Loveland Magazine

LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: softball

  • OHSAA Board of Directors Approves Expansion Proposal

    OHSAA Board of Directors Approves Expansion Proposal

    Soccer, girls volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball adding divisions starting in 2024-25

    A Press Release from the Ohio High School Athletic Association

    After months of discussion and meetings around Ohio to gather feedback, the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors unanimously approved a proposal Thursday morning to utilize a new formula to determine how many divisions will be offered for postseason tournaments. The change affects OHSAA General Sports Regulation 17 and will result in girls and boys soccer now having five divisions, while girls volleyball, girls and boys basketball, softball and baseball will all have seven divisions. In those sports, Division I and Division II will only include 64 schools.

    The new divisions will go into effect with the fall of 2024. The board will continue to discuss additional sports, noting several recent meetings regarding track and field. There are no changes to the number of football divisions, which is already at seven. In addition, any changes to the current deployment of the Competitive Balance process would need to be voted upon by OHSAA member schools during the annual referendum voting process.

    Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director, praised the board’s decision as a step toward to level the playing field of OHSAA tournaments.

    “It’s the right thing to do for the student-athletes who have been competing at this disadvantage,” said Ute. “For too long, the largest schools in our divisions have been so much larger than the smaller schools in the same division, which has resulted in many schools accepting that they realistically have little chance at making a run in the tournament. In some of our sports, there have been more than 200 schools competing for a state title in that division, which is significantly more than what most other states do, and what we do in many of our own sports.

    “We know that there is a lot of work to do in the coming months to prepare for additional divisions this fall,” Ute said. “We have already started working on the details to accomplish this, but one thing we know for sure is that having two or three more state champions in these sports doesn’t water them down or diminish winning a state title. And we anticipate that this new format will be revenue neutral, since every school makes the tournament already.”

    Each year, the Board of Directors would still have final authority in determining how many divisions to be used that school year, but the proposal calls for the following scale to be used to guide the board’s decision on the number of divisions for girls volleyball, football, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball, however note that the sports of lacrosse, field hockey, ice hockey and boys volleyball would not change from their current division numbers:

       199 or fewer teams: 1 Division

       200 to 299 teams: 2 Divisions

       300 to 399 teams: 3 Divisions

       400 to 499 teams: 4 Divisions

       500 to 599 teams: 5 Divisions

       600 to 699 teams: 6 Divisions

       700 and more teams: 7 Divisions

    For girls volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball, the largest 64 schools would be placed into Division I. The next largest 64 schools would be placed into Division II. The remaining schools would be divided as evenly as possible into the remaining divisions. The OHSAA already does something similar to this in football, in which the largest 10 percent of schools are placed into Division I and the remaining schools are divided evenly in Divisions II through VII.

    The proposal does not call for a change to the formula that the OHSAA uses for individual sports to determine the number of student-athletes required for team designation, which includes five in bowling, five in cross country (who score for their team at the district tournament), four in golf, three in girls gymnastics, seven in swimming and diving, four in tennis, nine in track and field and seven in wrestling.

    The proposal calls for the following number of divisions to be used for individual sports:

       200 or fewer teams: 1 Division

       201 to 450 teams: 2 Divisions

       451 to 700 teams: 3 Divisions

       701 and more teams: 4 Divisions

    OHSAA member schools vote to determine any changes to the bylaws or constitution via the referendum process each spring. Member schools also vote for representatives for their District Athletic Boards, who are then selected to serve on the State Board of Directors on a three-year term. The Board of Directors are then charged with reviewing and approving the General Sports Regulations on behalf of the OHSAA membership. The OHSAA General Sports Regulations do not go to the member schools for voting and are posted at: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/Sports/GeneralSportsRegulations.pdf

    The OHSAA will announce structural and dates changes for future state tournaments at a later date.

  • Loveland High School Spring Sports update

    Loveland High School Spring Sports update

    by Matt Huether

    Loveland, Ohio – Men’s Varsity Tennis clinched the ECC Conference Title with their win in the ECC Conference tournament, Baseball currently sits in 7th at 3-7 in the ECC, Softball currently sits in 6th at 3-8 in the ECC, Men’s Lacrosse currently sits in 4th at 2-2 in the ECC, and Women’s Lacrosse currently sits at 2nd at 3-1 in the ECC.

    All Sports Trophy

    Men’s Tennis leads the charge in retaining the All Sports Trophy for Loveland. Loveland has won the All Sports Trophy 4 of the 6 years that the ECC has been in existence and looks to make it 5 out of 7 years as they have the lead with just the spring sports to go.

