Sinclair sports wrap up successful season

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

From hitting game winning home runs to throwing down tomahawk dunks, it was an exciting year for Sinclair sports. While no team won its ultimate prize of a National Championship, three programs – Men’s baseball, Women’s basketball and Men’s basketball – enjoyed successful seasons that saw their win totals rise from the season before.

Men’s baseball

After finishing one game short of the NJCAA World Series in 2009, the Sinclair Tartan Pride had high hopes for 2010.

The Tartan Pride fought through a slow start when the team dropped four of its first six contests, but Sinclair quickly pulled itself together. The Tartan Pride finished with a record of 42-10, the regular season and postseason OCCAC Conference Champions award, the school’s first national ranking in its history and is sending more than a handful of players to Division I schools in the fall.

Although Sinclair stumbled in the NJCAA Region 12 Tournament, the season will be remembered for some explosive offensive outputs and a few incredible runs that the Tartan Pride put together.

Sinclair coach Steve Dintaman said it best when talking about his hitters.

“This team will kick you in the teeth,” Dintaman said in April.

Dintaman wasn’t lying, as the Tartan Pride offense rolled through opponents up until the regional tournament. Justin Marrero, Byron Johann, Zach Stewart and Corey Throckmorton were just a few who helped spark the high-powered offense throughout the 2010 season.

Sinclair pitching also received a lot of attention as the staff put together a string of 31 consecutive scoreless innings in a five-game span in March.

Being a two-year community college, the Tartan Pride is set to lose the majority of impact players from 2010. But, Dintaman has proven in the past that he is determined to fill the roster with impact players that will help Sinclair reach its ultimate goal: the NJCAA World Series.

Men’s basketball

Expectations were high for the Tartan Pride at the beginning of the 09-10 season. Forward British Alexander returned from a back injury that forced him to miss last season and led the team to a 14-1 start before finishing the season 22-10.

The Tartan Pride were seeded fifth in the OCCAC Tournament where they defeated Owens Community College 67-64, before losing 89-55 to No. 1 seed Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in the second round.

Alexander led the Tartan Pride in scoring at 13.7 points per game and rebounding at 8 per game, earning himself an all-conference selection as First Team All OCCAC. Guard Kevin Vest made the second team, while guard Derek Ober and forward Jason Clardy were honorable mentions.

Off the court, the Tartan Pride participated in several charitable events such as volunteering at the Muscular Dystrophy Association and serving Thanksgiving dinner at the Boys and Girls Club of Dayton.

“Sinclair is a true academic institution,” Coach Jeff Price said in January. “More so than winning ball games, we’re trying to develop good citizens.”

Women’s Basketball

Much like the men’s team, the Lady Pride also started their season strong, winning 12 of their first 15 games before injuries slowed the team down.

Coach Jeff Dillon said injuries to 6-footers Jessica Pierre and Emily Frey forced the team to re-tool midseason. The Lady Pride finished with a 19-10 record and advanced to the second round of the District XII Tournament before being bounced by Grand Rapids Community College.

Guard Chelcie Gullet, the team’s leading scorer, made First Team All OCCAC, while assists leader Jana Gross and top rebounder Emily Frey were honorable mentions.

Dillon said that the highlight of the Lady Pride’s season was a Feb. 20 upset win over then No. 2 Owens Community College.

“Our kids went into that game with a great sense of purpose,” Dillon said in March. “I will never forget the look in some of their eyes.”

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A Summer of Guessing

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past couple years, the chances that you have not heard something about the NBA Free Agent class of 2010 are slim to none.
And with good reason, this is probably the biggest year in NBA free agent history. There are former MVP’s and more than 50 all-star selections between the top players, and that’s without counting the most sought after player in the class–LeBron James.
The decisions of these players are not only tied with the NBA but also pop cultures and future economies of cities as well.  LeBron in particular could mean millions of dollars to New York City, which is why they are getting a celebrity team lined up featuring Donald Trump and Spike Lee to recruit him.
But that pales in comparison to the potential billions he could help pull in for the city of Chicago.
From barbershops to Larry King, everyone is talking about what may happen this year; everyone has an opinion of where who should go, why someone should play with this person for this team. I’ve been caught up in many of these conversations myself, even going as far as to blog about it for my classes.
But that’s my problem; I’m tired of talking about it. Which is why this will be my last time involving myself in any type of conversations about this topic. I feel like the debate is taking away my enjoyment for the moment.
I have seen some people almost come to blows over rather Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire is better fit to play with LeBron or Dwyane Wade.
Of course I’m not throwing away my ideas of where a player should go (LeBron, cough, LA Clippers, cough.)
But what I am saying is that from now on I just want to sit back and enjoy the summer. I want to watch how these NBA players control the media like puppets on strings. I want to laugh at how this “Summit Meeting” of stars involved in this Free Agent class is going to receive more attention than the last election.
ESPN might as well be known as the paparazzi for LeBron, Wade and others this summer.
As a fan I just want to simply do what a fan does best, watch his favorite athletes perform at the highest level. Now this type of performing that’s going on is not on the court, but either way it makes good entertainment.
So on July 1, which is the first day that a team can legally contact a player to try and persuade them to sign with them, expect a whole lot of crazy things to happen. I know I do, and I will be sitting there not talking about what goes on, but just watching and enjoying.

