Tuscola County Sports

New blog on baseball and softball seasons so far from TCA Sports Ed., Jon Sicotte

Greg Riccardi weighs in on A-F/O-G merger

Chris Ogryski, the Editor of the Huron County Press and member of the Thumb Sports Writers Association had a heart attack on Sunday evening. He is currently recovering at St. Mary's in Saginaw. Our prayers and thoughts go out to Chris and his family in this difficult time.

Jon, Andrew, and myself got together after softball practice last night and decided to podcast what we were talking about. The Akron-Fairgrove School Board decision and the Tuscola County Tournament were on our minds. Join us for this special podcast. Remember you can suscribe to the podcast through iTunes, Zune Marketplace, Podfeed.net, and many other popular sites on the internet. Thanks for listening.

And the answer is... (click link to see what went down)

The gang and I are going to be recording a new podcast this evening. It should be up for download tomorrw morning. Make sure you call or email with any remaining questions. We will be covering the topic of the MHSAA's money problem, the proposed football coop with some area schools, scheduling games during spring break, and a few other surprises. As always, thanks for reading and listening. Update, the podcast is up and running. Just one file this time. It is titled April 10 Podcast. We rambled pretty good last night, a little over an hour. Enjoy!

On April 19th at Beaverton High School (click link for map) in Gladwin County, the Unionville-Sebewaing Area Patoit varsity softball team, currently ranked #1 in Division 3 in the latest poll, will take on the Allen Park Cabrini Monarchs, currently ranked #2 in Division 3. Cabrini, who has won the last two Division 4 state championships, is riding a 76 game winning streak, coming into the season. The Monarchs return pitcher Katie Osburn (signed with Miami of Ohio) and catcher Amanda Chidester (signed with Michigan). Osburn had an incredible 2007 campaign, allowing only 1 earned run. Yes, I did not mistype. She holds the national record. Chidester, not to be outdone, had a incredible 2007 season in her own right. She only hit .730 with 16 home runs and 90 RBIs. Coach Lary Houthoofd and the Patroits are the 2-time defending Divison 3 state champs, and hold a 78-6 record over the last two seasons. Retuning are catcher Carly Treiber and third baseman Danielle Gremel, who both hit .400+ la

I will borrow a partial statement from the Rev. Wright, "...the MHSAA's chickens is coming home to roost." Read the Detroit News article by Fred Girard here . The MHSAA very well could have sent themselves to extinction by being so bull-headed and stubborn. This whole thing could have been finished way back in 2002-2003, and for a whole lot less money. If Jack Roberts can not find a way to pay Kristen Galles in installments, we may very well be looking at the begining of the end of the MHSAA. With a debt of $7,401,000 by the end of the day today and increasing $1,000 every day the debt is not paid in full, and assets of only $6 million, I do not see this ending in a good way for the MHSAA. The AAAM may have a few more than 100 schools join their ranks by July.

Free Press All-State boys basketball Dream Team G BRAD REDFORD Frankenmuth (Class B), 6-0, senior Accomplishments: Claimed Mr. Basketball title by averaging 36.7 points per game, made 208 of 215 free throws (97%), shot 43% from three-point land and 46% from the field, leading his team to the state quarterfinals. Had 94 assists to 61 turnovers. Redford has committed to Xavier (Ohio) University. Redford: "Being named Mr. Basketball was great. I had a great time with my teammates and being with them since I was in grade school made it all the more enjoyable." Coach Tim Crawford: "It's an unbelievable year for him. What he did was just phenomenal; for us to go 23-3 and him to average (36.7 points), which was what he had to do for us to win. He deserved the Mr. Basketball Award." Free Press All-State boys basketball: Class B honorable mention Jon Acuff, Warren Lincoln; Mike Alden, Roscommon; Corey Anderson, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern; Phil Barnes, Tawas; Rona