By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
Clermont County knothole baseball and youth softball teams are currently in the midst of battling for a championship title, but teams of all ages have another foe to contend with: rain.
Weather did not cooperate last week, forcing several schedule changes at all levels of competition in the Clermont County East Region knothole baseball tournament as well as the Southern Ohio Softball League postseason schedule.
Some of the baseball games were able to be played on Monday, June 25.
In Class D Jr. gold division play at Withamsville, the Goshen Braves fell to the Fayetteville Bombers, and the Mt. Orab Braves knocked the New Richmond Flame Throwers to the consolation bracket. The Goshen Red Legs advanced to the championship semifinals with a win over Lynchburg, who will now face New Richmond in the consolation rounds.
The Amelia Bandits fell to the Mt. Orab Diamondbacks, with the latter team advancing to face the Amelia Inferno on June 27. Other games scheduled for that day include the Braves taking on the Tealtown Raptors and the Bombers facing the Tealtown Vikings.
Also at Withamsville, the Class D Jr. Silver Division tournament saw the Bethel Bombers and Tealtown Mavericks win first-round games. The Bombers and the Hamersville Hornets were scheduled to play on June 26, as were the Mavericks and the Williamsburg Wildcats. Those results were not available before press time.
In Class D Sr. Gold Division play at CNE, the Blanchester Avengers picked up a pair of wins, defeating the Withamsville Terrors and the MIlford Wolfpack to advance to the championship semifinals. They’ll take on the Tealtown Strykers, who defeated Lynchburg.
A second Lynchburg squad advanced to the semifinals with a win over the New Richmond Lions. They’ll face off against the Withamsville Sox.
In the consolation bracket, the Bethel Red Legs and the Terrors face off with the winner facing the Lions. Lynchburg and the Wolfpack make up the second match of the consolation bracket.
In the silver division, the Batavia Bulldogs defeated the Felicity Cardinals, advacing to a matchup with the Mt. Orab Dragons.
The winner of that contest faces the Milford SWAT Team, with the latter squad having defeated the Goshen Bulls.
In the lower half of the bracket, the Amelia Bombers defeated the Mt. Orab Thunder, while the Goshen Dawgs picked up a win over the CNE Rebels. The Rebels will face the Cardinals in the consolation bracket, with the Thunder awaiting the winner.
Class C Jr. games are scheduled to be held in Mt. Orab. The Batavia Bulldogs I squad is slated to battle the Mt. Orab Patriots, with the Williamsburg Wildcats taking on the Tealtown Raptors. The lower half of the bracket consists of the Fayetteville Fireballs battling the Tealtown Copperheads and the Milford Razorbacks facing off against the Batavia Bulldogs II.
In the silver divsion tournament, the Withamsville Tigers and Amelia Avengers face off in one semifinal, with the Goshen Reds and Bethel Dynamite comprising the other.
Amelia is the host for Class C Sr. gold division games. The Amelia Stealers lost to Lynchburg in the opener, while the CNE Scorchers fell to the Fayetteville Rockets.
In the bottom half of the bracket, the Amelia Wolfpack defeated the Mt. Orab Royals, and the Tealtown Vikings earned a win over the Goshen Hope Warriors.
In the silver division, the Withamsville Timber Wolves defeated the Batavia Bulldogs to advance and face the New Richmond Redsox.
Other matchups include the Blanchester Tigers and Amelia Knights, the Mt. Orab Flash and the Goshen Bears, and the Felicity Cardinals and the Bethel Storm. The latter contest was won by Bethel, with Felicity dropping to the consolation bracket against Batavia.
Class B Jr gold division games are scheduled to be played in Milford. The Milford FIrehawks defeated the Batavia Bulldogs, while the Williamsburg Wildcats picked up a win over the Batavia Outlaws. The Wildcats now face the Milford Blue Devils, with the Firehawks slated to take on the Amelia Defenders.
In the silver division, the Hamersville Hawks have earned wins over the Goshen Diamondbacks and the Goshen Force to advance to the championships finals. They’ll face the Blanchester Ducks, who have defeated the Milford Ninjas and Bethel Bombers.
In the consolation bracket, the Bombers are scheduled to face the Diamondbacks, with the Force taking on the Ninjas. The Ninjas defeated the Milford Heat to advance in the consolation bracket.
Class B Sr. games are scheduled to be hosted in Goshen.
The Batavia Big Dawgs have a pair of wins in the tournament, one over the Goshen Lightning and the other over the Milford Dragons. The Milford Scorpions are up next for Batavia, having earned a win over the Tealtown Raptors.
In the lower half of the bracket, the Mt. Orab Firehawks defeated the Felicity Red Sox, only to fall to the Tealtown Sharks.
Goshen is also scheduled to host the Class A Jr. tournament. The Mt. ORab Vipers defeated the Amelia Hawks and Milford Mudcats to advance to the championship finals on Friday, June 29 at 6 p.m. The’yll face the Bethel Hitmen, who earned wins over the Goshen Rebels and the Tealtown Bombers.
The highest level of East Region Knothole play has not yet began the postseason tournament, but is scheduled to do so this weekend. Milford is slated to host four Class A Sr. division games on Saturday, June 30 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The Mt. Orab Mambas will battle the Amelia Mustangs, while the Fayetteville Rockets take on the New Richmond Titans. In the lower-half of the bracket, the Goshen Gators battle the Milford Outlaws, while the Goshen Crush face the Georgetown G-Men.
The SOSLI Softball tournament has championship matchups for most of the leagues, the lone exception being the 9U tournament, as of this writing.
In the 6U division, Withamsville was scheduled to face New Richmond for a title. Russellville and Felicity were the finalists in 7U silver, with Fayetteville and Batavia battling for 7U gold.
The Bethel Diamond Queens and Russellville emerged in the 8U silver tournament, while the gold division was an all Mt. Orab affair, witht he Jays and Sparks slated to battle for a title.
In the 10U division, New Richmond and Bethel were facing off for the championship, with Mt. Orab and New Richmond comprising the 11U title game.
The 12U title game saw the Withamsville Dragons take on Batavia, while the 14U bout was between the Bethel Bombers and New Richmond. None of those results were available at press time.
Reach Garth Shanklin via email at gshanklin@clermontsun.com or via phone at 513-732-2511 ext. 112.