Kevin's GCL South Sports Blog

Standings thru Week 5
LaSalle 5-0
Moeller 5-0 (1-0)
St. Xavier 3-2 (0-1)
Elder 2-3

Most surprising team so far: Moeller

Most disappointing team so far: St. Xavier

MVP: Moeller RB Tucker Skove 139 rushing attempts for 731 yards 12 TDs

The first five weeks of the season have been nothing but pure madness. High scoring, low scoring, last second wins and losses, and much much more. Looking at the schedules during the offseason, I thought to myself, "How can these schools play elite teams week in and week out." Well the GCL south never complains about it.

Moeller so far has been the top team in the division. A superb run game lead by running back Tucker Skove has propelled the Crusader offense an outstanding 181 points. The duel QB system run by Coach Rodenberg has worked well so far (600 plus yards and 7 TDs). Though with the big men up front Charlie Fiessinger and Spencer Iacovone do not have to scramble to find open receivers. As long as Moeller can pound the ball up the middle and off tackle they will be hard to beat.

LaSalle has been a pleasant surprise to head coach Tom Grippa. Coming off another mediocre season in '09 they were looking to make some noise. The Lancers are lead by a balanced offense attack. QB Drew Kummer has passed for 839 yards and 13 TDs with just 3 INTs. The experience of Kummer on varsity has proplled him to feel more comfortable in the pocket this year and wait for that extra second to hit the open receiver. Running back Matt Farrell has had a superb year with 60 rushes for 432 yards and 7 TDs. If LaSalle wants to have success in the second half of the season then they need to continuing running the ball well to open up the pass game.

St. Xavier has had a very tough schedule so far with 5 top tier opponents. After starting with nationally ranked Dematha (Md.)they followed with Indy Cathedral, Louisville St. X and Trinity, and Moeller. St. Xavier has struggled mightly offensively this season. They are last out of the four schools with only 276 yards per game total average. The lone bright spot for the Bomber offense has been RB Connor Hundley. On the season he has 109 rushes for 781 yards and 7 TDs. If not for Hundly the Bombers may not have a win this season. On the other side of the ball, St. Xavier has been very strong once again. The St. X defense allows just 241 yards per game and limits opponents to 19% on third down opportunities. If QB Nick Albers can sustain some rhythm and take some pressue of Hundley, then the Bombers could run the table the rest of the way.

Elder like Moeller and St. X has been basted with a tough schedule to start the season. After a great opening victory against Division 2 power Winton Woods, Elder has only shown small glimpses of last year's State Runner-up team.

Sorry for the delay fellow bloggers. I have been a little delayed with sleep, job searching/interviewing, and other random things. Thankfully it is time to getting back to the fun stuff, my blog. Alot has happend recently since I last blogged, good and bad for the four schools, but I will update you on each fall sport. I no longer will talk individually about a football game unless I attend because there is always a story on the Enquirer website. My first topic will be football followed by soccer, golf, and cross country.

St. Xavier 2-2-0
Moeller 1-2-2
Elder 1-1-2
LaSalle 0-2-3

As the season has begun, one can see that the four schools have had some tightly contested matches in their non-conference part of the schedule. After looking at the statistics of all four teams it seems they all have one thing in common: lack of goal scorers. Moeller has led the way with 6 total goals for the season, with 4 of them coming in their first game against Lakota West. St. Xavier senior Kenny Archbold is currently leading the GCL South with 4 goals in 5 games for the Bombers.

St. Xavier is currently ranked fourth in the city, Moller sixth, and the other two schools unranked. This looks like this may be a tough year for any of the squads to advance far during tournament time. Though I have been wrong before and I hope I am. League play will not disappoint and I expect many 2-1, 1-1, or 2-0 games. The discipline and hard work set by these teams will hopefully pay off for them in the OHSAA tourney. Good Luck to all four teams!!

Here are some upcoming games for each school. Go out and support the soccer teams, soccer is a great sport to watch in person. We all remember how great the 2010 World Cup was.

Elder: Tuesday Sept. 14 vs. Alter, Saturday Sept. 18th at St. Xavier, and Sept. 21st vs. Covington Catholic

LaSalle: Saturday Sept. 11th vs. Northmont, Tuesday Sept. 14th at Cov Cath, and Tuesday Sept. 21st at CJ

Moeller: Saturday Sept. 11th vs. CJ, Saturday Sept. 18th vs. North Central, and
Tuesday Sept. 21st at Carroll

St.Xavier: Saturday Sept. 11th at Fairfield, Tuesday September 14th vs. Fenwick, and Saturday September 18th vs. Elder

For the past two seasons, the Elder Panthers have faced Colerain and walked away with victories both times. Colerain wanted to make sure that history did not repeat itself this time around. A standing room only crowd will witness one of the worst losses in Panther history.

From the first drive to the final horn, Colerain worked its game plan to perfection. Colerain QB Tyler Williams got the scoring started with a 12 yard TD run to put the Cardinals up 7-0 with 9:36 left in the opening quarter. Elder responded quickly with a Josh Freidel 8 yard TD reception four minutes later, but once again like in the previous week Elder was unable to convert the extra point. Just as Elder was building some momentum from the quick touchdown, Williams was able to take the Cardinals to the house again. This time Williams busted through the Elder defense for a 77 yard TD run just 13 seconds after the Elder score. To the dismay of Elder nation, this was not the last time Colerain would put some points on the board in the first quarter.

Colerain built the lead to 20-6 when fullback Curtis Jester took a Williams handoff 60 yards for the score. For the second time this season Elder trailed at halftime, but this time by a wider margain and against a superior opponent than Winton Woods. Down 14 at half, Coach Ramsey probably felt that if his team could sustain some long drives, forcing Colerain to pass on 3rd down, and creating a few turnovers then they could get back into this game in a heartbeat.

