Marysville’s Blake Storr raps a base hit during a game from his 2019 senior season. Storr’s first spring season at Indiana Wesleyan University was halted early due to the coronavirus. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) Marysville High School graduate Blake Storr started his spring collegiate baseball career with a bang earlier this year. The remainder of the campaign, however, grounded into an early season-ending out due to COVID-19. Storr, a 2019 MHS graduate, started his spring freshman season with Indiana Wesleyan University in February. He hit .338 as a Monarch senior a year ago and continued that hot pace once…
Author: Tim Miller
Fairbanks pitcher Jaeden Eickhoff delivers the ball to the plate. Whether Eickhoff and other high school senior athletes from around the state are permitted to compete this spring remains to be seen. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) In preparing to cover Thursday afternoon’s Fairbanks High School baseball game, the Journal-Tribune called Panther coach Josh Rine and asked who his starting pitcher was going to be. RINE WAIT!!! WHAT??? WE’VE GOT A VIRUS!!! IT’S A PANDEMIC!!! ARE YOU CRAZY??? Relax folks, no such game was played. The phone call actually occurred, but it was all done, unfortunately, in jest. “Man,…
Marysville High School senior Haley Cook prepares to leap over the high jump bar in this file photo. High school sports teams could start the 2020 season on May 9, if the state’s coronavirus lockdown is lifted. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) Saturday, May 9…. one month from today. That’s the date high school spring sports athletes and coaches now have circled on their calendars. That is the day sports seasons may start across the state, if Ohio Governor Mike DeWine lifts the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. The lockdown was ordered in the middle of March as a way to combat…
Jonathan Alder quarterback JT Keith throws the ball during a 2019 playoff game against Jackson. Keith is working to strength his right knee, which required surgery after the season-ending loss to Columbus Bishop Hartley. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon) While spring sports athletes are wondering if they will be able to compete this year, Jonathan Alder’s JT Keith is working hard with an eye toward his senior season of football. As a junior last fall, Keith helped lead the Pioneers to the Kenton Trail Division title of the Central Buckeye Conference and a Division III regional runner-up finish. Keith’s season,…
Monarch pitcher Jack Christian prepares to fire the ball toward the plate. Like other high school athletes, Christian hopes an abbreviated 2020 season can still be played this spring. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) One of the top high school baseball pitchers in Union County is just waiting things out, pondering what’s coming down the road. Marysville High School junior Jack Christian is like every other high school spring sports athlete in the state of Ohio. They’re wondering whether they will have any type of season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Christian is doing all he can to try and…
Jonathan Alder head football coach Brett Glass gives instructions to Taber Headings in this file photo from the 2019 season. Glass, who is also an assistant baseball coach for the Pioneers, is uncertain how the coronavirus will impact high school sports in the weeks and months ahead. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on sports throughout the world. It has caused high school athletics in the state of Ohio to grind to a screeching halt. No one at this time knows whether spring sports will be conducted, due to the state-mandated school lockdown.…
Marysville High School senior Jenna Rioch works out on the new track at the school in this file photo. Monarch athletes will compete in a “virtual” track meet with other schools as a way to stay connected with each other during the coronavirus pandemic-related school shutdown. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) High school spring sports programs in Ohio remain in limbo due to the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the globe. Athletes are working on their own in order to stay in reasonable physical condition for if an abbreviated 2020 schedule is permitted. While student-athletes are waiting to resume competition,…
The coronavirus mandate of social distancing is having an impact on Marysville High School’s search for a new girls head basketball coach. Interviews have begun with several candidates who applied to fill the position that was vacated a couple of months ago. Brooke Young stepped down from the position after guiding the Lady Monarchs to a 21-25 record in two seasons. The team won its first Division I tournament game in six years by defeating Delaware Hayes during the opening round of the 2020 post-season. Marysville High School athletic director Joey Day is conducting the first round of interviews via…
Marysville’s Jacquelyn Witt goes over the pole vault bar in this 2019 file photo. High school spring sports in Ohio are still on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) The 2020 Ohio high school spring sports season is still on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Officials from the Ohio High School Athletic Association extended the no-contact period for the sports of baseball, softball, boys tennis, boys and girls track and field and boys and girls lacrosse to Friday, May 1. The announcement was made Tuesday by Jerry Snodgrass, the OHSAA’s executive director. “This is…
Marysville’s Abri Schmutz steals second base while Skylar North covers the bag during an instrasquad scrimmage. The Lady Monarchs’ 2020 season is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) Marysville High School softball head coach Jennifer Segner-Maxwell is like a lot of spring sports bosses in this current uncertain world. She would like to get the 2020 season under way, but doesn’t know when or if it’s even going to happen. The coronavirus that has swept the globe holds a big lead on the scoreboard against all sports. The disease has climbed to a huge…
Fairbanks southpaw pitcher April Ward delivers the ball to the plate during a 2019 game. Whether Ward or anyone else will be able to take to pitching circles throughout the state this spring is in limbo due to the coronavirus. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) “We would hope to be back sometime in April.” Those were the recent optimistic words of Fairbanks High School head softball coach Amy Sines. Sines’ program, like all other spring sports teams throughout the state, is in shutdown mode due to the coronavirus pandemic. No one currently knows what the season will look like if…
Refunds are currently being processed for tickets purchased for Ohio high school winter sports tournaments that were never completed. The coronavirus pandemic first postponed and then canceled the remainder of winter sports tournaments in boys and girls basketball, wrestling and ice hockey. The Ohio High School Athletic Association is asking ticket purchasers to have patience as Ticketmaster is dealing with an unprecedented amount of event cancellations and refunds for sports and other events. The Union County area had no basketball teams left in either boys or girls tournament competition when the post-seasons were postponed. The area was to have been…
Lady Monarch runner Jacquelyn Witt works out on Marysville High School’s new all-weather track. The MHS boys and girls track and field teams aren’t sure whether they will be able to use the new facility this spring due to the coronavirus. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) A special season for the Marysville High School boys and girls track and field teams may have to be put on hold or completely canceled. The coronavirus pandemic has closed schools throughout Ohio for at least three weeks and has put 2020 spring sports seasons in jeopardy. The Monarch track and field program was…
Jonathan Alder third baseman Jillian Jakse watches after clubbing the ball during the 2019 Division II state softball semifinals at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. It remains to be seen whether the Lady Pioneers will have the opportunity to defend their state championship. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) Jonathan Alder High School’s softball program ruled the roost by winning the Division II state championship at the conclusion of the 2019 season. Whether the Lady Pioneers (who were 29-1 last year) will be permitted to defend that title this spring remains to be seen, due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We could have a…
“I think everyone was mentally preparing for this.”Those were the words of Marysville High School head wrestling coach Shawn Andrews after the Ohio High School Athletic Association officially canceled the remainder of winter sports tournaments on Thursday afternoon.The post-season tourneys for boys and girls basketball, wrestling and ice hockey were put on hold earlier this month due to the state-wide school shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The girls hoop tournament was in the state Final Four and boys basketball was being contested at the regional level.The Union County area had three wrestlers entered into the state tournament that was to…