Prep Sports Report: All-Star series includes annual East-West football game Thursday in Dixie Heights – NKyTribune

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune Sports Reporter

The annual East-West All-Stars football game for recent graduates begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Dixie Heights High School as part of an All-Stars series sponsored by St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

The series begins Wednesday with junior and senior volleyball games at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. in Dixie Heights. The other all-star games in Dixie Heights are baseball on Monday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and softball on Tuesday at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Tickets for the All-Star football game are $8 and can be purchased only with cash at the door. Proceeds from the game will be used to provide 20 players with $500 to fund their post-secondary education plans. This year's award winners will be announced Thursday during halftime.

Chad Montgomery of Bellevue is the head coach of the East team, which includes players from Bellevue, Brossart, Campbell County, Covington Catholic, Dayton, Dixie Heights, Highlands, Newport, Newport Central Catholic and Simon Kenton.

Ben Nevels of Holmes leads the West team, which includes players from Beechwood, Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Holmes, Holy Cross, Lloyd, Ludlow, Ryle and Scott. The West team won last year's All-Star game 20-12 in overtime.

Baseball coaches name players of the year in three divisions

AJ Curry, a sophomore at Ryle University, and Jackson Reardon, a third-year student at Covington Catholic University, were jointly named Division I Players of the Year for the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference All-Star Baseball Teams.

Curry, a freshman in the area, has a .580 batting average, which puts him at the top of the national statistics heading into the state tournament. With him on the team, Ryle won its first 9th Region championship since 2013 and will play East Carter in the opening round of the 16-team state tournament at 10 a.m. Friday at Legends Fields in Lexington.

Ryle sophomore AJ Curry

Reardon finished the season with a team-leading .463 batting average for CovCath. He also led the Colonels in hits (56), runs (47), RBI (36) and extra base hits (34) during a 31-6 season.

The other Player of the Year awards went to Highlands senior Zach DeSylva in Division II and Bellevue senior Aidan Dickerson in Division III.

The Northern Kentucky Baseball Coaches Association has named a player of the year in two divisions. In Division I it was Curry and in Division II it was Beechwood senior Michael Detzel.

Bill Krumpelbeck of CovCath was named 9th Region and Division I Coach of the Year and Rob Sanders of Bellevue was named Division II Coach of the Year.

The Region 9 players selected for the state junior showcase games are Dylan McIntyre of Ryle and Reardon of CovCath, who was named Region 9 Player of the Year. Selected for the sophomore showcase games are Curry of Ryle and Brady Bushman of Conner.

Here are the top players at each position selected by the coaches in Division I and Division II:

FIRST LEAGUE
DH — Alek Yuskewich (CovCath). C- Chris Henson (Boone County). 1B — Daxton Straus (Campbell County). 2 B – Luke Abeling (Dixie Heights). ss — Jackson Reardon (CovCath). 3B — Trevor Pulsfort (Scott). FROM – AJ Curry (Ryle), Mark Nowak (Cooper), Charlie Dieruf (CovCath). P- Logan Cones (Simon Kenton), Eli Wagner (CovCath).

DEPARTMENT II
DH — Brody Benke (Highlands). C- Aiden Dickerson (Bellevue). 1B — Noah Thornberry (Calvary Christian). 2 B – Nick Keener (Bellevue). ss — TJ Sorrell (Bellevue). 3B — Michael Detzel (Beechwood). FROM – Kaden Wright (Lloyd), Tyler Fryman (Beechwood), Carson Shea (St. Henry). P- Zach DeSylva (Highlands), Mason Howard (Walton-Verona).

The memorial service for Mike Yeagle will be held on June 14th at the Beechwood soccer field.

Mike Yeagle

A public memorial service for Hall of Fame football coach Mike Yeagle, who passed away last week at age 63, is planned for Friday, June 14, at 4 p.m. on the Beechwood High School football field.

During his 15 years as head coach, Beechwood's teams posted an 8-2 record in Class 1A state championship games and an overall record of 183-27 with an 87.1% winning percentage. He was the first high school football coach in Kentucky to lead his team to four consecutive state titles from 1991-1994. Two of those teams posted perfect 15-0 records in 1991 and 1994.

Yeagle is a member of the Beechwood Hall of Fame, Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame. memorial Donations in his name may be made to Beechwood Independent Schools c/o Athletic Program and/or Academic Program.