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Melinda Hale Rhoads, Daughter Jence
to be inducted into Butler County HOF
Melinda Hale, as she was known when she roamed the halls of Oil City High School and its gym and playing fields back in the early 1970s, will be inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame Sunday.
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And not just Melinda. Her oldest daughter Jence Rhoads will be inducted, too.
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The ceremony will be held at Butler County Community College.
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One of the pioneers of modern day -- you know, five to a side, not six -- girls basketball, Melinda is getting in due to her prowess at Slippery Rock University where she played, well, everything. She was the first four-year starter at the Rock.
And then she later helped put team handball on the map as a member of the national team when the U.S. was just learning the sport. Melinda competed in two world championships, and was named MVP of the U.S. team at three different national events. She was Player of the Year in 1980.
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Melinda would go on to become a coach and was an Olympic torch bearer in 1996.
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She and her husband, the late Mercer High School hoops great, Bob "Posey" Rhoads, had three daughters and they all starred in basketball at Slippery Rock High.
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Jence, a 2007 graduate, scored 2,107 points in high school, best in Butler County history. She also scored 100 goals in soccer was named all-state in both sports. Jence later starred at Vanderbilt.
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Twins Karly (1,547) and Kourtney (1,174) could put the ball in the basket, too.​​
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Melinda also starred in swimming and track in high school. She scored 963 points in basketball, missing 1,000 because she didn't play that many games. She played in only 15 when she averaged 25.1 her senior year in 1973.ed
(Photo by Steven Dalton/Butler Eagle)
OCHS girls top 15 averages
Photo contributed to The Derrick.
(File photo, probably Christy Fackler)
The Week That Was (April 17-24)
Cranberry softball falls to Curwensville,
Rocky Grove ball teams post victories
Usually hard-hitting Cranberry (11-3) was limited to five hits Thursday in an 11-6 defeat to Curwensville.
The Golden Tide (7-5) totaled 14 hits off the Cranberry staff -- Gracee Hess, Kennedy Stewart and Danica Wenner. Stewart did homer for the Berries and totaled three RBI.
The Berries led 4-1 after three, but Curnwesville plated five in the fourth and four in the sixth.
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Both Oil City (Hickory) and winless Franklin (Sharon) lost Thursday as did the Cranberry baseball team, 16-1, to Central Clarion. The Berries managed only a hit by Jake McCloskey.
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However, the Rocky Grove baseball and softball teams came away with victories. Softball dominated winless Lakeview, 10-1, behind veteran catcher Zoe Cresswell (pictured) with three hits and two RBI. Chloe Thomas and Payton Phillips also drove in two runs apiece. Thomas had two hits. Abigail Mawhinney did the pitching for the 4-5 Orioles. Baseball downed Cambridge Springs, 10-5, behind Xavier Gordon (two hits, two RBI) and Dillon Hamilton (three hits, RBI).
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Rocky Grove spikers bowed to CASH, 3-0, despite 22 assists, 11 points and seven blocks by Maxx Baker and 12 kills and eight blocks by Jacob Lauer.
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Carter O'Dell was the lone singles winner in Oil City's 3-2 loss to Hickory in tennis. All three of the Oilers' singles players have 5-3 records.
Rosen's slam highlights Wednesday's games
Bart Rosen (pictured) belted a first-inning grand slam, but Grove City shrugged it off and beat the Oilers, 13-4, in baseball on Wednesday.
The Eagles put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in each of the first five innings, and that was that.
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Cranberry softball topped Moniteau, 9-1. Hess fanned 11 over seven innings, and Emma Morrow provided the thunder with three hits, including a homer and a double, and three RBI.​
(File photo, probably Kelly Malek)
Knights capitalize on five Oiler errors
Franklin took advantage of five Oil City errors to plate five unearned runs in a 6-3 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday.
Ian Higley had two hits, stole three bases and drove in two runs for the Knights. Darius Cassano also had two hits.
Freshman Jake Saragian (pictured) gave up five hits over seven innings.
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Cranberry survived a six-run sixth and edged Keystone, 9-8, on Connor Morrow's two-out walk off single after John Shreve drew a leadoff walk.
Jake McCloskey, Brody Bowler and Morrow each had two hits for the Berries and Lincoln Galla drove in two runs.​
In softball:
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​Cheyne Scarborough had three hits and Jadyn Shumaker homered and drove in three runs as Cranberry outlasted Keystone, 12-8.
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Oil City scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh top send the game into extra innings, only to lose 9-8 in the ninth.
