Three no-hitters by Western Brown High School’s Crall brothers, including two by Abe Crawl, above, were among the many highlights for the SBAAC American Conference baseball champion Broncos this season.
Alex Underwood doubled up for Georgetown High School athletics this spring, helping lead the G-Men boys tennis team to the SBAAC National Division title and starring in the hurdles races and leading the G-Men to a third-place finish in the division in track and field during a season that saw him finish sixth in the 110-meter hurdles at the state meet.
Georgetown High School recorded its most points in girls bowling – seven – en route to fourth place in the SBAAC National Division All-Sports Award competition. Photo: Georgetown High School
Members of the Western Brown High School girls track and field team pose with the championship trophy after winning the Western Brown Invitational early in the season. The team went on to win the SBAAC American Division title. Photo courtesy of Chad Sexton
In this part of Brown County, Western Brown High School and Georgetown High School athletes garnered plenty of attention during the 2022-23 school year.
So it would figure that the schools would probably fare quite well in any sort of year-end, all-sports competition, right?
Right.
For the third consecutive year and the 15th time since the award’s inception in 2001-02, Western Brown earned the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference American Division All-Sports Award for ’22-23.
The award goes to the school that compiles the most points in boys and girls athletics for the entire school year – across the fall, winter and spring sports season (there’s also a category for academics in the winter).
In the SBAAC National Division, considering Georgetown didn’t field teams in three of the sports, its solid fourth-place finish indicated a strong sports year, too.
In the SBAAC American Division, Western Brown totaled 85 points over the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons, 16 points better than runner-up Batavia.
It was tight after that, though, with second place and sixth – and last – place separated by a total of 10 points.
After Batavia at No. 2 with 69 points, New Richmond was third at 67.5, followed by Wilmington, 61; Clinton Massie, 60.5; and Goshen, 59.
With six schools in the division, teams were awarded one to six points, depending on their finish in the division, with six points for first, five for second and so on – although some schools didn’t field teams in all sports.
A big fall season proved to be the difference for Western Brown. Led by its division-champion football and boys cross country teams, Western Brown totaled 37.5 points in the fall – 14.5 points better than Batavia.
After Batavia topped the winter sports season with 26 points, Western Brown secured the award with a division-best 22.5 points in the spring, with the baseball and girls track and field teams winning outright titles and the softball team tying for first. Titles in boys basketball and cross country during the year also buoyed Batavia.
Georgetown finished fourth in the seven-team SBAAC National Division All-Sports standings, behind mostly bigger schools. Bethel-Tate was first with 83 points, followed by Williamsburg, 79; Clermont Northeastern, 78; Georgetown, 65.5; Blanchester, 54.5; East Clinton, 49.5; and Felicity-Franklin, 30.5.
Georgetown finished fourth in the fall and the spring despite the fact that it doesn’t field a football team in the fall or a baseball team in the spring. Georgetown was fifth in the winter, when it doesn’t field a wrestling team, and also finishing with just one point in the academic category.
With seven schools in the division, teams were awarded one to seven points, depending on order of finish, although some schools, like Georgetown in football, wrestling, and baseball, didn’t field teams in certain sports.
Georgetown finished first in four sports, scoring seven points in girls bowling in the winter, six points in girls tennis in the fall and boys tennis in the spring (only six schools fielded teams in both), and five in boys soccer in the fall (out of five schools that fielded teams).
Besides combining for a dozen points in boys and girls tennis, Georgetown also totaled 12 points in boys and girls bowling.
The boys and girls track and field teams tallied five points apiece. The boys team was the only one among area Brown County schools to qualify individuals for the Ohio High School Athletic Association state track and field meet earlier this month. In the Division III competition, Alex Underwood earned a spot on the podium for the G-Men, finishing sixth in the 110-meter hurdles. Teammate Carson Miles was 10th in the high jump.