Columbus-area boys high school sports notebook, April 20
•The Bexley baseball team pitched three no-hitters in its first 10 games.
Jonathan Speiss had two of the no-hitters, tying the program’s single-season record set by George Spencer in 1944. The junior had his first gem in a 10-0, five-inning win over Worthington Christian on April 1 in MSL-Ohio Division play. He had seven strikeouts and three walks.
His second no-hitter came in a 13-0 victory over Chillicothe on April 14. He struck out 13 and walked one in a game that went the full seven innings.
The third no-hitter was a combined effort by Josiah Old and Stanford Brandt in a 14-0, five-inning league win over Wellington on April 13. Old had six strikeouts and one walk in three innings, and Brandt tossed two innings with five strikeouts and one walk.
The Lions were 4-6 overall before playing Watterson on April 19. They are 3-2 in the MSL-Ohio.
—Scott Hennen
•New Albany senior pitcher Caden Robinson continued an impressive comeback from the injury that cost him almost all of last season, throwing five no-hit innings April 15 at Gahanna before being pulled in a 10-1 win.
Robinson threw 45 of his 79 pitches for strikes, striking out seven and walking three.
The Memphis recruit missed all of last year until the Division I state final, in which the Eagles defeated Cincinnati Elder 6-5, because of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. This season, Robinson is 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA, 18 strikeouts and nine walks in 11 2/3 innings.
Ranked 12th in this week’s state poll, New Albany is 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the OCC-Ohio entering an April 20 game against Westland.
—Dave Purpura
•At the New Albany Invitational on April 15, the Gahanna Lincoln boys track and field team showed it should be one of central Ohio’s top contenders in the Division I postseason because of its depth.
The only individual event the Lions won was Romearo Wells in the long jump (21 feet, 8 inches). However, Wells joined Maxwell Cummings, Thomas Newby and Dwayne Carter II on the first-place 800-meter relay (1 minute, 30.55 seconds), and Newby ran on the winning 400 relay (42.12) with Isaiah Jackson, Drew Pizzico and Makai Shahid.
Gahanna scored 156 points to win the eight-team meet, with Westerville Central (125), New Albany (102), Westerville South (100) and Pickerington Central (98) rounding out the top five.
Westerville Central’s Justin Braun ran 10.78 to edge Pickerington Central’s Troy Lane (10.79) for the 100 title, with Lane winning the 200 (21.92) and Braun joining Marcus Gordon, Cullen Hronek and Chip Smith on the first-place 1,600 relay (3:24.06).
Gordon also won the 110 hurdles (15.06) and 300 hurdles (39.0), and Smith won the 800 (1:59.99).
—Jarrod Ulrey
•Thomas Worthington, Dublin Coffman and Hilliard Davidson led area boys track teams in the Joe Lenge Classic on April 16 at Coffman.
Thomas placed second (97), Coffman was third (85) and Davidson finished fourth (71) behind champion Brunswick (106).
Camden Beatty led Thomas, winning the 110 hurdles (14.79), 300 hurdles (39.87) and long jump (20-3 1/2).
Thomas’ Shohaan Singh won the 400 (50.88) and ran on the first-place 1,600 relay (3:28.65).
Coffman’s Liam Shaughnessy won the 3,200 (9:18.36) and ran on the first-place distance medley relay (10:31.68).
Connor Ackley won the 800 (1:58.3) and Jack De Francesco won the pole vault (14-6) to lead Davidson.
Worthington Kilbourne’s Ryan Smith broke the program record in the 3,200 while finishing third in 9:20.58. The previous record was 9:27.7 set by Tanner Williams in 2019.
—Frank DiRenna
•Reilly Worthington broke the Olentangy boys track team’s oldest record with an effort of 53-1 1/2 to place second in the shot put April 15 at the Granville Invitational.
