The city of Akron will make a written proposal next week to the Ohio High School Athletic Association in its attempt to become the host site for the state softball tournament.

If the OHSAA deems the proposal worthy of consideration, city officials will make a formal in-person presentation Oct. 9 in Columbus. The city wants to host the event at Firestone Stadium.

Once the OHSAA makes its decision, the winning site will be awarded a three-year contract.
Ashland, the current site, and Columbus are the others being considered.

The OHSAA board of control is expected to vote Oct. 11.

Revere senior Stephanie Danesis recently made an oral commitment to continue her academic and tennis career at Miami (Ohio), choosing the RedHawks over Minnesota and Marquette.

“I visited there and I just really love the campus, the coach and the girls,” said Danesis, a 5-foot-7 left-hander. “I want to major in business and they have a really good business program, and it is not as far from Akron as Minnestoa or Marquette are.”

Danesis is a three-time Division II state qualifier. She won a state championship as a sophomore with her older sister Samantha. Last season Stephanie Danesis was the Division II singles runner-up at state.

Stephanie Danesis will be seeking a singles state title this season in Division I because Revere has moved up from Division II.

Click here to watch me and David Lee Morgan Jr. make our high school football picks in the Week 5 video of Gridlocks.

Click here to read a high school fooball notebook featuring St. Vincent-St. Mary’s win over Archbishop Hoban.

Click here for some high school football scouting reports for Week 5 games.

Boys soccer

Walsh Jesuit 4, St. Vincent-St. Mary 1 (click here for a game story)

Varsity Letters Player of the Game: Walsh Jesuit senior midfielder Chris Barton had one goal and two assists to lead the Warriors (3-2-4) over the host Irish (4-3-3) on Tuesday night.

Barton, an Ohio State University recruit, opened the scoring quickly when he made a goal from about 24 yards away in the second minute to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish.

“Chris Barton, I though, played superb today,” Walsh coach John Kissner said. “He had a very good game.”

Barton assisted senior forward Tom DeRoia and senior forward Justin Mancine when they scored goals. Mancine is Walsh’s all-time leading scorer. He now has 53 career goals.

The Revere boys golf team won its third consecutive Suburban League postseason tournament to clinch the league title. Revere won a share of the league title with Green in 2006, but the Minutemen were able to win it outright this season.

Revere finished first in the team scoring with 309 points. Junior Cory Hill shot a 4-over 75 to lead the Minutemen. Junior Tom Kimberly (77), sophomore Patrick Alfieri (78) and junior Mack Kerker (79) rounded out Revere’s top four.

“We generally don’t have a day when three guys shoot in the mid-80s because we have six guys who have a shot at the 70s,” Revere coach Jed McKnight said.

Cloverleaf placed second in the tournament with a 322, and Tallmadge took third with a 329.

Cloverleaf senior Parker Hewit, who has committed to play golf at Bowling Green State University, shared the tournament’s top individual score with Tallmadge sophomore Matt Wellman. Hewit and Wellman each shot a 3-over 74.

LEW STAMP/Akron Beacon Journal

Revere junior Cory Hill is congratulated after sinking a 20-foot putt on No. 18 at J.E. Good Park Golf Course during the Suburban League tournament.

The girls Suburban League Golf Tournament had a sense of deja vu — with a twist.

The medalist was an Arison from Copley for the second consecutive year, yet this time it was the younger twin sister.

Copley senior Heather Arison won the individual title Tuesday by shooting a 1-over-par 73 at Barberton Brookside Country Club in Norton.

Carly Arison, last season’s Suburban champion at Good Park Golf Course, placed second with a 79.

The Arison twins led the Indians to their fourth consecutive Suburban League title under the
guidance of coach Bill Rhoades.

“Four in a row is pretty awesome,” Rhoades said. “I was pleased with the way we played. We had been struggling as a team lately. I thought today we kind of brought everything together. It was nice to see their hard work pay off.”

Heather Arison parred 11 holes and birdied three: Nos. 2, 3 and 16. Carly Arison also had 11 pars and birdied No. 10.

Indians junior Molly Leonard (85) placed third with eight pars. Leonard said she is battling a sinus infection and was scheduled to go to the doctor after the meet Tuesday to see if she had mono.

Green (363) placed second, Revere was third (384) and Wadsworth (420) was fourth.

Green senior Amanda Spitzer (86) placed fourth and Bulldogs sophomore Sarah Allred (90) was fifth. Revere junior Hanna Gabriel (91) was sixth.

