NewCath baseball, softball hopes to take steps forward

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic pitcher Nick Seibert fires to the plate in a recent scrimmage while first baseman Jake Pangallo gets in position. The Thoroughbreds have won the last two 9th Region titles.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It is a story of a team with unfinished business.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds baseball team owns a stellar 51-27-1 record over the last two seasons with consecutive 9th Region crowns. NewCath would not mind three-peating as region champs then going another step if not a few more further than what they’ve gone in the state tournament.

The Thoroughbreds have lost in the state quarterfinals the past two years. They dropped a tough 1-0 decision to eventual state runner-up Henderson County in nine innings last year after dropping a 10-4 decision to Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park in the same round in 2011.

Vetetan NewCath Head Coach Jeff Schulkens and staff welcome back seven starters last year’s squad that finished 25-17-1 overall. Schulkens is entering his 18th year as head coach.

“We started conditioning on Oct. 15 and we’ve been going three days a week until we started practice in February,” Schulkens said. “The kids have a goal. They want to win region again and compete for a state title. It’s always tough. We have good teams. We have to be playing our best in May to win another region title.”

The seven returning starters for the Thoroughbreds are seniors. The returning leading hitters are pitcher/outfielder Josh Cain and infielder Pete Collopy. Cain hit .370 last year with three home runs and Collopy batted about .315-.320.

“We’ve put a big emphasis on senior leadership,” Collopy said. “We have a lot of people coming back so we’re really confident. Everyone has an equal shot at playing time regardless if they’re a senior or not.”

The other returning infielders are Colin DuPont, Alex Grau and Connor Bartels. Dom Pangallo returns in the outfield and Kevin Hoffstedder returns to play catcher. Grau can also catch and Bartels could also play the outfield or pitch.

The Thoroughbreds graduated three starters from last year in Brady Hightchew, Nick Woltermann and Andy Miller. Hightchew took his talents to Shawnee State in Portsmouth, Ohio. Hightchew often led off with Woltermann batting third and Miller fifth.

The Thoroughbreds have a number of other players that could also make a difference. The other two seniors are infielder Michael Bueter and outfielder Nick Seibert.

“On any given day, anyone can win,” Schulkens said. “We’ve talked from day one about getting better every day. We also talked about doing all the little things right. We have the talent to have a good year. We have to do all the little things right to have a great year.”

The roster also consists of six juniors. They are infielder Jake Yeager, outfielder Kole Zenni, infielder John Caudill, outfielder Tommy Donnelly, infielder Mitch Pangallo and infielder/outfielder Jake Pangallo.

A pair of sophomores rounds out the 17-player roster. They are infielder Brandon Gray and infielder Zach Pangallo.

Pitching depth is needed to take teams deep into the tournament. The Thoroughbreds have 10 players that could contribute in that department this year. They are Cain, Bartels, Seibert, Mitch Pangallo, Bueter, Yeager, Gray, Caudill, Donnelly and Zach Pangallo.

“It’s early in the season. I’m just trying to throw strikes,” Cain said. “We’re not throwing many off-speed pitches or curves yet. Coach (Schulkens) usually calls the pitches. We have a lot of guys that threw decent. I think our pitching can be scary good once we’re all on top of our potential this year.”

The Thoroughbreds opened the season with losses to Lexington Catholic and Louisville Trinity on Saturday. They face Woodford County at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Freedom Field.

NCC Softball looks to surprise:

The Thoroughbreds enter their eighth season as a program fresh off their fourth district title.

NewCath finished 20-14 last year and won the 36th District crown. The Thoroughbreds then turned some heads by knocking off Notre Dame, 9-4 for their first 9th Region win since 2008 and just their second region win in school history.

“Last year, we weren’t expected to win anything and ended up winning 20 games,” said Denny Barnes, NewCath head coach. “This is one of the funnest teams I’ve had to coach and the reason for that is no drama. Coaching girls, you normally have some drama. This team is ready to play.”

NewCath graduated three seniors from that team. They were center fielder Paige Immgard, right fielder Meghan Milfard and first baseman Rachel Hardesty.

Barnes welcomes back six starters from that team. Senior Christine Enzweller is the lone returning starting outfielder in left field. The only other senior listed on the roster is outfielder Madison Ballard.

