Bulldog Sports Round-Up | May 29, 2026
- Published: July 9, 2026
BASEBALL
Bulldogs end season with honors
The high school varsity baseball regular season came to a close Monday, May 18, with a home game against the Triad Cardinals. Senior Caleb Derrickson got the start on the mound and did a fine job. He scattered seven hits over his four innings, leading to 3 earned runs. The Bulldogs matched the nine Cardinal hits with nine of their own, but could only muster 2 runs. Derrickson and Bryce Fleming each had a pair of hits and Oskar Dennis added a double. Finn Turnmire and Mateo Basora each had a solid inning of relief, but time ran out for the Bulldogs as lightning and thunder pulled the teams off the field. The subsequent rain washed away any chance for the Bulldogs to finish the game with a comeback. The varsity Bulldogs finished their regular season with a solid 10 wins and some confidence heading into the post-season tournament.
The Bulldog players lobbied their coach very hard for an opportunity to meet their long-time conference opponent, Dayton Christian. The Warriors had won the conference for eight years running before leaving for a conference that has football. The tournament game was postponed until Wednesday, May 20, due to persistent rain. The Bulldogs piled into cars to caravan to the Dayton Christian field for the mid-day contest to ensure completion before the graduation ceremony.
The game started with hard singles by Caleb Derrickson and Mateo Basora, but the crafty DC pitcher worked his way out of trouble to keep the Bulldogs from getting an early lead. Bryce Fleming got the call to start against the hard-hitting Warriors. Despite two strikeouts, the Warriors were able to put 2 on the board to take the advantage. Braden Derrickson led off the second inning with a hard hit to right field, but the Bulldogs were unable to put together a rally and again came up empty. Fleming put the Warriors down 1–2–3 in the bottom of the second inning. Evan Collier led off the third inning with a single to left, but the Bulldogs were again unable to capitalize.
The Warriors came out swinging in the bottom of the inning and took a 5–0 lead. An unfortunate incident occurred in the on-deck circle, leading to an injury of our beloved bat boy as the Bulldogs came to bat in the fourth inning; he will be fine, but may have a cool scar. This seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the Bulldogs, who were only able to plate 1 run in the game. It came in the sixth inning when Derrickson and Basora had back-to-back hits to start the inning and Mason Cline drove in Derrickson.
Although the Bulldogs were unable to overcome the Warriors in the tournament, they did meet two of their season goals by earning 10 wins and winning the Metro Buckeye Conference Championship. Cline, Fleming and Basora each garnered All-Conference recognition and Coach Mitch Clark won the Coach of the Year award. Fleming won the inaugural MBC Coaches Award which, appropriately enough, is named after our own John Gudgel. This award recognizes “the athlete who best represents leadership, character and dedication to their sport.” Cline also earned First Team All-Area honors by being recognized by the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Association as the most outstanding catcher, by a large margin.
The coaches and players would like to pass along their sincere appreciation for the tremendous support provided throughout the year and look forward to seeing you all again next year at the ballpark.
—Coach Mitch Clark
TRACK
Bulldogs present well at Districts
The YS High School boys and girls track teams will send a bevy of individuals to the Regional Meet at Chillicothe Southeastern HS this weekend following their performances last week at the district meet held at Piqua High School.
Senior Llnyah Grant qualified for the regionals in four events, which is a feat that has not been achieved by a Bulldog track athlete in nearly 40 years. Grant earned three third-place efforts (100 meters,12.85; 200 meters, 26.22; and long jump, 16’84). She also anchored the fourth-place, 400-meter relay quartet of Izzy Espinosa, Natalie Gilley and Brooklyn Hapgood (51.90). Izzy earned the highest finish for the Bulldogs with a second-place effort in the 100 hurdles (16.46). The girls squad finished in ninth place in the competitive field of 22 teams.
On the boys side, senior Kyle Johnston earned his way to the regionals with a third-place finish in the 3,200 meters (10:05). Other Bulldogs who performed well with the depleted squad due to the high school graduation were Violet Matteson who earned a sixth place in the 400 meters, along with strong efforts achieved by Matteo Chaiten, Amitai DeLamatre, Bella Thomas and Nicholas Washington.
Coaches Isabelle Dierauer, John Gudgel and Dave Johnston commented that this is one of the larger contingents going to the regionals in the past few years and that the Bulldogs will be represented well at the Regional Meet.
—Coach John Gudgel
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