ED SUBA JR./Akron Beacon Journal

Copley senior Heather Arison tees off at the second hole during the Suburban League Tournament. Arison had the top individual score and helped Copley win its fourth consecutive league title.

Nick Fleming, a key member of the Tallmadge High offensive line, is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Fleming, a senior, was injured in the Blue Devils’ 24-14 triumph at Green last Thursday. The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Fleming was All-Summit County by the Beacon Journal and second-team all-district in 2006 as a junior.

Senior forward Jess Wilson broke the Lake girls soccer team’s career scoring record with her first of three goals Monday night in a 4-1 victory over Marlington.

Lake improved its record to 5-3-0 with the win. Wilson now has 53 career goals.

I have been the Beacon Journal voter to the Associated Press state prep poll for eight years. My goal is to vote for the best area teams - to give them representation — and the best statewide teams. Here are the local schools whom I voted for today after the fourth week.
If your team is not there and you think they should be, now is the time to state your case!
Div I: Brunswick, Wadsworth, GlenOak and Stow (for the first time ever).
II: Tallmadge, Lake and Cloverleaf.
III: Walsh and Northwest
IV: St. V-M, Canton CC, CVCA, Orrville and Manchester
V: Norwayne, Waynedale and Northwestern
VI: Mogadore

Wow. What a weekend. Makes you feel like not going to work, huh?

St. Vincent-St. Mary broke a nine-year losing streak against archrival Archbishop Hoban with a 33-28 win Saturday night at the Rubber Bowl. First-year Irish coach Dan Boarman, a St. V-M graduate, told me earlier in the week that he was undefeated against the Knights (1-3), and that’s the attitude he wanted to instill in his players. Apparently, Boarman, who coached at Copley for 17 seasons, got the message across that the past didn’t matter because his players responded and maintained their perfect record of 4-0 this season.

Ellet also earned a win of great historical significance when it defeated Buchtel 14-12 on Saturday afternoon. The Orangemen (3-1, 1-0 in the City Series) have not beat the Griffins (0-4, 0-1) since 1995. Ellet and Buchtel were City Series co-champs last season. The two teams were not on each other’s schedule last season, so this was a highly anticipated game that satisfied a year-long wait for fans, players and coaches. There is no doubt that Ellet now has a target on its back as the frontrunner to win the City Series because it beat the traditionally dominant Griffins, who had not lost to a City Series opponent since 2001. Ellet’s game Friday against Firestone and its game the following week (Sept. 28) against Garfield could ultimately determine the 2007 City Series champion.

Here are some other scores that I thought stood out:

Brunswick 14, Nordonia 12

*In a battle of previously undefeated teams, Brunswick (4-0) held off Nordonia (3-1) after it scored all of its points in the fourth quarter and threatened a comeback.

Stow 21, Twinsburg 13

*After finishing with a dismal record of 2-8 in each of the past two seasons, Stow (4-0) continues to win.

Woodridge 53, Windham 18

*After losing to Windham 33-17 in 2006, Woodridge (3-1, 1-0 in PTC County Division) showed it’s a different team this season.

Cloverleaf 10, Copley 0

*Cloverleaf was 3-7 last season. The Colts lost to Copley 37-8 in 2006. What a turnaround for Cloverleaf (4-0, 1-0 in the Suburban League). Even more surprising, what a turnaround for Copley (0-4, 0-1 in the SL).

Perry 35, Lake 28

*Just when I thought Lake (3-1, 1-1) would run away with the Federal League title, Perry (3-1, 1-0) stepped up to the challenge.

Northwest 34, Louisville 33

*The Indians (4-0) got the win over Louisville (2-2) in a very close game between two perennial contenders for the Northeastern Buckeye Conference. Something to watch: Northwest, Marlington and West Branch are all 4-0, meaning the NBC could be one of the most interesting and competitive conferences in the area toward the end of the season.

Tusky Valley 35, CVCA 34

*Tusky Valley senior quarterback Pat Kane found senior Steve Pillman for a 25-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Kane then hit Spillman with a pass for a two-point conversion and Tusky Valley (3-1, 1-0) pulled out a victory at CVCA (3-1, 0-1) in a game that could ultimately decide the PAC-7 champion.

Let me know what you think about these games and what the outcomes mean for the teams involved. Stay tuned for a Week 5 preview, in which I will outline key matchups and things to watch for.