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In track, there were two sweeps -- Oil City over Corry and Warren over Franklin -- and plenty of honor roll efforts in both meets, including a school record 16.19 by Oil City's Olive Collins (pictured) in the 100 hurdles. She also cleared 5-2 in the high jump. The Oilers' win was their 22nd straight in the region.
Findlay wins Long jump at Rock Invite
Up until the clock was about to strike 8:30 p.m., it looked like Darien Wenner and Beatrice Kolesar were leading Cranberry efforts last Friday at the Slippery Rock Invitational.
And then along came Cole Findlay. While Wenner and Kolesar were piking up seconds galore, Findlay was the surprise winner in the long jump -- an event that was going on about the same time.
The senior went a personal best 21-10 on his first try, and that was all he needed. It was a top 50 leap in the state this spring.
The meet was attended by some local athletes and skipped by others.
But Kolesar and Wenner were there in all their glory. With the clock having struck 7:30 p.m. (the event began at 1), Wenner had collected seconds in the pole vault and 400 and Kolesar had run to another second in the 1600. Both were on the Berries' 3200 relay, which, along with Elena Ishman and Ava Earp, took fifth.
Kolesar and Oil City's Corabel Shiley were seeded 1-2 in the 3200 so Kolesar had a chance to tie Wenner with two individual medals. She didn't disappoint with another second place in that event.
Neither Kolesar (11:20.72) nor Shiley, who was fifth in 11:35.20, ran their best times. Mercer's Maggie Jewell won the race in 11:07.60
Wenner was coming off a school record 11-6 performance in the pole vault. She cleared 11 feet Friday with the winner, Ashlynn Horvath, matching her Hickory school record with an 11-6.
Anyhow, getting back to Kolesar. She ran a 5:17.34 in the 1600. The 3200 relay was timed in 10:15.71.
Just before 8 p.m. and with the 3200 just about to start: Findlay put the Cranberry boys in the scoring column, tying for seventh in the high jump with his first personal best of the day, clearing 6-0. Then the exclamation point in the long jump.
Five fifths for Oil City
In addition to Shiley in the 3200, Oil City claimed four more fifth places: Spence Singleton (javelin), Rilee Matalino and Addison Wyant (1600) and Bailey Stevens (300 hurdles).
Knight medals at Butler Invite
Franklin skipped Slippery Rock and instead sent athletes to the 61st Butler Invitational Saturday where junior weight man Logan Knight went eyeball-to-eyball in the shot and discus against not only Grove City's DeLathian Boanes, the Slippery Rock recruit in both track and football, but Ft. LeBoeuf's Mason Friedman.
Boanes, who had already set records in five invitationals this spring, won both events at Slippery Rock on Friday, but settled for seconds at Butler. Knight was third in the discus and fourth in the shot.
There are more invitationals this weekend -- McDowell and Seneca Valley today and Franklin on Saturday.
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Track honor roll
GIRLS
3200 relay -- Cranberry (Beatrice Kolesar, Darien Wenner, Elena Ishman, Ava Earp), 10:15.71; Oil City (Corabel Shiley, Lilly Shiley, Addison Wyant, Maddie Elder) 10:21.85
100 hurdles -- Olive Collins, Oil City, 16.19; Anna Rodgers, Franklin, 16.54; Bailey Stevens, Oil City, 16.6
100 -- Lilyan MIller, Franklin, 12.77; Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 13.15
1600 -- Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 5:13.72; Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 5:18.43; Isabel Griffin, Franklin, 5:21.83; Addison Wyant, Oil City, 5:24.03; Lilly Shiley, Oil City, 5:50.12; Elena Ishman, Cranberry, 5:56.53
400 -- Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 61.56; Lena Laderer, Franklin, 61.96; Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 63.17; Navy Perry, Cranberry, 65.14; Miah Shingledecker, Franklin, 65.28
400 relay -- Franklin (Anna Rodgers, Lilyan Miller, Lily Griffin, Lena Laderer), 52.82
300 hurdles -- Bailey Stevens Oil City, 48.68; Anna Rodgers, Franklin, 49.41; Olive Collins, Oil City, 51.13
800 -- Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 2:23.69; Isabel Griffin, Franklin, 2:24.24; Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 2:26.76; Addison Wyant, Oil City, 2:28.55
200 -- Lilyan Miller, Franklin, 26.72; Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 27.51; Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 28.49
3200 -- Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 10:58.44; Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 11:12.90; Isabel Griffin, Franklin, 11:47.59; Addison Wyant, Oil City, 12:10.33; Elena Ishman, Cranberry, 12:32.41
​1600 relay -- Franklin (Anna Rodgers, Lena Laderer, Miah Shingledecker, Sophie Wehrle, 4:23.73; Oil City 4:24.52.
