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The Newton Baseball Team stands at 5-0 in the WOAC, 11-2 overall and was recently the #1 team in Ohio DV7 Coaches Poll.

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

PLEASANT HILL – The Newton Indians behind solid defense and one-hit pitching performance from Austin Tippie knocks off Franklin Monroe 5-0 to remain undefeated in the WOAC.

It was a big week in the WOAC with Tri-County North at 5-0 playing Franklin Monroe Tuesday and the Jets coming away with a 3-2 win knocking the Panthers from unbeaten ranks and with a chance to do the same against Newton Thursday night.

The play of Franklin Monroe has impressed Newton coach Jordan Kopp.  

“You know, they're a lot better team than last year, they're really good, in the top half of the conference and I think they'll finish in the in the top half as well,” Kopp said.

The Franklin Monroe baseball team has thrown their hats in the ring for a WOAC baseball title this year.  

The Jets came into the Newton game at 6-1 in the WOAC with a chance to move into a tie with a win over the Indians. 

The Indians are coming off a short road trip in Tennessee with wins and a couple of losses to really good competition.

“It was good weather, and we got to see great competition. We got four games in three days. Guys seen a lot of really good arms and swung the bats really well in Tennessee. And so, you know, that was huge for us, and then it's like, the weather's turning here, and so we're excited, and we're playing really good baseball,” Newton coach Jordan Kopp stated.

Newton's Bronson Van Culin scores one of their Indians early runs in the game with FM.

The Indians are playing good baseball as was recently recognized by the Baseball Coaches Association with a Number 1 ranking in Ohio DVII but with that comes bigger expectations.

They would live up to those expectations by putting pressure on Franklin Monroe by getting to Franklin Monroe ace Brandt Filbrun early in the game.

Filbrun walked the first two hitters to start the game … but got a long fly ball for out one and then followed with a strikeout.

A hard-hit ball from Newton senior Brady Wackler pushed across two runs scoring junior Rhett Koffer and sophomore Cole Alexander for a 2-0 Indians lead.

Senior Brady Wackler hit the ball hard up the middle to drive home the two runs to get the scoring started for the Indians.

Franklin Monroe looking to get some back at the top half of the 2^nd inning got a lead off hit from Matthew Hurley.  It would be the only hit given up by Austin Tippie in the game. 

The next batter grounded back to Tippie who threw to shortstop Alexander who threw on to 1^st baseman Koffer for a double play.  Another ground out to Tippie ended the inning and thwarted what looked like a possible good inning for the Jets.

Franklin Monroe's Matthew Hurley got the only hit of the night against Austin Tippie in a 5-0 loss to the Indians.

Newton struck for three more runs in the bottom half of the 2^nd inning. 

Junior Carson Resides led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

After a strikeout by Filbrun, Newton’s Bronson Van Culin bunted moving Resides to 3^rd base and Van Culin at first.  Van Culin advanced to second on a pass ball.

Cole Alexander than reached 1^st base on a ground ball error that would also score Resides with VanCulin going to 3^rd base.

Alexander stole 2^nd base that was followed by a sacrifice fly from Rhett Koffer to right field to score VanCulin and Alexander moved onto third base.

Ridge Gray of Newton gets forced out retreating to 3rd base after a pop-up bunt was caught by 3rd baseman Braden Gilbert who then doubled Gray at 3rd caught by Chase Stebbins. 

Austin Tippie then singled to left to score Alexander to up the Indians lead to 5-0, little did anyone know at the time it would be the final score in the game.

Starting pitcher Austin Tippie was really good on this night as he kept the Jets off balance drawing praise not only from his own coach … but also from Franklin Monroe coach Tyler Zimmerman.

Newton junior pitcher Austin Tippie was on his game as he delivers to home plate. 

“On the offensive we had just one hit all day long, the Tippie kid threw great, he had good velocity and defensively they didn’t make mistakes.  We put a few balls in play, they made a bunch of good defensive plays, so combined with his effort on the mound they were able to shut us down,” Coach Zimmerman said.

Newton’s coach was also pleased with the team’s defense and throwing of his pitcher.