Worthington, who also finished second in the discus (140-5), had been approaching the record for quite some time. He threw 52-11 to win the Olentangy Berlin Invitational on April 8, besting his previous personal record of 51-10 1/2, set at last year’s Delaware County Championships.
Willard Brown had set the previous shot put record of 52-11 3/4 in 1967.
Worthington led the Braves to a fifth-place finish (69 points) in a 15-team field at Granville, behind champion Lancaster (144).
—Michael Rich
•Moses Murphy set two program records for the Olentangy Berlin boys track team April 8 during the season-opening Berlin Invitational.
The junior sprinter set the records while winning the 100 (11.14) and 200 (22.64).
The Bears finished third (106) of eight teams behind Westerville South (134) and Olentangy Liberty (122).
—Scott Hennen
•The Olentangy Orange boys track team’s 400 relay set a program record April 15 during the Granville Invitational.
Jordan Rudolph, Tyler Wallace, Gabe Torres and Kobe Sharpe won in 42.15 for the Pioneers, who finished second (114.5) of 15 teams behind Lancaster (144).
—Scott Hennen
•As the Wellington boys track team continues to grow in its second season following a four-year hiatus, senior Aurius Calloway is helping to lead the way.
In his only season with the team, Calloway has set program records in the 200 (23.8), 300 hurdles (43.9) and high jump (6-3) and has run as fast as 11.76 in the 100. The 300 hurdles and high jump marks were set April 15 during the Pat McMillin Invitational at Whitehall as Calloway won both events.
Calloway also played goalie for the soccer team, including during the 2019 Division III state championship season, and basketball.
—Dave Purpura
•After going 10-4 overall and earning a runner-up finish (4-1) in the OCC-Buckeye last spring, the Reynoldsburg boys tennis team entered the season hoping it wouldn’t take much of a step back after losing four of its regular contributors.
One of those no longer with the program is junior Jaden Coley, who was unseeded heading into last year’s postseason but earned a Division I sectional runner-up finish and then reached a quarterfinal at district.
Coley is sitting out this season to compete in non-high school tournaments, which has moved senior James Knorr from second to first singles.
The Raiders beat Groveport 3-2 on April 12 and were 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the league heading into their match April 19 against Lancaster.
“I think (Knorr) is kind of feeling a little extra pressure having to slide into that No. 1 spot because that wasn’t something he was expected to do this year, but he’s handling it well and I’m happy for him that he’s playing (first singles),” coach Brett Stewart said. “I talked to (Coley) and his dad and he’s just doing tournaments. ... He said he might come back for next season.”
Junior David Harris is at second singles, with junior Malik Stallings at third singles. Junior Aaron Slisher and freshman Legend Cooper are at first doubles, with juniors Abi Giri and Ryan Perion at second doubles. Harris, Slisher and Stallings also are returnees.
—Jarrod Ulrey
•Beechcroft boys tennis coach Daphne Hess hopes her team will get more chances to play this spring after going just 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the City League last season, when numerous obstacles made scheduling a challenge.
Senior Amani Lyles, a first-team all-district honoree in Division II in basketball this winter, is playing first singles.
Senior Lord Boateng is at second singles for the Cougars, who beat Mifflin 5-0 in their City opener March 31 and lost to Granville by the same score April 7.
Sophomore Dominique Wise plays third singles, with senior Paul Odife, junior Jerome Killebrew, sophomore Jaylen Adu and freshman Khalil Samuel among those seeing action in doubles. There are six others who could contribute this season, including seniors J.V. Velaszquez and Jaydon Magassouba.
The Cougars, according to Hess, have focused on improving their strength and conditioning to help with flexibility and footwork.
“We had a very hard time getting matches scheduled last year,” Hess said. “I really feel that with a few more practices and some additional experience playing matches that my players will be much more successful this year than last year. I’ve got strong leadership on the team with Amani and Lord.”
—Jarrod Ulrey
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Notebook: What's happening in central Ohio boys high school sports?
