St. Vincent-St. Mary senior first baseman Tyler Cetnarowski has signed a national letter of intent to continue his academic and baseball careers at Shawnee State.

“On and off the field, Tyler deserves everything that he has earned up to this point,” St. V-M coach Anthony Boarman said. “He is a dedicated student in the classroom and one of my hardest workers in the baseball program. He is unselfish and understands the important of faith, family, and sacrifice. I know he we will successful at the next level academically and athletically because of these unique qualities that he possesses.”

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School football coach Dan Boarman said senior defensive lineman Matt Perry will continue his academic and football careers at Harvard University.

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School football coach Dan Boarman said senior quarterback Kevin Besser will continue his academic and football careers at Walsh University.

Kara Murphy has signed a professional contract to continue her basketball playing career with Umea Comets of the Swedish Damligan – the most competitive women’s league in Sweden.

Murphy, a former St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and University of Akron standout, will join the team for the second half of the Damligan season.

Murphy finished her UA career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,777 points and started 123 consecutive games. She holds program records for scoring in a season (580 points), free throws in a season (166), free throws in a career (480), and is third in career 3-pointers (127).

She also finished her career ninth on the career rebounds list (630). She twice scored a career-high 32 points in a Zips game.

Murphy received All-Mid-American Conference honors in each of her four seasons, including All-MAC First Team and All-MAC Tournament Team honors in 2009-10.

St. Vincent-St. Mary senior defensive tackle Matt Perry has reportedly made a commitment to play football at Harvard, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

Perry, who is 6 feet 3 and 255 pounds, also had offers from Air Force and Dartmouth, according to the website.

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School announced that the school has hired Kortney Spidell-Harmon as their new softball coach. “We are pleased to welcome Kortney to our athletic program.

“She is a qualified and energetic coach that our student-athletes should really enjoy playing for,” said athletic director Andy Jalwan.

Harmon, is a 2006 graduate of Cleveland State University where she played collegiate softball for the Vikings. She has seven years of head coaching experience and served the last 4 years as the head softball coach at Tuscarawas Central Catholic High School. Harmon received the Eastern District Coach of the Year award in 2008.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to coach the St. Vincent-St. Mary Softball team. I can’t wait to start working with the talented young players of this team. I look at the direction and the vision for this squad and I see a bright future,” said Harmon.

St. Vincent-St. Mary senior forward Lorenzo Cugini has verbally committed to play at High Point University, according to St. Vincent-St. Mary athletic director Andy Jalwan.
High Point recruited Cugini over a three-week period, said Irish coach Dru Joyce.
“They went all out recruiting him,” he said, “beginning with an assistant coach, the head coach then the entire staff.”
He took notice, even after attracting interest from Western Carolina, Central Michigan and Colgate University.
“It was important to him because Lorenzo is a relationship kind of guy,” Joyce said.
Cugini, who is 6 feet 7, averaged 14 points, 6.9 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the field last season. He was also 29 percent for 3-pointers and 80.5 percent from the free-throw line.
A four-year varsity letter winner, he was a member of the school’s 2011 and ’09 Division II state championship teams.
The Big South Conference program is in High Point, N.C.
National signing day for basketball is Nov. 9.

A familiar figure donned pads and worked out with the St. Vincent-St. Mary Irish football team Tuesday afternoon.

LeBron James, who at one time played basketball and football for his alma mater, showed to catch a few passes with quarterback Kevin Besser.

“It was pretty awesome,” Besser told the Beacon Journal.  “He caught everything I threw to him.”

Besser heard rumblings of James’ return to the school throughout the day, but greeted it with a healthy dose of skepticism. That changed when James, who wasn’t allowed full contact, took the field.

“I didn’t know what to say,” Besser said.  “Then I said:  ‘OK, maybe they’re right.’”

Despite James’ success this afternoon Besser said that his standout wide receiver, Fransohn Bickley and Jordan Hargrove don’t have to worry about their job.

As for James?  With NBA players still locked out, he may be facetiously considering other career options.

“Just got done practicing with the St.V Varsity football team, full pads and all.. Felt great being back on the field. Should I?” he tweeted to his followers on the microblogging site Twitter.

The following list includes area football teams that are currently ranked high enough to make the post season and may include those just on the outside looking in.  The top eight teams will make the state playoffs.  Here are this week’s computer rankings as provided by the Ohio High School Athletic Association:

Division I, Region 2
No. 1:  Canton GlenOak
No. 5:  Canton McKinley
No. 6:  Massillon Jackson

Just outside:  Wadsworth

Division II, Region 5
No. 4:  Kent Roosevelt
No. 5: Walsh Jesuit
No. 6 (tied):  Copley with Aurora

Division III, Region 9
No. 3:  Ravenna
No. 5:  St. Vincent-St. Mary

Just outside:  Southeast (No. 8); CVCA (No. 9)

Division III, Region 11
No. 4:  Northwest
No. 5:  Marlington

Division IV, Region 13
No. 3:  Canton Central Catholic

Just outside:  Manchester (No. 7)

For a look at example of how rankings are calculated per OHSAA visit: http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/ft/boys/rankcalc.htm

Many people in the Akron area never knew who Al Letta was.
But to the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish family, he remains in their memories.  The volunteer equipment manager for the football team passed away Aug. 1 at the age of 82 and since the season started, the football team has worn a sticker on their helmets in honor of him.
Additionally, the team sends out a rememberance in cyberspace via its Twitter feed dedicating each game in Letta’s memory.
Letta was selected an Irish Crusader and honored by Mayor Don Plusquellic with a proclamation in 2008, according to St. V-M athletic director Andy Jalwan.
“He was just as much a part of the team as any coach or player,” he said.