News

This Is Their Moment
Posted on Oct 13 2009

Excitement was in the air at the Special Olympics State Softball Tournament held in Bowling Green, KY on September 11-13.  Four Pitt teams from their respective divisions came prepared to compete, but most of all to have fun. 

In order to qualify for State, each team had to win or be a runner-up in their regional tournament games.  Pitt's 2A and 3A teams received byes into the tournament.  There were a total of 28 teams from around the state that played.  Spirits were high and the weather couldn't have been better.   The only kink for the weekend was a two hour delay of games due to a sewage problem that resulted in an evacuation of the park. 

The Pitt Bears in our B division came out with a lot of enthusiasm on their first game Friday night.  Coached by Tom Ewing, Debra Ewing, Jill Adcock, Terry Roach, and Emily Roach, this team showed the true spirit of Special Olympics.  One player, Buddy Crawford, has struggled with hitting the ball all season long.  His perseverance paid off by not only hitting the ball, but scoring a run helping the Pitt Bears to beat Grant County advancing them to a Saturday morning game against the Lexington Twisters.  They were able to stay on their road to the gold by beating the Twisters even after a two hour delay.    Their quest for a  gold medal was bright with two wins against the Louisville Wizards on Sunday.  Gold medals were presented to:  Hannah Adcock, Noah Amster, Buddy Crawford, Jamill Danzy, Steven Danzy, Brad Ewing, Jeff Fuller, Heidi Gividen, Marie Hickey, Bailey Jones, Zach Kalley, Leighann Phelps, Tavon Reed, Sam Roach, and Michelle Starck.

The Pitt Cubs in our 1A division fought hard to bring home the gold.  Coached by Sarah Cooke, Ron Hohmann, Jeff Hale, Shellie Merrel, and David Zeitz, this team played the Oldham County Eagles for all three games.  Pitt won the first, but Oldham County won the next two giving Pitt the silver medal in this division.  True sportsmanship was displayed by each team cheering for the other when the medals were presented.  Silver medals were presented to Ricky Brock, Bryce Clayton, Michael Eisenbach, Jenny Hale, Beth Hohmann, Kim Hornung, Chris MacCool, Chris Kirkland, Jordan North, Ben Ottersbach, Hayden Redmon, Nick Rosegotter, John Ross, Cameron Scheldorf,  and Brett Zeitz.

In our 3A Division, the Pitt Grizzlies proved a valiant effort even with lots of bumps in the road.  Coached by Mickey Hardy, Sarah Persun, Lisa Hardy, and scorekeeper, Betty Hardy,  only ten players were able to attend the State Tournament due to various issues.  All weekend they prayed that no one got sick or injured.   The journey was difficult with the first loss to Northern KY Patriots on Saturday morning after the two hour delay.  The nail biting second game against the Bowling Green 3A team resulted in a loss for Pitt, but not after a valiant effort.  The Pitt Grizzlies brought home the bronze and look forward to competing again next year.  Bronze medals were presented to Gary, Ryan, Andy, Alton, Angie, Kevin, David, Roy, Cindy, and Nick.

The Pitt Kodiaks, our 2A division team, coached by Claudia McCormick, Kelly Moriarty, Lynn Newton, Mike Walls, and Willa Walls, were excited about going for the gold.  The road to the gold was a breeze with large margin wins against three Northern Kentucky teams.  Gold medals were presented to Howard Danzy, Chad Dillman, Joe Englert, Alex Lyers, Kelly McCormick, Chris Meyers, Carson Murray, Zach Newton, Curt Patty, Evan Reed, Joe Schweickhardt, Stephanie Speicher, Greg Timmel, Mitchell Walls, and LaTonya Watson.

Congratulations to all the Pitt Softball teams and their incredible performances in this year's state tournament and the entire softball season!