Field softball, Garfield football win big at Portage County High School Sports Awards
Falcons softball and G-Men football made their mark at Friday's Portage County High School Sports Awards. The program was produced with the support of Meijer and Akron Children's Hospital.
Field softball earned Girls Team of the Year honors after going 23-4 and capturing conference, sectional and district titles. The award was sponsored by Army ROTC.
"A lot of people doubted us," Falcons senior Mallie Ruscitti said of her young ballclub. "I think that's what made us doubt ourselves, but I think it also kind of pushed us to the point where we knew we wanted to kind of be the underdogs this season."
No wonder then that Field coach Beth Dyer earned Coach of the Year honors.
"I'm just happy for them," Dyer said. "I'm going to live on this Cloud Nine bubble until Feb. 20 of next year because it's just unbelievable. It's just been an unbelievable season."
"She just pushed us very hard," Falcons senior Devon Carpenter said of Dyer. "Every practice, we were always doing something super fundamental that would help us. She gave us some good balance. We had some fun. I mean it was a great season, great final season to end on."
Garfield football earned Boys Team of the Year honors after posting a second straight undefeated regular season and league championship.This award was also sponsored by Army ROTC.
"The seniors, we knew we had a special class coming through," G-Men senior running back and Boys Athlete of the Year Anthony Demma said. "As the years went along, we progressed and got better and better, but our younger players stepped up, too, so our whole school is just trending in the right way right now."
Demma was named Boys Athlete of the Year after averaging 9.9 yards per carry in football and also playing a key role on Garfield's basketball and baseball teams.
"It's very exciting for me," Demma said. "I didn't even know I was up for this at all. I was very surprised. I was happy to be up there, but I'm just glad to be here with all these great athletes and I'm excited that I won some awards, but a lot of my friends are here, too, so it's very exciting and I'm just honored to be here."
Another G-Men standout, Garfield junior Max May, earned the Courage Award after battling back from brain cancer to run cross country and play basketball for the G-Men.
"I just want to play my sports," May said. "Sports are fun. I love competition. So I just wanted to get back to it."
Streetsboro senior Emma Flick earned Girls Athlete of the Year (as well as Girls Soccer Player of the Year) after scoring a school-record 46 goals and earning Division II Player of the Year honors in 2021. Flick, a Xavier commit, couldn't be present Friday as she was out of town with her summer soccer team.
Here are the individual sports award winners, listed by season:
Fall
Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year Andrew Ploskunak (Aurora) earned a second straight state berth, taking 32nd in Division I with a time under 16 minutes.
Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Morgan Schmitt (Aurora) won the Suburban American title and earned a top-10 regional finish before taking 14th in Division I at the state meet.
Boys Golfer of the Year Dillon Pendergast (Mogadore) took sixth at the Division III state tournament and earned Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, posting an 18-hole average of 74.5.
Girls Golfer of the Year Brooklyn Millard (Aurora) earned state runner-up honors and was the Suburban League Player of the Year with an 18-hole average of 72.1.
Defensive Football Player of the Year Christian Neff (Ravenna) compiled a remarkable 178 tackles in just 11 games, including 25 against Woodridge and 21 along with an interception against Cloverleaf.
Offensive Football Player of the Year Anthony Demma (Garfield) nearly averaged a first down at 9.9 yards per carry, totaling 2,066 yards and 29 touchdowns as he helped the G-Men to a second straight league title.
Boys Soccer Player of the Year Zach Geier (Aurora) earned first team all-Suburban American honors after tallying 15 goals and 34 points.
Girls Soccer Player of the Year Emma Flick (Streetsboro) earned Division II Player of the Year honors after racking up a school-record 46 goals and 100 points for the league co-champion and district runner-up Rockets.
Girls Tennis Player of the Year Hannah Chrin (Ravenna) has played a key role in the Ravens' resurgence, snagging a second singles title at the 2020 Metro Athletic Conference Tournament, then taking third at first singles in 2021.
Volleyball Player of the Year Jenna Kurtz (Rootstown) earned Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, recording a team-leading 261 kills while playing a key role on defense with 205 digs.
Winter
Boys Basketball Player of the Year Devin Reese (Streetsboro) did a little bit of everything to lift the Rockets to their second league title in three years, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.1 steals.
Girls Basketball Player of the Year Jenna Smith (Garfield) averaged a double-double (20.2 points, 12.2 rebounds) to earn all-state honors and lift the G-Men to a second straight district championship.
Boys Bowler of the Year Matt Richards (Roosevelt) earned Suburban American Player of the Year honors after posting an impressive 224 average as a senior and finishing his career with eleven 300 games and three state berths.
Girls Bowler of the Year Emily Linamen (Crestwood) earned first team all-state honors after qualifying for her fourth consecutive state tournament.
Gymnast of the Year Hannah Salgado (Aurora) had an impressive state meet, taking fifth in the all-around, eighth in the beam and 18th on bars.
Hockey Player of the Year Mike Mancine (Aurora) led the Greenmen in goals (20), assists (16) and points (36) and was named a Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League senior all-star.
Boys Swimmer/Diver of the Year Connor Zamary (Aurora) earned Suburban American Swimmer of the Year honors after finishing 11th in the state in the 100 fly, while also making state in the backstroke, 200 free relay and 200 medley relay.
Girls Swimmer/Diver of the Year Anya Ferner (Roosevelt) qualified for state for the second straight season after scoring a 415.25 to finish third at the district meet.
Wrestler of the Year Dylan Fishback (Aurora) carved a dominant path to a second straight state title, including three straight first-period pins to advance to the state championship contest, which he won 8-4.
Spring
Baseball Player of the Year Ryan Weber (Aurora) earned first team all-state honors after batting .487 with 22 stolen bases while not making an error all season.
Lacrosse Player of the Year Milo Rosenberg (Roosevelt) led Portage County with 63 goals and 78 points while also racking up 62 groundballs.
Softball Player of the Year Shelbie Krieger (Rootstown) was the Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year after going 13-2 with an 0.79 ERA and an absurd 246 strikeouts in 106 1/3 innings, while also recording a .483 average and 12 doubles.
Boys Tennis Player of the Year Vincent Cannata (Aurora) posted a winning record while playing first singles in the daunting Suburban American.
Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year Riley LaPorte (Garfield) earned state runner-up honors in the shot put for the second straight season and tacked on a sixth-place finish in the Division II state discus.
Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year Marinna Atanmo (Rootstown) finished fifth in the state in the 300 hurdles, was part of the Rovers' state-qualifying 4x200 relay and also swept the hurdles titles at the league and district meets.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Field, Garfield win big at Portage County High School Sports Awards
