Sports

Team Champ swimmers from Urbana and Graham competed in the Central Buckeye Conference Championships at Wright State University on Saturday.

Urbana defeated Bellefontaine, 2,804-2,709, in CBC boys bowling on Thursday.

With the freezing temperatures, snow, and enormous amounts of rain over the last couple weeks, baseball has never felt so far away. However, pitchers and catchers report on February 13th, along with the first Spring Training game occurring in roughly a month. While cabin fever might be getting the best of us here in Ohio, baseball is nearly at our fingertips. I think I can hear “Squints” saying ‘Just a little bit farther’ every time I gaze into my Reds calendar and mark off another day. While I have spent the last few weeks talking about my opinion on the rotation, the competition battles between players, where Joey Votto may end up, and more, this week felt like a perfect time to hear from Cincinnati’s favorite broadcaster and the future outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds.

WL-S beat Triad, 2,640-1,860, in OHC boys bowling on Monday.

The Mechanicsburg High School wrestling team won its 16th straight Ohio Heritage Conference championship on Saturday with 243 points.

With the freezing cold temperatures, the snow days keeping us inside, and no Bengals football or Reds baseball currently, I am certainly starting to get cabin fever. I can only watch so much Netflix and my mind has been away from college basketball with West Virginia having a poor start to begin the season. My wife is watching Grey’s Anatomy for the 15th time, my man-cave is unused with nothing on the TV, and I now realize how spoiled I have been with recent playoff success from the Bengals. I miss heading downtown for a “win-or-go-home” game and I certainly miss having people over and ordering overpriced “Beast” pizzas and heading out to the garage at noon. With all that being said, there is a tiny bit of light peaking through, as we finally have some definite dates coming up for Spring Training:

ANNA – Lilly Weaver had 22 points as WL-S knocked off Anna, 68-50, in non-league girls basketball Thursday night.

Jonathan Alder beat Urbana, 2,856-2,624, in CBC boys bowling on Thursday.

Urbana defeated London, 2,532-2,407, in CBC boys bowling on Tuesday.

As I have stated week after week over the last few months, there is a lot to be excited about in the Queen City. The anticipation is building and the Reds are no longer expected to just surprise us with some wins, as in 2024, it is going to be expected. Sophomore slumps will happen from young players who shined last year, injuries will occur, but Reds ownership and the front office has been putting together a team with more depth than any Reds roster in my lifetime. David Bell loves being a “players-coach” and he’ll get the opportunity to make changes often throughout games with the depth of this rotation and lineup throughout 2024.