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The Patriots were all smiles in the 1st inning of the second double-header game after belting three homers for a 10-0 start.  They won the game 15-3 over the Buccaneers.

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

GREENVILLE – The Tri-Village softball team passed an early season test with a double-header sweep in a 5-4 win over Greenville and 15-3 run rule win over Covington at Stebbins field home of the Lady Wave softball team.

After three scoreless inning the Patriots plated two runs in the top of the 4^th inning on a base hit from junior Hailey Burk to score Emma Greer and Camryn Osborne.

Greenville threatened in the bottom of the 5^th on a single from freshman Leah Force.  Junior Lily Brubaker hit a hard ball back to the pitcher that was hard to handle leaving runners now on 1^st and 2^nd base.

Small ball from the Lady Wave saw senior Morgan Thompson bunt to move the runners to 2^nd and 3^rd with catcher Hailey Burk throwing Thompson out at 1^st base.

With just one out and two runners in scoring position junior Patriot hurler Elizabeth Poling dug deep to strikeout the next two hitters to get out of the inning unscathed.

TV Patriots junior hurler Elizabeth Poling picked up back-to-back wins over Greenville and Covington in a double-header on Saturday.  

Tri-Village added three more runs in the top of the 6^th, and they would need them.

Patriot Junior Caley McCaroll hit into a fielder’s choice to take out Osborne at 2^nd base for the first out.

Emma Cantrell would pinch run for McCaroll, she stole 2^nd base and then moved to 3^rd on a single from junior Mylee Bierly with runners on the corners and one out.

Burk picked up her 3^rd RBI in the game with a single scoring Cantrell.

Patriot junior Aereonna Baker clubbed a double to score Bierly and Burk to give the PATS a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 6^th.

Aereonna Baker clubbed a two-run double for TV in their game vs Greenville.

After holding Greenville scoreless with good defense up the middle with Camryn Osborne seeing lots of action along with Tai Mize the Lady Wave would strike back.

After a flyout for the first out to start, Greenville freshman Ella Oswalt hit a line drive single to right field.  Oswalt who also was the starting pitcher would go 3-for-4 from the plate.

Wave junior Kendall Cromwell then doubled to the right center field fence to score courtesy runner Caleigh Stebbins to get on the board.

Sophomore Lizzie Shaffer banged another double to score another courtesy runner freshman Brianna Klosterman, and the Wave now trailed 5-2 with just one out.

Shaffer advanced to 3^rd base on pass ball, and she would score on a ground ball to the shortstop by Leah Force.  Force, reach first on the dropped throw and now Greenville trailed 5-3 and still just one out.

The Patriots on a fielder choice to Tai Mize got the force at 2^nd on Force for the second out.

Greenville whacked their third double in the inning, this one from Thompson to plate Brubaker to close the gap to 5-4 with pressure mounting on the Patriots with the tying run on 2^nd base.

Poling was able to coax a fly ball to center field that was hauled in by Bierly to get out of the inning … but the Wave served notice that the game isn’t over till it’s over.

Freshman pitcher Oswalt was relieved by senior veteran pitcher Zoey Burns who threw to the last batter in the 6^th inning and she would take on the meat of the Patriot offense setting down in order the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th hitters in the bottom of the 7^th inning.

The Patriots also made a pitching change bringing in sophomore Emma Greer.

She got the first batter on a pop-foul hauled in by catcher Burk.  Zoey Burns followed with a line drive to center putting the tying run on base.

Greer was able to get Oswalt to pop-up to shortstop Osborne for the 2^nd out to hold the runner at 1^st base.

Pinch runner Klosterman stole second to put the tying run in scoring position and tensions were mounting.

Brianna Klosterman put a charge into the ball to right center in what looked like it was going to get down to tie the game … but Aereonna Baker made a spectacular catch to end the game and preserve the 5-4 win for Tr-Village.

Baker makes a game saving catch to preserve the Patriots 5-4 win over the vaunted Lady Green Wave softball team.

“You know, we wanted a tougher schedule because we want to be ready for the end of the season and into the tournament, we've got big plans. So, it was great to see the girls come out, work hard, be a team. Obviously, with tougher teams playing us, we need to work on our mental toughness and continuing to push through to the end,” Coach Osborne stated.

