Minster wins school’s first baseball title and 26th state title overall; Track athletes shine at state
By Tim Langevin
The Minster gymnasium is loaded with 25 state championship banners. Add one more to the Black and Orange lore.
The boys of baseball blanked New Middletown Springfield 6-0 in a virtuoso performance to claim the D-IV State Baseball Championship Saturday at Huntington Park in Columbus.
And in the words of head coach Mike Wiss, “I guess that’s black banner number three for the boys.”
Indeed, and the first for the baseball team and its long-time coach of 17 seasons. Wiss has coached in some big games and has won his fair share (288), but none as significant as Saturday’s outcome.
“It’s a coaches dream. We got here in 2003 and lost in the finals. Never know if or when get back, but we did and we won,” Wiss said. “But its not about wins and losses. This tournament trail I watched the seniors pay attention to detail-bunts, scouting reports, showing the younger players. The ability to coach and watch these kids grow up since 7th grade and be a positive influence. That’s what its all about.”
The first inning was reminiscent of the fifth inning against Newark Catholic in the semi-finals. Springfield imploded. It must be that MAC mystique. It can’t be explained. It can’t be bought or sold. It just happens.
Springfield pitcher Brad Ferraro couldn’t find his catcher, let alone home plate. He walked five with three wild pitches and the Wildcats pushed across three runs on one hit. Craig Purpus scored Devon Poeppelman with a sacrifice fly to right field for the first score. Then Ben Heitbrink drove in two runs with a single to center.
Heitbrink said, “That first inning took a lot of pressure off us. It was a great feeling getting that two-RBI single. But nothing beats this. Nice to bring home state for the boys.”
It has been well-documented with a tint of sarcasm that the girls have won 23 of the 26 state championships.
One player responsible for two of the boy’s titles is Purpus. He played on the 2009 state golf team. And so did utility outfielder Ryan Bernhold. Quite an accomplishment for both.
Purpus said, “This is unbelievable. The way we started 6-7. Now 23-8. State champs. Pretty good ring to it. Great way to end it.” He will hang up his glove and play golf for UD next season.
Minster starter Adam Niemeyer took advantage of the early lead and delivered four solid innings to earn the victory, despite a sore back. The sophomore allowed zero runs on three hits with three strikeouts. He was in complete command, mixing his 85 mph two-seam fastball with his 64 mph changeup, making the Springfield batsmen look like silly-putty.
The only scoring threat for the Tigers came in the third inning. Anthony Yoder led off with a triple to right center, but ss Devon Poeppelman had his glove for all three outs with a put-out and two assists. Poeppelman put on a clinic at ss with two put-outs and five of the team’s eight assists.
Don’t think Wiss didn’t notice, “Devon played the last two games flawless at shortstop. He adjusted well to the huge park.”
“Great feeling. Great for the boys. The defense stepped up today,” said Niemeyer. “My fastball and changeup complemented one another.”
Asked about 6-7 start, the lanky hurler responded, “We just came together after Parkway game. Started pitching better. Timely hitting. We lost some close games early, but we started clicking as a team.”
Junior Austin Knapke took the mound in the fifth inning and performed relentlessly the rest of the way. He allowed no runs and no hits with one strikeout.
Knapke said, “I just wanted to throw strikes and let our great defense behind me do the rest. It was a great team effort. I did my best to stay relaxed by deep breathes in between throws.”
Minster added three insurance runs in the seventh inning on four hits. Ryan Hoying doubled down the right field line and D. Poeppelman advanced Hoying to third with a bunt single. After an intentional walk to Niemeyer to load the bases, Purpus hit a seeing-eye single through the left side scoring Hoying. Then Knapke singled scoring D. Poeppelman and the final run came by Niemeyer scoring on a wild pitch.
Junior first-baseman Doug Huber summed the 2010-2011 school year best, “The competition at our school is awesome. We made it to regionals in football, golf, and basketball and state in track and baseball. Baseball has to be my favorite because we won state.” Huber, like Chase Paxson, played football, basketball, and baseball for the Wildcats.
Paxson said, “Great way to end it. I dreamed about this since I was five-years-old. Pretty exciting.”
What an illustrious three-sport career for the senior quarterback, point guard, and left-fielder. He added, “This is it for me. No more sports. Just be a fan and get my degree from UD.”
Coach Wiss looked drained during the post-game interviews, saying all the right things. But deep down inside, the big man was probably bubbling with joy like a little kid. Because baseball is forever child’s play.
Minster ends the season 23-8. More important to the boys, though, a third black banner in the gym.
Sharing the headlines with the Minster boys were over 75 area track athletes and 18 ran away with 11 gold medals.