Elder started off the second half as a team on the verge of a comeback. Elder QB Ben Gramke hooked up with Max Mazza on a 12 yard TD pass to cut the Cardinal lead to 8. The Panthers failed on the two point conversion, but more importantly it was now a one possession game at 20-12 with 10:27 left in the third quarter. Colerain QB Tyler Williams responded to the Panther TD on the next drive with his own TD. Williams broke through the Elder secondary for a 27 yard TD run and just about eliminated all hope of a Panther victory. Elder would not score the rest of the game, but Colerain was able to add on 17 more points. The final on this matchup of Number 1 and 2 would be: Colerain 44 Elder 12.

I did not attend the game, but it seemed to me that Colerain's offensive line controlled the tempo of the game. If they are able to control the clock and work the option to its potential then they are one of the hardest teams in probably the country to beat. Elder was led by Ben Coffaro once again. He rushed for 90 yards on 15 carries and also had 4 receptions for 40 yards. Elder QB Ben Gramke's stat line was as followed: 18-28 143 yards 2 TDs and 2 INTs.

Next up for Elder is an away game at Louisville Trinity. This will be a definite test for the Panthers. Trinity is always one of the best teams in the top class in the state of Kentucky. Good Luck to the Panthers, hopefully they can defeat them as easily as they did last year at Elder.

Here are some team statistics from the Colerain-Elder game courtesy of gclsports.com.

The second game of the day at St. Xavier featured the nation's top QB Braxton Miller against Moeller on ESPNU. Miller started out strong for Huber Heights Wayne with a 27 yd TD run halfway through the first quarter to grab a quick 7-0 lead. Moeller responded with TD run of their own by Tyler Skove from 6 yards out to tie the score at 7.

The Warriors then took a 28-7 lead on two Miller TD runs of 75,31 and a 17 yard INT return for a TD. Skove once again showed all watching that he was a force to reckoned with on this day. Just before halftime Skove scampered from 6 yards out to cut the Warriors lead to 28-14 with 11 seconds left before halftime. The late touchdown by Skove made believers in the Crusaders that they can get back into this game and get a "W".

Moeller head coach John Rodenberg must have stressed at halftime that they must contain Miller a bit and sustain some long drives. The halftime talk must have worked because Moeller came roaring out with a TD run by Skove once again on the first drive to cut the lead to 7. After a Warrior punt, Skove scored again on the what might have been the play of the game. On fourth down on the Warrior 12, Moeller went for it and drew up a screen pass to Skove for his fourth TD that sent the Crusader fans into a frenzy. After three quarters the score was now tied at 28. The Crusader defense held strong in the 3rd quarter with allowing just one yard of offense to Wayne.

The fourth quarter consisted of a chess match between the two squads, but neither team getting on the scoreboard. Finally after a Wayne punt, Moeller gained possession on its own 34 with only a few minutes left. Nine plays later, Skove once again answered the call with a leaping one yard TD with 11 seconds left. Wayne was unable to have a "Music City Miracle" comeback on the following kickoff and Moeller stood tall with a 35-28 victory. What a game for the Moeller Crusaders!!

A tale of two halves. What amazing adjustments by the Moeller coaching staff at halftime to contain Miller (just 29 yards on 13 carries in the second half) and the Warrior offense. Moeller racked up 461 yards of offense (227 passing and 234 rushing) compared to Wayne's 295 yards. Skove led the Moeller running attack with 32 carries for 151 yards and 5 (1 receiving)TDs. The Crusader receiving corp was led by Monty Madaris's 5 catches for 111 yards.

Next for Moeller is Hamilton on Saturday September 4th at 7:30 at Lockland Stadium. Good Luck Crusaders!

Here are some team statistics from the game courtesy of gclsports.com

St. Xavier in 2010 through three quarters of the first game looked like another strong Steve Specht squad. Strong, smart, athletic, and scrappy could describe many of the teams Specht has coached at his time at St. Xavier. After three quarters, the Ballaban Field scoreboard read Bombers 6 Falcons 0. Like many other GCL South fans I assumed St. Xavier would hold on and win 6-0 or lets say 13-7. Well contrary to my belief and many others this did not happen.

The day started off fantastic for the Bombers with an opening drive of 70 yards that was cappped off by a Connor Hundley 11 yard TD run. Though the extra point was missed, the Bomber team felt confident in its strong start, especially new QB Nick Albers. On the drive Albers went 3 for 3 for 54 yards. Unfortuntaley for the Bomber offense this was all the points they could muster again Good Counsel High School. The rest of the first half the Bomber defense stifled the Falcons and held them to zero points.

As the second half began one was wondering if one score for Good Counsel would be enough for them to win. Good Counsel blew two chances to take the lead with a TD called back on a penalty and a punt return nullified by a Falcon miscue. Fortunately for the Falcons their luck was about to change. From the 9:18 mark of the 4th quarter on they scored three TDs to take a commanding 21-6 lead. A 3 yard TD run along with back to back interception returns for TDs put the Bombers in an almost insurmountable hole. The final from St. Xavier was Good Counsel 21 St. Xavier 6.

St. Xavier QB Nick Albers hopefully had his worst game of his career. Albers was 10 of 31 for 108 yards and 4 INTs. Connor Hundley led the Bomber ground game with 15 carries for 60 yards and had the only Bomber TD. Next up for the Bombers is Indinapolis Cathedral Prep on September 3rd at 7:30 at St. Xavier. Good Luck Bombers!

