Tournament draws set for Saturday

Draws for five of the six area regional baseball and softball tournaments that will be played next week will be held Saturday and the other will take place on Sunday.

The Ninth Region Tournament draw will be held at Covington Catholic at 9 a.m. Saturday and the Ninth Region softball tournament draw will take place at Newport Central Catholic today at 10 a.m. The 10th Region softball draw will be held at Scott Saturday at 10 a.m. and the 10th Region baseball draw will be held Saturday at Harrison County at 10 a.m. The Eighth Region baseball draw will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Henry County, while the Eighth Region softball draw is 2 p.m. on Sunday at Gallatin County.

All tournaments are expected to begin on Monday.

Each of the four district winners will draw a district runner-up in the quarterfinal round of the regional tournament, but a district winner and the corresponding district runner-up must be placed on opposite sides of the bracket and can't face each other until the final.

Here are the sites for each tournament and the district winners and runners-up finishers (note: 31st District baseball final between Carroll County and Owen County and 30th District softball final between Anderson County and Collins were being played on Friday):

8th Region baseball (at Henry County):

District winners – South Oldham (29th); Collins (30th); Simon Kenton (32nd). District runners-up – North Oldham (29th); Anderson County (30th); Grant County (32nd).

8th Region softball (at Gallatin County): District winners – Oldham County (29th); Gallatin County (31st); Walton-Verona (32nd). District runners-up – North Oldham (29th); Henry County (31st); Grant County (32nd).

9th Region baseball (at Florence Freedom's UC Health Care Stadium):

District winners – Conner (33rd); Dixie (34th); Covington Catholic (35th); Highlands (36th). District runners-up – Boone County (33rd); St. Henry (34th); Beechwood (35th); Bellevue (36th).

9th Region softball (at Northern Kentucky University):

District winners – Conner (33rd); Dixie (34th); Notre Dame (35th); Highlands (36th). District runners-up –Boone County (33rd); St. Henry (34th); Holy Cross (35th); Newport Central Catholic (36th).

10th Region baseball (at Harrison County):

District winners – Scott (37th); Harrison County (38th); Mason County (39th); Bourbon County (40th). District runners-up – Bishop Brossart (37th); Nicholas County (38th); St. Patrick (39th); Montgomery County (40th).

10th Region softball (at Scott): District winners – Bishop Brossart (37th); Harrison County (38th); Mason County (39th); Bourbon County (40th). District runners-up – Campbell County (37th); Nicholas County (38th); Bracken County (39th); George Rogers Clark (40th).

FT. THOMAS MAN TO FINISH RUN SATURDAY: Steve Schwalbach, who The Enquirer profiled last Sunday, is expected to complete his 200-mile journey running from the Kentucky/Tennessee border back to Ft. Thomas along U.S. Route 27 today with the conclusion at the Ft. Thomas Pub.

Schwalbach, who is running to raise funds for Alzheimer's research and to raise awareness about the disease, started his run this past Sunday and started the first of his final two legs in Falmouth on Friday. He was expected to run 22 miles on Friday and have 11 miles remaining to run today.

A celebration at the Ft. Thomas Pub is planned for 6 p.m.

CAMPBELL COUNTY NEEDS VOLLEYBALL COACH: Campbell County athletic director Steve Hensley said he is seeking a volleyball coach to replace Kimberlee Nemcek.

She led Campbell County to 10th Region titles in each of her two seasons as head coach and compiled a 44-29 record.

AWAY AT COLLEGE:
- Newport Central Catholic graduating Shaun Meyer, who is pitching at Georgetown College, helped Georgetown advance to the NAIA World Series, which began on Friday and runs through May 30 in Lewiston, Idaho.

With Georgetown facing elimination in the opening round last Thursday, Meyer tossed a complete game to keep the Tigers alive and then they won two more games that day to advance. Meyer, a senior, is 9-1 with a 2.99 ERA.

- Boone County graduate Ronald Cotton, who is now playing baseball at Mount St. Joseph, was selected to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference second team by the league's coaches. Cotton, a junior, batted .319 with a team-leading six home runs and 32 RBI. He added 27 runs scored, 36 hits and 11 stolen bases, playing in 33 games, including 31 as a starter.

FOOTBALL OFFICIALS NEEDED: The Northern Kentucky Officials Association is looking for interested people to officiate football for the upcoming season and beyond.

The NKOA covers 29 high schools including all the 9th Region and portions of the 8th and 10th Regions.

In addition, its members handle middle school and youth leagues in Northern Kentucky. Training and guidance is provided.

For more information, contact Matt Young at matthewyoung@fuse.net.