Saying good-bye to a Hall of Famer
The Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame lost a long-time member Nov. 11 with the passing of Dan Neville, a Covington native and product of Knothole Baseball who made it to his favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds, as a rookie right-handed pitcher in September of 1964. Dan was called up with fellow minor-leaguers Tony Perez, Tommy Helms and Ted Davidson for the final pennant run that season.
While he didn’t get into action with the Reds in those final 12 games and didn’t get another call-up, Dan had an impressive minor league career including three seasons in the Triple A Pacific Coast League for the Reds’ farm team, the San Diego Padres, as he joined other Reds’ pitching candidates like Claude Osteen and Sammy Ellis at the top of the prospect chain. Dan pitched in 227 minor league games, mostly in the Reds’ organization, with a career record of 67-54 and an ERA of 3.35.
A graduate of Covington Catholic, who left UK when he signed his Reds’ contract, Neville was 84 and had been battling major health issues for the past seven years. According to his wife, Mary Jo, Dan wore his NKSHOF T-shirt every week.
Saints win Bourbon Barrel, avoid bottom of the GMAC barrel
With 500 fans in the stands at Owensboro’s Steele Stadium Saturday, Thomas More’s Saints used a pair of game-deciding field goals from record-breaking senior kicker Luke Iden to edge Kentucky Wesleyan in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference battle to avoid an 0-11 winless season.
The defensive struggle saw the teams scoreless at halftime and TMU trailing by a baseball score of 3-2 into the fourth quarter when each team scored a TD before Iden’s two field goals from 37 and then 46 yards out for the game-winner to finish the season at 1-10 (1-8 GMAC) to KWU’s 0-11 (0-9 GMAC).
Sophomore Martavious Smith out of Bardstown scored on a seven-yard inside plunge to give the Saints their first and only TD as well as their first lead. The defensive leader was sophomore Tofa Luani (Milford, Ohio) while redshirt sophomore quarterback Griffin Scalf (Cincinnati Anderson) completed 17 passes for 166 yards. His main target was Anthony Grossnickel (Massillon, Ohio) with 77 receiving yards.
Taylen Kinney highlights preseason shootout at Holmes Saturday
There won’t be any local teams among the eight high school basketball programs featured in the Step Higher Academy Tip-Off Classic at Covington Holmes Saturday. But Taylen Kinney, the former Newport High star and one of the nation’s prized senior prospects before committing to Kansas in September, will be back in Northern Kentucky for the feature event with his Atlanta-based Overtime Elite program in the finale of four preseason matchups.
Holmes High grad Isaiah Revels and his Cincinnati-based Step Higher Academy are sponsoring the event. The first matchup, at 3:45 p.m., will be Pickerington Central vs. Summit Country Day School, followed by Princeton vs. McNicholas at 4:45 p.m., Lakota West vs. Frederick Douglass at 6 p.m. and Overtime Elite vs. Huntington (W. Va) Prep at 7:15.
Four here in KSR football rankings after Playoffs Week 2
Not a great deal of change in the Kentucky Sports Report’s Top 25 high school football teams this week although CovCath’s Colonels did manage to jump up four spots, the most of any team, to No. 8 overall, after eliminating No. 12 Johnson Central. Cooper’s Jaguars, after being eliminated in Class 5A were knocked out of the rankings. Highlands in 5A and Ryle in 6A give Northern Kentucky four ranked teams this week.
Top 25
1) Trinity, 2) Christian Academy-Louisville, 3) South Warren 4) Boyle County 5) St. Xavier 6) Highlands 7) Franklin County 8) Covington Catholic 9) Ryle 10) Frederick Douglass 11) Owensboro 12) Johnson Central 13 Woodford County 14) Atherton 15) Lexington Christian Academy 16) Paducah Tilghman 17) Beechwood 18) DuPont Manual 19) Pulaski County 20) Owensboro Catholic 21) Bell County 22) Lexington Catholic 23) Male 24) Belfry 25) Mayfield. Others receiving votes: Corbin, Scott County, Middlesboro.
Class A: Campbellsville, Pikeville, Raceland, Kentucky Country Day, Middlesboro
Class 2A: No. 15 Lexington Christian Academy, No. 17 Beechwood, No. 20 Owensboro Catholic, No. 24 Belfry, No. 25 Mayfield.
Class 3A: No. 2 Christian Academy-Louisville, No. 21 Bell County, No. 22 Lexington Catholic, Murray, Lloyd Memorial.
Class 4A: No. 4 Boyle County, No. 6 Highlands, No. 7 Franklin County, No. 8 Covington Catholic, No. 12 Johnson Central.
Class 5A: No. 11 Owensboro, No. 13 Woodford County, No. 14 Atherton, No. 19 Pulaski County, Scott County.
Class 6A: No. 1 Trinity, No. 3 South Warren, No. 5 St. Xavier, No. 9 Ryle, No. 10 Frederick Douglass.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.