LIMA — Singles and doubles players earned semifinal berths Thursday during the Western Buckeye League boys tennis tournament at the University of Northwestern Ohio.
Bath’s Daniel Bolon, Shawnee’s Gabe Burke, Elida’s Jaden Neuman and Wapakoneta’s Connor Coffey will compete for spots in the first singles championship match.
Second singles semifinalists are Ezra Bolen, Shawnee’s Mason Stahl, Elida’s Ben Osmon and St. Marys’ Cody Birt.
Players still in the running for the third singles title are Wapakoneta’s Parker Moell, Shawnee’s Mac Davis, Elida’s Dylan Byers and Ottawa-Glandorf’s Mason Welch.
The first doubles final four are Ottawa-Glandorf’s Theo Maag and Levi Unterbrink, Shawnee’s Salah Mohammed and Seth Grieshop, Kenton’s Seth Manns and Mitchell Stephens and Elida’s James Mitchell and Eben Jackson.
In second doubles, Kenton’s Camden Hicks and Adam Coffman, Shawnee’s Shashank Chanamolu and Jackson Carpenter, Elida’s Leyton Staley and Alex Dunahay and O-G’s Will Schroeder and Jaiden Compher.
Play will resume at 9 a.m. at the same venue.
Bluffton 4, Lima Senior 1
Singles players Branson Hilty and Wade Ginther and the doubles teams of Isaiah Kohli and Grady Coonfare and Ayden Diller and Hudson Phillps won for Bluffton. Singles player Keegan Halliday won for Lima Senior.
Fort Recovery 3, New Bremen 0
FORT RECOVERY — Winning pitcher Alex Dues allowed two hits and no walks while striking out eight in seven innings. Cale Rammel had a double and two RBI. Nolan Kuenning allowed one earned run, four hits and a walk while striking out two in six innings and Johnny Heitkamp doubled for New Bremen.
Softball
Allen East 10,
Bluffton 0
BLUFFTON — Winning pitcher Nikki Thaxton allowed one hit and two walks while striking out 10 in six innings. Maggie Wanamaker had three hits, including a home run and a double, and six RBI and Audrey Rex and Aubrey Young each had two hits and an RBI. Faith Maple had Bluffton’s hit.
Lima Senior 9,
Shawnee 8
LIMA — Mallory Gipson knocked in Tatum Twining with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Gipson finished with three hits, including a double, and two RBI and Twining had two hits and two RBI. Emma Hipsher had four hits, including a pair of doubles, and an RBI and Tillie Nelson had three hits, including two triples, and two RBI also for the Spartans. Haylee Wurm had a double and three RBI and Anna Menke had a double and two RBI for Shawnee.
Van Wert 11,
Bath 4
VAN WERT — Emma Kennedy had three hits, including a double, and four RBI, Harlie Mays had a double and three RBI and Jordanne Blythe had three hits, including a triple, for Van Wert. Anne Oliver had a double and two RBI, Elena Oliver had two hits and Ava Gibson had a hit and an RBI for Bath.
Liberty Center 10,
Miller City 5
LIBERTY CENTER — Bailey David had two hits, including a double, and three RBI, Taylor Wilhelm had two hits, including a double, and Samantha DeMuth had a hit and an RBI for Miller City.
Coldwater 6, Minster 3
MINSTER — Kendra Clune homered and knocked in four runs. Claire Steinke also homered for the Cavaliers.
Perry 4,
Continental 1
PERRY TOWNSHIP — Winning pitcher Isabella Anderson allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out five in seven innings. She also had two hits and an RBI. Maddy McKee had four hits, including a double, and two RBI and Makenna Dray had a double and an RBI also for the Commodores. Reese Knowles had two hits for Continental.
Marion Local 5,
Celina 4
MARIA STEIN — Natalie Evers had two hits and an RBI, Kailee Beyke had two hits and Kelsey Bruggeman and Hannah Rindler each had a hit and an RBI for Marion Local. Lucy Piper had two hits and an RBI, Paige Hart had two hits and Samantha Jenkins homered for Celina.
New Bremen 10, Fort Recovery 5
NEW BREMEN — Ella Pape had three hits and two RBI, Alivia Dammeyer had a double, a triple and three RBI and Mackenzie Bornhorst had a hit and two RBI for New Bremen. Kylie Post had two hits and two RBI and Emma Will had two hits, including a double, and an RBI for Fort Recovery.
