Hurray for Hawks Killer B's

Congrats to the Hiland Hawks and their version of the killer B's. They are not quite Berkman, Biggio and Bagwell like the original gang the Houston Astros used to field, but Hiland's Senior Division (15-16) Little League squad had plenty of B's who had a memorable experience this past week playing in the World Series in Bangor, Maine. First off, there was the battery of Burch to Bunch, or Bradley to Bunch when Brad Schlabach took the hill. There was the batting order of Troyer, Troyer, Burch, Brad, B.J., Brandon (Paco) Wengerd and Blake Bunch. Then there were two Masts, Richie and Neil. There was also Bryce Mast on the bench, as well as a couple of Calebs (Miller and Schlabach). Hiland finished 2-2 at the World Series, taking the top-seeded team from California to nine innings before bowing. California then was upset by Maine in the playoffs. Maine plays Aruba for the championship. Aruba is the other team that beat Hiland during the tourney. Congratulations, Hawks. As coach Mike Yoder said, these kids are getting a lifetime of memories from this experience. I can hardly wait to cover Hiland's team in the spring!

Changes

Like the Eagles said when they kicked off their 'Hell Freezes Over' tour, "We never broke up. We just took a long vacation." I never really broke up with the Daily Record, I just took a 10-year hiatus. Beginning August 16, I will return to the Holmes County Hub covering sports for them once again. I left there in 2000 to take a job with the Holmes County Park District. About six months later, Graphic Publications started a new weekly newspaper in Holmes County called the Journal, and I was invited to develop the sports section of that paper. 10 years later, it was fully developed and it was time for me to move on. Or back, depending how you look at it. I'm heading back to the Hub, where I worked from 1993 to 2000. Since then, I've spent the past 10 years honing my skills and becoming a better writer, winning several awards and twice being recognized as the best sports section in the small newspaper category in the Ohio by the Ohio Newspaper Association. I hope I can maintain that level of production in my new surroundings. I'll still be covering the same schools, West Holmes and Hiland, and am fortunate to have the oportunity to cover such high quality sports programs.