By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
With rain in the weekend forecast, the first round of the All “A” Classic state baseball tournament that includes two Northern Kentucky teams could be in jeopardy.
The first two games to be played Saturday at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington are Walton-Verona vs. Lexington Christian at 10 a.m. and Brossart vs. Caldwell County at noon. The games on the other side of the bracket are Pikeville vs. Middlesboro at 2:30 p.m. and Louisville Holy Cross vs. Monroe County at 4:30 p.m.
If all of those games are completed, the semifinals will be at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday with the championship final at 1 p.m. that day.
Pikeville (20-4) enters the tournament with the best record in the eight-team field, but the Panthers lost four of their last five games. Walton-Verona (15-4) is on a six-game winning streak and held its last four opponents to one run or less. Brossart (11-11) is coming off a 10-1 win over Holy Cross that snapped a two-game losing streak.
This is the first time since 2012 that Walton-Verona has made it to the All “A” Classic state tournament. First-year head coach Clint Coleman has a good pitching staff led by junior Braxton Foley and senior Jeremy Moran. The Bearcats’ leading hitter is senior James Tilley with a .550 average (22 of 40).
The last time Brossart made it to the small-school state tournament was 2011 when the Mustangs lost in the championship final. This year’s team has a good group of seniors that includes Chase Keller, Jake Sendelbach and Bryce Kremer. They’re all capable pitchers along with junior Zach Hamberg.
If Brossart and Walton-Verona both win their first-round games, the two local teams will meet in the semifinals. In the last 10 years, Northern Kentucky teams have reached the championship game six times and three of them won the title.
Hall of Fame to induct former Northern Kentucky basketball players
Northern Kentucky high school basketball players of the past and present will be honored during the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame banquet on Tuesday at Receptions in Fairfield, Ohio.
This year’s list of Hall of Fame inductees includes three players — Doug Schloemer of Holmes, Scott Draud of Highlands and Christie Osborne of Conner — who led their high school teams to 9th Region championships and went on to play for NCAA Division I college programs.
Schloemer was the leading scorer on the Holmes state runner-up team in 1978 and became the first 9th Region player named Mr. Kentucky Basketball. Draud was the state’s leading scorer during the during the 1985-86 season when Highlands won a regional championship. Osborne was the leading scorer and rebounder on the Conner girls’ basketball teams that claimed back-to-back 9th Region titles in 1990 and 1991.
Three of the top high school players in Northern Kentucky from last season will also receive awards at next week’s banquet. Cooper senior guard Sean McNeil was named Player of the Year in boys’ basketball while junior guards Ally Niece of Simon Kenton and Lexy Held of Cooper were co-winners in girls’ basketball.
Two coaches from Cooper — Tim Sullivan and Nicole Levandusky — will receive Coach of the Year awards. Sullivan was in charge of the Cooper boys’ team that was runner-up in the state tournament. Levandusky took the Cooper girls’ team to the 9th Region final.
CovCath guard accepts scholarship offer from Division II team
Aiden Ruthsatz, a starting guard on the Covington Catholic boys’ basketball team the last two years, has accepted a scholarship offer from Christian Brothers University in Tennessee.
Ruthsatz, the son of CovCath’s head coach, averaged 13 points as a junior last season and 7.7 points as a sophomore for the Colonels, who reached the 9th Region final both years. He was the team’s leading 3-point shooter last season, making 69 of 167 for 41.3 percent.
Christian Brothers competes on the NCAA Division II level. Last year’s team made it to the quarterfinals of the South Region playoffs and posted a 23-8 record.
Cooper girls’ basketball player will continue career in college
Cooper senior forward Hailey Anderson, the leading rebounder and second leading scorer on this year’s 9th Region runner-up girls’ basketball team, has signed a letter of intent with the University of Pikeville in Kentucky.
During her senior season, Anderson averaged 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Jaguars. She made 156 of 278 field goal attempts for a team-high 56.1 percent. In the regional tournament, she scored 18, 14 and 24 points in three games to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
Anderson will be joining a Pikeville team that qualified for the NAIA playoffs last season and finished with a 21-11 record.