By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Todd Ramey and Joseph Martin, two of the leading hitters on the Highlands baseball team that played in the championship game of the state tournament earlier this month, were named first-team all-state by the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Ramey, a senior third baseman who was also named 9th Region Player of the Year by local coaches, finished the season with a .507 batting average (65 of 128) and 60 runs batted in for the Bluebirds. He also scored 55 runs and had 29 extra base hits, including seven home runs.
Martin, a senior first baseman and pitcher, batted .453 (49 of 108) with 34 RBI, 31 runs scored and 18 extra base hits. He also had a 4-1 record on the mound that included a win over Greenup County in the state tournament semifinals. That win put Highlands in the state championship game for the first time in team history.
Highlands sophomore pitcher Ricky Raisor was named second-team all-state. He had a 9-1 record with 65 strikeouts in 55 innings.
The third-team selections included Andrew Trame and Jake Ohmer of Scott and Sean Lawrence of Simon Kenton. Trame and Ohmer were pitchers and infielders on the Scott team that won the 10th Region championship and made it to the semifinals of the state tournament.
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Newport High School has posted a job opening for a head football coach on the Kentucky High School Athletic Association website to find a replacement for Matthew Schmitz, who was arrested in May for marijuana possession, public intoxication and resisting arrest.
Newport did not renew its teaching contract with Schmitz and school officials posted the job opening on June 9.
“We are currently accepting applications for the position,” Newport principal Antonio Watts said in an email. “We want to hire a coach as soon as possible, but we will do our best to make sure the new coach is the right fit for our school and students.”
In a statment issued a few days after his arrest, Schmitz said, “I am making no excuses for my actions. What I did was wrong, especially for someone in my position.”
Schmitz was Newport’s head coach for two seasons. His first team had a 5-6 record and lost in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs. Last year’s team won two playoff games and finished 8-5. At the 2014 post-season awards banquet, Schmitz received the Owen Hauck Award that’s given to the coach whose team made the biggest improvement.
Newport is one of four Northern Kentucky high school football teams that will have a new head coach next season. Coaching changes have already been made at Boone County, Covington Catholic and Bellevue.
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Richard Dickmann is stepping down as head coach of the Covington Catholic boys’ swimming and diving team, but he’s already found a replacement. Chris Goodpaster, a former CovCath swimmer and assistant coach at Dixie Heights, is taking charge of the program.
“I had to wait for the right person to take over,” Dickmann said of leaving the team. “I will be assisting him when needed to help with the transition.”
CovCath won the regional meet each of the seven years that Dickmann was head coach. Five of those teams went on to place second in the state meet behind perennial power Louisville St. Xavier.
“It’s been a great seven years and I think that the program is in a great place,” Dickmann said. “I am going to concentrate on my duties as alumni director and assisting with campus improvements.”
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Ryle is accepting applications for a new girls’ head basketball coach to replace Karra Jackson, whose teams compiled a 27-27 record over the last two years.
Jim Demler, the high school’s athletic director, said in an email that Karra resigned “to explore other opportunities outside of basketball. She was not let go.”
The team’s freshman coach, Heather Loechel, has taken charge of the program during summer camps. Demler said he hopes to name a new head coach by the end of the month.
Last season, the Raiders won the 33rd District championship and posted a 15-12 record with just one senior on the roster. The team’s leading scorers were junior guard Mallory Schwartz and junior forward Carly Lange.
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James “Beetle” Bolden of Holmes played well in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Series last weekend, but the Kentucky seniors lost both games to their Indiana counterparts.
In Friday’s game in Lexington, Bolden hit a 3-point shot that put Kentucky ahead, 80-79, with 57 seconds left. After Indiana got a field goal to regain the lead, Bolden had a shot blocked and Indiana recovered the ball to get a fast-break basket for an 83-80 victory. Bolden finished with seven points and seven rebounds in that game.
On Saturday in Indianapolis, Indiana completed the sweep with an 88-77 win over Kentucky. Bolden had 14 points and five rebounds in his final game as a high school player. He will continue his career at West Virginia next season.