Josh Brooksbank and the Eagles are 16-3 and have recorded the team’s best-ever finish in the ECC.

Josh Brooksbank and the Eagles are 16-3 and have recorded the team’s best-ever finish in the ECC.
Staff report

With two wins over Loveland last week, both the Milford High School’s boys and girls bowling teams claimed second place in the final Eastern Cincinnati Conference standings, capping the best season for both boys and girls in league standings and number of wins since the ECC was formed.

“We have two more matches left and chances are that we’re going to end up with the best record in program history,” head coach Frank Ritzmann said. “At the beginning of the season, expectations of winning that many matches with underclassmen were pretty far-fetched. We thought we had a good team, but to set these records was out of our coaches realm (of possibility).”

Senior Matt Ridgway’s 337 series helped the Eagles to a win on senior night, as Milford won the first of two with Loveland 2532-2281. Sophomore Noah Dolezal led Milford with a 220 in game two. Josh Brooksbank, a junior, contributed with a 398 series, and freshmen Josh Cooper and Nathan McGeorge each added games of 190 and 183 respectively.

With a win over Loveland on Wednesday and the Walnut Hills loss to Anderson, the Eagles secured sole possession of second place in the final ECC standings. High series from Brooksbank (414) and McGeorge (413), and a 191 in game two from Ridgway assured Milford of their best team record in over three years.

The Milford boys currently sit at 16-3 overall and an 11-3 final conference record. Their second place finish this season follows a fourth place finish in 2014, and a tie for third in 2013.

At the girls last home match, seniors Leobeliz Pedromo (328) and Lauren Best (322) recorded the top two high series in Monday’s 2105-2069 defeat of Loveland, with Pedromo’s 180 a new personal high game. The contest was a close one, as Loveland’s Kassie Naughton and Taylar Hayden each had games over 200, but consistent games by freshman Jessica Haines and junior Sarah Schmidtgesling were good enough for the Eagles to finish ahead of the Tigers.

The Lady Eagles took advantage of controlling their own destiny, and secured sole possession of second place in the ECC final standings with a convincing 2315-2098 win at Loveland. Sophomore Alyna Hook continued her record-setting year, with a 256 in game one to best her personal high game of 221 set last week at Goshen and a team-leading 390 high series. Haines set a new season personal high game (196) as well. The win was a team effort, as Pedromo, Best, Haines and Schmidtgesling added series in the 300’s.

The girls finish second in the ECC, behind a strong Glen Este team who is currently 13-0 with just one conference match on the schedule. Their 16-3 overall, 12-2 conference record assures the team of their best overall and conference record in the past three years, as the Lady Eagles finished in third in both 2013 and 2014.

Rounding out the regular season with two matches this week, the Eagles will compete in the sectional tournament next week at Crossgate Lanes.

“The expectation over at Crossgate is that we’ve done well as far as bowling averages go,” Ritzmann said. “We have a chance of getting (the team) out of there. I definitely think we have three, maybe four guys who can go on without a doubt in mind.

“On the girls side, I think they have a great chance of moving on (as a team). They’ve been bowling really well the last few matches. My assistant coach and I believe they have a strong possibility of moving on.”

Sectionals are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 25 for the girls and the following day for the boys.

Information in this report was compiled and written by Shawn Sell of the Milford Athletic Department with quotes and additional info included by The Clermont Sun staff.