“I don't know if I've been a part of game where he (Austin Tippie) faced the minimum number of hitters. Two times they got runners on, and we were able to double them off, or pick a guy off, throw him out, and then get a double play.   But hats off to Tippy, he's a mid 80s fastball and early on we didn't have to throw anything but fastball. We threw two or three curve balls in the first four or five innings.  Then just based off of him needing some work, we kind of threw more curve balls late, and that's where he was getting his strikeouts. So, early in the game, we normally throw more curveballs, but he was so efficient, and our defense was playing great, so we rolled with it,” Coach Klopp stated.

Austin Tippie earned the win for Newton giving up just one hit, zero runs over seven innings, striking out eight and walking one and picking up his 3^rd win on the year.

Brandt Filbrun took the loss for Franklin Monroe he went five innings, surrendering five runs (two earned) on two hits, striking out six and walking six and fell to 4-1 on the year.

Zane Hissong make the stretch catch to get the out from a diving Rhett Koffer into 1st base.

Franklin Monroe’s coach felt Filbrun threw well and better as the game went along … he gave up just two hits and Newton had just 3 total hits in the game.

“He threw Well, we were sloppy on defense early and I think we gave up two runs in the first and two in the second on some miscues by our defense.  He (Filbrun) responded well that's been his MO all year, being able to get himself out of situations but you won’t win any games when you score zero runs,” Zimmerman exclaimed.

The Jets fall to 7-6 and 6-2 in the WOAC and they will travel to West Milton to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Newton is not 11-2 overall and 5-0 in the WOAC and just a game up on Tri-County North and Arcanum all with just one loss and both still have yet to play the Indians.

Newton’s tough non-conference schedule and overall record has caught the attention of  the coaches baseball association who recently had them ranked #1 in state in D7.

“Our kids have played really well, and if other coaches think we're deserving of being ranked first, second or top 10, we'll take it. I've never been ranked state number one since I've been here. I don't know if anybody in our school has been … but it's good for the kids. It’s a credit to our kids, we don't really talk about it, but you know they hear about it, they understand, and they've got pride … but we got a lot of baseball ahead of us, and so we're proud of where we're at, but we know we got some work to do,” Klopp concluded.

Newton will travel to Milton-Union on Friday to play their next game.

Braden Gilbert tracks down a long fly ball to deep center field from Austin Tippie.
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Tri-County North baseball is looking to challenge for a league title now 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the WOAC.

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

LEWISBURG – Tri-County North baseball hammered Northridge with a big 4^th inning outburst scoring 9 runs and went on to a 14-0 run rule win over Northridge out of the Three Rivers Conference. 

Almost at the midpoint of the season the Panthers are one of the hottest teams in the conference sporting a 10-2 overall record and is just one of two teams still undefeated in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference at 5-0.

“We started off a little slow on offense … but we got comfortable at the plate, and we started hitting a lot better as the game went along putting the ball in play,” said Tri-County North coach Garrett Gray after the game with Northridge.

Carter Lake is swinging the bat well, leads WOAC in RBI's with 22 and is 3rd in batting at .500.  He had 3 hits, including a triple and 3 rbi's in win over Northridge.

North showed good patience at the plate and then busted out in the 4^th inning which included back-to-back triples from Carter Lake and Peyton Fannin.  Northridge went through 3 pitchers in the inning as the Panthers put up 9 runs.

Offensive stats for the game: Carter Lake (3-4, Triple, 2 Singles, 3 rbi, 2 runs) Peyton Fannin (1-3, Triple, 1 run, 1 rbi, 2 sb), Zach Jean (1-1, single, 2 rbi,1 run), Ben Knife (1-1, single, 3 runs), Ryan Shively (1-1, single, 3 runs) Garner Parlett and Jeff Ricketts each had a rbi.

Peyton Fannin made it back-to-back triples in the 9 run 4th inning outburst.

“We’ve been coming in and busting our tails every day and getting after it.  Our goal this year, from the get-go, is to win a league title. So, every single night and every single practice we’re pushing ourselves to get better to reach that goal,” Gray said.

The Panthers got a solid game on defense and with their pitching.

“Malachi came out strong and through 3 innings and really did a good job of throwing strikes. That's what we asked him to do. Then Peyton Fanning, came in for an inning and he threw strikes, and then we got Carter in the final inning, he’s kind of our closure guy this year. He's a different guy and look … but he threw strikes too,” Gray praised.