    Loveland Men’s Tennis ends Turpin’s reign on the tennis courts

    Turpin has won the last 5 ECC Championships in Men’s Tennis leading up to this season. They have also won the last 4 ECC Championships on the Women’s side. Loveland has worked their way up the conference charts over the course of the last four years going from 1-5 in 2016 and finishing in 6th to back to back 4-2 seasons in 2017/2018. After being in the top half of the league both seasons and working hard off-season, Loveland looked to make their move this season. The team started off strong beating Anderson and Milford but then played rival and runner up, Kings. In a great match, Loveland won 4-1 over Kings and carried that momentum to their following ECC matches beating Walnut Hills 4-1, West Clermont 5-0, and 5-time defending champions Turpin 4-1.

    Loveland’s Men’s Tennis team currently sit at 13-3 and this years ECC Champions.

  • Three Loveland CHCA Seniors Sign with Athletic Scholarships

    Three Loveland CHCA Seniors Sign with Athletic Scholarships

    Front row – Austin Young, Griffin Hughes, Amanda, Donahue, and Camryn Olson

    Back Row – Cayse Osborne Peyton Breese, Mason Bernhardt, and Kyler Mueller

    Eight Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy seniors recently participated in National Signing Day, signing letters of intent to commit to playing at schools next year. The ceremony took place on Thursday, February 8, at CHCA’s Martha S. Lindner Upper School.

    Mason Bernhardt of Loveland signed with Ohio University, located in Athens, OH, to play football. Bernhardt was named 1st Team All MVC, 1st Team All District, and Honorable Mention All State.

    Peyton Breese of Loveland signed with Valparaiso University, located in Valparaiso, IN to play football. Breese was named 2nd Team All MVC.

    Kyler Mueller of Mason signed with Ashland University, located in Ashland, OH, to play football. Mueller was named 1st Team All MVC and Honorable Mention All District.

    Austin Young of Mason signed with Wilmington College, located in Wilmington, OH, to play football and lacrosse. During his football season, Young was named 1st Team All MVC, as well as All Academic Team. CHCA Lacrosse Coach Mark Lynch shares, “The men’s lacrosse program is excited for Austin. He is the very first NCAA lacrosse commit for CHCA. Austin exemplifies the values we preach in our program: hard work, a team-first mentality, and being a versatile athlete. We know he will be a great representation of CHCA at Wilmington on the gridiron, lacrosse field, and in the classroom.”

    CHCA Football Coach, Mark Mueller, says, “I am excited for Mason, Peyton, Kyler, and Austin to extend their playing careers. They will each be an awesome addition to their new programs. As for us at CHCA, we have our hands full, filling the major roles they played for us. I wish them all the best, and am especially excited to watch my son, Kyler, play for my alma mater.”

    Amanda Donahue of Morrow signed with Baldwin Wallace, located in Berea, OH, to play soccer. Donahue is a four-year varsity letter winner. She received MVC Honorable Mention for one year and 2nd Team All MVC for two years. CHCA Girls’ Soccer Coach Heather Vibberts says, “Baldwin Wallace is not only getting a top quality athlete and student, but a great person. I know she will be successful no matter what the future holds. We are so excited to see her continue her soccer career and develop her skills at the next level.”

    Griffin Hughes of Loveland signed with Queens College, located in Charlotte, NC, to play baseball. He also received the prestigious Presidential Academic Scholarship. Hughes led his team in stolen bases in the 2017 spring season.

    Camryn Olson of Mason signed with Hillsdale College, located in Hillsdale, MI, to play softball. In her 2017 season, Olson hit .712, led the league in total strikeouts with 175, her ERA was 0.64, she set a team record of three homeruns in one game, and was voted MVC Player of the Year. In addition to her time on the field, Olson also played basketball, is a member of National Honor Society, works in the Leaning Eagle Coffee Bar, and was part of the cast of CHCA’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

    Cayse Osborne of Sycamore Township signed with University of Montevallo, located in Montevallo, AL, to play baseball. Osborne was named 2nd Team All MVC for baseball. He was also named 2nd Team All MVC for football, as well as All Academic Team.

    CHCA Director of Athletics Eric Taylor shares, “It was an incredible honor to celebrate excellence and the upcoming opportunities for our CHCA student-athletes. These athletes have left quite a legacy at CHCA and their leadership will impact many future teams. These eight athletes represent five sports and include all collegiate divisions. We are excited to see them enter the next phase of their lives”