Top notes, quotes & anecdotes

When you cover spring sports, you have to balance the good (Struthers senior Ashley Galbraith holding back tears after jumping 5-feet-8 inches, Poland rallying from a 10-0 deficit to beat Howland 20-10 in baseball, Poland senior Jimmy Ramson ignoring strep throat to win a 3200-meter race at the league meet) with the bad (covering Canfield softball losing in the regional semis, attending a six-hour hearing in Chardon over a baseball forfeit, seeing area track official Ed Katzman in shorts), which is why, when you get a chance to do something really special, you relish it.

This spring, I covered 10 track meets and I tossed the equivalent of a perfect game: I did not see a single athlete throw up.

This does not happen by accident. It requires dedication. It requires awareness. It requires being able to turn your neck whenever you see a runner keel over at the finish line.

It also requires the sort of brain that keeps track of stuff like that. Which is why I feel so qualified to present arguably the most worthless column in our paper since ... the last one of these I wrote.

Enjoy!

Coaches, athletes
and a quick rant

Favorite athletes to watch: Mooney senior Nick Pederzolli (who put his heart into every race), Canfield senior Drew Turocy (who helped the Cardinals win that elusive team title), Salem senior Jon Lee, Warren JFK junior Audrey Maheu and Poland senior shortstop Ashley Conger.

Favorite athletes to interview: Five senior track and field athletes will graduate this month and enter my Interview Hall of Fame: Maplewood’s Andy Arnio and Andy Morgan, Western Reserve’s Alex Rathburn, Warren JFK’s Dan Hull and Salem’s Patrick Gorby.

All five have won at least one state championship (either as part of a team or as an individual) and all five are funny, articulate and a joy to cover. I’m going to miss them. Other notables include Ursuline junior Nikka Bonamase, Lowellville senior Rachel Mariotti and Canfield junior Melissa West (who was nice enough to grant me an interview after the Cardinals’ regional semifinal loss to Hudson).

Favorite coaches to interview: Canfield softball coach Ronie Haurin, Lordstown track coach Frank Rahde (who e-mails me the world’s worst jokes), McDonald track coach Louis Domitrovich (who shares my love for Jack Johnson’s music), Lowellville track coach Bob Ballone and Boardman track coach Dave Pavlansky.

Before I get to my favorite quotes of the year, I have a quick rant. The Ohio High School Athletic Association raised state track prices to $10 (from $7) and continued gouging fans at the concession stand by charging $3 for a bottle of Dasani water. (A bottle of Coke cost $4.) A week earlier, at the Division III regional track and field meet in Navarre, Dasani cost $1.

The state baseball games at Cooper Stadium were worse — Dasani cost $3.50. I realize it costs money to hire officials, buy equipment and clean stadiums, but that’s criminal. Here’s hoping that someone stands outside the entrance next year with a cooler full of $1 water.

Spring quotes
I loved the most

Finally, here are the seven spring quotes I loved the most. Why seven? Because I couldn’t limit it to five.

U“They fielded everything. We couldn’t have caught a cold if you spotted us the germs,” said Boardman softball coach Bill Amero following a 12-1 loss to North Canton Hoover.

U“In Hanoverton, you see cows running down the street and roosters crowing. Youngstown is more city-like,” said Mooney senior Nick Pederzolli, when asked to compare the two towns. Pederzolli moved from Louisville to Hanoverton last summer and commuted to Youngstown during the school year.

UMooney junior Michael Zordich verbally committed to play football at Penn State, where his father also played. The older Zordich also married a PSU cheerleader. When asked if he’d do the same, Zordich replied, “Um, I don’t think I’ll follow in those footsteps.”

U“Any other school, I’d be the man,” said Western Reserve senior Clay Jones, when asked about having to share headlines with Rathburn, who won a Division III state title in the shot put.

U“This ain’t my kind of weather. They need to put us in a dome,” said Liberty senior Kenny Jackson, who helped the Leopards finish second in the 4x100 relay in sweltering conditions.

U“Anytime you win a county championship, you’re doing something right,” said Boardman boys track coach Dave Pavlansky after his team won the Mahoning County title. “It isn’t like this is a county meet in northwest Montana. There’s some good people here.”

U“I’m a better runner when I run dumb,” Salem senior Patrick Gorby, who set the Division II state record in the 800 at the regional meet and didn’t even realize it. “Some people like to think a lot, but I tried that and I always do bad. The less I know, the better I do.”

XJoe Scalzo covers high school sports for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.