Lehman’s Gretchen Walter and Anna’s Dexter Bensman each stood atop the podium twice. Walter won the 100M in 12.42 and 400M in 56.74. The senior standout finished second in the 200M with a 25.64 time. The Miami of Ohio recruit has won three gold medals in her career.
Walter said, “It has been a great four years. I was lucky to have fast people running with me. Great competition from the MAC and SCL. The difference has been my off-season weight-lifting.”
Bensman anchored the winning 4X100M and 4X200M relay teams with times of 43.19 and 1:29.48, respectively. Chris Strup of Defiance Tinora edged Bensman in the 100M dash by .09 hundreths of a second. Can you say photo finish. Other members of the speedy quartet were Brady Cates, Danny Stewart, and Cole Fergason.
The relay team members talked openly, “We never attended any speed camps. Coach Stewart taught us everything. He’s the man. We love him. He had set workouts for us every practice.” Cates added, “This is amazing winning state. These guys have been a huge help. They kept me calm today.” Fergason said, “I’m going to miss Dexter. We have been together in track and football for a long time.”
Russia fared well in the middle distance races as Luke Pohlman won the 1600M in 4:16.85 and Katie Borchers won the 800M in 2:13.75. Pohlman will be running for UC and Borchers will be back at Jesse Owens Stadium the next four years with OSU.
Pohlman said, “I love running in the heat. The hotter, the better. It’s amazing. It took three years to run a 4:16 long race. Don’t want to take any of it back. I ran a good race. I wanted to run a 63 second first split and I did. I felt strong thanks to my demanding interval training.” Pohlman will be running for UC next year.
Borchers said, “I was disappointed in my performance last year at state. It feels great to come back and finish on top. I ran my race and just hung on until the end.” Borchers will be running on the same Jesse Owens Stadium track for the next four years with OSU.
The MAC produced a couple of winners in the 400M and 800M events. Damian Winner of Versailles won the 400 at the D-II level with a 48.04 clocking and New Bremen’s Dillon Webster blew the field away by three seconds with a time of 1:52.07. He was gunning for state record of 1:51.54, but fell short.
Webster said, “It has been a long road, but it was worth it. It’s an honor to finish on top. My first lap I went out hard, like 52 seconds. I was hurting the last 200 meters.” The key he said, “Mental. Need to train mentally and physically. Train my soul out with hills and speed workouts.”
Tammy Berger, the distance sensation from Versailles won the 3200M in 11:19.30 and finished second in the 1600M run with a 5:06.39 time.
Minster gals Maria Dahlinghaus, Olivia Enneking, Natalie Fausey, and Samantha Hoelscher captured the 4X400M relay with a 4:00.82 time. It must be noted that the 4X200M relay team finished sixth. Hannah Barga (9th grade), Enneking (9th grade), Sara Dahlinghaus (10th grade) and Hoelscher (11th grade) were the youngest relay team competing in state.
The youngsters were bubbling with excitement after their sixth place finish, “It’s been a lot of fun. We are happy. This is neat. We made great exchanges and ran a good race. We will all be back next year and expect to run better. This has been an opportunity of a lifetime.”
These girls were thrilled with sixth place and for good reason. Isn’t that what sports is all about? Pretty neat stuff.
Not to be outdone by the girls, the Minster boys won the 4X400M relay also. Troy kauffman, Oliver Barga, Korey Schultz, and Derek Collins posted a 3:22.11 time. What is it about the boys vs girls thing at Minster?
The Fort Loramie girls relay teams placed second in the 4X800M in 9:33.20 and second in the 4X400M in 4:01.14. The 800M team consisted of Meg Westerheide, Tara Luebke, Selene Waters, and Janel Olberding. The 400M team consisted of Westerheide, Katie Plas, Clair Ruhenkamp, and Olberding. Freshman Westerheide also finished fourth in the 1600M in 5:12.59.
Speaking of freshmen, Russia’s Jackie Siefring placed fifth in the 300M hurdles with a 46.61 clocking.
Another freshman taking the track by storm was Lehman’s Justin Stewart. He finished third in the 400M event with a PR time of 49.46. Most of the 20 freshmen competing were just happy to be a part of it all. Not Stewart. He had that senior look of “this is my last chance”.
Stewart said in between gasps of air after his finish, “I went out alittle too fast. I guess I got caught up in the excitement. I will try to do better next year and win it. I want to run a 47 by my senior year.” He added, “My coach pushed me in practice. It has been unbelievable. I didn’t expect this in such a short time. I do plan to run 200M and maybe 100M next year.”
Unofficially, the Anna boys finished second in the team standings with 34 points. Minster ended in eighth place with 18 points. Imagine if Sam Phlipot would have been available for at least four events. The Versailles boys finished fourth in the D-II meet with 23 points.
Unofficially, in the girls standings, Versailles placed second with 37 points. Lehman was sixth and Minster seventh.
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