Clay’s bats are coming alive in hunt for TRAC title Published by sports@presspub. on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 1:52pm
Clay pitcher Ethan Spears. (Photo by Amy Hansen)
Clay baseball finally gets to play on the infield artificial turf installed at Oregon Recreation Complex’s John Ousky Field in the fall of 2019. Last year the Eagles only had a brief opportunity to get early season training on the turf before the season was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the Eagles are taking full advantage. “After the disappointment of the 2020 season, it has been exciting to get back at it,” Clay coach Jim Phillips said. “This year’s team has a high ceiling, and leadership will play a pivotal role in getting us to reach that ceiling.”
Clay’s seniors have been playing basketball together since they were in the third grade. They are a tight-knit group who want to win, but they play in one of the toughest leagues in Northwest Ohio the Three Rivers Athletic Conference. Now, they are 2-7 and winless in three TRAC games. This group includes Keeghan Calkins, Zach Woollard, Scotty Woollard, Ethan Spears, Noah Hagdohl, Logan Heintschel, Jakob Morris and Frank Waganfeald. Waganfeald is a 6-foot-9 forward who averages 11 points and seven rebounds and Hagdohl is a 6-4 guard averaging 17 points and 6.5 rebounds, and they scored 31 points in a 54-44 loss to Southview at Rossford’s Martin Luther King Showcase. That’s typically how it goes, with those two averaging over 50 percent of the team’s points.