Here are some team statistics from the game courtesy of gclsports.com

As the Lancers embark on a season where they feel they have the necessary means to reach the top of the GCL South. Unfortunately the game started off to familiar for the Lancers and quarterback Drew Kummer. Last season it seemed as if Kummer and the Lancer offense could never click as a unit. After each team failed to score in their opening drives, Lakota West struck first on a tipped interception TD from Lucas Gobell. While Lakota West seemed to generate a little momentum with an early 6-0 lead, the Lancer team never seemed to let go of its game plan.

The Lancer offense seemed set from the first drive to pound the ball up the gut and off tackle to wear down the Lakota West defense. Senior running back finally got the Lancers on the scoreboard with 1 yard TD run with 6:44 left in the first half. After the Lancers derailed another Lakota West drive, Kummer connected with senior wide receiver Matt Woeste on a 9 yard pass. This touchdown was all the Lancers needed as they headed to half with a 14-6 lead.

The second half showcased once again a strong LaSalle run game. For the game the Lancers rushed 43 times for 261 yards and 2 TDs. Along with the run game, Kummer was able to find seams in the Lakota West defense. Senior wide receiver Brett Wiebell was able to haul in 5 catches for 87 yards to lead the Lancers. Wiebell was within inches of another 70 plus yard catch after a Kummer pass was just out of his reach with no defender in hit site early in the 4th quarter.

Lakota West was only able to muster up one strong drive in the second half, but it stalled on 4th and goal late in the 4th quarter. The second half scoring was all Lancers, with Farrell adding another short TD run and Antonio Nelson bringing in a 10 yard TD reception from Kummer. The final score read LaSalle 28 Lakota West 6.

LaSalle next faces Covington Catholic at LaSalle Friday September 3rd at 7:30. Here are some team statistics from gclsports.com from the game. Good Luck Lancers against Covington Catholic!

From the first possession till the final horn, Ben Coffaro was there to guide the Panthers to victory over the Winton Woods Warriors. For the night Coffaro had 350 all-purpose yards (90 rushing, 137 receiving, and 130 return yards).

New starting quarterback Ben Gramke started the Panthers off on the right foot with a 4 yard TD pass on their first possession to grab a 6-0 lead. The tide began to turn a little after this with Winton Woods scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 13-6 lead halfway through the second quarter. Not to be undaunted, Coffaro and the Panthers began to slowly take over the game towards halftime. Gramke threw a short pass to Coffaro and he was able to weave through a few Warrior defenders for a 50 yard TD run. As the clock hit triple zeros at Nippert Stadium in the second quarter Elder trailed by just one, 13-12.

Elder head coach Doug Ramsey did a great job of preparing his team for a strong second half. The Panthers received the opening kick and made good use of great blocking up front. Coffaro scampered 99 yards for another Elder touchdown. This was the longest kickoff return for a TD in Panther history. A record that stood for 32 years was broken on a night that Coffaro will never forget.

The rest of the Panther scoring consisted of two Gramke TD passes of 58 and 17 yards, along with a 43 yard run by junior tailback Cody Fox. Winton Woods was able to muster only one more touchdown on the night when it cut the Panther lead to 24-21. After the Panther lead was cut to just a FG, Gramke continued the offensive attack by generating two more scores to take a commanding 38-21 lead. After Fox's TD run put Elder up 17 the scoring stopped and Panther nation felt comfortable with a 38-21 win over a talented Winton Woods team.

The Panthers moved up to number two in the city rankings and will face number one Colerain in week two at "The Cage" on Cheviot Road. That will be a tight game that could very easily go either way. Elder last year defeated Colerain at the Pit on ESPN, but TV or no TV the Cardinals are definitely out for some revenge.

Here is a box score I found from GCLsports.com of the game:

Winton Woods Elder
1st Downs 9 13
Total Yards 248 370
Passing Completions 4 12
Passing Attempts 9 19
Passing Yards 96 261
Passing Average 10.7 13.7
Rushing Attempts 43 27
Rushing Yards 152 109
Rushing Average 3.5 4.0
3rd Down Eff. 2-13 5-10
4th Down Eff. 2-2 0-1
Penalties 6-48 4-28
Turnovers 1 1
Possession 27:07 20:48

Aug. 2010
Sun. 29 Our Lady of
Good Counsel, MD 3:00 PM W
Sep. 2010
Fri. 3 Indianapolis Cathedral 7:30 PM W
Fri. 10 St. Xavier, KY 7:30 PM W
Fri. 17 at Trinity 7:30 PM L
Fri. 24 Moeller 7:30 PM W
Oct. 2010
Fri. 1 at Elder 7:30 PM W
Fri. 8 at LaSalle 7:30 PM W
Sat. 16 at St. Edward 2:00 PM W
Sat. 23 St. Ignatius 2:00 PM W

Aug. 2010
Sun. 29 at Wayne 7:00 PM St. Xavier W
Sep. 2010
Sat. 4 Hamilton 7:00 PM Lockland W
Fri. 10 at Northmont 7:30 PM W
Sat. 18 Findlay 7:00 PM Lockland W
Fri. 24 at St.Xavier 7:30 PM L
Oct. 2010
Fri. 1 at Indianapolis
Cathedral, IN 7:30 PM Arlington H.S. L
Fri. 8 Elder 7:30 PM Nippert Stadium W
Fri. 15 at LaSalle 7:30 PM L
Sat. 23 St. Edward 2:00 PM Lockland W
Fri. 29 at Cardinal
Mooney 7:00 PM Youngstown State W

