The Daily Press Pass: Top Highland County sports moments from 2018

Instead of doing the usual “year in review” article for the sports section of The Highland County Press this year, it is time for a Top 10 list of the best moments from the year that was 2018. Highland County had coaches win big-time awards, teams reach the state playoffs, teams reach the state final four and individuals who competed at the state level as well.

Records were broken in 2018, coaches came back home and all in all it was another productive calendar year for the student-athletes and coaches in Highland County.

As we welcome the start of 2019, let’s take a look back at the top moments of 2018.

1. Whiteoak Wildcats baseball reaches the Division IV State Semifinals — Having a record of 28-3 overall for the season, coach Chris Veidt had his Whiteoak Wildcats baseball team playing at their greatest level all season long. They went undefeated in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, won their second-ever district championship and won the regional title for the first time ever. Their biggest wins came in the regional round when they defeated the Toronto Red Knights by a 4-3 score in the regional semifinals and the Eastern Meigs Eagles by a 5-4 score to win the regional title. Whiteoak’s season came to a close in the state semifinals when they lost to Hicksville, 4-1. Following the season, Veidt was named the 2018 NHSBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year. WHS also was also honored with the inaugural state Field of the Year award, presented at the annual Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Clinic.

2. Hillsboro football returns to the OHSAA Playoffs — This fall was fun for Hillsboro football, as they had their first winning season in nearly a decade with a 9-2 overall record, becoming co-Frontier Athletic Conference champions (their first conference title since 1998) and qualifying for the State Playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Indians had players selected to the Division III All-Ohio team, including Josh Keets at second team, while head coach Jack O’Rourke was the 2018 Division III State Coach of the Year. It was a great season for the Indians, one many have been waiting for, for quite some time.

3. Austin Goolsby places as state runner-up in pole vault — Hillsboro senior Austin Goolsby placed as the Division II State Runner-Up in 2018 during the spring Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Goolsby’s second-place finish came one year after winning the state title and two years after placing second in the event as a sophomore. Goolsby’s top jump was 14-10.

4T. Fairfield Lions cross-country places 6th at state — The Fairfield Lions had to wait an extra week to compete due to track conditions, as the team consisted of senior Brandtson Duffie, sophomore Cohen Frost, senior Austin Setty, senior Bennett Hodson, junior Gavin Campbell, junior Ethan Davis and sophomore Blake Haines. Duffie led FHS at state with a 23rd-place finish. This season also included FHS winning their eighth straight SHAC championship, an eighth straight district championship and they were third overall at regionals.

4T. Hillsboro senior Kristin Jamieson places 6th at Division I State Golf Tournament — Hillsboro senior Kristin Jamieson took part in her third Division I State Golf Tournament this past fall at The Ohio State University Gray Course, placing sixth overall in Division I. Jamieson totaled a score of 146, with scores of 74 and 72 in the two-day event. Jamieson, an OSU signee, was a three-time state qualifier, and the senior also won a district championship.

5. Many more state-qualifying athletes — Hillsboro’s Lane Cluff made the Division II state wrestling tournament. Fairfield’s Ailean Duffie (triple jump), Blake Adams (shot put), Brandtson Duffie (800-meter run) and Matthew Mangus (3200-meter run) all qualified for state indoor track. Hillsboro’s Austin Goolsby (pole vault, long jump), Britton Haines (long jump), Mark Gallimore (pole vault) and Quinn Conlon (triple jump) also qualified in indoor track. Qualifying for the state outdoor track meet were: Goolsby (pole vault), Adams (shot put, discus), Mangus, Andrew Davis, Bennett Hodson, Duffie (4x800m relay), Chayden Pitzer (100m hurdles, 100m dash, 300m hurdles), Mangus (3200m run) and Draven Stodgel (discus). In addition to the Fairfield boys team, Ciara Colwell qualified as an individual for state cross-country.

