Pierce leads Huskies through tense tournament opener

By DJ Watson Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer

CADIZ — In his first year with an extended varsity role, senior Wyatt Pierce has certainly bloomed at the perfect time for Head Coach Mike Valesko and the Harrison Central baseball team.

Pierce was called to the mound unexpectedly in the second inning of this past Monday’s tournament opener at Mazeroski Field in Cadiz, and he didn’t disappoint. He did the complete opposite.

Pierce shined like only a program journeyman should. After a scoreless first inning, starting pitcher Kaden Jurosko had to bow out on the mound, setting up a pivotal coaching decision just six outs into the tournament opener. Without hesitation, Pierce got the call to the bump and the rest is first round history.

The (four) Huskies avenged their 2022 District Championship setback, and topped the (12) Ridgewood Generals to advance into the Sectional Championship round where they will see the eight-seed Martins Ferry Purple Riders later this week. The Riders dropped Sandy Valley on Monday night to survive and advance into the next round.

It was another not so well known prospect that produced the only run the Huskies would need to keep their season alive. In the bottom of the second, sophomore Tuck-

Huskies excel at 2023 OVAC championships

By Ed Banks

Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer ST. CLAIRSVILLE –

In St. Clairsville last Saturday, the stadium was full of trophy-hungry and determined athletes, coaches, and spectators as the OVAC 2023 Track and Field Championships were about to unfold.

For the Huskies, no group, team, or individuals were as pumped and ready for the day, as the Dawgs of 100 Husky Way. Their determination was visible as they stepped off the bus growling and showing their teeth.

The Huskies not only brought the appearance, but went to work making their opening statements in the competition loud and clear. Those statements came in the form of high places on the track, and strong-arming in the field events. The results included: Hunter Boals placed second in 4A Shot Put with 47’-09.75”; Grayden Sproull placed fourth in 4A Discus with 120’-01”; 4x800 Relay team placed fourth in 4A with a time of 9:08.01 (team of Tyler Garbrandt, Sean Forrester, Charles Garbrandt, Hunter Bittinger); 4x200 Relay team placed fourth in 4A (team of Jacob Quito, Cooper Thompson, Mykel Quito, Daniel Ody); 4x100 Relay team placed fourth in 4A with a time of 47.73 (team of Vitto Parziale, Nico Wurschum, Mykel Quito, Jacob Quito), and Hunter Bittinger third in 4A 800 meter with a time of 2:09.14.

“The weather was perfect Saturday for a championship meet, unlike quali- er Snyder opened things up with a line-drive single to left field. A fielding error advanced Snyder to second on that same swing, and the Huskies were in business just a few pitches later. A wild pitch moved Snyder up to third, and then freshman Braden Cook (better known as “Cookie” around the Huskies clubhouse) did his job by sending a sacrifice fly to right field. Snyder crossed to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead that Pierce would fully protect for the remainder of the evening.

To win come tournament time, teams must rely on everybody in uniform to contribute, and Monday night was a prime example of that philosophy in motion.

The Generals would put a runner on in each of the third and fourth innings, and two on in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. However, there seemed to be a “bend don’t break” mentality pouring out of the Huskies’ defense, with Pierce leading the way. The home squad worked their way out of several sticky situations down the stretch, as four of Ridgewood’s eight stranded base runners in the final five frames were left on the bags in scoring position.

Pierce faced 27 batters, sitting down four on his own while surrendering four hits. Jurosko earned a strikeout in his inning of work as well.

Anthony Pelegreen and Treston Nemeth were the only other Huskies to join Snyder in the hit column. Pelegreen found a gap with a single and Nemeth sent a rope to left for a double. The Huskies were rung up eight times at the plate, as Ridgewood also got a strong pitching performance out of senior Trent Warden.

While the script may have played out differently then expected, the pitcher’s duel should come as no surprise. These two schools have linked up numerous times in recent years of the tournament, and most of the matchups have been of high quality.

The Huskies will play the role of host at Mazeroski Field one last time in 2023, looking for their seventh Sectional Championship all-time when they suit up against Martins Ferry on May 17. The winner of that fourth-seed/eighth-seed matchup will see the winner of second-seed Buckeye Trail and 11th-seed Bellaire. The Big Reds upset the sixth-seeded Coshocton Redskins to move into the Sectional title round.

Senior night held for Harrison track

fying day on Wednesday that was cold and rainy,” said Husky skipper Luke Turner. “Harrison Central Boys placed 22nd overall in the OVAC. Our 4x8 and 4x1 hit their best times of the season along with Bittinger running his best in the 800 meters. We have a week left to fine tune and get ready for the District competition. Our remaining schedule after Saturday includes May 9 Home Quad - Senior Night, May 13 Invitational at Barnesville, and May 16 and 19 Districts at West Holmes.”

A recap of the Gloria Dawes Invite found Coach Turner and the Huskies placing third from a field of nine schools.

Here is a look at the scoring events: Hunter Boals second in shot put 51’-03” and third place in discus; Caleb Cowans third in shot put; Grayden Sproull second in discus 124’07”; Daniel Ody fifth in 200 and sixth in high jump; Lunis Hildebrandt fifth in 400; Hunter Bittinger third in 800; Aiden Hays third in 3200; Bryce Wallace fifth in 3200; Beau Rinkes fifth in 300m hurdles and fifth in long jump; Lorenzo Chiarpotto sixth in 300m hurdles; 4x100 relay fourth (team of Vitto Parziale, Nico Wurschum, Mykel Quito, Jacob Quito); 4x200 relay fourth (team of Daniel Ody, Cooper Thompson, Mykel Quito, Jacob Quito); 4x400 relay second (Cooper Thompson, Lunis Hildebrandt, Michael Stock, Hunter Bittinger); 4x800 relay fourth (Hildebrandt, Stock, Bittinger, and Tyler Garbrandt); shuttle hurdle relay fourth (Beau Rinkes, Lorenzo Chiarpotto, Cooper Thompson, Josiah Jones), and Zane Carson sixth in pole vault.

At the home dual meet with Indian Creek (boys), the score was Harrison Central 109, Indian Creek 28.

Those top highlights were: Hunter Boals, Grayden Sproull first and second in both shot and discus (Dylan Walters third in shot put); and Zane Carson, Trenten Allison, Jake Evans first, second, and third in Pole Vault. All of the Husky relay teams finished in first place.

Other results were: Beau Rinkes first in 110 hurdles; Jacob Quito, Nico Wurschum, and Vitto Parziale, first, second, and third in 100-meter dash; Sean Forrester first in 1600m; Lunis Hildebrandt first in 400m; Lorenzo Chiarpotto first in 300-meter hurdle; Hunter Bittinger and Tyler Garbrandt first and second in the 800-meter; Daniel Ody first in the 200 meter; and Sean Forrester, Aiden Hays, and Bryce Wallace first, second, and third in the 3200 meters.