Malachi Wright delivers in game against Northridge picking up the win.  He is tied with FM's Brandt Filbrun with 4 wins to lead the WOAC.

Malachi Wright pitched 3 innings, 5 strikeouts, no hits, no runs and 1 walk and would get credit for the win.

Peyton Fannin threw 1 inning, gave up 1 hit and struck out 3. Carter Lake closed the game with one inning and 3 strikeouts.

Coach Gray has been pleased with the defense and pitching so far this year and touched on that.

“Our main focus is to be disciplined and throw a lot of strikes and Malachi has been our go too guy this year … he took off last year and has come back this season and he’s been amazing for us,” Gray stated.

Ryan Shively draws the praise of Coach Gray with his play behind the plate.

“We've had great play from our whole outfield. I mean, rarely does a ball drop out there and it's made a huge difference for us. Ryan Shively has been very good behind the plate and he’s throwing guys out, he’s growing extremely well that spot,” Gray added.

The Panthers might be a surprise to many this year after finishing around 500 the last three years and no higher than 5^th in the league … but they will need to play with poise this week to move up and coach Gray believes they can.

Freshman Ben Knife is tied with teammate Carter Lake for 3rd in WOAC batting at .500.

“I believe we're putting it together right now … but we are going to be tested this week with two big conference games in front of us and we’re going to go out and give it everything we have,” Gray concluded.

The Panthers will square off at (5-1 WOAC) Franklin Monroe Tuesday and at (3-2) Dixie, the defending WOAC Champs on Friday.

Tri-County North coaches address team after win over Polar Bears and talked about big games this week in the WOAC.  
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Arcanum sophomore pitcher Cam Garbig pitched a shutout in 5-0 win over Ansonia.

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

ARCANUM – The Lady Trojans softball team defeated Ansonia 5-0 to improve to 4-1 in the WOAC and 11-5 overall.

Arcanum started the season 4-5 and now are winners of the last 7-of-8 games with the only blemish being a 5-4 loss to undefeated Tri-Village.

It was also a big game for Ansonia coming in after falling to Tri-Village the night before as both teams needed a win to stay in the hunt for a league title.  The loss put Ansonia at 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the conference now two game back in the WOAC league race.

The Tigers had an opportunity to score in the 1^st inning with a runner on third base but a great snag on a line-drive by shortstop Jordyn Garbig ended the threat.

Jordyn then followed up on the offensive end with a double to start the bottom of the inning, she stole 3^rd base and then scored on sacrifice fly from Grace Fry for a 1-0 lead.

Jordyn Garbig rips a double, she shined on both offense and defense.

Arcanum added another run in the bottom of the 2^nd inning.  With two outs E. Warren down a perfect bunt to get on base, she then stole 2^nd and then 3^rd base.  Senior Marli Morris then hit a line drive to left center to score Warren giving the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

Ansonia started the top half of the 3^rd on hit from Shyann McKenna.  On what was a very windy but warm day, the Tigers tried small ball with Jayda Mangen laying down a bunt and she would beat the throw on a bang bang play. 

Emily Fox puts the tag on Shyann McKenna to start an unusual double play.

McKenna tried to go from 1^st to 3^rd on the bunt … but a heads-up Kenzie Byrne threw a strike   left-fielder Emily Fox covering 3^rd base due to the bunt tagging McKenna.  Then Fox threw to 2^nd base to try and get Mangen.  Matty Noe was able to run down Mangen as she tried to retreat back to 1^st base.

It was a defensive gem by Arcanum turning in the unusual double play and knocked the Tigers out of potential big inning with Ava Thatcher getting a base hit right after.  She stole 2^nd base, but Trojan pitcher Cam Garbig struck out Addison Geyer swinging coming away unscathed.

Matty Noe completed the double play tagging out Jayda Mangen.

Arcanum added to their lead in the bottom half of the 3^rd inning with Jordyn Garbig leading off with a single.  Grace Fry sacrificed a bunt to move Jordyn to second. Kenzie Byrne then drove a ball to center to get on base.  Matty Noe then singled to right field and both Garbig and Byrne scored giving Arcanum a 4-0 lead.

At the top of the 4^th inning the Tigers would have another scoring opportunity with Miley Walls drawing a walk and a single by Lilly Perry with runners on 1^st and 2^nd.