6. Lynchburg-Clay boys bowling qualify for state — Six bowlers for the Mustangs competed in the state event as they were seniors Noah Fenner, Brayden Sellman and Eli Hollingsworth; junior Nathan Burns and sophomores Jonah Fenner and Kaleb Thomas. LC won the SHAC championship and were district champions in just their fifth season as a program. The Mustangs are coached by Shawn McLaughlin and James O’Connor as LC finished in 15th place at state.

7. Peyton Scott breaks LC all-time scoring records — This achievement was four years in the making, but the Lady Mustangs senior surpassed the girls basketball scoring record held by Whitney Lewis on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 when she scored a total of 42 points against West Union. Her 42 points were also a record for points scored in a game at LC. That night, Scott, a Miami University signee, had 1,711 points, passing the former mark of 1,705. Scott also became the girls career soccer all-time leading scorer in the fall with 128 goals.

8T. Fairfield’s Grace Shope sets school basketball scoring record — On Jan. 29, 2018, then-Fairfield senior Grace Shope became the all-time leading scorer in school history, including boys and girls basketball. Shope at the time of setting the record scored 24 points at Ripley to have 1,545 points, breaking the previous record of 1,543 points held by Nathan VanWinkle in the boys program. Shope finished her high school career with 1,711 points, as she was also selected All-Ohio.

8T. Keegan Rawlins becomes all-time wins leader at McClain; Tigers wrestle in Region 14 Final Four — It was maybe the best year ever for McClain wrestling in 2018 where the team reached the regional final four round of the dual tournament for the first time in program history The Tigers also saw then-senior Keegan Rawlins take over as the all-time wins leader in program history with over 150 wins to his credit in his four-year career.

9. Kaiti White pitches another perfect game — During her junior season, Fairfield’s Kaiti White tossed a perfect game against Lynchburg-Clay on March 27. She finished the game with nine strikeouts. In an earlier game during the 2018 season, White had a 15-strikeout game against the Washington Lady Blue Lions. For the season, White was selected second-team All-Ohio as she pitched in 26 games, making 25 starts. White finished with a 19-6 overall record, while pitching in 152.2 innings. She allowed just 29 earned runs with a 1.32 ERA. White also walked just 15 batters and struck out 242 batters. White was even strong at the plate, as in 88 at-bats she had a .500 batting average with a .648 slugging percentage and a .602 on-base percentage. White also scored 29 runs and totaled 44 hits with 33 singles, 10 doubles and one home run.

10. Various Conference/District/Regional Champions — The following teams were conference champions from Highland County: Lynchburg-Clay boys bowling (SHAC), Lynchburg-Clay girls bowling (SHAC), Hillsboro girls bowling (FAC), Hillsboro boys bowling (FAC), Fairfield girls basketball (SHAC), Whiteoak baseball (SHAC), Fairfield softball (SHAC), Fairfield boys track and field (SHAC), Hillsboro boys golf (FAC), McClain girls golf (FAC), Fairfield boys cross-country (SHAC), Lynchburg-Clay girls soccer (SHAC), Lynchburg-Clay boys soccer (SHAC), Hillsboro football (FAC), Fairfield volleyball (SHAC).

The following teams were district champions in 2018: Whiteoak baseball, LC boys bowling, Fairfield softball, Fairfield boys cross-country.

Individual district champions in track and field were McClain’s Chayden Pitzer (100m dash, 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles), Austin Goolsby (pole vault), Draven Stodgel (shot put), Ty Alexander (400m dash), the Hillsboro 4x4m relay team of Tyler Workman, Britton Haines, Mark Gallimore and Alexander and the Fairfield 4x800m relay team of Matthew Mangus, Brandtson Duffie, Andrew Davis and Bennett Hodson. Individually, Kristin Jamieson also won a Div. I golf district title.

Regional champions included Whiteoak's baseball team and an individual champion of Brandtson Duffie in the 800m run.

Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @HCPSportsEditor.