Kevin's GCL South Sports Blog

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.