The Delphos Herald

 

DELPHOS — The Northwest Conference coaches voted for the league’s baseball and softball All-Conference teams Monday night at Jefferson HIgh School.

A tie in the voting by baseball coaches resulted in the selection of Co-Players of the Year for the 2013 baseball season. Matt Jay, a senior catcher from Columbus Grove, and Damian Helm, a junior pitcher/outfielder from Crestview, both tallied 174 points out of a possible total of 180 to share the POY honors.

Crestview’s Jim Wharton was the unanimous selection of his peers as the Coach of the Year. Wharton led the Knights to a 9-0 record and an outright NWC championship.

Jay hit .500 for the conference-runnerup Bulldogs, scored 27 runs, had 37 hits and 36 RBIs. Helm was 7-0 on the mound for the Knights with a sparking 0.49 ERA. He struck out 62 batters and walked only three in 42 2/3 innings; he also hit .359 and had a .410 on-base percentage.

Jay was joined on the First Team by Columbus Grove teammates Trey Roney (senior pitcher/1B; 123) and senior shortstop Brandon Benroth (99). Helm is joined by Crestview junior teammate Bryce Richardson (shortstop/pitcher; 139).

Other first-team players are junior Colin Stolly (pitcher/shortstop; 164) and Sam Huffman (senior pitcher/center field; 134) of Lima Central Catholic, Jefferson senior rightfielder/pitcher Drew Kortokrax (128), junior shortstop Trent Phillips of Bluffton (112) and sophomore outfielder Tanner Stippich (90) of Allen East.

 

VAN WERT YOUTH BASEBALL

STANDINGS

Buckeye Boys Pony League

Team Record Win % GB Home Away RF RA Last 10 Streak

VW Elks 1197 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

VW Alspach Gearhart 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Willshire 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Wren 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Convoy 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Middle Point 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Antwerp 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Payne 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Plumbers 0-0 - 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0

Tri-County Little League

Team Record Win % GB Home Away RF RA Last 10 Streak

Delphos Pirates 4-2 .667 - 1-2 3-0 31 33 4-2 Won 3

Delpha Chevy Reds 3-2 .600 0.5 1-1 2-1 34 23 3-2 Won 3

Young’s Waste Service Yankees 2-1 .667 0.5 0-0 2-1 26 12 2-1 Won 1

Delphos Braves 3-2 .600 0.5 1-2 2-0 27 27 3-2 Lost 2

VFW Cardinals 3-2 .600 0.5 1-1 2-1 27 33 3-2 Lost 1

Treece Landscaping Rockhounds 2-2 .500 1 0-1 2-1 23 25 2-2 Won 2

K of C INDIANS 1-1 .500 1 1-1 0-0 13 8 1-1 Lost 1

Ft. Jennings Musketeers 2-3 .400 1.5 2-0 0-3 22 37 2-3 Lost 2

Greif Rangers 1-3 .250 2 1-2 0-1 25 34 1-3 Lost 2

1st Federal Athletics 1-4 .200 2.5 1-3 0-1 35 31 1-4 Lost 4

Inner County League

Team Record Win % GB Home Away RF RA Last 10 Streak

Middle Point Blue 3-0 1.000 - 3-0 0-0 21 7 3-0 Won 3

Moose 1320 The Herd 3-0 1.000 - 2-0 1-0 29 17 3-0 Won 3

Middle Point Gold 3-1 .750 0.5 2-0 1-1 36 8 3-1 Won 1

Lee Kinstle Pirates 1-2 .333 2 0-2 1-0 17 24 1-2 Lost 1

VW Optimist Reds 1-2 .333 2 0-0 1-2 9 18 1-2 Lost 2

VW Service Club Red Sox 1-3 .250 2.5 0-1 1-2 18 36 1-3 Lost 1

VW Federal Astros 0-4 .000 3.5 0-2 0-2 24 44 0-4

Delphos Minor League

Team Record Win % GB RF RA Last 10 Streak

Reds 1-0 1.000 - 8 2 1-0 W1

Tigers 1-0 1.000 - 10 7 1-0 W1

Dodgers 1-0 1.000 - 9 7 1-0 W1

Orioles 1-0 1.000 - 5 2 1-0 W1

Mets 0-1 .000 1 2 8 0-1 L1

Cubs 0-1 .000 1 7 10 0-1 L1

Indians 0-1 .000 1 7 9 0-1 L1

Pirates 0-1 .000 1 2 5 0-1 L1

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SCHEDULE

MONDAY’S GAMES

Tri-County Little League

K of C Indians vs. Young’s Waste Service Yankees, 5 p.m. at Jubilee Bank of Berne Field

Greif Rangers vs. 1st Federal Athletics, 6:45 p.m. at Jubilee Bank of Berne Field

TODAY’S GAMES

Buckeye Boys Pony League

Delphos PL vs. Plumbers, 5:30 PM

Inner County League

Moose 1320 The Herd vs. VW Optimist Reds, 5 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 2

VW Federal Astros vs. Middle Point Gold, 6 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 4