That statement held true in the Greenville game with the Lady Wave just a mere hit away from tying or winning the game after the PATS went up 5-0.

Tri-Village had 5 runs on 8 hits. 

Hailey Burk led the way for the Patriots going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI’s and a run scored.  Aereonna Baker was 2-for-3 with a double, single and 2 RBI’s, Camryn Osborne was 2-for-3 with a double and single.  Emma Greer and Mylee Bierly each had a hit as well.

Junior shortstop Camryn Osborne was solid in up the middle on defense and at the plate.  She rapped a double in the game with Greenville.

Elizabeth Poling threw 6 innings gave us 7 hits had 3 strikeouts and gave up just 2 earned runs.  Emma Greer in relief threw 1 inning gave up one hit and no runs.

Greenville had 4 runs on 8 hits.

Ella Oswalt went 3-for-4, Kendall Cromwell, Lizzie Shaffer, and Morgan Thompson doubled with an RBI and Leah Force had a single and an RBI for the Wave.

Oswalt threw 5.2 innings, 11 strikeouts, 5 earned runs and took the loss.  Zoey Burns threw 1.1 innings with 2 strikeouts and no runs in relief.

Tri-Village would play Covington in their second game … the Lady Buccs were coming off a difficult 6-5 loss to Greenville on a walk off two-run homer by Kendall Cromwell.

The Patriots didn’t wait 4 innings this time as they plated a whopping 10 runs in the first inning for a commanding lead.

Emma Greer sends a rope over the center field wall to get the scoring started against Covington.

Emma Greer got things going with a rocket line drive to center field for a three-run homer.

With two outs the Patriots were able to generate 7 mores runs in the inning.  Caley McCaroll would double to plate the last two runs in the inning before the Buccs got out of the jam trailing 10-0.

Caley McCaroll's dinger kept the excitement going in the 1st inning vs Covington.  She would have 5 rbi's in the game.

A few innings later McCaroll clobbered a two-run dinger that was duplicated two hitters later by Hailey Burk to put the PATS up 14-0 in the bottom of the 3^rd inning.

Junior catcher Hailey Burk swung a hot bat in both games, here she registered the 3rd home run in the first inning for Patriots.

McCaroll would pick up her 5^th RBI in the game in the 4^th inning with a double to score Camryn Osborne for a 15-0 lead.

Covington showed some grit still fighting scoring 3 runs at the top of the 5^th inning and looking to score more with runners in scoring position before Elizabeth Poling struck out the final out to give Tri-Village the 15-3 run rule win.

It’s been a good start for the Lady Patriots now 3-0 on the year with a 9-4 win over Russia to open up the season and the two wins over quality programs like Greenville and Covington testing the Patriots early on.

“We were definitely put through the test today as we made it to the second game looking more tired than what we should. It’s a long season with a lot of games. We need to start taking care of ourselves. We have sore muscles, bruises, injuries and all kinds of things already,” Osborne said.

But she also praised the team for sticking together when the game was tight and that’s what it will take to win those types of games.

“That's what we came here for and when they started hitting the ball a little bit better, we made some mental errors and kind of got down a little bit.  I think it goes back to building that mental toughness that we're going to need down the road and in the in the tournaments,” Osborne commented. 

“The thing I love about this team is on different days, different people step up, we had some that went up and struck out or struggled at the plate then adjust and hit better at the end of the game, and we just have to learn to pick each other up in those times.  We've got players all the way through the batting lineup who can hit,” Osborne added.

The Patriots scored 15 runs rapping out 13 hits against the Buccs.

Caley McCaroll was 3-for-3 with single, double and homer with 5 Rbi’s to lead the PATS. 

Tai Mize was 2-or-3, two singles, two runs scored, Kruz Mead 2 walks and 2 runs scores, Emma Greer 1-for-2, home run, 2 runs score and 4 Rbi’s, Camryn Osborne 1-for-3, 1 Rbi, 1 run scored, Mylee Bierly 1-for-3 a run scored, Claire Royer 1-for-1, a single, Hailey Burk 1-for-3, 2 Rbi’s, 2 runs scored, Kaley Brandon 2-for-4, 1 run scored and Aereonna Baker 1-for1, 2 Rbi’s and 2 runs scored.

