Ohio Blast 18U Traveling Softball Team participated in the PONY National Softball Tournament

The Ohio Blast 18U Softball Team participated in the 2008 PONY National Softball Tournament from July 26th to July 29th in Canfield, Ohio.  Ohio Blast is headquartered in East Palestine, Ohio.  This is the first year that Ohio Blast fielded an 18U team.  Members from the team are (front l-r)Brittany Barrett (Beaver Local), Dani Strawn (Howland) Alyson Derenburger (Beaver Local), Karissa Heuer (United Local), Shelbie Stefanski (Liberty), Kristen Kuhns (East Palestine); (back l-r) Coach Bob Barrett, Alishia Hall (East Liverpool), Kayla Mackall (Beaver Local), Tarra Snyder (Maplewood), Sarah Chill (New Castle), Lori Deem (Beaver Local ), Jessie Vincent (United Local), and Head Coach Brian Heuer.  Not pictured is Coach George Strawn.

The Ohio Aftershock 16 & Under Girls Fastpitch Softball Team 2008 Season
ended with a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Spirit Gold in the Elite 8 round
of the Pony Nationals on Thursday.  The AfterShock Team had won their
first game in the Sweet 16 earlier in the morning with a 2-1 victory
over the NY Top Gun Team.  This team of local girls finished the
Tournament with a 6-1-1 record finishing the Tournament ranked fifth,
out of the total of 78 Teams that entered the Pony Nationals Tournament.
The Ohio AfterShock Team placed higher than any other area or Ohio Team
in this National Tournament.

Most of the team members had played together in earlier age groups as
part of the very successful Poland Pride travel team. These girls had
previously won State Championships for Poland Pride as 10&U and again as
12&U teams.  These Poland area girls dispersed to other Travel Teams and
then reunited and were joined with other girls from outside of Poland to
form the Ohio AfterShock Girls Fastpitch Softball Organization in 2007.
The 2008 Team currently consists of girls from Poland, Cardinal Mooney,
Canfield, Hubbard, and Jackson Milton local high schools.

The 2008 Travel Season finished with a 26 Wins, 6 losses, and 4 Ties.
They finished in the Championship Finals in 5 of the 6 Tournaments they
played in, winning the Canfield Tournament June 22nd.  The girls were
denied the opportunity to play and win in most of the Tournaments due to
weather conditions on the last days of many of these tournaments.

The team was led by the pitching of Jordan Palumbo and Jessica D’Apolito
who combined for an amazing 1.56 ERA.  Defense was critical to this
team’s success as the team combined for a .966% fielding average.

The 2008 16&U Ohio AfterShock team includes:
Pitchers: Jessica D’Apolito and Jordan Palumbo
Infielders: Amanda Colonna, Vickie Farris, Macy Ucchino, Margo Ucchino
Catchers: Megan Hirschbeck and Caitlin Keck
Outfielders: Mimi Cercone,  Kelcie Herberger,  Molly Martino, Jenna
Modic, and Devan Zelonish

Youngstown Gymnastics Center’s competitive gymnastics team hosted a home meet on January 19 and 20. Other local gyms participated in the competition along with teams from throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Youngstown Gymnastics Centers Girls Level 4 team, Girls Level 5 team, and Girls Level 7 team each team took 1st place.
Individual 1st place awards were presented to:
Level 4-
Gigi DeLullo - vault, bars, floor, all-around
Jeneca Shar - vault
Tamsin Day - beam
Ally Sammarco - floor
Erin Jones - beam
Kellyn Jamison - floor
Irina Sprankle - bars
Level 5
Jamie Sklenar - all-around
Anna Warhol - bars, beam, all-around
Gabby Williams - vault, bars, all-around
Charli Littleton - beam, floor, all-around
Sydney Lewis - bars
Level 6
Savannah Teter - beam, floor, all-around
Nicolette Filo - vault, bars, floor, all-around
Level 7
Jennifer Sklenar - vault, beam, all-around
Jenae Shar - vault, bars
Level 8
Allie Anderson - bars
Level 9
Stacia Ruse - beam, floor, all-around
Jessica Jones - vault, beam
Boys Level 4
Noah Silver - rings, high bar
Boys Level 7
Thomas Tindell - vault
Other team members include: Faith Anderson, Kirsten Appel, Morgan Cleevely, Dylan Colangelo, Ally Davenport, Hailee Dutton, Hannah Estephan, Emily Faith, Joey Frattaroli, Katie Gamble, Nick Jama, Megan Janak, Mya Kasten, Lauren Manski, Sarah Oman, Gaby Rossi, Nicole Ruse, Lily Testa
The Competitive teams are coached by: Sandy Sabo, Courtney Schuller, Megan Christie, Brian Gallagher, Jonathan Imler, and gym owner Tim Bosick.