Garbig gets a strikeout on the next batter and coaxes a ground ball from Kylie Caldwell advancing Walls to 3^rd and Perry to 2^nd.  Arcanum then opted to intentionally walk Shyann McKenna to load the based for a force out at every base.

Shyann McKenna makes good contact with the ball.

Ansonia needing a hit to get back in the game got good contact from Jayda Mangen, but Jordyn Garbig snagged it from shortstop to end the inning getting out of the jam.

Arcanum added a run at the bottom of the 4^th inning on a sacrifice bunt by Marli Morris to complete the scoring in the game 5-0.

Cab Garbig would take the win as the sophomore pitcher threw a six-inning shutout, giving up 4 hits with 3 strikeouts and 5 walks.

Ansonia Miley Walls took the loss, she threw 5 innings gave up 6 hits, 4 runs, had 2 strikeouts and just one walk.  Bre’ana Walker threw an inning in relief and gave up 2 hits and one run.

Offensively the Tigers had 5 hits: one each from Shyann McKenna, Jayda Mangen, Ava Thatcher, Lilly Perry and Avalyn Locke.

Arcanum was led on offense by Jordyn Garbig (2-3, 2 hits, 2 runs), E. Warren (2-3, 2 hits, 2 runs) and a one hit each for Kenzie Byrne, Matty Noe, Marli Morris and Cam Garbig.

Arcanum will be back in action on Tuesday in a league game at National Trail.  Ansonia will travel to take on a very strong Miami East team at Casstown on Wednesday.

Marli Morris puts down a sacrifice bunt that scored the final run for the Trojans in their 5-0 win over Ansonia. 

Lander Shives earns WOAC win for Ansonia over Tri-Village. 

Story & Photos by Gaylen Blosser

NEW MADISON – The Ansonia Tigers made six, second inning runs hold up for a 6-4 win over the Tri-Village Patriots in varsity WOAC baseball action.

The teams played to a scoreless first inning before the Tigers exploded to a six-run second inning, taking advantage of several Tri-Village miscues.


Ansonia’s Caleb Eubank slams a triple for the Tigers in conference win over Patriots. 

“We have been preaching to them when they’re throwing strikes early, we need to jump on them early and get things moving instead of sitting back and trying to take it a little bit slower,” said Ansonia coach Dustin Hecht. “We’ve been doing that pretty well the last couple of games.”

“We got off to a sluggish start, booted a couple of balls here and there, and then once we lost one of our seniors to an injury, it took our guys a little bit of time to calm down,” Tri-Village coach Josh Davies, “and then we did but just a little bit too late.”

The Patriots battled back plating runs in three consecutive innings, one in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth to trail 6-4 after five complete.

Lane Bierly steps in to collect one of his three hits in WOAC matchup with Ansonia. 

“It got a little rough there, we got a little bobbly, we got a little lackadaisical in that little set,” Hecht said of the Patriots’ middle innings production. “We had to remind them you have to flip your mind, and we have to get back into this. We can’t just let them chip away and get back into it. We have to do it ourselves.”

Neither team would dent the plate in the sixth and seventh innings, giving the visiting Tigers a two-run conference win.

“We were able to take advantage of a couple of their mistakes, and that was big for us,” Coach Hecht noted. “We’ve been struggling with that over the last couple of games, so to put all that together and put six up and then be able to hold on was what we needed.”

“We have been playing some pretty good baseball,” said Coach Davies. “We just haven’t been able to complete the task towards the end of the game. We’ve had three games that have gone into extra innings. Tonight, just a little sluggish; it happens in baseball.”

Asher Shives knocks one of his two hits for Ansonia in road win over Tri-Village. 

Ansonia banged out eight hits on the night and committed one error; Tri-Village was good for seven hits and three errors.

Lander Shives earned the win for Ansonia, tossing 6.2 innings, allowing three earned runs, three walks while striking out eight. Cainan Robinson got the final Ansonia out in relief to preserve the win.

“Lander Shives threw a gem tonight,” said Hecht. “He was great out there, kept them on their toes, so I couldn’t ask for a better outing.”