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Moving in and moving on: Sinclair sports

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sinclair Community College resembles a revolving door when it comes to athletes. Being a junior college, athletes often spend no more than two years wearing Sinclair colors.

While the Tartan Pride sports loses a chunk of its student athletes, a new flux of players look to make an impact next season. The Clarion takes a look at some of the potential arrivals and departures for Sinclair athletics.

Men’s basketball

Sinclair men’s basketball coach Jeff Price announced last week the signing of Centerville High School point guard Patrick Crawford.

Crawford starred for the Elks over the past few seasons averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists during his senior season. Crawford moves from a slow, structured offense at Centerville to an up-tempo scheme in place at Sinclair.

Price said he began following Crawford toward the end of his sophomore season and saw his skills adapt to a quicker pace in AAU summer leagues.

“I think he’s going to fit in real well,” Price said. “(Crawford) was pushing the ball really good (in AAU) and he was making good decisions. Pat really controls the game offensively and defensively. We feel confident that no matter what we ask him to do he has the tools to get things done.”

Price also announced the signing of Toledo Scott forward Austen Alabata, Cincinnati Princeton swingman Darrien Wilkins and Lebanon guard Blake Davenport. Davenport earned All-Greater Western Ohio Conference honors during his junior and senior seasons.

Price said he expects only forward Colton Everett to return from a team that won 20 games for the fourth consecutive season. Guard Charles Winkfield and forward Mike Anderson are expected to contribute after redshirting the 2009-10 season.

Women’s basketball

After finishing with a 19-10 record in 2009-10, Lady Pride coach Jeff Dillon expects six players to return. Dillon said his top-four offseason recruits ended up signing with Sinclair.

“We’re really happy with the kids we’ve gotten to this point,” Dillon said.

Dillon said guards Shelby Pettit and Haleigh Hickenbottom will help bring experience to next season’s roster that lost five key players. Guards Jana Gross and Chelcie Gullett, along with forwards Jessica Pierre and Jessica Myers are not returning, according to Dillon. Dillon said forward Emily Frey is “probably heading off.”

Dillon said the recruiting class for next season is very strong and is filled with girls from the Dayton area. Due to NJCAA rules, Dillon could not comment directly on recruits.

“It’s a class with strong guards and post players,” he said. “We really tried to focus on getting depth in the post.”

Men’s baseball

The Sinclair Tartan Pride baseball team is set to see a handful of important pieces move on to four-year schools. Because baseball is held in the spring, the team doesn’t announce signings until the summer.

Six players are moving to universities in the fall: catcher Justin Marrero and pitcher Zach Botjer to Ashland University, pitcher Erik Lamka to Old Dominican University, pitchers Justin Schultheiss and Chuck Calhoun to Northern Kentucky University and outfielder Zach Stewart to the University of Dayton.

After falling in the NJCAA Region 12 Tournament, Sinclair coach Steve Dintaman began hitting the recruiting trails last week. Dintaman said that recruiting doesn’t stop at any point during the year.

“We’re still looking for players as we speak,” he said.

Dintaman said his recruiting class is fairly strong up to this point.

“Our success has helped a lot and our facilities are second to none,” Dintaman said.

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Photographer finds home at Sinclair

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sports photography has the ability to capture that split second in time when a baseball collides with the swing of a bat, or a basketball going through a net as a player slams a dunk.

These types of unguarded, action packed photographs have been taken by Will DeVan, a man who 15 years ago was flattened on the sidelines by Michael Westbrook, receiver for the Washington Redskins at the time while trying to get a “money shot” for the paper.

“There’s something about (photography) that appeals to me so much,” DeVan said. “When I saw something that was absolutely beautiful, I wanted to be able to share it and I just didn’t have the words to tell it or the talent to paint it, but I could do it in photography.”

Making it a career

In 1992 DeVan studied photography at Setan Hill College in Greensburg, Penn., after realizing graphic design was not for him. DeVan said while he was attending Setan Hill he was offered jobs because his photography was doing well. That’s when he decided to leave college and go to Washington D.C. to work, where he ended up photographing NFL, WNBA and NBA games.

“School kind of fell to the wayside when I learned I could make a paycheck, so I left and moved back to the D.C. area where I started working at a camera store called Penn Camera,” he said. “My manager’s dad was the official photographer of the Redskins and when he needed an assistant, I was more than happy to volunteer.”

“Then people started saying, ‘We need some photos at the Caps center (known as Verizon Center), where the Mystics (Washington D.C. WNBA team) were playing,” DeVan added. “And my career just took off from there.”

But after seeing 9/11 and dealing with the D.C. sniper, DeVan said the city and the not-so-glamorous job had taken its toll on him.