Middle Point Blue vs. Lee Kinstle Pirates, 6:45 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 2

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Tri-County Little League

Young’s Waste Service Yankees vs. Delphos Pirates, 6 p.m. at Delphos LL

K of C Indians vs. Treece Landscaping Rockhounds, 6 p.m. at Jubilee Bank of Berne Field

Ft. Jennings Musketeers vs. Greif Rangers, 6 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 4

VFW Cardinals vs. Delpha Chevy Reds, 7:45 p.m. at Delphos LL

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Inner County League

VW Optimist Reds vs. Lee Kinstle Pirates, 6 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 4

VW Service Club Red Sox vs. Middle Point Blue, 6 p.m. at Middle Point-Field B

Moose 1320 The Herd vs. Middle Point Gold, 6 p.m. at Middle Point-Field A

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Tri-County Little League

1st Federal Athletic vs. Greif Rangers, 5 p.m. at Jubilee Bank of Berne Field

Treece Landscaping Rockhounds vs. VFW Cardinals, 6 p.m. at Delphos LL

Delpha Chevy Reds vs. K of C Indians, 6 p.m. at Smiley Park-Field 4

Ft. Jennings Musketeers vs. Young’s Waste Service Yankees, 6:45 p.m. at Jubilee Bank of Berne Field

Treece Landscaping Rockhounds vs. Delphos Braves, 7:45 p.m. at Delphos LL

By JEFF LATZKE

The Associated Press

 

SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs opened the Western Conference finals resembling the past champions who’ve been there so many times before.

The Memphis Grizzlies looked like the first-timers still trying to adapt to their first conference finals appearance.

Tony Parker had 20 points and nine assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the Spurs struck first by beating Memphis 105-83 on Sunday.

San Antonio raced out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, then came up with a response when Memphis rallied to get within six in the second half. Both teams pulled their starters with over 5 minutes left and the Spurs leading by 21.

“I can promise you this: Nobody’s happy in our locker room because we were up 2-0 (in the West finals) last year and we lost,” Parker said. “It’s just one game. It means nothing. We still have a long way to go.”

The Spurs avoided a repeat of their Game 1 loss when the teams met two years ago in the first round. The Grizzlies went on to knock San Antonio out of the playoffs as the top seed that time.

Memphis has lost its opener in each round in this year’s playoffs, recovering from an 0-2 hole in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers and an 0-1 deficit against Oklahoma City in the West semifinals.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in San Antonio.

“We just didn’t play well. It’s not anything specific,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “It’s just that we were running too fast, we missed some layups, we were taking bad shots and our defense was really awful. And the Spurs played well.”

The NBA’s stingiest defense wasn’t up to its usual standards, allowing the Spurs to hit 53 percent of their shots and a franchise postseason-record 14 3-pointers while All-Star power forward Zach Randolph struggled. Randolph had just two points, getting his only basket with 9:26 left in the game.

He had a playoff-best 28 points and 14 rebounds in his last game, as Memphis eliminated defending West champ Oklahoma City in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Grizzlies started to rally as soon as Randolph came out of the game for the first time in the second half. Quincy Pondexter made a baseline cut for a layup off Darrell Arthur’s pass, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a 10-0 burst. Jerryd Bayless’ 2-handed fast-break dunk off a steal got the Grizzlies within 62-56 with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

The comeback was short-lived, though.

Bayless missed a 3-pointer on the next trip and Manu Ginobili made one at the opposite end to spark an 11-1 response that immediately restored the Spurs’ lead to 16 by the end of the quarter. Leonard hit a pair of 3-pointers and Gary Neal had one as San Antonio kept pouring it on in the fourth.

The four regular-season meetings were all won by the team with more points in the paint but perimeter shooting proved to be a bigger factor in the playoff opener. Memphis, which was second in the NBA by holding opponents to 33.8-percent shooting on 3-pointers, let San Antonio make 13 of its first 24 from behind the arc and finish 14-of-29.

Danny Green connected three times and scored 16 and Matt Bonner hit four of his five attempts for 12 points.

Pondexter led Memphis with 17 points, Marc Gasol scored 15 and Mike Conley had 14 points and eight assists.

Lady Pirates slide by Ottoville

CONTINENTAL — Continental’s fast-pitch unit rode the 5-hit shutout pitching of senior Leva Weller to hand Ottoville a 4-0 Putnam County League loss Saturday at Continental.

 

NWC Track and Field Championship Meet

Spencerville’s Moeller Memorial Stadium

Thursday and Saturday

Girls Team Rankings: Spencerville 166, Columbus Grove 116, Bluffton 78, Lincolnview 54.5, Ada 51.5, Lima Central Catholic 49, Allen East 46, Jefferson 43, Paulding 41, Crestview 15.

Boys Team Rankings: Columbus Grove 127, Lima Central Catholic 108, Spencerville 89.5, Ada 79, Bluffton 63, Lincolnview 62.5, Crestview 51, Jefferson 38, Allen East 24, Paulding 21.