By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Notre Dame senior Haylee Smith returns to the fast-pitch softball state tournament this week with an impressive set of statistics that show why she was voted Division I Player of the Year by the coaches in Northern Kentucky.
Smith has a 21-5 pitching record with 205 strikeouts in 157 innings and a 0.76 ERA. She’s also the Pandas’ leading hitter with a .427 average (41 of 96) and has team-high totals of 50 RBI and 18 extra-base hits. She was named most valuable player in the 9th Region Tournament after leading her team to the title.
Notre Dame will play Ashland Blazer in the first round of the state tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday in Owensboro. This is the fifth time in the last six years that Smith has played on the 9th Region representative in the season finale. She was on three regional winners at Ryle before coming to Notre Dame and pitching on the 2013 and 2015 teams that won regional titles.
Highlands junior catcher Shelby Graybill was voted Division II Player of the Year by local coaches. She was a leading hitter on this year’s regional runner-up team. The Division III Player of the Year is Villa Madonna eighth-grader Brooke Meier.
Here are the first-team selections in all three divisions:
DIVISION I
Haylee Smith (Notre Dame), Elizabeth Sims (Conner), Mary Beth Odom (Dixie Heights), Maclai Branson (Ryle), Mackenzi Dickerson (Ryle), Haley Delaney (Boone County), Olivia Jackson (Boone County), Jenna Hicks (Conner), Mallory McGrath (Campbell County), Alexa Snelbaker (Conner).
DIVISION II
Shelby Graybill (Highlands), Haley Meyers (NewCath), Kristen Schreiber (NewCath), Gabby Stewart (St. Henry), Brennah Dutcher (Highlands). Alehia Tucker (Holy Cross). Amanda Lloyd (Brossart), Jordan Gentry (Lloyd), Whitney Quillen (Highlands), Bailey Spencer (Highlands).
DIVISION III
Brooke Meier (Villa Madonna), Grace Workman (Dayton), Felicia Watts (Dayton), Dayne Merkley (Calvary Christian), Kira Ross (Bellevue), Anna Wagner (Villa Madonna), Maddie Mullins (Heritage), Jayna Crawford (Ludlow), Alexa Meier (Villa Madonna), Kendall Trent (Ludlow).
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Todd Ramey, the leading hitter on the 9th Region champion Highlands baseball team, was voted 9th Region Player of the Year on the all-star teams selected by local coaches.
Ramey, a senior third baseman, had a .517 batting average going into this week’s state tournament in Lexington. He also had team-high totals in several other categories, including hits (61), runs scored (53), runs batted in (59) and extra-base hits (27).
Kevin Gray of Ludlow was named 9th Region Coach of the Year and Patrick Rottinghaus of Dixie Heights was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
The local coaches also selected all-star teams in two divisions. Ramey was named Player of the Year on the Division A all-star team and Simon Kenton senior Sean Lawrence was named Division AA Player of the Year. Coach of the Year Awards went to Kent Shartzer of St Henry in Division A and Scott Schweitzer of Campbell County in Division AA.
Here are the top players in each position for both all-star teams:
DIVISION AA
1B — Nate Bailey (CovCath), 2B — Brady Ast (Ryle), SS — Ethan Harrison (Dixie Heights), 3B — Ryan McGinnis (CovCath), C — Robert Metz (Campbell County), OF — Niko Pangallo (CovCath), OF — Blaise Ostertag (Conner), OF – Henry Kerns (Dixie Heights), P — Sean Lawrence (Simon Kenton), P — Adam Ruwe (CovCath), DH – Sean Lawrence (Simon Kenton).
DIVISION A
1B — Joe Martin (Highlands), 2B — Brady Hayes (Bellevue), SS — Jared Seibert (Holy Cross), 3B — Todd Ramey (Highlands), C — Tyler Lyons (Ludlow), OF — Nick Ferraro (St Henry), OF — Brett Slusher (Beechwood), OF — Hayden Molitor (Lloyd), P — Ricky Raisor (Highlands), P — Grant Moeves (NewCath), DH — DJ Mills (Highlands).
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Austin Myers, a four-time undefeated state wrestling champion for Campbell County, is one of six finalists for the Buddy LaRosa Male Athlete of the Year Award that will be presented Sunday, June 28 at a ceremony to be televised live on WCET-TV.
Myers posted a perfect 182-0 record and won four state titles in the 220-pound weight class during his high school career. He also won three national titles in that weight class at the National High School Wrestling Championships that have separate divisions for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors each year.
The other five nominees for Male Athlete of the Year and all six nominees for Female Athlete of the Year Award competed for high school teams in Ohio.
There will also be seven people inducted into the Buddy LaRosa High School Hall of Fame during the televised ceremony on June 28. The inductees include Barry Binkley, a highly successful cross country and track coach at Dayton High School, and Michelle Cottrell Marston, a former 9th Region Player of the Year in girls’ basketball at Boone County High School who also lettered in volleyball and track.
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The first of several Northern Kentucky high school all-star games will be played this Sunday when girls’ basketball players compete in a junior all-star game at 5 p.m. and a senior all-star game at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Cross High School.
The annual East-West Football All-Star Game will be played Thursday, June 11, but the site has not yet been confirmed. Two baseball all-star games will be played on Monday, June 15 at Dixie Heights with the juniors at 5 p.m. and the seniors at 7:30 p.m.