Ansonia sophomore Caleb Eubank paced the Tigers at the plate, going 2-4 with a double and a triple, and a run scored, and Asher Shives also was 2-4 with a run. Kam Ingle went 1-4 with a run; Cainan Robinson went 1-4, 1 RBI, one run; L. Shives 1-4, 2 RBIs; Austin Singer 1-3.

Mason Stansberry threw 5.1 innings in relief, allowing no runs, one hit, no walks, and four strikeouts for the Patriots.

Tri-Village senior Lane Bierly led the Patriots, going 3-4, including a double and a run; Lucas Brown 1-4, 1 RBI; Evan Duncan 1-3; Grant Howell 1-3; Mason Stansberry 1-3, 1 run.

BOX SCORE:

123 456 7   R   H   E
060 000 0   6   8   1   Ansonia
001 210 0   4   7   3   Tri-Village

Tri-Village’s Mason Stansberry throws 5.1 innings of scoreless ball in WOAC game with Ansonia. The Tigers won 6-4 and improved to 2-3 in the WOAC.  TV fell to 0-4.

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Emma Greer crushes one of her two home runs to lead off the bottom of Tri-Village first in WOAC win over Ansonia.

Story & Photos by Gaylen Blosser

NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village Lady Patriots defeated the visiting Ansonia Lady Tigers 10-0 in five innings, keeping their perfect (12-0, 5-0) record intact with the WOAC win.

Lady Patriots sophomore Emma Greer cranked out two home runs, including leading off the Patriots with a solo homer, giving the home team a 1-0 lead. Hailey Burk also drilled a first-inning home run for Tri-Village, with the Lady Patriots putting five runs on the first-inning board.

Hailey Burke slams a first-inning Tri-Village home run in conference win over Ansonia Lady Tigers. 

“We came off a big win yesterday (5-4 vs Arcanum), so we were ready to play and came out with the bats ready to go,” said Tri-Village coach Emily Osborne. “It was nice to get that first lead and get on the board first.”

“We can’t spot them five in the first inning,” said Ansonia Coach David Fisherback. “Our pitchers have to make sure we hit our spots. Tri-Village is a very good hitting team. They are very talented, and I wish them nothing but success.”


Ansonia’s Addison Geyer takes a turn at the plate in game at Tri-Village.

Tri-Village added single runs in the bottom of the second and fourth innings and notched three in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Lady Patriots their 12th victory overall and 5-0 in conference play.

“We didn’t have a bunch of strikeouts,” Fisherback noted. “We were hitting the ball right at them, we hit the ball right back up the middle four or five times to their pitcher, and she made every play.”

Tri-Village junior Elizabeth Poling went the distance on the mound, allowing no runs on two hits, one walk, while striking out six.

Elizabeth Poling goes the distance for Tri-Village in Lady Patriots win over Ansonia. 

“Liz has done excellently on the mound for us,” said Coach Osborne. “She has done excellent for us.”

The Lady Patriots were good for nine hits, three home runs, and two doubles in five innings at the plate.

“The girls that are hitting it well, being leaders, Emma Greer hit well today with two home runs, Hailey Burk did well and put one over the fence today too, and found gaps after that,” said Coach Osborne. “She did an excellent job today for us.”

Aereonna Baker drills a double for the Lady Patriots in WOAC win over Ansonia. 

Greer paced the Lady Patriots at the plate, going 2-3 with two home runs, 3 RBIs, and two runs scored. Burk went 2-3, including a home run, a walk, 2 RBIs, and two runs. Aereonna Baker was 2-2 including a double, a HBP, 2 RBIs, one run; Mckenzie Besecker a walk, one run; Emma Cantrell 1-1; Caley McCaroll 1-2, a walk, one run; Kash Mead 2 walks, two runs; Rai Mize 1 walk, 1 RBI; Camryn Osborne 1-4, 1 RBI; Claire Royer 1 walk.

“One game at a time,” Osborne stated. “We have big games still to come. Monday (11-2 Miami East) is a big game for us.”

“I was proud of our kids,” Coach Fisherback said. “They stayed positive, they kept talking, but they’re No. 3 in the state for a reason.”

BOX SCORE:

123 456 7   R   H   E
000 00X X   0   2   1   Ansonia
510 13X X   10 9   2   Tri-Village

Ansonia’s Shyanna KcKenna takes turn at the plate in Lady Tigers game with Tri-Village. 
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