Poling picked up her 3 wins on the year pitching 4 innings with 4 strikeouts, 2 hits and no runs.  Greer gets her second save going one inning with 3 hits, 3 earned runs and 3 strikeouts.

The schedule doesn’t let up as the Patriots will travel to Northmont on Tuesday to take on the division two Thunderbolts softball team.

Mylee Bierly drove in two runs off this single.  The Patriots are off to a 3-0 start.
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Tri-Village junior guard Trey Sagester who averaged 23 ppg was selected at the Boys DVI All-Southwest District Player of the Year. 

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

Several WOAC boys’ teams had players earn post season recognition on the All-Southwest Ohio boys’ basketball teams as selected by members of the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association.

Here is the list of WOAC players earning All-Southwest District Honors.

Division V

Second Team All-Southwest District

Landon Flatter, Arcanum

Brayden Robinette, Preble Shawnee

Third Team All-Southwest District

Brody Morton,  Preble Shawnee

Luke Miller, Dixie

Honorable Mention All-Southwest District

Cameron Ball, Arcanum

Division VI

First Team All-Southwest District

Trey Sagester, Tri-Village

Second Team All-Southwest District

Dom Black, Tri-Village

Third Team All-Southwest District

Noah Finkbine, Tri-Village

Kellen Laird, National Trail

Trent Ray, Twin Valley South

Honorable Mention All-Southwest District

Griffin Richards, Tri-Village

Tayden Blevins, National Trail

Griffin Roell, Twin Valley South
Aidan White, Twin Valley South

Division VII

First Team All-Southwest District

Eric Brenner, Franklin Monroe

Owen Canan, Bradford

Second Team All-Southwest District

EB Fall, Franklin Monroe

Third Team All-Southwest District

Ben Hamilton, Mississinawa Valley

Cing Scott, Mississinawa Valley

Max Newhouse, Newton

Honorable Mention All-Southwest District

Rallie Wirrig, Bradford

Travis Williamson, Tri-County North

Congratulations to all our WOAC Athletes receiving recognition.

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Alexis Gibbons was the DVI Co-Player of the Year and Abbey Moore was the DVI Co-Coach of the Year.  Mississinawa Valley’s Taylee Woodbury was the DVII Co-Player of the Year.

Story and Photos by Dale Barger

Several WOAC girls’ teams had players, and a coach earn post season recognition on the All-Southwest Ohio girls’ basketball teams as selected by members of the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association.

Here is the list of WOAC players earning All-Southwest District Honors.

Division V

First Team All-Southwest District

Adalynn Hines, Tri-Village

Second Team All-Southwest District

Tai Mize, Tri-Village

Third Team All-Southwest District

Kenna Wilcox, Tri-Village

Division VI

First Team All-Southwest District

Bella Cherry, Tri-County North

Alexis Gibbons, Arcanum

Second Team All-Southwest District

Leinani Garcia, Tri-County North

Caroline Long, Arcanum

Third Team All-Southwest District

Morgan House, National Trail

Aubrey Unger, Preble Shawnee

Honorable Mention All-Southwest District

Josie Stiner, National Trail

Division VII

First Team All-Southwest District

Taylee Woodbury, Mississinawa Valley

Second Team All-Southwest District

Brylii Day, Twin Valley South

Brooklynn Seubert, Mississinawa Valley

Third Team All-Southwest District

Charlotte Barga, Ansonia

Paige Emerick, Mississinawa Valley

Felicity Harbour, Newton

Jordan Ritchie, Twin Valley South

Honorable Mention All-Southwest District

Rose Barga, Ansonia

London Reichert, Ansonia

Rylee Hess, Newton

Syenna Purdin, Mississinawa Valley

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Tri-Village Boys Basketball Team Wins 5th Straight District Title with 62-57 win over Country Day.

Story and Photos by Dale Barger

TROY – The Tri-Village boys basketball team built up a 19-point lead against Cincinnati Country Day and then fought off a furious ‘no-holds-bar’ comeback effort by the Nighthawks to earn their 5^th straight District Championship in a 62-57 win.

