North Canton Hoover grad Grace Vesco off to strong start for St. Francis softball

Hoover High School graudate Grace Vesco has begun her season in a big way with Pennsylvania’s St. Francis University softball team.

The 5-foot-7 right-hander was named Northeast Conference Pitcher of the week for the third time in three weeks on Tuesday, March 7 after a big effort at the Palmer Park Clash the previous weekend in Charlottesville, Va.

Vesco pitched a 10-inning complete game 1-0 victory over George Mason on March 4. She tossed a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts. She pithed a complete game effort against 16-4 Virginia in a 5-2 setback on March 5. She struck out seven and just two of the five runs off her were earned.

On the season, the Red Flash stand 6-10 but Vesco has a 5-3 record with a 2.33 earned run average. In 54.1 innings, she has given up 29 hits and 23 runs, 18 earned, with 34 walks and 68 strikeouts.

Vesco's effort vs. George Mason and Virginia moved her into second place in program history in strikeouts with 469, 106 short of the record which was set back in 2009. She is six shy of the career victory total with 46, the top mark set in 1952.

Logan Hall (Tuslaw) The Lander University (South Carolina) graduate student finished as the national runner-up at 184 pounds in the NCAA Division II championships this past weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He helped the Bearcats finish second as a team. Hall defeated the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 184, Billy Higgins of Nebraska-Kearney, 3-2 in the semifinals before falling 3-1 in sudden victory to Ty McGeary of West Liberty. Hall also won a regional title the previous week when Lander set a scoring record in winning the team title at NCAA Super Region II. Hall went 36-5 this season. A former OHSAA Division III runner-up as a senior at Tuslaw in 2017, Hall spent five years at Notre Dame College where was NCAA Division II national qualifier and two-time MEC champion before being a graduate transfer to Lander.

Luke Reicosky (Hoover) The John Carroll senior won his opening match to reach the quarterfinals of the Division III NCAA Championship last weekend in Roanoke, Va. However, his run ended there with a loss followed by a loss in the consolation bracket. Reicosky competed at 165 pounds. He entered the tournament unseeded because of injuries. An All-American a year ago, Reicosky finishes this season at 27-4. He won 109 matches during his career and also was an All-American in 2020.

Nikayah Terrell (McKinley) The 5-6 sophomore guard helped the High Point (N.C.) women’s basketball team finish 17-14 after the No. 2 seed Panthers dropped a 74-61 decision to No. 1 seed Gardner-Webb in the Big South Conference championship game lin Charlotte, N.C. Terrell had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in the game. She was second on the team in scoring with a 10.6 average and added 3.9 rebounds a game. She also had 83 assists and 33 steals.

John Paulus (Green) The 6-2, 180-pound junior is doing it on the field for the Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team. The Bears are 5-1 after topping No. 18 Belmont-Abbey in a March 4 home game in Hickory, N.C. Paulus had a game-high 10 ground balls and won 22 of 33 faceoffs. On the season, he has 30 ground balls and has won 62 of 96 faceoffs (64.6 percent). In his career, Paulus has 139 ground balls and has won 266 for 463 faceoffs (57.5%). He was named to third-team All-South Atlantic Conference third last season.

Annie Roshak (Hoover) The 6-1 senior is leading the No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Ashland women’s basketball team into the Division II NCAA Elite Eight on Monday. The 34-0 Eagles play UT Tyler in St. Joseph, Missouri. Roshak, the Great Midwest Player of the Year, helped the Eagles win the Midwest Regional in Ashland this past week. Roshak leads the team in scoring at 14.1 per game in just 22.9 minutes of action a game for the balanced Eagles. She’s also averaging 5.4 rebounds and has 69 assists, 30 steals and 26 blocked shots in 33 games.

JoJo France (Manchester) The fifth-year senior was named to first-team All-Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference fafter another standout season with the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team. He led the 12-14 Bobcats in scoring (19.6) and connected on 66 of 194 3-point attempts (34%). France finished his career first in program history in 3-pointers (201) and free throws made (180) and second in total points (1,167). In 75 career games, France finished with a 15.6 average.

Brett Townsend (Hoover) The 6-2 senior forward leads the 7-0 Mount Vernon Nazarene men’s lacrosse team in scoring with 11 goals and 28 assists for 39 points. He has had six assists in two games and five in another. He had three goals and four assists in a 20-1 victory over Clarke (Iowa) March 3 and had a goal and an assist as the Cougars upset No. 5 St. Ambrose (Iowa) 10-5 March 4. The Cougars are currently ranked ninth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Traci Culver (Green) The 5-foot-10 sophomore scored in two of the first three games this season for the Edinboro (Pa.) women’s lacrosse team. Culver had three goals and an assist in a 20-14 victory over the District of Columbia on March 4 and came back with three goals in a 12-11 win over Chowan on March 6. She had five goals in 17 games as a freshman.

Peyton Alazaus (West Branch) The 5-10 junior scored 12 points and had three rebounds, but her Pitt-Johnstown women’s basketball team lost 71-67 to No. 1 seed Gannon in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference quarterfinals on March 1. Terrell played in all 30 games with 29 starts for the 17-13 Mountain Cats and was second on the team in scoring with a 14.5 average. She also averaged 3.9 rebounds with 83 assists and 33 steals.

Andre Leavell (McKinley) The 6-2 guard wrapped up a solid sophomore season with the Arkansas Tech men’s basketball team (16-15). The Wonder Boys' season ended with a 89-69 loss to Southern Arkansas in the Great Atlantic Conference title game on March 5. Leavell scored 10 points in the game. He led the team in assists with 107 and was second on the balanced team in scoring (9.6), rebounding (4.8) and steals (39). Leavell had a college career-high 21 points in a 73-64 win over Henderson State on Dec. 12.

Breezie Williams (GlenOak) The 5-5 freshman had a solid first season with the 7-21 New Hampshire women’s basketball team. She started all 27 games she played and led the Wildcats in assists with 76 and steals with 46. She was third in scoring with a 9.7 average and third in rebounds with a 5.1 average. Williams scored in double figures in 17 games and had a season-high 19 points in a 75-53 loss to Binghamton on Feb. 8. She had a double-double when she posted 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 57-50 loss to Stonehill on Dec. 3.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Hoover grad Grace Vesco starts strong for St. Francis softball