Defiance 12, Kenton 0
KENTON — Brynn Butler had Kenton’s only hit against Taighen Zipfel.
Delphos Jefferson 6, Columbus Grove 3
COLUMBUS GROVE — Winning pitcher Kyrstin Moore allowed one earned run, six hits and three walks in seven innings.
She also had a pair of hits. Hannah Joseph had two hits and an RBI and Carolyn Mueller had two hits, including a triple, for Delphos Jefferson. Megan Bogart had two hits, including a double, for Grove.
Baseball
Allen East 5,
Bluffton 0
BLUFFTON — Winning pitcher Braylen Kennedy allowed six hits and two walks while striking out four in seven innings. He also had a hit and an RBI. Jackson Thompson had a double and two RBI and Caden Hedrick had a hit and an RBI. Quinn Eachus had three hits for Bluffton.
Ottawa-Glandorf 11,
Leipsic 1
LEIPSIC — Winning pitcher Carter Duling and Brad Maag combined to allow no earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out eight in seven innings. Duling also had two hits and an RBI. Ty Buckland and Grant Leopold each had two hits and an RBI also for the Titans. Jeremy Tavarez had two hits and an RBI for Leipsic.
Spencerville 5, Ada 3
SPENCERVILLE — Aidan Graham had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI and Carter Ringwald and Evan Osting each had a hit and an RBI for Spencerville. Levi Green had two hits, including a double, and an RBI and Max Puerto had a hit and an RBI for Ada.
Paulding 1,
Fort Jennings 0
FORT JENNINGS — Fort Jennings’ Jake Wiechart allowed no earned runs, three hits and a walk while striking out six in seven innings. Carson Gilchriest doubled also for the Musketeers.
Van Wert 9, Bath 2
BATH TOWNSHIP — Winning pitcher Thomas Stoller allowed no earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out eight in seven innings. Conner Loughrie had two hits and two RBI, Kaden Shaffer had two hits and an RBI and Blake Bohyer had a pair of hits for Van Wert. Tyson McGee had two hits and Skyler Lhamon and Joel Rasor each doubled for Bath.
Minster 6, Coldwater 3
COLDWATER — Winning pitcher Louis Magoto allowed three runs and five hits while striking out five in seven innings. Braylen Harlamert had three hits for Coldwater.
Parkway 17, New Knoxville 1
NEW KNOXVILLE — Winning pitcher Fletcher Smith allowed three hits and four walks while striking out seven in five innings. He also had a double and two RBI. Xavier Samples had three hits, including a double, and an RBI and Roman Leszinske had a hit and two RBI also for the Panthers. Preston Rutschilling had a hit and an RBI for New Knoxville.
Colleges
Baseball
Ohio Northern 11, Defiance 4
DEFIANCE — Logan Stevens became the latest member of Ohio Northern’s 100-hit club at Rutter Field.
The Polar Bears improve to 26-11 overall and the Yellow Jackets fall to 4-30.
Stevens entered the day with 98 career base hits and went 2-for-5 in the contest, reaching the 100-hit plateau in his 98th career game with a single to right field in the top of the ninth inning.
Blake Altaffer threw five shutout innings, striking out five and allowing two base hits to earn the win and improve to a league-best 8-0 on the season.
Coldwater graduate Jacob Wenning went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and Chase Armstrong was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored to lead ONU.
Men’s track & field
OAC Championships
ALLIANCE — Jordan Dean had a record-setting performance as the Ohio Northern men posted seven top-eight finishes to sit in a tie for fifth place after Day 1 at Kehres Stadium.
The Polar Bears (20-4 overall) scored 24 points to tie Wilmington for fifth place in the 10-team standings after seven of 21 events.
Mount Union leads the standings with 75 points, John Carroll is second with 54 points, Otterbein is third with 35 points, and Capital is fourth with 29 points.
Dean highlighted the day by running a time of 47.24 seconds in the preliminaries for the 400-meter dash. He broke his own ONU record of 47.38 and also broke the prior OAC Championships record of 47.57, which was set by John Carroll’s George Sample in 2001.
Hunter Kesler also qualified for Friday’s 400-meter finals, running a personal-best :48.97, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.
