the educational and need to join the world community. And, in a community that respects its elders, change comes very slowly. Marriages are still arranged and obeying of elders continues until the sons and daughters reach middle age.
In a country with few jobs, there is not much opportunity for the younger generation to advance. So educated young people are leaving the country to seek their fortunes. So this exasperates the problems in that country, when your best and brightest leave it is a drain on the society. Also he noted that half the society is marginalized – women have few opportunities to participate outside the home. He also noted that the Afghani’s liked Western things, but did not particularly like Western society. The further away from Kabul one gets, I believe the less they think Americans are doing the country much good, unless they are directly connected with a Provincial Reconstruction Teams that are a mix of Military and State Department people that are out in the provinces trying to establish stable forms of local government.
As noted before corruption has been a problem in Afghanistan. There is a move afoot to introduce a more Western style rule of law with a local system integrated with a regional and national justice system where the laws are standardized and enforced equally. Rule of law
includes the entire legal complex of a modern state, from a constitution and a legislature to
courts, judges, police, prisons, due process procedures, a commercial code, and anticorruption measures. All things we take for granted here but simply don’t exit there.
Another aspect of their culture that impedes the growth of knowledge is the reluctance to share information. A technician knows that he is invaluable so long as he is the only one in a unit to have that knowledge; once he dispenses it to others he no longer is the only font of knowledge and his power dissipates. This explains the commonplace hoarding of manuals, books, training pamphlets, and other training or logistics literature. So whether it is a private company or a military unit, there this hoarding of knowledge.
Mark feels that it will take generations of Western influence to profoundly influence the culture of Afghanistan. Historically, Afghanistan has been characterized as a nation of loosely confederated warlords who rule over geographically separate domains. And there has been pressure from voices within the national government to revert to the old ways and permit provincial governors to field their own militias. But this would upset the concept of a Republic style of government. So far they have resisted this urge to go back to the way things were. Hopefully with the coalition leaving around 2014, the international community will pick up where we left off and continue to guide the Afghans toward legitimacy. Without that guidance, it will plunge back into civil war. Until this generation of Afghans are gone, I get the feel of despotism more than democracy. The recent unrest in the Middle East has been long in coming. There has always been resentment against the ruling families in nearly every Middle Eastern Country. I see a real danger of the rise of radical Islam given the vacuum created by the recent coupes and change of government. Chances of this are very high. Time will tell if we have planted a seed of Democracy or if Afghanistan will revert back to their centuries old ways once we have left. I think we all wish for that seed to take root.
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