Aug. 2010
Sat. 28 Lakota West at UC 12:00 PM W
Sep. 2010
Fri. 3 Covington Catholic 7:30 PM W
Thu. 9 at Lakota East 7:30 PM W
Fri. 17 Northwest, IN 7:30 PM W
Fri. 24 at Lima Senior 7:30 PM W
Oct. 2010
Fri. 1 Walsh Jesuit 7:30 PM W
Fri. 8 St. Xavier 7:30 PM L
Fri. 15 Moeller 7:30 PM W
Fri. 22 at St. Francis L
De Sales 7:30 PM
Fri. 29 at Elder 7:30 PM W

Aug. 2010
Fri. 27 Winton Woods 8:15 PM W Nippert Stadium
Sep. 2010
Fri. 3 at Colerain 7:30 PM W
Fri. 10 at Trinity, KY 7:30 PM W
Fri. 17 Bishop Chatard,IN 7:30 PM W
Sat. 25 St. Edward 7:00 PM W
Oct. 2010
Fri. 1 St. Xavier 7:30 PM L
Fri. 8 at Moeller 7:30 PM L
Sat. 23 Carmel Catholic,IL 7:30 PM W
Fri. 29 LaSalle 7:30 PM L

I am so excited the fall is just about here. It brings excitement to all GCL South fans around the city or even country. Golf has already started, but soccer, cross country, and football are just around the corner. I will be updating my blog more frequently now since the season is here, so prepare for a fall sports craze for the next few months.

The next time I blog I will have my picks for the GCL South this season after I research about some of the teams. I also may pick apart the football schedules and have a prediction of my own as well. What all I have read so far, this will be another memorable fall season in the GCL South. Lets hope all the teams do well and no one gets hurt. I will be attending the LaSalle-Centerville scrimmage tomorrow night and will let you know how the Lancers looked. Next weekend I will try and attend all four GCL South football openers. We will see though with my unusual work schedule. So long and have a great night!

I will be conducting a fall sports preview within the next few weeks once more information comes out about the teams and players. This is my favorite time of the year knowing fall sports are just around the corner.

It has been a little while since I last posted. Summer time is here and that means Fall Sports are in training for another exciting season. These past few weeks have been very humid and I'm sure the athletes are sweating buckets out there on the field or wherever they are at. Hopefully no one will get seriously ill from the weather. We all know of past issues such as Korey Stringer, but I'm sure coaches and schools are well prepared for their athletes.

I will get some information on the teams this Fall and who we should watch out for during the season.

What a spring it was for the four schools. Out of all the spring sports the only one, track and field, was where a GCL south school did not finish in the top ten. Here is a list of the various sports and which school came up big at Regionals or State.

Baseball- Elder finishes 2nd, while Moeller loses in the State Semi-finals to Elder
Lacrosse- St. Xavier loses in the Regional Finals
Rugby- Moeller wins the State championship
Tennis- St. Xavier team finishes 3rd
Track and Field- LaSalle finishes 33rd
Volleyball- Elder defeats Moeller in the State Finals, while LaSalle and St. Xavier lose to Elder and Moeller in Regionals

One can see the success of these schools during any season will benefit all four in the long run. In troubled economic times families are tight with their money and may not be able to have a lot of money to spend on education. On the contrary if the four schools continue succeeding not only in the classroom, but on the field then enrollment at the schools will at least remain constant. I feel that parents in the area will continue to notice even more with the success on the field with these schools. It seems as if the GCL South takes so much pride in athletics. In essence if your teams are successful and fans come then this generates more money for the school. We then realize more money will benefit the school as a whole, though some people may not agree with this.

Major league prospect Stetson Allie looked like his usual self on Sunday against Elder. Allie struck out 16 Panthers, while allowing three runs in his day of work. While reaching speeds of 101 mph, Allie was still manageable to hit. The Elder offense generated a late rally in the 6th inning, but not before digging themselves into an enormous hole.

Elder starting pitcher Matt Pate was able to shut down the Eagle offense for the first three innings to keep the score tied at zero. St. Ed's was able to get to Pate in the fourth with some timely hitting and an error by Elder shortstop Selby Chidemo. The Eagles totaled four runs in the inning (two unearned on the error). As Elder was trying to figure out Allie, the Eagle offense took off again in the sixth. St. Ed's was able to put up four more runs to grab a 8-0 lead.

The Panther offense finally got on the board in the sixth with three runs. O'Conner drove in Chidemo with an RBI single after Chidemo reached base on a sharp double down the left-field line. After a strike out, Elder loaded the bases and third baseman Bryan Reistenberg drove home the final two runs of the inning with a double down the left-field corner. This would be all the scoring Elder would do for the day. St.Ed's held the lead and defeated Elder 8-3. The Eagles would capture their second state title in three years.

Elder head coach Mark Thompson said he has never seen a better performance from a starting pitcher (speaking of Allie) in his 21 years as Elder's coach. The Panther team has once again proved resilient this season. After a tough 12-5 loss on April 15th to Harrison, the Panthers went on to finish the rest of the season with an 18-2 mark and a 28-5 record overall. I do not know what Coach Thompson said after the Harrison game, but he definitely got his team to focus and make another strong run at the state title.

Congratulations Elder on another great year in an already successful program!

Going into Saturday's state championships, the Lancer track team was looking to make some noise in Columbus. After the seven Lancer athletes finished the competition, the team finished 33rd with 6 points. The best finish for the Lancers was Rodriguez Coleman in 110M hurdles. Coleman finished 7th and will be back in 2011 to make another strong run at State. Other than Coleman, the other Lancer to notch a top ten finish was Regional pole vault champion Andrew Silber. Unfortunately for Silber he was not able to bring home the State championship as well. He did beat his Regional height of 14'3 by five inches on this day and finished in 8th place.

