Dincoff & Rinehart Moving on to College Careers

Rachel Dincoff & Bri Rinehart

This past Monday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Bri Rinehart and Rachel Dincoff to the Dekalb TV studio. We were conducting an interview for the Ben Davis Sportstalk Show.

Both just graduated from Dekalb High School this past June. Now that the calendar will shortly be turning to August, we wanted to have the chance to talk with both of them before they left for college to continue their sports careers.

Bri will be attending St. Francis University in Fort Wayne, while Rachel will be going to IPFW, also in Fort Wayne. Rinehart will be playing basketball, while Dincoff will be continuing her track and field career.

The thing that stood out for me while doing the interview was simply the fact that these two fine young women are such good friends. When scheduling the interview, I just wanted to have them both on the same show, not realizing how tremendously well that they get along.

As is typical with young people I’ve had the chance to do the show with, they were both nervous initially. but as the show went on, they got comfortable, and were laughing and telling some great stories.

Bri and Rachel both played four years of varsity basketball at Dekalb. Rachel also was a four year track participant, that culminated with her winning the state championship in the discus this past Spring.

Both certainly seemed to enjoy their careers at DHS. They told some good stories about their experiences, especially stories about playing for Dekalb girls basketball coach, Nick David.

From watching them play over the years, both Bri & Rachel were treemndous competitors who hated to lose. They worked hard throughout their playing days at Dekalb, and the results speak for themselves.

We talked about senior night this past season, when Bri & Rachel played for the final time on the home hardwood. It was a festive and fun filled evening, with senior player and parent introductions that started the evening, and then the game against Heritage.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the fun stopped. With four minutes to go in the game, Bri went hard to the floor while making a cut out on the left wing, and before she hit the floor, she was writhing in pain. A torn ligament in the knee, high school career over.

That’s all behind her now, as she is well on the way to recovery. She expects to play in the Fall.

The day after we did the interview, Rachel was heading to Baltimore to participate in a National track and field event.

As I told Bri & Rachel, it seemed like they had been around forever at DHS. Now that they have left, it is a void that will not be easily filled. Great luck to both of them, as their careers have been unique and enjoyable. They are forever, Dekalb Barons.

Dekalb’s Boys of Summer

Over the years, Dekalb High School has been the “breeding ground” for many baseball players who have gone on to play at the collegiate level, as well as the professional level.

Currently, Jarrett Grube, class of 2000, is playing at the AAA level with the Seattle Mariners. Since Jarrett graduated from Dekalb, there have been a number of players who have made their mark playing college baseball.

Some who come to mind from the 2000’s include Troy Krider, Scott Hartman, Kevin Carper, Joey Prebynski, Chris Hansen, Jimmy Long, Kyle Beckman, Lyndon Coleman, Adam Sanborn, Caleb Ehmke, Colton Miller, Jonathon Knowles, and Skyler Rottger to name a few.

On Tuesday night down in Fort Wayne, 4 ex-Dekalb players, all currently playing at the college level, found themselves competing in a game in the Fort Wayne over 18 Summer League.

Logan Sparkman, Zach Pfafman, Ethan Prebynski, & Jarrod Forrest

Zach Pfafman, who plays at Evansville, Logan Sparkman, playing at Oakland, and Ethan Prebynski, playing for Trine were playing on one team, while Jarrod Forrest, who plays at Bellarmine, was on the other team.

It was a good game that had some good pitching, some timely hits, and for the most part, some good defense.

It was just a lot of fun watching these guys compete, who for so many years I watched grow up and become solid baseball players, as well as good young men.

You know what the best part is? This Sunday, these same 2 teams hook up in a doubleheader up at Trine University in Angola, and I’ll have the opportunity to watch them compete not just for one game, but for two.

As the umpire likes to say, “PLAY BALL!!”

Trine Baseball Fever – Catch It!

The Trine University Thunder baseball team played a pivotal 4 game series with Adrian College of Michigan over this past weekend.

Pivotal not only in the fact that if Trine at least split the series, they would guarantee themselves second place in the MIAA, and a first round home playoff game, but pivotal in its implications in the rise and future success of Thunder baseball.

Adrian has been the class of the MIAA for many years. They came into the weekend series having already clinched first place in the conference, and they were ranked 8th nationally in NCAA division 3 college baseball.

Trine Thunder Baseball Team 2012

Trine lost a heartbreaker in the first game of the doubleheader at Adrian on Friday, 4-3, as the Thunder gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the last inning.

The second game saw junior righty Jake Rightnower throw a 2 hit shutout, and Trine was a winner by the score of 1-0.

On Sunday, Adrian came out fired up, and won the first game at Trine 6-3. Again, a sparkling pitching performance, this time by senior Mike Sentman, enabled the Thunder to get the split, again by the score of 1-0.

Adrian had not been shutout in over 250 games, and Trine was able to do it twice in 3 days.

With the wins over the weekend, Trine set a season record for victories with 24.

Trine will play in the conference tourney on Wednesday at 4:00 pm, as they will host Hope College.

Success in this tourney will only be icing on the cake for this fine squad of young men.

Continued success in the coming years only seems inevitable.

The groundwork has been laid.

Start of Something Big for Trine Baseball?

The Trine University baseball team, fresh off of another 4 game conference sweep over the weekend against Kalamazoo College, have assured themselves of a place in the 4 team league playoffs that begin next Wednesday.

Once again, starting pitching was the key, as the “bif 4” of Kale Popp, Jake Rightnowar, Braxton Siddons, and Mike Sentman all delivered impressive performances to help run the Trine winning streak to 8, and to take their overall record to 22-14 with 4 games left in the regular season this coming weekend.

Head Coach Greg Perschke yelling instructions

Big first innings have become the norm for the Trine offense, and then the stalwart starting pitching takes over.

Coach Greg Perschke’s hitting line-up has been paying big dividends, as the Thunder have been getting nice contributions from everyone up & down the batting order.

Obviously, things are very unpredictable, but Trine seems to be peaking at the right time. Is this the beginning of a possible run through the league tournament, and then into the national tourney? We will know in a little over a week. Good Luck Thunder!

Pitching, Timely Hitting are Key as Trine sweeps 4 games from Olivet

The Trine Thunder baseball team ran their record to 18-14 overall, and 12-8 in the MIAA conference, as they won 4 games over the weekend against the Olivet Comets. The scores were 5-2, 4-3, 3-1, and 6-2.

Trine Freshman 2nd Baseman Ethan Prebynski

Trine got excellent starting pitching from Kale Popp, Jake Rightnowar, Braxton Siddons, and Mike Sentman.
A big 5 run first inning was the key in game one. Key hits from Matt Zurbriggan & Ethan Prebynski in the seventh inning were the difference in game two.

Then yesterday, up at Olivet, Brian Hoeper launched a mammoth home run in conditions that were cold and blustery to say the least to propel the Thunder in game one. Game two saw Trine explode for 5 runs in the seventh inning to give them the win.

By virtue of the sweep, the Thunder solidified their hold on 2nd place in the conference standings with 8 games to go in the regular season.

Trine hosts Kalamazoo for a DH on Saturday, then they travel to Kalamazoo on Sunday for 2 more to finish off the weekend series.