The preseason has seen a lot of cold days meaning a lot of practices have been indoors. That has caused opponents to cancel many games early.

“We can’t wait to get outside,” Enzweller said. “It’s hard practicing (indoors) because we can’t get in the dirt.”

Four sophomores return after starting as freshmen last year in catcher Kristin Schreiber, shortstop Michaela Ware, third baseman Loren Zimmerman and second baseman Casey Kohls. Kohls batted .439 last year to lead the team and Ware hit .345.

“Even though we’re a young team, we have the potential to beat any team,” Burkhart said. “We lost part of our outfield from last year so we have to adjust to that. We also don’t have a left-handed batter this year so we have to adjust to that more.”

Junior Taylor Burkhart and sophomore Sarah Neace could share the pitching load. Neace finished last year with a record of 11-4.

The roster consists of 14 players total. Juniors Molly Mertle and Amanda Schabell could battle for playing time in the infield and sophomore Morgan Martini could battle for playing time in the outfield. Freshmen battling to contribute are infielders Aliva Gross, Alexa Kehoe and Amber Griese.

A sign of the growth of the program comes with the start of a freshman team. Barnes said that team has 18 players this year.

NewCath is scheduled to open the season today at 5 p.m. at Bellevue.

Eviston accepts OC position at Georgetown College

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The opportunity came for Eddie Eviston and he simply could not pass it up.

So after three impressive years as the head football coach of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds, Eviston is leaving his high school alma mater to coach at his college alma mater. The 33-year-old held a meeting with the players Friday and told them he’d accepted the position of offensive coordinator for the Georgetown College Tigers of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Mid-South Conference.

“Although I am leaving the place I call ‘home,’ I am returning to a place that occupies a very special place in my heart,” Eviston said. “My alma mater, Georgetown College, is the place where my love and deep appreciation for the game of football began. My experience there as a student-athlete was greater than I could have ever imagined and provided me vast opportunities for life. My family and I look forward to this new opportunity and challenge, and I sincerely hope the Lord blesses me with the tools I need to help provide a similar experience to the one I had to the young men of the Georgetown College football program.”

Eviston is taking over for former Boone County standout quarterback Craig Mullins. Mullins is taking over the same spot at Morehead State University after serving as Georgetown’s offensive coordinator the previous 16 years under current head coach Bill Cronin. Like NewCath, Georgetown also runs a spread offense with the quarterback mostly lining up under center.

The former Georgetown and Thoroughbred quarterback still owns a number of Tiger records. That includes 9,282 passing yards, 12,703 total offensive yards, 83 passing touchdowns and 132 touchdowns responsible for. Eviston completed 559-of-927 passes and just 40 interceptions in his career.

“We’d thought about bringing him back many times,” Cronin said. “The opportunity never developed. It is the right thing for Eddie. He understands our system and the type of athletes it takes for it to be successful.”

Eviston had been on the NewCath staff since 2006. The school promoted him to the tough role of filling in for the retiring legendary 44-year head coach Bob Schneider in 2010.

But Eviston added to the tradition going 35-8 in those three years adding three more district championships, three more appearances in the regional finals and two state championships in 2010 and this year. The Thoroughbreds own an overall record of 447-334-10 in school history with five state championships, six runner-up finishes, 20 district championships and 12 regional championships.

NewCath owns 13 straight winning seasons and 13 consecutive trips to the third round of the playoffs. The Thoroughbreds have posted double-digit victories in all but 2009 during that time. They’ve won a school-record 13 games in a season five times in that span including Eviston’s first year in 2010.

“It is with mixed emotions that I inform all that Eddie Eviston is not returning as our head football coach next year,” said Carl Foster, NewCath Principal. “A part of me knows we are losing a great coach and more importantly, an excellent role model for our young men. Another part of me knows he has accepted a great offer to be Offensive Coordinator for Georgetown College. I am happy Eddie can return to Georgetown, a school he successfully quarterbacked to two National Championships (in 2000 and 2001).”

Eviston graduated from NewCath in 1997. NewCath finished 34-16 in his four years of high schools winning an undefeated district championship his freshman year. The Thoroughbreds constantly battled Beechwood for district supremacy in those days and could not get past the Tigers in the playoffs in Eviston’s freshman and junior seasons.

