The Watkins Memorial boys tennis team won four of five courts May 2 at Mount Vernon Nazarene to win the Licking County tournament championship in emphatic fashion.
Watkins racked up 19 points. Granville, which had the other champion and four runner-up finishers, took second with 16 points.
Watkins’ Matthew Reid beat Granville’s Purin Songrug 6-3 to wrap up a 4-0 day at No. 1 singles. Watkins’ Graham Smith beat Granville’s Ben Prokop 6-0 at No. 2, and Watkins’ Wyatt Meade beat Granville’s Jack Hann at 6-1.
Watkins’ Nathan Walter and Gavin Adelman beat Granville’s Will Heckman and Songyu Lee 6-1 at No. 1 doubles. Granville’s Daniel Prokop and Kyle Kirby beat Watkins’ Jeffrey Smith and Nic Garabrandt 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.
SOFTBALL
Utica slugs to win
Kaitlin Evans homered and doubled twice as a part of a four-hit performance and knocked in five runs for Utica in a 14-4 victory against visiting Grove City Christian.
Evans also struck out three and allowed one hit and two unearned runs in four innings of relief for Utica (11-8). Avery Rine notched two hits and three RBIs, and Kenzie Fletcher, who tripled, and Baleigh Torrens added two hits and a run apiece and Makena Wilson two hits and two runs.
Granville wins twice
Carly Wollenberg homered and doubled, powering Granville to a 5-3 victory at Hamilton Township.
Avary King added two hits and a run and Kaylee Watkins two hits, including a double. Watkins also struck out six and allowed six hits and two earned runs in a complete game.
Granville also beat Marion Harding as King’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning lifted the Blue Aces (9-13) to a 7-6 victory. Aubrey Lackey recorded three hits and a run, Josie Opfer two hits, including a home run, and two RBIs and Sydney Cottrill a hit, a run and an RBI, and Watkins struck out five in four two-hit innings of relief.
NC wins pair
Veronica Bailey struck out 14 and allowed three hits and one run in 5⅓ innings, pitching Newark Catholic to a 6-1 victory at Bishop Hartley.
Joanna Snider recorded two hits, including a double, a run and an RBI for the Green Wave (12-7). Bailey and Brooklyn Kurtz Merricks added two hits, including a double and an RBI apiece and Ela Valenzuela a hit and an RBI.
NC also beat Centennial 21-2 as Aly Rothweiler struck out 12 in five innings. Jahni Whitney totaled four hits, including a double, four runs and two RBIs, and Joanna Bailey added three hits, including a triple and a double, and four RBIs.
Lakewood wins at West
Allie Stimmel homered and doubled as a part of a three-hit day out of the leadoff spot, igniting Lakewood in a 6-3 victory at West Muskingum.
Stimmel also struck out 11 in a six-hitter. Averie Adams added two hits and a run, Cora Redman a hit and two runs, Jaycie Montie two hits and Hayden Buehrer a hit and a run for the Lancers (14-6).
BASEBALL
NC wins on road
Owen Przymierski was a perfect 4 for 4 with a double, scoring three runs and driving in five, sparking Newark Catholic in a 15-4 win at North Union.
Alex Nagel and Kane Stephey each homered out of the top two spots in the order, combining for five hits, eight runs and four RBIs, and Andy Gossett added a hit and two RBIs for the Green Wave (11-5). John Eiginger struck out two and allowed three hits and an unearned run in three innings.
Granville splits
Luke Bosse doubled twice and singled, knocking in three runs to boost Granville to a 6-1 victory against visiting Indian Valley.
Jakob Culver added two hits, two runs and an RBI, Wilson Wells a double and two runs, Luke Jakobowski a double and an RBI and Pat Acton a hit and a run for the Blue Aces (8-8). Sebastian Lipe struck out three and allowed seven hits and one unearned run in six innings.
Granville later fell 2-1 in eight innings to Indian Valley as Ethan Hall struck out four and allowed just one hit and an unearned run in seven innings of relief. Wells totaled three hits, including a double, and Austin Thompson added a hit and a run.
