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The Cincinnati Enquirer Division I Baseball Preview

Tom Groeschen reports

Lakota East coach Ray Hamilton is a classic old-school, hard-nosed baseball man who loves the game. Hamilton also got a bit choked up last year when reporters asked him about winning the Division I state title, the school’s first in a team sport. Having been a head coach for 23 years overall (including 11 years at Ross), Hamilton always will savor the memories of his first state title. Hamilton also knows he faces one of the toughest challenges in sports, trying to repeat as a champion.

“Our goals don’t change a lot,” Hamilton said. “We’re not playing for June. We just focus on the task at hand, and winning a GMC (Greater Miami Conference) championship is on top of the list.”

Lakota East won the GMC last year and finished 24-7 overall. The program lost 12 seniors but returns nine key players, and coaches again rate the Thunderhawks among the top area teams.

Senior pitcher Michael Conrad was named Enquirer Division I player of the year as a junior. The left-handed Conrad was 5-1 with a 1.11 ERA last year, with 115 strikeouts in 75 2/3 innings. Conrad has signed with the University of Cincinnati.

Senior outfielder Alex Corna, senior pitcher Blake Wilder and junior catcher Jarret Rindfleisch are among other top returnees for Lakota East.

The state champs will get plenty of competition from teams including Moeller, Mason, Milford, Elder and others, according to area coaches.

“On paper, Moeller is the team to beat,” Elder coach Mark Thompson said. (more…)

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Corna, Alex Corna Ohio, Blake Wilder, Jarret Rindfleisch, Lakota East, Lakota East baseball, Lakota East baseball state champs, Lakota East Sports, Michael Conrad, Michael Conrad Cincinnati, Michael Conrad Lakota East, Ray Hamilton

Lakota East baseball team wins school’s first state title

Mike Dyer reports

The Lakota East baseball team lost 12 starters from last season’s Division I state championship team, but Thunderhawks coach Ray Hamilton is confident there will be a strong squad this spring.

“We really don’t talk a lot about the year before,” said Hamilton, who begins his 13th season as Lakota East head coach with a 374-197 career record.

Lakota East was 24-7 last season and defeated Perrysburg 6-2 in the state final. It was the first state team title for Lakota East.

The Ohio baseball season begins officially March 24 for teams around the state.

Lakota East’s top returning player is senior pitcher Michael Conrad, who was The Enquirer player of the year last spring.

Conrad, who has signed with UC, was the Greater Miami Conference co-player of the year after he was 5-1 with a 1.11 ERA in 75 2/3 innings. Conrad, who is 6 feet 2 and 225 pounds, tied a Lakota District record for most strikeouts in a season (115).

“He continues to mature physically,” Hamilton said. “That’s been a four year process for us, now we have something where he is ready to go.”

Hamilton said UC’s interest in Conrad was a no-brainer. “Anytime you have a lefty at 90 (mph) it makes him attractable to a lot of people,” Hamilton said.

The Thunderhawks also return plenty of other talented players including outfielder Alex Corna (Ohio University signee), junior catcher Jarret Rindfleisch and third baseman/pitcher Blake Wilder. Corna hit .391 last season and was a first-team all-GMC selection.

Hamilton said if the Thunderhawks area able to generate offense, then he thinks the squad will be solid. Lakota East hit .306 as a team last season.

As a pitching staff, Lakota East had a team ERA of 2.19 last season.

“I think our pitching has a chance to be pretty good if those other guys can match what they did last year,” Hamilton said. “Defensively, we should be really solid.”

Lakota East opens the season with Kings and Talawanda during the first week. The Thunderhawks will travel to Chillicothe and Nashville for tournaments during the season.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Corna, Alex Corna Ohio, Blake Wilder, Jarret Rindfleisch, Lakota East, Lakota East baseball, Lakota East baseball state champs, Lakota East Sports, Michael Conrad, Michael Conrad Cincinnati, Michael Conrad Lakota East, Ray Hamilton

Both the Lakota East baseball and softball teams hosted and defeated squads from Oak Hills on Monday, April 18. The baseball team won its game by the score of 7-6, while the softball team defeated Oak Hills by the score of 3-1.

Lakota East sophomore Jarret Rindfleish doubled, tripled and drove in two runs in the win. His teammate senior Craig Tomson also drove in two runs.