“We were up 13 at the half, 19 in the third quarter and sometimes in those situations, kids let down a little bit, lose some focus a little bit, and then the other team, what they do is they play in desperation mode. And I felt like that's the mode where Country Day began to play their best basketball,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester commented.

The Patriots got on the board first on an ally-oop to Noah Finkbine but then saw the Nighthawks run off seven straight points to go up 7-2 then 9-4 and coach Sagester saw enough calling a timeout at the five-minute mark.

Noah Finkbine goes up high for this Griffin Richards ally-oop to get scoring started.

It seemed to wake up Tri-Village going on a 18-0 run while holding Country Day scoreless the remainder of the opening quarter for a 22-9 lead.

Trey Sagester caught fire on three triples and a fielder for 11 points, Dom Black had 4, Kasyn Hollinger a three, Hayden Hunt and Noah Finkbine two points each.

Hayden Hunt has been a steady contributor off the bench with solid defense and scored four points including this stickback. 

The two teams would play to a draw in the 2^nd quarter 16-16 with Tri-Village taking a 38-25 halftime lead.

Bryce Snell and Eli Guttman came alive for the Nighthawks.  Snell had 11 and Guttman 9 at the break and Patriots were led by Sagester with 17 and Black with 7 points.

In the third quarter Tri-Village center Dom Black picked up his 3^rd foul which would open up the middle on defense and take away a block threat and Country Day began to clamp down on Trey Sagester. 

Dom Black on his birthday scored 11 points ... but would pick up a 3rd foul in third quarter.

Sagester scored just two points both free throws at the two-minute mark of the quarter that gave the Patriots their largest lead in the game of 19 … but things were about to get crazy over the last part of the period and into the final frame.

The 47-28 lead evaporated to 47-38 by the end of the third quarter as Snell and Guttman both connected from distance and a technical foul on the PATS helped the cause.

It also sparked tempers to the degree of which Country Day was allowed to hold, then flop when there was no contact and draw fouls and led to chippy play the rest of the way.

“I felt like we played pretty good for almost three quarters, but  you know, Dom got in foul trouble –  they had no answer to that and we’re going continue to go there.  He picked up a defensive rebounding foul early in the third and then it got physical.  You know, my complaint is when you had guys that were grabbing, holding and standing in front it’s real tough for your offense when you struggle at times with freedom of movement,” Sagester explained.

With that ‘No-Holds-Barr’ mentality Country Day was going for broke in the fourth quarter as well, playing with nothing to lose and it didn’t hurt that Bryce Snell was red hot firing in a couple of three balls from long range as they closed the gap to 48-41, trailing by just seven with six minutes to play.

Trey Sagester had 17 first half points ... but Country Day hacked away at Sagester and limited him to just 10 in the 2nd half.  

Trey Sagester stopped the bleeding with a left-handed lay-up and a triple to push the lead back out to 53-43 at 4:50.

Kasyn Hollinger came up with a couple of big rebounds and stick back for a 56-44 lead … but the Knighthawks continue to battle hard.

Kasyn Hollinger came up with some key 2nd chance rebounds and defensive plays for the Patriots in game verses Country Day.

Patriot turnovers (18) in the game gave Country extra opportunities a Snell took advantage as he erupted for 24 points in the second half, 14 in the final frame and 35 for the game.

Snell’s drive to the basket cut the lead back down to 7, 58-51 with 1:44 to go. 

Three free throws from Noah Finkbine made it 61-52 with .58 seconds … Day quickly scored again.  Sagester added charity toss … but Snell still had something to say with a final triple –his 5^th matching Sagester with 5, bringing the game to its end with the Patriots surviving the furious rally 62-57 to win the District Championship.

“Even though we led by 19, I knew this game was far from over, give them (Country Day) credit for continuing to fight, continue to make plays, we didn't seal deal, in my opinion, like we have in the past,”  Sagester state after the game.

“Anytime you play in a game of this magnitude, there's going to be some adversity, and it's the way that we respond. We didn't necessarily respond very good early in the fourth and, quite frankly, late, with uncharacteristic turnovers and, of course, the technical that … but at the end of the day, we found a way to win and make enough plays to move on to Tuesday to play in the Regional Semi-Finals,” Sagester concluded.