Eviston still ranks among the all-time passing leaders in school history. He completed 111-of-230 attempts for 1,574 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career.

“He’s been with us a lot longer than I think a lot of people realize,” said Rob Detzel, NewCath Director of Athletics. “He’s part of the NewCath family. He walked into a tough role taking over for Coach Schneider and handled it beautifully. It was a seamless transition. We’re thankful for what he did not only as a coach but also a mentor to the young men we have.”

The players said they took the news with mixed emotions like Foster did. Graduating wide receiver Pete Collopy said they didn’t know what to expect at the meeting.

“We were somewhat shocked,” Collopy said. “But we want what’s best for Coach (Eviston). He had a heck of an opportunity in front of him. You can’t fault him for that. We hope to get another coach in here that can do what he’s been doing. That’s keep winning.”

The Thoroughbreds finished 13-2 in 2010 losing to just Ryle and Beechwood in double overtime in the regular season. They capped off the year with a 42-0 throttling of Owensboro Catholic in the state championship.

Despite graduating Chris Kelly and Jake Cain among others, NewCath came into 2011 hoping for a repeat like the 2006 squad did. But eventual champion and district rival Covington Holy Cross shocked the Thoroughbreds, 24-21 in the regional title game     . NewCath’s lone other loss in the 11-2 season came 29-20 to Beechwood to conclude the regular season.

This past season did not start off well. The Thoroughbreds love playing bigger schools and they started the year 2-4 losing close games to Cincinnati McNicholas (27-24), Simon Kenton (28-20) and Covington Holmes (12-7). But that tough schedule paid off as NewCath rolled through district action by a combined 219-24.

After beating Holy Cross to move to 5-4, Eviston and staff made a huge challenge to NewCath after a bad practice early the following week. The staff did not want the Thoroughbreds to settle for mediocrity after rolling through the district. NewCath responded with a 34-14 win over rival Beechwood for the first time since 2009.

“It shows he had the foresight to play these tough teams,” Detzel said. “It made our kids better forcing them to work harder. He wasn’t panicking. It honestly wasn’t one of our better teams. That’s a credit to Eddie and the staff for keeping those kids focused and coming back to win the state championship.”

The Thoroughbreds then rolled to another regional championship smashing Gallatin County, Holy Cross and Walton-Verona by a combined 150-27. NewCath ventured to a hostile environment for the state semifinals and came away with a 27-18 victory over a hungry Somerset squad.

NewCath then concluded the season with a thrilling 30-26 win over Caldwell County in the 2A title game at Western Kentucky University. Quarterback Josh Cain completed the game-winning 4-yard pass to Tyler Lyon with 26 second left to lift the Thoroughbreds to their fifth state championship.

“I want to thank the coaching staff and all the young men who I had the honor of coaching at Newport Central Catholic the past 3 years,” Eviston said. “Their efforts are a big reason I have been provided this opportunity, and I cannot be more grateful for the tremendous experiences and memories we share. I know no matter where I am and what I am doing, I will always be a Thoroughbred.”

Georgetown finished 10-1 winning another MSC title last year. The Tigers finished the regular season undefeated but lost 45-44 to MSC rival Bethel University in the first round of the NAIA playoffs.

NewCath will have some question marks for next season after graduating 15 seniors including Cain and leading rusher Dylan Hayes. Leading receiver Mac Franzen returns. The new head coach and staff will need to determine if Franzen will stay at wide receiver or move into the quarterback role.

“A fortunate problem we’ve had is we lose good players every year,” Detzel said. “We’ve been pretty much not had to rebuild, but reload. We have some good, young underclassmen. We’re hoping to step up and be in the mix for a state championship next year.”

The Thoroughbreds do return a number of key players from the state championship team. Aside from Franzen, junior linebacker Jack Sutkamp returns after leading the team in tackles. Freshman Jacob Smith is the leading candidate to step into the top running back role.

“We just have to continue to work hard no matter who the coaches are,” Smith said. “We hope to continue in the footsteps of the (past players) and do well.”

Detzel said he and Foster will have lunch next week to talk about the hiring process, but nothing will be done about the hiring process until Jan. 7 when NewCath returns from holiday break. Detzel also said plans have been made for current assistant coaches to oversee offseason weight lifting and conditioning programs that being that day.

