Bethel-Tate’s Mitchell McElfresh was named the Player of the Year in the SBC-National.

Bethel-Tate’s Mitchell McElfresh was named the Player of the Year in the SBC-National.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

A season’s worth of matches culminated on Saturday, Sept. 20 with an 18-hole shootout at Cedar Trace Golf Club. Three-time defending American Division champions New Richmond extended their dominant streak to four consecutive while National Division newcomers Bethel-Tate wrapped up their first league title since 2010.

“Moving over (to the National) definitely helped; that goes without saying,” Bethel-Tate head coach Brett Harris, who also picked up Coach of the Year honors, said. “I want to give a lot of credit to our kids because it was only a few years ago that we couldn’t break 200 in a round. This year we had a couple rounds that we fired under a 160, which means we had a 40 average or better for all four of our scores. It just shows how much work the kids have put in.”

Bethel was led by Mitchell McElfresh, a junior and two-time First Team All-Conference performer. McElfresh elevated his game this season and was named the Player of the Year in the National.

A district qualifier as a sophomore, Harris said that McElfresh’s previous experience in the postseason should bode well for him as he tries to make it back to Weatherwax for the second year in a row.

“For him, I think what he did last year (that can help him this year) is two-fold,” Harris explained. “One, he knows at sectionals he can make it out without playing a perfect round. He just needs to go out and play how he’s been playing and he can make it out. And the second thing is that he knows he’s one of the top golfers around. He has the confidence that he could qualify for districts, and on a good day, he could qualify for state.”

Harris said that in McElfresh, fellow juniors Jacob Dahlheimer and Blake Combs and senior Joey Smith, he has four guys who have proved they can shoot a score that can get the team out as a whole.

If they can’t get all four to play well under the pressure, Harris said that any of the four could shoot a score that can get them out individually given the boost of confidence that winning the conference provides.

While Bethel-Tate’s league crown is the culmination of years of lowering scores, New Richmond’s title on the American side of the SBC could be seen as more of a culmination of an era.

Four of New Richmond’s six players this season are seniors, something that first-year head coach Steve Wolf said would be a cause for alarm getting ready for next year.

“Next year is next year, but it’s something we’re going to have to worry about,” he said.

For now, however, the coach and team are worrying about what they can do to keep this era going as long as possible. The mainstays of the Lions’ four-year run are Chris Mazzaro and Bryce Kroeger. Mazzaro earned First Team honors in the league for the fourth consecutive season and was named the Player of the Year for the second Saturday.

Kroeger, who qualified for districts last season, was named to the First Team for the third time. Kyle Heidlage joined his fellow seniors for the second time on the First Team and Daman Abner was a Second Team performer.

With the sectionals taking place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, Coach Wolf thinks that instead of getting individuals through like the Lions have the past few seasons, a team advancement is in the cards this year.

“I think the team advancing to districts would be great,” he said. “We have four kids who can go out and shoot a number that would get us there as a team. I know Chris and Bryce want to get back there and Kyle has the ability to shoot high-70s, low-80s. That puts us in a good chance as a team to get to districts.”

Batavia, Bethel-Tate, Clermont Northeastern and New Richmond were scheduled to play their Division II sectional round on Sept. 24 at Sharon Woods. Amelia and Goshen will play in the Glenview Division I sectional on Sept. 30 (along with Glen Este and Milford) and Williamsburg was scheduled to participate in the Division III sectional on Sept. 23.

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