Justin Krites came up aces while Anna’s offense heated up for an 11-6 victory over Botkins on Monday. (pictured) Anna teammate #11 Carter Seigle signals ‘The Out’ as McKane Finkenbine tags out a Botkin’s runner. Read more high school baseball inside today’s PressPros by Colin Foster.
Fort Loramie’s Mack Fortman dominated on the mound and the Redskins’ defense did the rest, making several stellar plays to hand the scrappy Russia Raiders a tough 4-0 loss on Thursday. Read more Greg Billing baseball inside PressPros.
It all happened so fast, with Sean Powell coaching Botkins from relative anonymity to a state championship in just three seasons, and now it transitions quickly to his exit for the head coaching job at Lima Bath. Bruce Hooley writes.
Temperatures in the mid-40s along with a cold breeze made playing conditions tough for Russia and Anna on Thursday. But as the have for all but one game this season, the Raiders overcame their opponent — and the conditions — behind solid pitching and clutch hitting for the 14-5 victory. Read more by Greg Billing on Girls Soft Ball inside today’s PressProsMagazine.
Hoping to make a good showing against a state-title caliber opponent, Fort Loramie came up short and a bit messy in a Saturday loss to Division III Wheelersburg.
After an excruciating century-long wait, and an almost lost-from-memory appearance in the tournament 27 years ago, the Botkins Trojans made the best kind of history on Sunday with their first-ever state title in basketball. Read the latest Press Pros update.
Discouragement could have claimed Botkins’ junior Jacob Pleiman’s confidence on Thursday, but he and the Trojans reached deeply to find the fortitude for a comeback win in the state semifinals. Bruce Hooley writes for Press Pros.
What about this?….They didn’t play their best, and didn’t score at all for ten minutes of the second half. But Botkins used all of its game, and the timely shooting of Jameson Meyer, to beat Richmond Heights and advance to the Division IV final. Read our latest update from the boys State Tournament.
Winning takes vision, hunger, effort and commitment, all of which abound in head coach Carla Siegel’s Fort Loramie girls program, which Saturday hung a third state championship banner that testifies to the school’s elite culture.
Net results…While his son Jayden celebrates in the foreground, Botkins coach Sean Powell hoists the victory net symbolizing the Trojans’ win in the Division IV regional final, and their first trip to the state Final Four since 1994. Read about it in the latest Press Pros update.
What it looked like in person. Loramie was bigger, stronger, and determined to achieve what Covid denied them a year ago. Now the Redskins and Dana Rose (below) are on the cusp, and Thursday they appeared determined not to allow anything to get in their way. Bruce Hooley writes.
Depth, talent and experience is a tough triple threat for anyone to deal with, but that’s what Fort Loramie features and it’s worked for another trip to the state semifinals for head coach Carla Siegel and the Redskins.
A familiar foe exacted revenge on Jackson Center, which had chance after chance after chance at the finish of a two-point district championship loss the Tigers will lament for quite some time. Bruce Hooley writes for Press Pros.
A conference heritage is in part responsible…Botkins caps its SCL title with a district title and has more high hopes for the tournament road ahead. Read Bruce Hooley in today’s Press Pros. (Photos by Julie McMaken Wright)
Despite seeing an 11-point lead evaporate over the final 3:50, the Anna Rockets held on to win its third straight Division III district championship when McKane Finkenbine sank a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left to hold off Greeneview.
Down 10 early and struggling to find offense, Fort Loramie rode the unexpected contributions of Jadyn Putoff and Ava Sholtis to overcome Ivy Wolf and the Minster Wildcats in the Division IV regional semifinals. Bruce Hooley writes for today’s Press Pros.
Unstoppable…Isaiah Masteller (below) and McKane Finkenbine combined for 72 points, and Masteller would score a school record 46 in the Anna Rockets’ 96-85 sectional title win Saturday over Meadowdale. Read about the game in the latest Press Pros post.
The Shelby County Athletic League treated the D-IV sectional tournament at Piqua as its own personal tournament once again, placing four teams in the sectional finals on Friday (Botkns vs. Fort Loramie) and Saturday (Russia vs. Jackson Center).
Xavier Phlipot (below) led Russia in scoring and to a win over Newton as Shelby County basketball took honors in Saturday’s Division IV sectional triple-header at Piqua. Read about it in today’s Press Pros feature.
Botkins, the ninth-ranked team in the Division IV state poll trailed five-win Bradford at halftime. A second-half surge and 28-0 run pushed the Trojans past the Railroaders and into next week. Greg Billing writes for Saturday’s Press Pros.
