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Paying a Monday morning visit to the variety store...
Well deserved
Kevin Ruple grew up in Ashtabula, went to high school as an Ashtabula Panther and has never forgotten his roots.
The 1978 Ashtabula graduate went off to the College of Wooster, from which he graduated in 1982, is now in his 27th year as sports information director at Baldwin-Wallace College.
“Rupe” will complete a terrific triumvirate of recognition in late June, when he will be presented the 2011 Lester Jordan Award at the annual College Sports Information Director’s of America Convention in Marco Island, Fla.
Previously, Rupe was awarded the CoSIDA’s Warren Berg Award, which was presented in Calgary, Ontario in 2003, and he was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2008 in Tampa, Fla.
When he receives the Lester Jordan Award in June, Rupe will become only the second small-college SID in the history of CoSIDA top receive all three of the prestigious honors, the other being Dave Wrath of Augustana, Ill.
Rupe was a standout baseball player. But as a kid, I first ran across him while he was playing in a church basketball league. The games were played at SS. John and Paul’s Mahoney Gymnasium and at that point, he had a hair-trigger release on his shot... but also his temper.
He said two of his coaches at Ashtabula High School took care of that problem.
“Rick Fenton was my baseball coach when I was a freshman (at Ashtabula),” he said. “I had a big mouth. He finally told me if I opened my mouth one more time, I’d find myself on the bench and if I kept it up, I’d be on the bench for the year.”
Enter Dan Craft.
“(Craft) took over from him. He told me whatever Coach Fenton had said went for him, too.”
Rupe has always gone out of his way to help local student-athletes at B-W by putting them to work in his office.
Congrats, Rupe.
Radio waves
Yours truly will be a guest on The Sports Report, hosted by Joe “Mr. Sports” Pete — aka, The King of Ashtabula County Media — today from 4-6 p.m. on ESPN 970 WFUN.
Datebook
The first of the postseason contests for the winter sports will be held a week from Tuesday when Frank Roskovics’ Ashtabula County Women’s Scholar-Athlete Association Senior All-Star basketball game will be held at Geneva High School.
The contest will feature senior players from the eight Ashtabula County girls basketball teams.
Here’s the other postseason contests coming up in the next few weeks:
Friday, March 11 — The Star Beacon-Mike Scully Senior Classic wrestling match. The annual clash will feature the top seniors from teams in the Star Beacon coverage area and be held at Lakeside Gymnasium and begin at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, March 15 — The Star Beacon-Ed Batanian Senior Classic basketball games. The annual contests will also be held at Lakeside High School, with the girls tipping off at 6 p.m. and the boys following suit 15 minutes after conclusion of the girls game.
The games will showcase the top seniors from the teams in the Star Beacon coverage area, with a 3-point contest featuring two players from each team being staged at halftime of both games.
Friday, March 18 — The Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Senior Classic will be held at Falcon Gymnasium in Jefferson, featuring seniors from the nine Ashtabula County boys teams.
Famous folks
The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) has announced the date for the Hall of Fame Induction of the Class of 2011. The four high school coaches being inducted are:
Jerry Doerger of Cincinnati McNicholas High School, Larry Jordan of Ross Southeastern High School, Bob Seggerson of Lima Central Catholic High School, and Jim Cappelletti of Cleveland Heights High School.
The Induction Ceremony of the 25th Class will take place at the Columbus Airport Marriott at 1375 North Cassady Avenue in Columbus on Saturday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets may be obtained by calling Paul Wayne at (419) 261-2547 or email him at pwayne@holgate.k12.oh.us.
McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.
Sports
Related Photos
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KEVIN RUPLE
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JOE "MR. SPORTS" PETE, aka — The King of Ashtabula County Media
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DON McCORMACK
Discussion
A Don McCormack column: Bula’s own honored yet again
- Sports
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Geneva, Edgewood win in J-Town
The Geneva boys and Edgewood girls managed to amass just enough points to claim the team titles at the Falcon Night Relays on Friday at Falcon Pride Stadium.
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Johnson: Browns will be better
Football fans of every age gathered Friday evening to converse with Cleveland Browns linebacker James-Michael Johnson.
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Skleres finds good fit
There are two very different sides to Michealia Skleres and the Pymatuning Valley senior wasn’t ready to go one direction or the other just yet. She may never be ready to separate those two halves.
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Lakers ousted by LaBrae
Though the LaBrae softball team fell short of one goal this season, another was achieved on Friday.
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Scholastic Statistics:
BASEBALL
DIVISION I
SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Fitch 10, Lakeside 1
at Fitch -
Scholastic Schedule:
SATURDAY, MAY 18
Baseball
n No events scheduled -
Top to bottom
For a team to score a number of runs in a softball game, the bottom portion of a lineup has to string a couple of hits together at least once.
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Falcons fly to sectional title
Lake Catholic softball coach Dale Colagross had the option of a potential battle with rival Notre-Dame Cathedral Latin, the top-seeded team in the Division II district tournament, or a potential matchup with third-seeded Jefferson in a sectional championship game in the other half of the bracket.
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Area High School Baseball Statistical Leaders:
INDIVIDUAL BATTING (minimum 45 at-bats)
PLAYER SCHOOL AVG OB% SLG% AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Chase Thurber PV .548 .642 .790 62 24 34 10 1 1 25 13
Tim Cross PV .492 .528 .667 63 24 31 9 1 0 25 12
Louie Wisnyai Edgewood .492 .559 .763 59 17 29 8 1 2 26 8
Tony Magda Edgewood .483 .552 .603 58 14 28 5 1 0 19 6
Joey Piscsalko Jefferson .471 .548 .571 70 23 33 7 0 0 19 14
Scott Davidson Jefferson .464 .519 .623 69 20 32 7 2 0 10 8 -
Lakeside rolls past East
One of the great lessons in sports competitions is to play with the maximum effort in utilizing your own skills and talents. It’s a lot easier said than done, but the Lakeside Dragons got a full dose of it Thursday afternoon as they tangled with a youthful and inexperienced group of Panthers from Youngstown East in a Division I sectional semifinal ballgame. The Dragons came out on top, 12-0.
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Geneva, Edgewood win in J-Town
