WESTERVILLE — For the first time since the 2009 season, the Ohio Northern softball team has been crowned the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Champions after defeating host and No. 1 seed Otterbein 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in the title game at the Otterbein Softball Field.
The Polar Bears (30-9 overall) become the first team since current head coach Jackie (Mangola) Price made the NCAA Tournament as a player and current assistant coach Tina (Mangola) Martinez made the NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach for ONU in 2012, to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The Ohio Northern baseball team ended its regular season after falling 8-6, 11-3 against Wilmington on Senior Day at Wander Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears (27-13 overall, 11-7 Ohio Athletic Conference) are currently in a 2-way tie with Heidelberg for the No. 3 seed in the OAC standings.
Northern recognized its seven seniors in a post game ceremony as Kyle Schlade (Hamilton/Talawanda), Dan Barna (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), Jordan Bostater (Bryan), Jason Burkett (Maumee), Brandon Kasberg (Mentor), Hayden Shenefield (Powell/Worthington Kilbourne) and T.J. Storer (Loveland/Moeller) were all honored.
By Cort Reynolds
By dominating the singles flights, the Ada boys tennis team won the outright championship at the six-team Northern Buckeye Tennis League tournament in Defiance on a windy Friday.
The Bulldogs scored 13 points to defeat second-place Bryan (10). Wauseon was third with seven, followed by Archbold in fourth with six points. Rossford tallied two points and Defiance Ayersville was last with one point.
Ada players won the individual titles at the first, second and third singles flights to pave the way to the team championship. The title matches in each flight were played inside due to strong winds.
MIAMISBURG — Ohio Northern advanced to the finals of the 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Tournament with a thrilling 5-4 semifinals victory over Otterbein on Friday at the South Regency Tennis Center.
The second-seeded Polar Bears (19-6) advance to Saturday's finals to face top-seeded John Carroll at 10 am at the Lindner Tennis Center.
The third-seeded Cardinals end their season with a 15-6 record.
Both teams entered the match expecting a tight battle as the regular season contest went to ONU by a 5-4 score.
MASON — The Ohio Northern men's tennis team saw its season come to an end with a 5-1 loss in the semifinals of the 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
The Polar Bears end their season with a 15-9 record, while the Purple Raiders advance to Saturday's OAC finals with a 14-3 mark.
Junior Jake Abbott (Kenton) and sophomore Connor Christian (Gallipolis/Gallia Academy) led the Polar Bears with an 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles.
MtU won the other two doubles courts and led 2-1 entering singles play.
WESTERVILLE — The Ohio Northern softball team team kicked off the 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with an impressive defensive effort and a 2-0 victory over No. 2-seeded Heidelberg on Friday morning before defeating host and No. 1-seed Otterbein 3-2 at the Otterbein Softball Field.
The Polar Bears improve to 28-9 overall, while the Student Princes fall to 25-14 and Otterbein falls to 31-9.
