There’s a Wednesday logjam for Fort Loramie and Minster spring sports. Maybe Friday, too, for the Wildcats.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association and the Southwest and Northwest district athletic boards may have to put their heads together and use Thursday and possibly Saturday to spread out the two schools’ Wednesday-Friday schedules so fans from the communities can watch their boys and girls clubs play.
And why not? It’s tourney time and spectators are even more excited to travel and support their schools’ baseball and softball teams as they try to stay alive.
Furthermore, the four programs are fun to watch. They have combined for 90 victories this spring. Minster softball is 27-1; Minster baseball, 21-5; Fort Loramie softball, 21-9; and Fort Loramie baseball, 21-6.
Redskins’ junior hurler Gabe Hart tossed a five-hitter and fanned seven as Fort Loramie topped Covington, 5-1, on Monday. Following the game, Hart told Jack Kramer of ScoresBroadcast.com in the online postgame segment that Monday’s outing was his best pitching performance of the season.
Right down the road from Minster and Fort Loramie, Russia sits at 24-4 in baseball after thumping Twin Valley South, 13-3, on Monday. Russia won the Division IV state title two years ago and finished second last year. This senior class of players has won more than 90 baseball contests in their high school careers.
The Wednesday logjam of baseball-softball conflicts in the Southwest district might have been even bigger had the Russia softball squad not been nipped by Ansonia last week.
Still, hundreds and hundreds of fans are hoping a revised schedule breaks their way.
In a D-IV regional semifinal on Wednesday, Fort Loramie softball is set to play Tri-Village at Northmont at 2 p.m. The site on the same night for the Fort Loramie-Troy Christian district final baseball tilt is Versailles; first pitch at 5. So, that between-game drive from Englewood to Darke County is manageable for Redskins fans.
However, the Minster girls take on Fayetteville-Perry on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Northmont and the Minster boys are set to meet Marion Local at 5 on the same night at Coldwater in a Northwest district semi-final. Yes, the Minster boys and girls play in different regions.
Originally, the Minster baseball game was set for the second semifinal of a doubleheader at 7:30 p.m. But as of Tuesday morning, that contest was switched to the first of two at 5.
Neither slate works out well for Minster fans. The second and now current option requires the Minster faithful to be at two places at exactly the same time.
Want a solution? Swap the southwest region softball contests. But then the Fort Loramie fans would have to be at two game sites at the same 5 p.m. hour.
While the OHSAA may be reluctant to maneuver the regional, the Southwest board could slide Fort Loramie baseball to Thursday. A Redskins win would not force another tourney game until the baseball region semifinal at Princeton one full week from Thursday. So, there’s a window of several days to produce the three southwest district champs.
Realistically, Minster baseball — needing two more victories to reach the northwest regional at Elida — has less flexibility. The Wildcats could play on both Wednesday and Friday.
Saturday might be an option for Minster baseball, if the Minster girls advance to Friday’s regional final and directly conflict with the boys, again.
Factor in rain, and any revised plans get washed away. Thundershowers are possible both Wednesday and Thursday with a greater chance on Thursday.
Weather permitting and with a portable tent overhead, ScoresBroadcast.com plans to park at the end of the first base dugout at Northmont and provide coverage of both softball contests on Wednesday starting at 1:25 p.m.
A weekday afternoon broadcast, especially, will generate a very large listening audience. But ScoresBroadcast, like the fans, needs ample time between games to travel from one broadcast site to another to cover additional contests.
The path of thunderstorms needs to change over the next couple days. It would be nice if the “schedule of Minster and Fort Loramie tournament games” did, too.
