On this week’s edition of the Diamond Chat Presented by Dr. Karen Kramer Tim and Shaun name top three performances, get a grip with Vermilion’s Ridge Clark and head in the dugout with Amherst Softball coach Lacey Reichert.

It’s spring, and that means “Diamond Chat” presented by Dr. Karen Kramer is back for another season!

Left to right: Jacob Boesger, Cade Grant and Alex Stamatis

Jacob Boesger, Cade Grant and Alex Stamatis led Avon to a narrow 380-340 victory over the Oberlin team of Ario Thompson and Nicole Bertoni Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the Scholastic Games of Lorain County Presented by the Elyria Public Library.

Avon got out to the early lead picking up a perfect score of 60 points in the opening round for a 30 point advantage. Through the second and third rounds, the Eagles widened that margin to 100 points.

It was the multi clue round, that the Phoenix began to rise from the ashes. Oberlin’s Nicol Bertoni answered a quick 40 point and 30 point clue in the opening stanza of the round to bring the Phoenix back to within 30 points of the Eagles. However, it wouldn’t be enough. Avon held on to claim the victory and a spot in the tournament semifinals.

Despite the loss, Oberlin’s Nicole Bertoni was awarded the Standout Scholar Award.

You can hear the quarterfinal match up below.

Next week, the Scholastic Games of Lorain County tournament continues with Amherst taking on Avon Lake in the second Wildcard round Monday night on WEOL.

You can listen to archived match ups on the Scholastic Games of Lorain County WEOL web page right here. 

John Harrington, Ryan Rosu, Sparsh Balabadadrapatruni

On Monday, March 25th, the Lake Ridge team made up of John Harrington, Sparsh Balabadrapatruni, and Ryan Rosu defeated the North Ridgeville team consisting of Aidan Cunningham, Jonah Fechner and Emily Hills by a final score of 370-310.

After finishing the opening round, in a 50-50 draw, Lake Ridge began to pull away by outscoring the Rangers by 30 in round two. The third round saw North Ridgville start to narrow the lead ending the round in a 20 points deficit

In the multi clue round, Lake Ridge’s Ryan Rosu pulled the Royals ahead for good scoring 90 points on early clues. Rosu would go on to be named the Standout Scholar Award winner as his team clinched the first semifinal spot of the 2019 Scholastic Games Season.

Next week’s quarterfinal will take place Tuesday night and will feature Avon vs Oberlin.