Pictured L-R Front Row: Jordan Diana; Alex Prassinos; Kevin Marstellar; Donovan Smith; Sean Stewart; Coach Frank Costello.
Back Row L-R: Coach Pat Diana; Manager Mike Savko; Anthony Savko; Josh Foster; Chris Miller; Danny Costello; Michael Currao; Coach Denny Sanders; Coach Dom Currao

Austintown “The Paper Center” won the 32 team Trumbull /Mahoning /Columbiana Tri T Colt League (15-18 yr old) Championship by beating Girard “State Street Bar & Grill” 7-3.
Chris Miller pitched a complete game 4 hitter with 11 K’s and 0 ER.

Anthony Savko 4-4 (2 runs); Chris Miller and Kevin Marstellar chipped in with 2 hits and 2 runs each.

Donte Delbone doubled for Girard.

The Paper Center went 21-2 for the year.

Team members include: (front row, L-R) Anthony Bell, Terry Baber, Irvin Russ, Deon Harris, Aaron Qualls, Osha Jackson. Back row, L-R: Coach Kevin Watson, Coach Sgt. Lanelle Lewis, Jaylen Powell, Quan Dorsey, Aaron Brothers, Greg Jackson, Lamar Freeman, Coach Gary Aceto

The Warren Ohio Basketball Academy (Runnin’ Rebels) seventh grade basketball team qualified for the national championship July 5 – 8 in Fort Wayne, Ind. They finished with a 21-6 record and qualified for the second straight year. They advanced to the semifinals and placed third.

The 12U Valley Extreme Red Fastpitch team comprised of girls from Champion, Garrettsville, Austintown, Canfield, Poland, Newton Falls, and North Canton recently won the championship of the 64 team pony Nationals that were held at the Boardman Field of Dreams and McCune Park in Canfield from July 21 to the 26th.

In tournament play, Valley Extreme Red posted 11 wins, seven of them by shutout, and they did not lose a game. The highlights of this tournament were a 2 to 0 upset of the Ohio Slammers in the semi-finals and a come-from-behind 8 to 3 win against the Central Massachusetts Thunder in the Championship game.
For the year, the team has posted a record of 91 wins and only 7 losses in tournament play. Besides the Pony National Championship, the 12U Valley Extreme have won 8 other tournaments throughout the Spring and Summer, placed second in another, third in the prestigious Compuware showcase tournament in Detroit Michigan, and fourth at the ASA Eastern Regional USA. They also won the Mineral Ridge B high school league with a record of 15 wins, 2 losses, and one tie. This team’s total record for the year combining both tournament play and league play was 106 wins, 9 losses, and 1 tie.
The pitching staff of Lindsay Swipas, Leanne Schaffer, and Bailey Shade held the opposition in tournament play to less than 2 runs a game for the season. Swipas had over 40 victories for the season and over 300 strikeouts. Schaffer had a record of 27 wins and only one loss, and Shade had 19 wins and 0 losses. The staff was strengthened for the Pony tournament with the addition of Erin Gabriel. Erin pitched a no-hitter, a two-hitter, and a perfect game in her three appearances in that tournament.
She also hit very well for the team in that tournament.
The offense was led this year by the “Irish Connection” of Haley McAllister, Jessie O’Bryan and Megan Carney. McAllister led the team with 20 homeruns. She also had the most triples, the most walks, and scored the most runs for the team. O’Bryan batted .473 for the season, was second in homeruns with 9, and had the second highest slugging percentage on the team. Carney had the highest batting average of .553 and she led the team in hits with 146 for the season. She also struck out the fewest times. The team leader in RBIs was Lindsay Swipas. She had 98 of them.
Defensively the team was led by catcher Sarah Nist who threw out many runners during the year who tried to steal bases, Gina Mancini who played very well defensively at second base, and outfielders Jenn Termine, Darian Roberts, and McKenzie Kiser. Mancini, Nist, and Termine also all batted over .300 for the year. These five girls not only made big plays on the defense, but each had timely hits in various games to lead the team to its many victories.
The team was managed by Chad Kiser, and the coaches were Brent Swipas, Brian Shade, and Tom Carney.