NewCath Defensive Coordinator Dan Wagner is a leading candidate to take over the job. He’s held that role since 2000.

NewCath heads south for 2A semifinals

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This looks to be their biggest challenge of the Class 2A football playoffs.

But the fourth-ranked Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (9-4) do not mind. They travel near Lake Cumberland with history on their side.

NewCath began its current run of 13 consecutive trips to the regional title game in 2000 and when the Thoroughbreds advanced past that round, they’ve ended up playing two extra games. NewCath (9-4) sports a perfect 7-0 record in state semifinal contests during that time.

That includes wins in 2005 and 2006 against Friday’s opponent in the host and second-ranked Somerset Briar Jumpers (11-2) back when there were four classes. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Clark Field.

NewCath beat Somerset, 35-10 in Newport in 2005 and 40-24 in Somerset the next year in the Class A semifinals. The Thoroughbreds went on to beat Mayfield, 42-7 for the 2005 state championship and Danville, 37-34 for the 2006 title.

Thoroughbreds hope to get back on track for first home game of 2012

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team has entered games as favorites in recent years.
That may not be the case for Saturday's matchup against the rejuvinated Simon Kenton Pioneers. The Pioneers are undefeated at 4-0 and entering off a 31-7 victory over visiting Covington Holmes in a game called a halftime because of lightning. The Pioneers went 2-9 last year losing 72-0 to state-power Louisville Trinity in the first round of the playoffs.
This marks the third opponent NewCath has faced out of Class 6A, District 6. The Thoroughbreds beat Dixie Heights, 37-22 to open the season before losing 42-16 at Campbell County on Aug. 31. The 1-2 Thoroughbreds have their first losing streak since 2009.
NewCath used its bye week to heal up. Head coach Eddie Eviston said the Thoroughbreds "have had several players out and a handful more nursing some injuries over the last three to four weeks." Eviston and staff hope to see some of them playing at or close to 100 percent in the coming weeks.
Injuries have especially hurt the Thoroughbreds on defense. Teams have run for 598 yards for about 200 a contest against NewCath's 4-4 defense. Campbell County and Cincinnati McNicholas had some success running the spread read-option attack. The Camels ran for 302 yards on 42 carries for an average of 7.2 a carry.
"No matter how you want to 'skin the cat,' the fact is we have had some players over the last three games who have really been playing out of their natural position," Eviston said. "In no way is that an excuse for poor execution, but due to our onslaught of injuries, we have had to put players in positions that they are not necessarily built for. We have and will continue to coach guys up on proper technique and making correct reads to be successful."
NewCath will face another balanced, shotgun spread offense against Simon Kenton. Led by junior quarterback Brennan Kuntz and running back Andrew Sampson, the Pioneers have run for 515 yards and passed for 831. Kuntz has completed 47-of-73 passes for 732 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for 171. Sampson has run for 298 yards on 56 attempts with six touchdowns for an average of 5.3 a contest.
Eleven different receivers have catches for Simon Kenton. Sampson and Grant Wassom lead the way with 10 each. Sampson has 183 yards and one touchdown reception and Wassom has 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Simon Kenton has outscored opponents 114-38 for an averge of 28.5-9.5. The Pioneers had two close wins over Danville, 12-7 and Beechwood, 21-17 before smashing Pulaski County, 50-7.
The Thoroughbreds have been outscored an average of 30.3-25.7. They have 465 yards rushing and 507 passing. Dylan Hayes leads NewCath with 292 yards rushing on 53 carries for an average of 5.5 per attempt.
NewCath has improved passing the ball each week out of its spread offense that will face a 3-4 or 3-5 Pioneer defensive scheme. Quarterback Josh Cain has completed 45-of-72 passes for 507 yards with two touchdowns. Mac Franzen leads NewCath with 14 catches for 202 yards and Pete Collopy has 10 for 88.
"For a senior, Josh (Cain) is still inexperienced when it comes to the quarterback position, but I feel he has done a tremendous job for the most part," Eviston said. "He has all the tools to be one of the top quarterbacks in the area and I think that will continue to shine through as he gains more experience and becomes more comfortable in that role. With that, our receivers continue to improve on their understanding of the offense as well and that will only help our passing game as we we roll on into our season."
Game time is 7 p.m. at Newport Stadium.