43
Russell took Tigers to new level
Video
NEW MIDDLETOWN
Even though he made two trips to Columbus for baseball and led Springfield to its first football playoff appearance in nine years, Nick Russell feels his home is on the hardwood.
“Basketball is probably my favorite,” he admits.
For good reason. He helped the Tigers to a pair of regional berths and Inter-Tri County League championships. In his senior campaign, they were 21-3 and went on a 12-game winning streak before falling to St. Peter Chanel in the regional semifinal. Along the way, the 6-foot-2, 150 pound Russell averaged 9.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Still, the stats and wins don’t measure up to his earliest recollections of the sport.
“I always played it with my older brothers and dad when I was younger,” he said. “I was the youngest by about six or seven years, so I was always kind of an underdog going against them. It made me better back then so I like it the most, because of them.”
His strong senior campaign started off on the gridiron with an 8-3 football season. He compiled nearly 3,000 yards passing on the year, establishing the Tigers as one of the area’s most feared long ball threats. He was a force on the ground, too.
In Sugarcreek Garaway’s come-from-behind win over Springfield in the first round of the playoffs, Russell ran for the Tigers’ only two touchdowns. He finished that game with 79 yards rushing and 138 passing.
“It was a big accomplishment for us just to get there,” he said. “We had come close before and it’s pretty amazing that we were the first team [to make the playoffs] in so long.”
He will play in the Penn-Ohio All-Star Game, hosted by Springfield, on June 29, but Russell may have asserted his dominance most on the pitcher’s mound.
He didn’t lose a start in two years before the regional semifinal game against Cuyahoga Heights. He ended his senior campaign with a 1.22 earned run average, allowing just three earned runs before his final game. Russell struck out 61 batters, this year, and allowed just 45 hits in 57.1 innings pitched.
Fall, winter or spring, he always played with the confidence of the whole community behind him. And he’s felt it for many years.
“It definitely helps growing up and playing on the same team with familiar kids for so long,” he said. “That’s one thing that’s nice about growing up in a small town.
“Springfield sports always brings everybody together.”