Kevin's GCL South Sports Blog

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.