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Pioneers earn a ‘must win’ vs. Baldwin Wallace

After taking it on the chin at Mount Union last Wednesday, Marietta College regrouped Saturday and rallied in the second half to defeat Baldwin Wallace, 85-76, at Ban Johnson Arena. It was a must-win for the NCAA Division III sixth-ranked Pioneers (15-2 overall, 9-1 Ohio Athletic Conference), who are scheduled to play at Otterbein University (6-11, 3-7) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. “We had to have it, because you can’t afford to drop two in a row,” said 13th-year MC men’s basketball coach Jon VanderWal. “Mount’s obviously really good and isn’t going to lose very many ...

Golden era of Pioneer basketball enters second decade

Snow blasted against the windshield as the wind roared across the desolate landscape on Interstate 75 in Northwest Ohio. No music or podcasts, only the sounds of the heater running and the windshield wipers swiping back and forth. We all find different ways to slow down and reflect on things. For me, many times it’s in a car, driving alone down a desolate highway late at night from a Marietta Pioneer basketball game. After a recent game, I spent much of the drive home rewinding back the past decade this program has been through. As a native of Southeast Ohio, I grew up on Pioneer ...

Marietta College men’s basketball all-decade team

With the 2010s winding down, I’ve seen people all over social media doing “all-decade” teams for various pro and college sports teams. Basically, the idea is to select the best player at each position from the past 10 years for a respective team and form the most optimal lineup. It’s actually pretty enjoyable to see how good (Ohio State football) or bad (Cleveland Browns) some of the lineups turn out. As we get closer to the end of 2019, I thought it would be fun to put together an all-decade team for the Marietta College men’s basketball squad. It’s been by far the most ...

You don’t see many 51-point games at the BanJo

Zero. That’s the number of times a Marietta College basketball player scored 30 points in a game last season. And it’s not because the Pioneers didn’t have the talent. Quite the opposite, actually, as they advanced all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The thing about the Pioneers is they have so much talent that it makes it hard for one player to go off for a bunch of points. Head coach Jon VanderWal typically rotates 10 players in and out of the lineup in a given game, and any of those 10 players has a chance to lead the team in points. They ...

JOHNSTON: Fort Frye football and food for thought

BEVERLY — Fort Frye’s Braden Medley pounced on the Dalton fumble at the 2-yard line like it was a sirloin steak. Ah, the sweet taste of Fort Frye victory. Then, Cadet running back Tyler Fisher took an Ian Ellis hand-off and raced, like he was late for Mindy’s supper, 98 yards to the house. All of a sudden, instead of the Cadets being buried in pasta, 21-7, they’d knotted the score at 14-all. “That was big, right at the beginning of the game,” said FFHS head chef Eric Huck afterwards. “They (Dalton Bulldogs) were about ready to score and we got a turnover. Then, we ran a ...

ALBRIGHT: What a ride for Don Fosselman

Don Fosselman is hanging it up. No, I cannot believe it either. Father time usually always makes the final save. Fosselman laid out the plan to feed him an easy shot, too. “I always said when my youngest grandson reached his senior year I was going to walk away,” he said. But, his coaching skills were still sharp in the farewell season. And, this swan song might just be one of his finest coaching jobs. There was no shortage of questions for this final team. Could Caleb Thomas step in seamlessly in replacement of all-state first-team goalie Jacob McKnight? How ...