“In my lifetime I got to do more in photography than most people ever get to do in their whole life. It was cool, but it was also a very dirty job. Very brutal,” he said. “People are elbowing you and smacking you around with a 30 pound lens because they think you are going to get the shot that every paper in the world is going to want to print. When I decided to quit it had run its course on me mentally.”

Finding Sinclair

After deciding that he accomplished everything he wanted to in photography and needing to find a nice place to raise his daughter, Molly, and his wife, Ruth, moved to Dayton with DeVan.

“When my wife and I moved up here from (Washington) D.C, we decided I would quit photography and become a stay at home dad,” he said. “I was so burned out with it. I started my career at 20 (years old) and when I quit I was 34. That’s a career for most people and I thought it was time to move on.”

When Molly hit school age DeVan decided it was time to go back to school and find something else to do with his life. That is when he enrolled at Sinclair and started studying Sports Management.

DeVan, who teaches fencing at Sinclair, said two quarters ago he was doing an internship with men’s basketball coach Jeff Price when he saw the pictures Sinclair was using for the newspaper and asked Price if he could volunteer his talents.

“I saw the photos we were using and I was concerned about it, so I said to him, why not let me do something productive. I have this talent. Let me use it,” he said.

DeVan is now the photographer for Sinclair’s baseball and basketball games and said that although he won’t ever make a career out of photography, he enjoys taking them for the school.

“Oddly enough despite my burnout with photography this really jazzed me up a little bit,” he said. “I still don’t want to do it in the sense that I did before, but I just love doing it. I am the only guy out there. I can go wherever I want, I get the shots I want and, well, the pictures speak for themselves. I am proud of them.”

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Who cares about Sinclair sports?

May 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Before I got a job with the school newspaper, I always used to wonder why the Clarion gave so much coverage to the school’s baseball and basketball teams.

“Don’t they have anything more important to write about?” I used to think to myself. “If I ever got a job there I would write about stuff that actually mattered.”

Well I’ve been here a whole year and you know what I’ve written about most?

The baseball and basketball teams, and I’ve enjoyed it.

When I was first asked to cover the men’s basketball team in August, I had never attended a sporting event in three years at Sinclair Community College. I just assumed that junior college sports couldn’t be that interesting.

That all changed after seeing Tartan Pride forward British Alexander jump four feet off the ground to convert an alley-oop pass thrown off the backboard by teammate Jared Nolan.

The crowd went wild and my perception of junior college sports changed forever.

On Jan. 14, I witnessed the biggest and most enthusiastic group of Sinclair students I’d ever seen in one place when the No. 12 Tartan Pride took on the No. 5 Columbus State Cougars.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats the entire game and cheered the Tartan Pride every time they made a defensive stop or converted a fast break. I cheered along with them and have never felt more apart of Sinclair than I did during those memorable couple of hours.

Best of all, Sinclair sporting events are free to everyone with a Tartan Card, although it’s a slight hassle traveling to Xenia to see the baseball team.

But I did make it to one baseball game during the OCCAC Conference Tournament and found it entertaining as well.

Every player on the baseball team has their own theme song that plays when they take the mound to pitch or come to the plate to hit. I couldn’t stop laughing when they played wrestler Hulk Hogan’s theme music “Real American” or the music from the Skyline Chili commercial.

To everyone that will be attending Sinclair next year, I encourage you to attend at least one sporting event.

I think you’ll be surprised by the experience.

I was.

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Give it up for April

April 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s not easy deciding on a sport to watch in the month of April.

The options are seemingly limitless, as multiple worlds collide in the sports universe when April rolls around.

We’ve already witnessed two fantastic NCAA Tournaments that were capped off with national championship wins by the Duke Blue Devils on April 5 and the University of Connecticut Huskies on April 6. Basketball junkies continue to get their fix as the NBA wrapped up its regular season and began the exciting playoffs on April 17.

Major League Baseball kicked off on April 4 when the Boston Red Sox hosted the World Champion New York Yankees and the National Hockey League became watchable now that the playoffs have arrived.

The National Football League even dominates with the three-day extravaganza that is the NFL Draft.

But the month of April belongs to golf, and it was fairly easy to comprehend on a certain lazy Sunday.

On April 11, I was stuck on my couch with some serious choices to consider. My first dilemma involved the NBA and MLB. At 1 p.m., the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Orlando Magic in potential preview of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, while my beloved Cincinnati Reds faced off against the Chicago Cubs.

Those options were trumped, though, when the final round of the Masters began.

It’s must-see television when Woods enters the final round of a major in striking distance. And with Phil Mickelson tied for the lead heading into Sunday, it was a easy choice to shift my attention away from baseball and basketball when golf came on at 2 p.m.

After watching Mickelson put on his third green jacket, it’s safe to say that the Masters is the highlight of the best sports month of the year. It’s the biggest golf tournament of the every year and the major owns a certain mystique thanks the beauty of Augusta National and the challenges the course constantly throws at its competitors.

It doesn’t get much better than April with every major sport sharing the spotlight.

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