The Patriots shot 43% for the game 19-of-44 and 64% from the line 18-of-28. 

The Nighthawks shot 33% 18-of-54 and 69% from the line 11-of-16.

Tri-Village outrebounded Country Day 37-22 … but had 18 turnovers to their 10.

Up next for the Patriots is the Anna Rockets with the game being played at Vandalia Butler High School on Tuesday March 4^th at 8pm.

Griffin Richards goes hard to the rim for a bucket in win over Country Day.

Box Score:

Score by Quarters:

TV …. 22 … 16 … 09 … 15 - 62

CD … 09 … 16 … 13 … 19 – 67

Team Scoring:

TV – Black 0-5-0/0 – 11, Sagester 5-2-8/13 – 27, Hunt 0-2-0/2 – 4, Richards 0-1-1/2 – 3
Gray 0-0-2/2 – 2, Bedinghaus 0-1-1/2 – 3, Hollinger 1-1-0/0 – 5, Totals 6-13-18/29 – 62

CD – Guido 1-0-0/0 – 3, Guttman 0-1-2/2 – 4, Robinson 1-0-0/0 – 3, Guttman 3-1-1/3 – 12,
Snell 5-6-8/11 – 35, Totals 10-8-11/16 – 57

Tri-Village moves on to Regional Semi-Finals to play Anna.
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The Preble Shawnee Boys Basketball Team wins their 3rd straight District title by defeating Cincinnati Seven Hills 55-33.

Story and Photos by Eddie Mowen

LIBERTY TWP. – Brody Morton admitted he didn’t have the best of nights shooting.

But his buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the third quarter was just the spark Preble Shawnee needed.

The 6-3 junior’s basket gave his team a 10-point lead (37-27) in what was a hotly contested game until that point.

And the Arrows carried that momentum into the fourth quarter.

Shawnee went on a 14-2 run over the first five minutes of the quarter to break open a close game en route to a 55-33 upset win over Cin. Seven Hills, the No. 1 seed from the South bracket, in a Division V district final on Friday, March 1, at Lakota East High School.

The win secured the Arrows, the No. 6 seed in the North bracket, a third straight district championship and fifth in program history.

Shawnee (16-9) will now play No. 3 Clark Montessori, a 62-57 overtime winner over Versailles, in the regional semifinal on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. at Fairborn High School.

“Just so proud of this group,” Shawnee coach Ryan Robinson said. “The highs and lows we've been through as a group throughout the course of the season, non-conference games and conference games, and just pulling together and going on a run like this, it's special. It's bigger than basketball. It's bigger than us. It's for this community and all of our supporters. So, it's a cool experience.”

Morton led all scorers with 23 points that included scoring several baskets at the rim. He finished the game 9-of-19 from the field. He was 7-of-8 on shots inside the arc, while going just 2-for-11 from 3-point range. He also had six rebounds and two steals.

“I'm just trusting my teammates to get me the ball and I can go make shots,” Morton said. “But they weren't falling today, and I found other ways to score, and they found ways to get me the ball.”

Brayden Robinette handled the pressure and scored 15 points in win and can lay claim to having won 3 District Titles as an Arrow.

Senior Brayden Robinette finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists while being harassed by Seven Hills defenders all game.

Brody Foxbower, a 6-4 junior, added nine points and 10 rebounds and altered several Stinger shot attempts inside the paint.

Shawnee shot 56 percent from the field, making 19-of-34 shots, including 9-of-14 in the second half.

The Arrows zone defense limited the Stingers to just 24.4 percent shooting, forcing Seven Hills to go 5-of-26 from the field in the second half.

The Stingers knocked down five three-pointers over the first 8:15 of the game but went just 1-for-11 the remainder of the game.

“We're a long team, probably a bad coaching move that we didn't zone more during the year, but we found a little spark with it last game, and we knew it'd be something we could pull out this game, and we rolled with it because it was working and it was huge for us,” Robinson said. “These guys are bought in to whatever game plan we want to do. They just want to do anything it takes to win. And that's what's awesome about this group.”

Ryan Robinson was a part of two district championship teams as an assistant coach and now gets to cut down the net as head coach.  
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