Congrats once again to another strong year for the Lancer track team! Look out for the Lancers again in 2011 when six of the seven state qualifiers return. Here is a link from the Enquirer's website on the 2011 team. http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20100606/SPT01/6060301/

The Final score from Crew Stadium on Saturday Read: Moeller 19 Parma 7. Moeller fans and students were sent into a frenzy when they counted down the final seconds. While looking on Moeller's website I noticed a picture of the students in attendance rushing the field after the victory. It was neat to see the support of the Moeller students for it's Rugby team. Though the student section was not as big as a basketball state final, I am sure the rugby players still loved the support. Congrats Moeller Rugby on a well-deserved championship. Can we say back to back for '11?

The mighty men of Moeller came in ranked 3rd in the country along with a 27 game win streak. Well that did not faze the Elder Panthers on this sunny Friday morning in Columbus. Elder hurler Brian Korte started for Elder and was able to shut down the high powered Moeller offense in a 1-0 victory.

Coming into the game Moeller was averaging 12 runs per game in the OHSAA tournament. Korte lasted 6.1 innings allowing four walks, seven strikeouts, but more importantly zero runs. He was replaced in the 7th with one out and two on by Matt Pate, who was able to record his third save of the season.

Elder was able to muster the game's only run in the sixth when Tim O'Connor drove in Jeremy White with a single. The sixth inning run was led by a few miscues for the Moeller defense. After White reached with a single, he was able to reach third on a wild pitch and a passed ball. It is amazing how small segments of the game like those miscues can change not only a game, but a season for a team.

Moeller starting pitcher Daniel Whitehead pitched a great game as well only allowing that one run. The loss was Whitehead's first of the year and second for the team. Congrats to Moeller on a great year and I'm sure they will be looking forward to next year. The team returns nine juniors and has a strong sophomore class that will get them back to the top in the state I'm sure.

I also read how O'Connor broke Elder's season RBI record , which is astounding for how many great baseball players they have had at Elder. In retrospect they have won 12 state titles, so one knows the type of players they have had. He know has 47 going into the state final game. Bart Marchetti had the record previously with 36 in 1994. Elder will now face Lakewood St. Edward in the final on Sunday June 6th at 3 p.m., due to Saturday's postponement.

What a game it must have been in Columbus this morning. Elder got the game's only run in the 6th and held on in the 7th. The game ended when with one out Moeller had runners on first and second. Moeller hit a fly ball, the base runner at second left too early, and Elder tug second to win the game. What a tough way to end a marvelous season for the Crusaders. Whitehead and Korte both must have pitched wonderful games for their respective teams. I will let you know more information once it comes about. I found some cool pictures of the game from Elder's Twitter page (http://twitter.com/ehsports) and linked one to the blog. I must say Elder does the best job in the GCL South of keeping their fan base updated on the school's teams. Congrats again to Coach Thompson and his Elder team on another great run at a state title.

Friday morning at 10a.m. is game time for the two schools at Huntington Field, home the Columbus Clippers. I read some interesting facts about today's game from Mike Dyer's Twitter. This will just be the third time since 1928 that Cincinnati area schools have met each other in the State Final four. Previously in 2003, St. X met Milford in the State finals. It will also be the battle between two undefeated starters with Moe's Daniel Whitehead (9-0 1.17 ERA) and Elder's Brian Korte (8-0 1.27 ERA).

I wish I could be up in Columbus to see such a great match-up. Knowing both schools, I'm sure the atmosphere will be as electric as the GE plant. After hearing what Coach Held and Thompson had to say about the preparation of the game, one has to assume this game is a toss up. I am not going to guess the final score because I am usually wrong and don't want to jinx one school or the other. For one thing I know that no more than 8-10 runs combined will be scored due to the great pitching on the mound Friday. Lastly, congrats to Whitehead on being named Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year.

Good luck to both schools on Friday. It will be great to see the GCL South in the finals once again!!

Good Luck to the Crusaders when they battle Parma High School Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at Columbus Crew Stadium. Here is a link to the Ohio High School rugby website if you are interested. http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/?u=RUGBYOHIO&s=htosports&t=c

This is a sport I actually just first watched a few weeks on ESPN. I was amazed at the toughness and skill it takes to play the game. One's hand eye coordination and foot skills really have to be at a high level to be a great player. If you enjoy watching soccer, football, or hockey this is a sport you should check out.

As a longtime fan of Ken Griffey Jr., it was sad for me to see this day finally come. After everything he has been through good and bad, he is still my favorite player of all-time. The list of accomplishments could go on for a days at a time. I still remember the first time I saw him when he hit his first HR for the Reds against Chicago. What a great site it was. the excitement to see the "Kid" in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. I always dreamed to see him in a Reds uniform my whole life. So many memories of him, "The spider catch", robbing Jesse Barfield of his 200th HR at Yankee Stadium, the Tiger Stadium catch, his third deck blast at the Skydome, his milestone HRs, and many more. Thanks Ken for making baseball enjoyable to watch all those years. I am very thankful for all you did for the game and Cincinnati.

The Bombers faced a tough 17-1 Comet team in the Regional finals Saturday night. After easily defeating rival Moeller 11-4, St. X looked confident in getting one step closer to the OHSLA Tournament Finals. Mason protected its home turf on this night defeating St. X 13-9. Conner Buczek's four goals led the Bomber attack, but Mason was just too strong for the Bombers. Congrats to the St. Xavier Lacrosse team on an outstanding season.

Congratulations to the Elder Volleyball team on defeating Moeller yesterday in route to the State Championship. The tradition continues with the GCL South owning the State Volleyball tournament. According to an article I read from the Dayton Daily News about the championship game the conference has now won 12 State championships since 1997. Moeller has the most with six, Elder four, and St.X two. Along with this the three schools have combined for seven runner-up finishes. What a great accomplishment for the GCL South and it is amazing how successful they have been in such a short time.