With the win, Lakota East remains in first place in the Greater Miami Conference. The Thunderhawks are now 8-3 overall and 7-2 in the GMC. East is a game ahead of Mason (8-3 overall, 6-3 in GMC) and Sycamore in the conference standings.

Next up on the schedule, Lakota East will face Oak Hills on the road this Wednesday, April 20, at 5 p.m.

In softball, Lakota East senior Sara Pearson had another dominating performance striking out 16 and improving her record to 11-1 on the season. At the plate, freshman Taylor Fair (2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBIs) and junior Ainsley Ellison (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) led the Thunderhawks.

The win keeps the Thunderhawks tied with Fairfield atop the GMC standings. In its next game, Lakota East (14-1 overall, 9-1 in GMC) will face its rival Lakota West on the road at noon this Wednesday, April 20.

Baseball – Sycamore 11, Lakota West 1 – Sycamore run-ruled Lakota West in five innings in what ended as an 11-1 win for the Aves on Monday. Sycamore pitcher Kyle Hart improved his record to 3-1. Hart also struck out 10 batters. With the win, Sycamore improves its overall record to 6-3 and its GMC record to 6-3. Lakota West falls to 9-5 overall and to 6-4 in the GMC. The Firebirds will get another chance to defeat Sycamore when it hosts the same opponent this Wednesday, April 20, at 5 p.m.

Softball – Fairfield 5, Lakota West 0 – Fairfield rebounded from its loss to Lakota East on Thursday with a 5-0 win against Lakota West on Monday. Fairfield pitcher Erica D’Arcy improved to 9-1 this season. In 10 games, D’Arcy has 46 strikeouts in 67 innings and a 0.63 ERA. Lakota West senior pitcher Alex Caudill falls to 5-3 on the year. With the win, Fairfield remains tied for first place in the GMC with Lakota East. Both first-place teams are 9-1 in the GMC. With the loss, Lakota West’s record falls to 8-3 overall and 7-2 in the GMC. The Firebirds will play at Colerain (4-4 overall, 4-4 in the GMC) this Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Ainsley Ellison, Alex Caudill, baseball, Craig Tomson, Erica D’Arcy, Jarret Rindfleisch, Kyle Hart, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Sara Pearson, softball, Taylor Fair

Lakota West defeated one of the Greater Miami Conference’s top baseball teams in Middletown by the score of 9-4 yesterday, April 8. Junior Jake Wagner led the Firebirds by going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs at the plate. The win improves Lakota West’s record to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the GMC. The loss drops the Middies’ record to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the GMC.

Baseball – Lakota East 7, Colerain 6 – After losing to Colerain 4-3 on Wednesday, the Thunderhawks were able to revenge that loss by defeated the Cardinals by the score of 7-6 on Friday. Sophomore Jarret Rindfleisch (3-for-3, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs) and junior Alex Corna (2-for-3, 3B, 2 runs) led Lakota East in the win. With the win, Lakota East improves to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the GMC.

Softball – Lakota West 8, Princeton 1 – Lakota West freshman Ashley Sharp improved her record to 3-1 on the season when her team defeated Princeton by the score of 8-1 on Friday. Sharp also struck out 12 batters in the win. Her teammate freshman Alyssa Hedric went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored three runs. The win improves the Firebirds’ record 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the GMC.

Softball – Lakota East 3, Mason 2 – The Thunderhawks received another strong performance from senior Sara Pearson, who improved to 8-1, after defeating Mason by the score of 3-2 on Friday. Pearson had 10 strikeouts. Freshman Kadelyn Astrop and senior Kelly Hardison both homered for Lakota East. The win improves Lakota East’s overall record to 10-1 and 5-1 within the GMC. Mason falls to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the GMC.

Tennis – Lakota East def. Elder – Lakota East defeated Elder on Friday by the score of 3-2. The Thunderhawks won all three of their singles matches and lost both doubles matches.

Tennis – Lakota West def. LaSalle – After starting the season on Tuesday, the Firebirds have won four straight matches in four straight days after defeating LaSalle by the score of 5-0 on Friday.

Volleyball – Lakota East def. Wayne – Lakota East extended its winning streak to five after a 25-26, 25-4, 25-10 win at Wayne on Friday. The win improves the Thunderhawks’ record to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the GMC. Lakota East improves to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the GMC.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Corna, Alyssa Hedric, Ashley Sharp, baseball, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, Jake Wagner, Jarret Rindfleisch, Kadelyn Astrop, Kelly Hardison, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, softball, tennis, volleyball