The Opening Drive: Week 12

“The Windup:” “The Opening Drive” Week 12 Script

We start “The Windup” today with a brand new edition of our “Opening Drive” segment.  This is where we highlight some of the sport stories making news in the Grant County area from the past week. 

We mentioned them on the show last week and now they will lead off the drive today as the Grant County Blaze won a state championship in men’s basketball during the Indiana Special Olympics last weekend.  The team traveled to Indiana State University last weekend in Terre Haute for the event.  The Blaze outscored their quarterfinal and semifinal opponents by a combined score of 71 to 48.  In the championship game on Sunday, the Blaze defeated the Shelby County Magic by a score of 38 to 31.  Jeffery Cotton led the Blaze with 17 points.  The Blaze are now 2-time defending state champions in the traditional master male level two for Indiana Special Olympics Men’s Basketball.  Blaze head coach Tim Becker led the team to an undefeated 10-and-0 record this season.

In college baseball, Taylor University First Baseman Ryne Otis won the N-A-I-A National Baseball Player of the Week award on Tuesday.  The Chronicle-Tribune reports the senior becomes the first in Trojan baseball history to receive the honor.  Otis batted nearly .500 on the week with five home runs and thirteen runs batted in to help Taylor go 5-and-1 for the week.  The first baseman leads Taylor in seven offensive categories and ranks just outside the top ten nationally for slugging percentage.  As of Wednesday, the Taylor Trojans stand at 14-and-10 on the year with a 7-and-1 Mid-Central College Conference record.  They will host the Bethel Pilots for a double header in Upland tomorrow starting at 1 p.m.

We finish off the drive today with what some may call a quiet winning streak in college softball.  It has been over 3 weeks since the Indiana Wesleyan University LadyWildcats have lost a game.  The winning streak reached 16-in-a-row after sweeping Goshen in a double header on Wednesday.  I-W-U now stands at 22-and-4 on the year and are off to a quick 4-and-0 start in Mid-Central College Conference action.  First year head coach Steve Babinski says the new “one inning at a time” approach has helped keep the team focused to win one step at a time and to never lose an edge.  The Lady Wildcats have a one-game lead in the MCC over conference rival Saint Francis and will play a four-game series against Cornerstone University out of Michigan starting today at 4 p.m. with a double-header and then concluding on Saturday with another double header. 

That does it for the drive today.  Make sure you listen for the Fortress Sports Update airing throughout the week updating you on all the local Grant County high school sporting events.