Columbiana-The Century Bombers Softball Team recently competed in the B
Division of the Mahoning Valley Fast Pitch League finishing with a 19-5
record. After losing the first tournament game the Bombers went on to win
six straight tournament games to become the B Division League Champions.
Pictured from left to right in the back row are coaches John Saupp, Jay
Williamson, Mark Brothers, Bob Stoddard & Rich Stewart. In the middle row
are Emily Stewart, Jennifer Williamson, Corinne Brothers, Ashley Shea, Lori
Deem. In the front row are Carly Blair, Claire Brothers, Cassidy Stoddard,
Kacie Donahue, Jessica Gavin, Hayley Goist, Kristen Kuhns. On the ground are
Jordan Stoddard & Harley Huston. Not pictured are Elizabeth Henderson &
Jessica Cavanaugh.

Boardman Community Baseball’s 14 Year Old Pony Team ended their season as state semi-finalists the week of July 19th in North Canton, Ohio.
The district champions, lead by manager Jerry Pasquale, coaches Tony Pacella, Russ Lamping, and statisticians Bob Diamond and John Watkins, finished tournament play Thursday, July 24th, just one game shy of the state finals. Boardman’s state bid began with their opening game Saturday against Distict 8’s Huber Heights. Boardman plated 6 runs in the opener, 3 off a sixth inning homerun off the bat of outfielder, Justin Haun. Second baseman, Derek Pasquale aided the cause with 2 hits, one a double, while pitcher Danny Watkins helped his own cause going 3 for 4 at the plate. Boardman took the loss, 10-6.
Now in the consolation bracket, Boardman had 4 games ahead of them to advance to the finals.
The next game saw the Boardman Diamondmen facing Miami (Ohio). After a rain delay on Sunday, a strong Boardman team, led by pitcher Zack Williams, took charge of the game, holding the Miami 9 to just 1 hit with 6 strikeouts. Third baseman Nathan Knaus pounded a triple as the Boardman squad had a combined eight hits contributing to a 10-3 win.
Boardman’s next game pitted them against Elyria East on Monday. Centerfielder Watkins went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s, first baseman Bobby Diamond added 3 RBI’s and Pasquale went 2 for 4. Outfielder Matt Loney and shortstop Chad Sinkovich chipped in base hits and an RBI each to add to the eventual win. Brian Smith got the mound win pitching a complete game, allowing only 2 hits, winning 11-0.
Wednesday night matched Boardman up against the purple and gold of Maumee. Pitcher Danny Watkins threw 4 strong innings with Diamond and Williams coming in in relief. Outfielder P.J. Haggerty went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, infielder Jude Koury, outfielder Williams, Watkins, and Diamond contributed RBI’s. Haun contributed a long ball double. The team won 13-2 in a complete 5 errorless innings of play.
In a rematch of game one, Boardman now faced Huber Heights in Thursday’s semi-final match at North Canton Hoover High School. Boardman came out strong with a 2 run first inning off hits by Knaus, Pasquale, and a Williams(pitcher) double. Catcher Anthony Pacella - who played an excellent game behind the plate during the entire state tourney-singled, while Watkins, Williams, and Haun contributed RBI’s. Boardman was now leading 4-1 going into the bottom of the 5th. Huber Heights struck for 4 runs off 4 hits, including two doubles, and Boardman now trailed for the first time in the last 3 games, 5-4. Though the bats never stopped, Boardman could not plate another run. Boardman took the loss, 5-4.
Manager Pasquale stated to Boardman Community Baseball President Tim Kaple, “You’d have been proud of the boys. They represented Boardman well. I couldn’t have asked for more from them.”

The Poland Boys’ 9u All-star team recently won the 9u Austintown Tournament. The team defeated Austintown with back-to-back wins to win the tournament.

Front (L-R): David Watson, batboy Braeden O’Shaughnessy,
Padraig O’Shaughnessy, Alex Wollet and Joey Lawman.

Middle: Brendan Glosser, Nick Petrolla, Tony Chiaro, Daniel Klase, Shane Starling, William ‘Lightning’ Aey, and Dylan Kurcon.

Back: Manager Eric Glosser, assistant coaches Joe Petrolla, John Aey, and Dave Kurcon.

Missing from the picture is player Chad Svatosky.

  The South Range 8U Gold Team All Stars successfully competed in the 3rd annual South Range Baseball All Star Tournament held July 1-6.

First Row (L-R): Nicholas Fromel, Riley White, Nicholas Matos, Kyle Beckwith, Charlie Staffeld, Kyle Keenan and Brendan “Big B” Miller.
Second Row: Issac Allegretto, Ben Rivera, Sam Brooks, C.J. Brown, Brock Mellott and Rod Kaiser.
Third Row: Coaches Ben Rivera, Joe Staffeld, Deon Miller, John Fromel and Matt Brooks.
Missing from the photo is Joshua Stear.