Congratulations are due to several teams of local high school volleyballers, with their teams earning top honors from the Indiana High School Volleyball Coaches’ Association, for doing exceptionally well in the classroom last school year, ’23-’24. In our part of the state, those outstanding academic squads include Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del, Oldenburg Academy, South Ripley, and Greensburg. Each of those teams reached a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher.
The Reds finished the first half of the major league baseball season with a 3-2 setback to Miami, their final series before the All-Star break ending with 2 wins and that loss. Cincinnati is still convinced it’s a big winner though, after the weekend’s 2024 draft of new potential players. The Reds went into the draft with great position, the overall Number 2 pick in hand, and they used it to choose pitcher Chase Burns, from North Carolina’s Wake Forest University. After getting picked, even Chase himself was surprised he was taken so high. Now, he just colors himself excited. Word is, his fastball crosses the plate at a consistent speed of more than 100 miles per hour. The Reds’ scouts also say Chase throws the best slider of any pitcher in the available class.
Tonight’s All-Star game has the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene available to the National League squad, in Arlington, Texas.
Many auto racing fans are excited again, now less than a week away from the Brickyard 400, the annual opportunity to see the NASCAR Cup stock cars blaze their way around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This year is that big race’s 30th anniversary. 2023 Cup champ Ryan Blaney says he’s ready, although he feels extra pressure because the owner of his team, Roger Penske, now of course also owns the track. Blaney says that’ll just make the event more special to him. Ryan says he’d love to make it a clean sweep for his boss, after Josef Newgarden was able to win a second straight Indy 500 this spring. The Brickyard 400 runs Sunday afternoon.
And on the actual IndyCar circuit, there were back to back races run this past Saturday and Sunday at Iowa Speedway. Scott McLaughlin won the first race, his initial oval track victory, and Will Power took the second, his 43rd career win.