High Schools

Northmont is still alive, while Vandalia Butler is out, in the state ACME baseball tournament going on this week in Coldwater.

With wins over Anthony Wayne on Saturday, July 19, (7-3) and Lima Bath (14-3 in five innings) on Sunday Northmont is in the winners' bracket final. It will face Hamler Patrick Henry at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

ACME baseball has been around since the 1960s. Teams are made up of players from the same school who will be sophomores, juniors and seniors.

This Northmont summer team — the Raiders — is on a roll. After starting out 4-5, it is 21-6 with 17 wins in the last 18 games, including 11 straight.

Senior Ian Creager has had a big tournament thus far. He was the winning pitcher versus Anthony Wayne in the opener. He also was 2-for-4 at the plate as were Zach Stirling, Scott Rudmann and Kevin Tolle.

In the win over Bath, the Raiders scored 10 runs in the first with Creager hitting two homers and five RBIs, and Corey Jordan adding a three-run double. Tolle was the winning pitcher.

Butler lost its opener to Patrick Henry 12-5, giving up nine runs in the top of the seventh. Jordan Martin and Alan Bane led the offense, each going 3-for-4. The loss put Butler, which is sponsored by Crown Solutions, in the losers' bracket, where it was eliminated by Bellefontaine 7-3. Lance Straley hit a two-run homer for Butler.

Mackenzie tops

Brett MacKenzie, who will be a freshman at Tippecanoe High School, was the overall high-point scorer for the meet as the Dayton Raiders won the boys team championship at the Ohio Long Course Junior Olympic Swimming Champions July 17-20 at Miami University.

The boys had 1,329.50 points to 1,286.50 for the Northern Kentucky Clippers. The girls came in fourth. Overall, the Raiders (ages 10-14) came in second out of 31 teams to Northern Kentucky (2,658 to 2,237).

MacKenzie had five first places (800-meter freestyle, 400 free, 200 free, 1,500 free, 200 individual medley), two thirds (400 IM and 100 free) and a fourth (200 breaststroke). Colin Kanzari of the Raiders, who will be a freshman at Beavercreek, was second in overall high points.

Lady HoopStars third

The Dayton Lady HoopStars White team finished third in the AAU girls 13 and younger national championships July 11-19 in Norman, Okla.

Team members, who will be high school freshmen, included: Nicole Bell (Cin. Indian Hill), Megan Courtney (Alter), Leisha Crawford (Beavercreek), Simone Gage (Chaminade-Julienne), Jacey Hardenstein (Beavercreek), Katie Kieninger (Xenia), Brooklyn Pumroy (Fairborn), Lindsey Rosendale (Springboro) and Katie Shubert (Springboro). The coaches were Barry Schuster from Bethel (near Cincinnati) and Mark Hardenstein of Beavercreek.