GREENE COUNTY — Each week or so, the Greene County News newspapers have been featuring a Greene County area high school’s Spring sports teams. This week, we bring you an update on the Fairborn High School Skyhawks.
With 440 boys and 413 girls, Fairborn is considered a Division I school in all four of its Spring sports.
BASEBALL
Depending on how coach Bronson Marlett’s Skyhawks fared Wednesday in a home contest with Piqua, Fairborn may already have a Greater Western Ohio Conference American South division champion for this season.
Fairborn recently won a two-game home-and-home series with Greene County foe Xenia to grab the South division lead. They scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win 6-5 over the Buccaneers on April 30.
Among Greater Western Ohio Conference players with 10 or more games played so far this season, sophomore Hunter Warner is ranked sixth in the league with a .500 batting average (25 hits in 50 at-bats). Kahlil “Iceberg” Lettice ranks 10th among those with 10 or more games, with a .460 average, and leads the Skyhawks with nine doubles (third in the league).
Garison Secrest leads the team in runs batted in with 18 so far. Warner is tops on the team in runs scored with 23 (tied for eighth in the GWOC) and hits (25).
In eight appearances and 44.2 innings pitched thus far, pitcher Andrew Trickett is 12th in the GWOC with 35 strikeouts. Andrew Yeary is second on the team in K’s with 17, with Isaac Shuttleworth third with 16 strikeouts.
Before Wednesday’s home game with Piqua, Fairborn had a 10-10 overall record and led Xenia by a game and a half in the division race with a 9-3 American South mark.
The team closes out its season with games against Piqua (May 1), at Sidney (May 3), then nonleague games with Monroe (4 p.m. May 4 at Wright State University’s Nischwitz Stadium, road contests May 6 and 7 at Wayne and Valley View, then they’ll close out the regular season at home against Springfield Shawnee on May 8.
BOYS TENNIS
By the time you read this, the Fairborn boys varsity tennis team could be celebrating a GWOC South title as well.
The Doug Coy-led Skyhawks have already surpassed their wins total from last season, and heading into Wednesday’s road match in Trotwood the team was enjoying a four-match team winning streak. As of April 30, Fairborn had a 7-10 overall record, was 4-5 in GWOC matches and undefeated 3-0 against South division foes.
Nghi Nguyen and Caleb Smith have seen duty at No. 1 singles, so far this season, Smith has also shared time at No. 2 singles with Janiel Buita, who has shared third singles time with undefeated Sam Steck (6-0 at third singles, 4-0 in GWOC play) and Wylie Parker.
In doubles, Silas Smith has been the one constant at first doubles. He’s been paired with Nguyen, Theophane Pradelle, Steck, and Caleb Smith in a combined 16 matches. The Skyhawks have used six different player combinations at second doubles. Steck has been teamed up with Juliana Boyd, Parker, and Elia Carle; Parker has been matched with Steck, Pradelle and Carle; Pradelle also has been teamed with Boyd.
Fairborn closes out its regular season with Wednesday’s road match against Trotwood-Madison. They’ll compete in the GWOC tournament on Thursday, May 2, then the sectionals tournament gets under way on May 6 in Troy.
SOFTBALL
Unofficially as of this writing, the Fairborn softball team finds itself in a three-way battle for the Greater Western Ohio Conference, American South division title. The Skyhawks find themselves perched in third in the division race two games behind division leader Xenia, and a half game behind current runner up Stebbins, with two conference games against North division foes Sidney and Piqua yet to be played.
Fairborn needs Xenia to lose to North schools Butler and Troy, while the Skyhawks win out. Stranger things have happened.
Kendall Winn leads the team in hitting with a .517 batting average (31 hits in 60 at-bats), on-base percentage (.633),hits (31), runs scored (28), triples (2), home runs (5) and RBI (26), and is second behind Kenzie Culbertson (8) in doubles. Megan George has been the team’s base stealing threat with six this season.
The team has been blessed with a solid trio of pitchers in 2019. Kenzie Shaver has thrown a team-high 50 innings with team bests in wins with four (losses with seven) and strikeouts (39). Kaily Japps and Destiny Ferrigno have one save each, with Japps tossing 16 strikeouts. Ferrigno is the team leader in walks-hits per innings pitched (WHIP) at 0.97, and leads the ‘Hawks in earned run average (ERA) at 1.51 in 37 innings pitched.
Fairborn is currently 9-10 overall, 5-7 in GWOC play, with a home game on May 2 against Piqua, road contest at Sidney on May 3 and an opening round game with Tecumseh in the rescheduled Huelsman tournament on Saturday May 4 left on the schedule.
TRACK & FIELD
Fairborn’s boys track team has six event times within the top 12 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference, as of Tuesday, April 30. Joshua Greene has two of those marks, placing 12th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.45 seconds, and first in the GWOC in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 7 inches.
Fellow speedster Audric Bills has the eighth quickest time in the boys 200-meter run with a 23-19 clocking. Patrick Parrish is currently the GWOC’s ninth quickest runner in the 400-meter run at 52.64.
There’s talent among the boys relays as well. The 800-meter relay team is currently seventh out of 14 teams in the league at 3:31.70; and the mile relay team of Isaiah Collins, Bills, Parrish and Tyren Schultz is sixth quickest so far at 3:31.70, which established a new meet mark at the Greene County High School Championships.
Coach Patrick Smith says the mile foursome’s goal is to surpass the current school record of 3:29.
The Fairborn girls have shown some prowess in relays as well. The Skyhawks have the sixth quickest time in the 800-meter relay at 1:51.92, and they’re eighth quick in the two-mile relay at 11:30.49.
Brittany Hogan is the lone female Skyhawk with two individual marks among the GWOC’s best. Hogan currently has the fourth quickest time in the 100-meter dash at 12.8 seconds, and she has the second best time in the 200 at 26-02.
The track team was scheduled to compete in the Lebanon Warrior Relays on May 1. The GWOC championships will take place on May 8-10 in Troy, districts are May 15-17 in Piqua, with regionals May 22-24 at Huber Heights Wayne. The annual state championship meet is scheduled for May 31-June 1 at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.