The Crusaders beat the Panthers twice earlier in the regular season in two tight matches on their way to the GCL South crown. On this night, the Elder team put the past behind them and took charge after falling behind in the match with a first set defeat. Elder defeated Moeller in four sets, 23-25, 31-29, 25-20, and 25-19 in front of a great crowd at Centerville High School Sunday Night.

Elder defeats New Albany 6-1 and Moeller stops Mason's hot streak 11-1. Now each team advances to face each other next week in the State Semi-Finals. I will have more info on both games. I have to head to my full-time job now. Each school impresses me once again with making strong runs at the State Tournament. Good Luck to both teams.

Frank Russo and his Lancer track team will be making the trip back to Columbus next week with an impressive showing at Regionals on Wednesday and Friday of this week. After Wednesday LaSalle was leading Regionals with 23 points, which was one over Mason who brought back 22 through the first day of four events. The Lancers were not able to sustain the lead and dropped to third after yesterday's final day of events. Mason edged out Trotwoood Madison 73-72 to take the crown and LaSalle finished with a respectable 61.5 points.

LaSalle was led by Andrew Silber who won Regionals at Pole Vault with a height of 14 feet 3 inches. Six other state qualifiers for LaSalle consisted of Ray Claytor for finishing 3rd at High Jump, (Alex Thiery, Travis Hawes, Kevin Kluesner, and Ethan Boken) 4th at the 800 Meter Run, Travis Hawes 2nd at the 1600 Meter Run, and Rodriguez Coleman 3rd at the 110 Hurdles. The 4x400 relay team of LaSalle nearly made state when they finished 5th.

Elder and St. Xavier also qualified for Regionals, but did not have any qualifiers for the State meet after the Regional finals. Both schools did have a strong showing with the Bombers placing 12th and the Panthers 16th. Elder was led by the 4x100 relay who narrowly missed out at state berth with a 5th place finish. Tyrall Butler also had a strong showing finishing 8th at the 100 Meter Dash. As for the Bombers they were led by Chris Hanson who finished 5th at the 1600 Meter Run, while Michael Archbold finishes 8th in the 400 Meter Dash

Sean Bandy made the trip back to Columbus this year for state and was hoping to bring home another state championship to St. Xavier. Last season Bandy and fellow teammate Brad Sena advanced to the second round of the state tournament. This trip was hoping to be different one for Bandy and his partner Fovel. After easily defeating Eisenberg and Kanam from Massilion Jackson 6-3, 6-0 in round one they set their sights on a doubles pair from New Albany. Once again, Bandy was unable to make it past the second round and the Bomber pair fell in a tough 3 set match. Fovel and Bandy won the first set 6-4, but fell 1-6 and 4-6 in the final two sets marking an end of a great season.

After today's crushing defeat to a 12-18 Mason team, LaSalle faces another disappointing finish to a season in the Regional tournament. A Regional Final loss in volleyball this past week and basketball earlier in March put some nerves in Lancer fans before today's match-up with Mason. I am sure they thought it would not happen today to a team they beat three times this year. Well it did and many of them have to wonder why? Is it the pressure? Nerves? Preparation? I cannot answer that, the athletes in these respected sports at LaSalle can.

As someone who closely follows GCL South Athletics for much of my life I have come to realize that winning in the tournament is a tough as nails. LaSalle does seem to struggle in Regionals in the few sports mentioned earlier compared to its three counterparts (Moe, Elder, and X). It makes me wonder is the coaching better at certain schools? Does coaching matter that much? Or were the opposing teams just that much better on that day? Let me know what you think GCL South fans!!

Elder and LaSalle took the field at 5 p.m. Thursday, but in different cities. The Panthers took on Upper Arlington at Dublin Coffman High School in Columbus, while LaSalle faced Mason at UC.

The Elder team was led once again by standout senior Brian Korte. He pitched a complete game three-hit shutout in a 4-0 Panther victory. Korte allowed only six hits on the day and received early run support from his fellow teammates when two runs crossed in the first. The score remained the same till the 5th, when hot hitting second baseman Jeremy White drove in Danny Schwarz with a double to put Elder up 3-0. White scored later in the inning to put the final tally at 4-0 in favor of the men of Price Hill. Next up for Elder is New Albany at 5p.m. on Friday in the Regional Finals at Dublin Coffman.

Immediately following the Moeller victory was the LaSalle-Mason game. This was the fourth meeting on the season for the two squads with LaSalle winning all three previous games. Mason was able to put the past behind them and roll to an 11-6 victory over the Lancers. Things looked promising for the Lancers as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when lead-off man Michael Leytze scored on an RBI groundout. Mason countered in the bottom half with two runs of their own off starter Joel Feldkamp. LaSalle responded right back in the top of the second with an RBI single by Pat Bachman. Though the tide began to turn for the Lancers in the bottom half of the second. A pitching changing after a one-out single, sent the flood gates open for the Comet offense. Aaron Sparks came in for the Lancers and allowed four more runs to score and push the Comet lead to 6-2. LaSalle closed the gap to just two at 6-4, but never was able to muster a remarkable comeback. Mason advances on and faces Moeller Friday at 5 p.m. at UC.

Moeller in the first of two at UC took on the Elks of Centerville looking to extend their win streak to 26 on the season. The Crusaders were successful in accomplishing just that with an 8-4 win over the Elks. Senior pitcher Daniel Whitehead got his ninth win in nine decisions on the season. Whitehead pitched a complete game allowing 8 hits and four runs. A two run single by Kevin Thamann and two Elk errors led to an early 5-0 lead for Moeller in the first. An RBI single later in the inning by Max Belza extended Big Moe's lead to 6-0. Centerville's starter was taken out immediately after the Belza RBI in just two-thirds of an inning of work. Crusader CF Ethan McAlpine and RF Patrick Jones each made outstanding catches on deep fly balls to end any sort of Centerville comeback in the 3rd and 4th innings. Centerville scored three runs in the final two innings, but Moeller still came away with a decisive victory.