Utica nipped at home
Jaxson Riggs recorded three hits and scored a run for Utica in a 6-5 loss to visiting Tri-Valley.
Gaige Spray added a hit, a run and two RBIs and Radek Napier and Aaron Hays two hits and a run apiece with Napier also driving in a run for Utica (5-14).
Watkins drops road game
Gahanna scored 14 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, sending visiting Watkins Memorial to a 21-11 loss.
Jax Dotson doubled twice, scored three runs and knocked in four for the Warriors (11-6). Cody York added a home run and two RBIs and Cooper Lang a hit, two runs and an RBI.
Heath edged on road
Camden Stephens notched three hits, two runs and an RBI for Heath in a 6-5 loss at Buckeye Valley.
Dominic Morris added two hits, including a double, and a run, Carter Mason a double and a single and Keegan MacDonald a double, a run and two RBIs for the Bulldogs (9-8).
Lakewood falls on road
Evan Moore totaled two hits and two runs for Lakewood in an 11-6 loss at Fredericktown.
Carson Pound added a hit and three RBIs and Carter Davis two runs for the Lancers (5-12).
GCA drops home game
Layton Sheppard singled and scored a run for Granville Christian (8-8) in a 16-1 loss to visiting Centerburg.
BOYS LACROSSE
Newark wins twice
Kolin Clark scored four goals in back-to-back Newark home wins, 15-1 against Licking Valley on April 30 and 14-1 against Lima Senior on May 1.
Miekel Eller added two goals against Valley and Oheneba Asenso, Tanner Morgan, Colton Loudermilk, Damien Lovallo, Force Byrnes, Doug Simpson, Jaeyden Smith-Eller, Gabe Goetz and Mason Reed one each. Landon Sifford and Matthew Simpson combined for seven saves.
Loudermilk added two goals and Smith-Eller, Lovallo, Dylan Reed, Harrison Walsh, Jayvn Ssebabi, Jeremiah Snow and Hayden Rodgers one each against Lima. Cayden Bush made five saves in the second half.
Track
Granville, Watkins shine
The Granville and Watkins Memorial girls each won four events during the Gary Smith Invitational at Thomas Worthington.
Tory Reynolds cleared 5 feet, 4 inches to win the high jump, and teammate Annie McCracken matched her in the pole vault (13-0) to lead Granville to a third-place team finish. The Blue Aces totaled 105½ points, finishing close behind champion Dublin Coffman’s 118½ and Bishop Watterson’s 116.
Reynolds and McCracken also joined Charlotte Turner and Clara Bethel on the winning 800-meter relay, crossing in 1 minute, 48.37 seconds. Elsa Tonnessen added a victory in the 1,600 (5:16.06) for the Blue Aces.
Watkins’ Megan Keating won the 100 (12.90), and she was matched by teammates Kadence Gorrell in the 400 (59.91) and Kate Michael in the 800 (2:17.94). Keating and Gorrell also joined Kamryn Caldwell and Ellah Bigham on the winning 1,600 relay (4:06.30).
In the boys meet, Granville won four events. That helped the Blue Aces take runner-up in the team standings, totaling 86 points and trailing just Gahanna’s 154.
Bode Shoaps won the 100 (11.06) and joined Spencer Dimas, Nolan Cheney and Grady Johnson on the winning 800 relay (1:31.17).
Teammates Benjamin Rose, Sebastian Rodgers, Connor Boissy and Logan Miller won the 6,400 relay (18:32.20). Cade Roberts added a win in the high jump (6-0), and Rose took runner-up in the 1,600 (4:30.73).
The Watkins foursome of Ethan Martinez, Chase Marcum, Nathan Arheit and Pierce Lott won the 3,200 relay (8:22.60). Martinez and Marcum later joined Eduardo Martinez and Ray Hardiman on the winning 1,600 relay (3:25.91).
Hardiman added a runner-up finish in the 100 (11.18). He and Eduardo Martinez also later joined Carter Armitage and Koehn Concha on the runner-up 400 relay (43.96).
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Roundup: Watkins Memorial boys tennis reigns in Licking County
Reporting by Kurt Snyder, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