Shot -- Madi Garland, Oil City, 33-7; Halle Curry, Franklin, 30-0; Rhetta Boocks, Cranberry, 29-81/2
Discus -- Madi Garland, Oil City, 101-101/2
Javelin -- Madi Garland, Oil City, 112-6
High jump -- Olive Collins, Oil City, 5-2; ChishaBetty Watson, Cranberry, 4-10; Payton Liederbach, Oil City, 4-9
Long jump -- Lilyan Miller, Franklin, 16-61/2; Isabella Vorse, Oil City, 15-113/4; Lilyan Miller, Franklin 15-81/2
Triple jump -- Lena Laderer, Franklin, 34-5
Pole vault -- Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 11-6; Navy Perry, Cranberry, 8-6; Bailey Stevens, Oil City, 8-0
(Photo by Tammy Curry)
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BOYS
3200 relay -- Oil City 9:33.16
110 hurdles -- Michael Fink, Oil City, 15.82
100 -- Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 11.41; Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 11.63; Jackson Wilson, Franklin, 11.97
1600 -- Rilee Matalino, Oil City. 4:31.36; Maxx Griffin, Franklin, 4:51.16; Daniel McCain, Cranberry, 4:51.87
400 -- Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 51.8; Dylan Van Wormer Oil City, 52.73; Blake Marchinke, Cranberry, 53.34; Eddie Mattocks, Franklin, 54.78
400 relay -- Oil City, 45.61; Franklin (Eddie Mattocks, Jackson Wilson, Cody Walkowski, Samuel Miller), 46.77
300 hurdles -- Carter Thompson, Oil City, 43.64; Garrett Dick, Cranberry, 45.12; Jayden Jackson, Cranberry, 46.10; Sam Miller, Franklin, 46.71; Cam Winger, Franklin, 47.58
800 -- Rilee Matalino, Oil City, 2:02.67
200 -- Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 23.24; Eddie Mattocks, Franklin, 24.41; Dylan VanWormer, Oil City, 24.16; Blake Marchinke, Cranberry, 24.6
3200 -- Daniel McCain, Cranberry, 10:28.47; Max Griffin, Franklin, 10:34.81; Elliot Hulsizer, Oil City, 10:59.29
1600 relay -- Oil City (Dylan VanWormer, Rilee Matalino, Carter Thompson, Morris Woodhouse), 3:32.61; Cranberry (Cole Findlay, Landon Baker, Blake Marchinke, Dalton Wenner), 3:36.80; Franklin (A.J. Rodriguez, Eddie Mattocks, Samuel Miller, Jackson Wilson), 3:44.28
Shot -- Logan Knight, Franklin, 59-4; Aaron Moore Junior, Franklin, 46-101/2; Caleb Sparks, Cranberry, 44-1; Bradley Graham, Oil City, 43-41/4; Jayce Becoate, Oil City, 42-51/2
Discus -- Logan Knight, Franklin, 162-4
Javelin -- Spence Singleton, Oil City, 183-1; Shane Clark, Cranberry, 153-3
High jump -- Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 6-0; Michael Fink, Oil City, 5-9
Long jump --Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 21-10; Nevin Stinson, Oil City, 20-10; Jackson Wilson, Franklin, 20-3; Clark Findlay, Cranberry, 20-2
Triple jump -- Nevin Stinson, Oil City, 41-1; Bart Rosen , Oil City, 40-6
Pole vault -- Tahelon Tarr, Oil City, 9-6; Dalton Wenner, Cranberry, 9-0
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Keeping up with Luke Guth
Luke Guth got into his first game since April 10 Saturday, but he didn't exactly save the day for Vanderbilt.
He pitched two scoreless in the 8-7 victory, but needed help from Brennan Seiber for the Commodores to get out of a jam in the ninth.
Guth gave up a pair of ninth inning runs. All told, he allowed two hits and two walks, but struck out five.
He didn't get into Sunday's 13-6 victory or the 11-1 drubbing of Xavier on Tuesday.
The wins gave Vandy a 25-17 record. They open a three-game series at home with Texas on Friday (6 p.m., 7 p.m., noon).
This space is dedicated to keeping up with Guth, a 6-1, 188-pound junior right-hander from Franklin.