After winning six GCL South sports titles this 2009-10 school year St. Xavier has once gain been crowned champions. The All-sports Trophy is set up on a four point scale with 8 points being awarded to a champion, 6 to second place, 4 to third, and 2 to fourth place. Points are split when teams tie, for example if two teams tied for first then they would get 7 points then 4 and 2 for the other two schools respectively. The Bombers took home the Football,Cross Country, Bowling, Swimming, Tennis, and Soccer Championships. Baseball and Volleyball were the only sports where the Bombers struggled in league play finishing last.
Moeller finished a close second with 65 total points and winning or tying five sports. Elder finished third with 54 points, followed by LaSalle who totaled 51 points.

Moeller and Elder came up victorious in the Regional Finals Saturday. The Crusaders defeated St. Xavier for the third time this year, but this one was in just three sets. Elder was as dominate as Moeller on this day winning in 3 sets against the Lancers. Here are the match ups for the Crusaders and Panthers for Saturday May 29th at Centerville High School:

1:30 PM - Division I State Quarterfinal
#1 Lakewood St Edward Eagles (19-5) vs #6 Cincinnati Elder Panthers (20-6)

3:15 PM - Division I State Quarterfinal
Cleveland St Ignatius Wildcats (19-7) vs #3 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller Crusaders (17-5)

What a great day it was for baseball on this Saturday afternoon at Western Hills. The day started with the Elder Panthers taking on Sidney. Elder's offense jumped all over Sidney and ousted Sidney in five innings with a 12-2 mercy rule victory. The Panther attack was led by Daniel Schwarz who went 4 for 4 with two doubles and Jeremy White who was a perfect 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Elder hurler Matt Pate got his seventh victory on the season. Next for Elder is Upper Arlington/Reynoldsburg in the Columbus Region Thursday at 5p.m. at Dublin Coffman High School.
Follwing Elder was LaSalle.


The Lancers took on Oak Hills. The Highlanders were looking for revenge for an earlier 6-0 shutout loss to the Lancers. A late rally by the Lancers denied Oak Hills in its effort for a trip to Regionals. I do not have the information on the game yet, but I watched brief highlights on the news that LaSalle scored two runs in the 7th to defeat Oak Hills 5-3. LaSalle will face the winner of Mason/Huber Heights Wayne on Thursday at 5 p.m. at UC.
Moeller was the next game and faced Fairmont. The Crusaders felt confident with one of their top two pitchers Robby Sunderman taking the mound. Fairborn gave Moeller and Sunderman all they can handle on this day. Information on the game has yet to come out in detail, but I heard at one point Moeller was down 5-3 in the 6th inning. Though the Mighty Moe came back strong and sent Fairborn packing unhappy with a 8-5 victory. Moeller faces the winner of Centerville/Fairfield Thursday at 2p.m. at UC.

The District Tournament Meet at Mason was not one that crowned a GCL South school champion on this day. St. Xavier finished second with 92 points and Moeller finished fourth with 47 points. Mason protected its home track by winning the meet with 147 points and taking home 8 events. The Comets are rated #1 in the city and showed why they are with this decisive victory. Hayden Frey from Moeller took the crown for the High Jump event with a jump of 6'2".

This season Mason seems to have a team that will make some noise at the State meet this year in Columbus. From what I read on the Mason website they have seemed to finish no worse than 4th at any meet this season. It looks like LaSalle and St. Xavier along with the rest of the state will have their hands full with the Comets. I look forward to seeing how the GCL South fares next week in Regionals.

The Lancer track team enjoyed it's fourth District Championship in five years. A rain filled day at Winton Woods saw the GCL South dominate the competition with them winning a total of 8 of the 15 events. LaSalle whom finished with a score of 170 points won a total of five events led by the strong performance of the 4x400 relay. Elder finished second with 88 points and won three events led by Tyrall Butler whom won the 100 and 200M events.

In my life I have only seen a few track events and do not know the full ins and outs of the sport. From what I have witnessed in the past I feel that some of the athletes could have had better times or jumps with a normal spring day. As I looked at who was in the meet, the first thing I thought was LaSalle and Elder will have a good competitor in the fight for first in Winton Woods. The Warriors usually seem to have great sprinters, hurderlers, and distance runners. This is why I felt they could have given the two a good run on Friday. I give LaSalle and Elder credit at Districts for taking advantage of these wet conditions. Elder and LaSalle may not have the fastest or strongest athletes in the state, but each meet they seem to be well prepared and ready to take advantage of any opportunities they have.

Good luck at Regionals!!

Last season we saw Moeller take home the 2009 state championship and this season we expected nothing less from Moeller or any of the GCL South schools. Moeller took home the GCL crown this season with a perfect record against Elder, LaSalle, and X. Elder finished second followed by St. Xavier and LaSalle. That was the regular season, now we are in the post-season and it is a whole new season in itself.

As we get set for the Regional Finals Saturday night at Moeller, the four respected schools will have some familiar opponents. Moeller will square off with St. Xavier in hopes that the home court advantage will propel them to the state tournament. In the other matchup Elder will face-off against LaSalle. These matches will be the third time around the respected schools will meet each other. Moeller defeated the Bombers in five sets and four sets respectively in their first two meetings. While the Panthers defeated the Lancers in five sets and four sets in the two meetings earlier this season. Game times are as follows for Saturday at Moeller. The 5:30 p.m. game will feature Moeller-St.X, followed by Elder-LaSalle at 7:00 p.m.