Kesler will also be a finalist in the 200 meters after running a personal-best 21.76 in his preliminary race. That time ranks eighth all-time at ONU.
Ollie Jacobswill join Kesler in the 200 finals after running a preliminary time of 22.00, and he also advanced to the 100-meter finals with a time of 10.90.
Three other Polar Bears qualified for the finals of their respective events.
Tyrese Barker and Landon Remmert advanced to the 110-meter hurdles finals with respective times of 15.26 and 15.79, and Spencerville grad Vini Souza qualified for the 100-meter finals with a time of 10.83.
In scoring events Thursday, Tommy Vetrovsky led the way for the Polar Bears with a fourth-place finish in the javelin with a mark of 47.16 meters.
The 3,200 relay team of Alan Dravenstott and Brooks Blakeley, Jacob Clouse and Ryan Massie finished fourth in 7:54.87.
Brandt Marshall was fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 4.21 meters.
Breydan Hann finished sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 9:35.48, which ranks seventh all-time at ONU.
Trey Masterson was sixth in the 10,000 meters, running a personal-best time of 31:42.66, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU. Parkway grad Kyle Roth finished eighth in the event in 32:01.16.
Marion Local grad Nick Tangeman rounded out ONU’s top-eight finishes with a sixth-place showing in the long jump with a mark of 6.65 meters.
The top three finishers in each event earn All-OAC honors, and the top eight score team points.
Women’s track & field
OAC Championships
ALLIANCE — Columbus Grove grad Taylor Ellerbrockwon the Ohio Athletic Conference title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Tessa Pitcovich and Hannah Friend earned All-Conference honors to lead the Ohio Northern women’s team to the top of the standings after Day 1 at Kehres Stadium.
The Polar Bears (21-3 overall) lead the 10-team field with 70 points after seven of 21 events. Mount Union is second with 64 points, and John Carroll is third with 60 points.
Ellerbrock ran a personal-best time of 11:25.96 to win the OAC title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by a margin of roughly seven seconds. That time ranks fifth in ONU history.
Pitcovich finished second in the 10,000 meters, running a time of 37:06.05. She has now earned three straight All-OAC accolades in the outdoor 10,000-meter run.
Friend added a second-place finish in the discus with a personal-best mark of 42.48 meters, which ranks second all-time at ONU.
The top three finishers in each event earn All-OAC honors, and the top eight score team points.
Pitcovich led a field of four Polar Bears who scored in the 10,000 meters.
Ashley Hockstok was fourth in 38:35.56, Kennedy Raderwas fifth in 38:55.12, and Megan Vapenik was sixth in 39:02.64.
Lincolnview grad Sami Sellers joined Friend as a scorer in the discus, placing fourth with a personal-best mark of 40.89 meters, which ranks fourth all-time at ONU.
Northern had four scorers in the pole vault led by Anna Schatzle, who finished fourth with a mark of 3.61 meters.
Claire Schweller and Ellie Ford tied for sixth with a mark of 3.41 meters, and Olivia Ogg was eighth with a mark of 3.31 meters.
In the javelin, Tarrah BeVier placed fourth with a mark of 31.89 meters, and Riley Heitkamp was fifth with a mark of 31.39 meters.
Chloe Gibson posted a sixth-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 5.27 meters.
In the 3,200 relay, the team of Lexi Neff, J.J. Herron, Kaitlin Prusnek and Abby Matthews finished fifth with a time of 10:00.93.
Several Polar Bears also fared well in preliminary races to qualify for Friday’s finals.
Rosie Schroeder and Olyvia Ashbrook qualified for the 100-meter hurdles finals with respective times of 15.87 and 16.02.
Ashbrook, Herron and Schroeder all qualified for the 400-meter hurdles finals with times of 1:08.08, 1:08.43 and 1:10.72, respectively, and Kendra Krichbaum qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.55.
Women’s golf
HCAC recognizes
Bluffton’s Cline
BLUFFTON — Kiley Cline from Bluffton University has received first team all Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors. She is the first women’s golfer in school history to earn all-conference honors.
Women’s lacrosse
OAC honors
ONU duo
ADA — Ohio Northern’s Meredith Miller and Gabby Monastra were named All-Ohio Athletic Conference in voting conducted by the league’s head coaches.
Miller, a midfielder, was named to the All-OAC second team, and Monastra was an all-conference honorable mention selection on defense.