The winners will move on to the state tournament which will be held at Centerville High
School May 29th and 30th. Good luck to the teams, I'm sure it will be a dogfight.

Thursday proved to be another near sweep for the GCL South in the Sectional Finals. Elder, LaSalle, and Moeller were able to advance to Saturday's district tourney. St. X had the lone setback in falling to Oak Hills 7-2. The Bombers were led by Conor Gilligan who drove in both runs on the day. St. X finished the season at a 14-13 mark. Meanwhile their three counterparts had great days on the mound from their starters.
Elder was led by pitcher Brian Korte who pushed his record to a perfect 6-0 on the season in a defeat of Lakota East 4-2. The Elder offense was led by Jeremy White who was 4-4 with two doubles on the day. Now the Panthers will face Sidney Saturday at 11 a.m. at Western Hills High School.
LaSalle looked for revenge against Loveland, whom knocked off the Lancers almost two weeks earlier at LaSalle 4-3. Not to be undaunted the pitching of Joel Feldkamp kept the Tigers in check and let the Lancer bats come alive. Feldkamp pitched a complete only allowing one run in a Lancer 6-1 victory. Drew Campbell led the Lancer offense with 3 RBI's on the day. Next up for the Lancers is Oak Hills on Saturday at 2p.m. following the conclusion of the Elder game.
The nationally rated Moeller Crusaders looked to move into District play with a match up against Lakota West Thursday night. It was a tight game most of the way until the 6th when the Crusaders broke open a 6-4 lead with 7 runs in the inning. Senior Daniel Whitehead was able to pick up his eight win of the season for the Crusaders. Alex Barlow's four hits and Tyler Hutchinson's 3 RBI's propelled the Moeller offense to a 13-4 victory. The Crusaders moved up to 3rd in the ESPN rise poll this week. Moeller will now face Fairmont Saturday at 5p.m. following the LaSalle game.

Coming off a year in which the St. Xavier Bombers won the state title, expectations again ran high for the Bomber tennis squad. The Bombers were able to have another sensational season by sending three singles and two double pairs to Districts this week. Only the duo of Jay Fovel and Sean Bandy were able to advance to the District finals Saturday. They easily defeated Dayton Carroll in the first round 6-0, 6-0 followed by a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Loveland in round two. Next, for Fovel and Bandy is a match Saturday against Mason. Along with St. Xavier qualifying for Districts was the Elder double group of Drew Schroeder and Blake Waulingman. Unfortunately they fell in the first round to Princeton 4-6, 1-6. Congrats to a great year for them and the other Bombers who played on this day. Good luck to the duo of Fovel and Bandy on Saturday.

Good luck to the four teams. I hope to see the GCL South represented well next Wednesday the 26th at Dayton Welcome Stadium in the Regional tournament.

Though it is May I'm sure many of you are excited as I am when each spring the Skyline Crosstown Showdown pairings are announced. This year's pairings are once again great tests for Elder, LaSalle, Moe, and St. X. Moe and St. X are making a stop at Ballaban Field this year for the first time in the Showdown. Rumors were these two games at Ballaban are to be held on national television on ESPN. I will find out more information if this is true or not. For those who do not know the schedule here it is for week one:
Elder vs. Winton Woods Nippert Stadium Friday, August 27th at 8:30 p.m
LaSalle vs. Lakota West Nippert Stadium Saturday August, 28th at noon
Moeller vs. Huber Heights Wayne Ballaban Stadium Sunday, August 29th at ?
St. Xavier vs. Good Counsel (MD) Ballaban Stadium Sunday, August 29th at ?

I will find out soon enough the Moe and St. X times. As I first heard the schedule from Tom Gamble I felt all four games were ones I would like to attend. Elder, St. X, and Moe will be breaking in new quarterbacks after graduating three standout QBs. LaSalle QB Drew Kummer is the only returning QB and will look to lead the Lancers past the Firebrids. Tickets are $10 presale for all ages available at the participating schools. Prices will be increased on gameday at the gate.

More information on the 2010 football season will be coming soon!!!!

It is amazing how spring sports seem to go by the fastest of the three seasons. Once again the four schools are battling it out in each of the respected sports. I do not know as much about the GCL South in cross country , tennis, and track other than what I read in the paper. Through this blog I hope to learn more about those respected sports along with learning piece by piece about all the sports and schools. Good Luck this upcoming week to all four schools in the five spring sports. On tap this week in the GCL South is the District Track Tournament, Baseball Sectional tournament, Regional Volleyball tournament, District Tennis Tournament, and Ohio High School Lacrosse Tournament..

Dear fellow GCL South alumni and fans,
As a recent college graduate with a Sports Business graduate (Northern Kentucky University '09) I was looking for a way to gain exposure for myself in finding a career in sports. Then I realized that I can blog about something I am passionate about. The GCL and its athletics has always been something I have always enjoyed. Growing up on the west side of Cincinnati I have come to know the strong support of the alumni and fan bases of the GCL South. In my life I have become a great supporter of the GCL South as a whole attending hundreds of games. During my lifetime and including my four years at LaSalle ('04 graduate) I have met many great alumni from all four schools. Many of them have not only made a difference in my life, but others as well. As many of you know this division of the GCL is one of the best high school athletic leagues in the country, along with having great academic institutions. Enough of me, I want to hear about what you have to say about GCL South and its sports. This blog is meant for anyone to talk about the state of the GCL South in retrospect to any of the four school's teams, athletes, events, etc. My hope with this is to bring fellow bloggers/fans together to reminisce about anything GCL South.