Five Sluggers Confirmed for 2022 Home Run Derby

The 2022 MLB season has reached the halfway point this last week. Through the first half of the season, ten teams pretty much solidified themselves as the top ten in the MLB. These teams have been widely considered as the top ten in the league, so here are my rankings and opinions on each of these top ten teams.

Ole Miss became the last team standing in the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament field last Sunday. The Rebels swept through the Coral Gables regional. Then they swept Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg super regional. The Rebs then only lost one time in the College World Series second bracket to earn their spot in the College World Series Finals against Oklahoma. Ole Miss completed its two-game sweep of Oklahoma in Omaha to earn the program’s first-ever national championship. The Rebels have been considered one of the best college baseball programs in the country for the past few years, but they have had their struggles in the playoffs during that time, so it was exciting for many college baseball fans to see Ole miss finally put it together in the postseason and win the national championship.

All Conference selections for the high school spring sports were just published! Many Olympia athletes earned conference and state rankings. Congrats to all athletes!

The Golden State Warriors won their fourth NBA championship in eight seasons last Thursday night. The Warriors took down the Boston Celtics in a 103-90 Game 6 road win to take the series 4-2. This year’s championship for the Warriors was the franchise’s seventh overall. Something about the Warriors' title this year seemed more impressive than the last three they have won since 2015. The Warriors have faced many ups and downs over the past three years, including multiple season-ending injuries to star shooting guard Klay Thompson, losing superstar Kevin Durant in free agency, and struggling to be a championship-caliber team for the past few years. Many thought that this adversity in Golden State meant that the Warriors dynasty was slowly coming to an end. This championship proved that the Warriors dynasty is still present and that Steph Curry still has what it takes to lead a team to a title, even at the age of 34 years old. Curry has been the face of the franchise in Golden State for the last decade. Steph had led the Warriors to their three previous championships, but had never won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, until this season’s title. In this year’s NBA Finals, Steph Curry averaged 31.2 points per game, a career high in his six NBA Finals appearances. 

Last week, eight college baseball teams punched their tickets to the 2022 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. This year’s super regional games were very exciting, as quite a few underdogs ended up winning the series and making it into the College World Series. 

Many recent Olympia High School grads are going on to pursue athletics in college. From a class of only 86 students, 5 females and 4 males will be continuing their athletic careers. Most of them will be staying right here in Illinois, with just a few moving over to the bordering states. 

On Tuesday, June 7th, the Los Angeles Angels lost their 12th game in a row, the longest single-season losing streak in the franchise's history. In response to their recent struggles on the field, the Angels' front office decided to fire their manager, Joe Maddon. The Angels will now be managed by their former third base coach Phil Nevin for the remainder of the 2022 season. After the Angeles 1-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, the Angels' general manager, Perry Minasian decided that it was time to move on from Maddon. Minasian told reporters that he went to Maddon’s home on Tuesday to inform him of the decision. Minasian also said that the firing was not something that he thought would have to happen three weeks ago, making it very clear that the ongoing losing streak severely jeopardized Maddon’s job status. Minasian also confirmed that the Angels’ owner Arte Moreno was on board with the decision to move on from Maddon amidst the losing streak. As of Wednesday, 

The 2022 NBA Finals will feature a best of 7 game series between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors. Game 1 of the series took place on Thursday night, but Game 2 will be played this Sunday, June 5th. This series should be a very exciting battle between a Warriors team that has been to the NBA Finals six times in the last eight years and a young Celtics team that is making their first appearance in the NBA Finals since 2010. The Warriors have had their fair share of success in recent years, they will be trying to win their fourth championship since just 2015. On the other hand, the Celtics have had their struggles in the last decade, but have one of the most successful franchises in the history of the NBA. Boston has brought home 17 total NBA Championships and will be looking to add their first one since 2008. 

The sports season for OHS in the 2021-2022 school year concluded on Friday. Friday was the state track & field meet for our boys' team. The boys competed in the prelims on Friday but did not end up making it to the finals on Saturday. The qualifying 3200-meter team consisted of Anthony Ragland, Cooper Phillips, Owen Dare, and Brad Schardan. Owen and Brad wanted to save their energy for the 800 so the alternates, Logan Demling and Caden Clark ran instead. The team ran an 8:42.37 relay. Then, Brad Schardan ran the 800-meters at a personal best time of 2:00.20. Owen Dare was right behind him with a time of 2:00.26. Then, Keagan Uphoff did the 300-meter hurdles and had a time of 44.40. With Keagan being just a sophomore, he has a lot more potential to advance further in the coming years. He is off to a great start and ready for more! 

New York Yankees star right fielder Aaron Judge is off to an incredible start in the 2022 MLB season. So far this year, Judge is batting .314 with a .386 on base percentage and a .692 slugging percentage. Judge comes in at number eight in the league in batting average, number four in the league in runs batted in, and at the top of the league in home runs with 17 total, five more home runs than the next closest player. This incredible production of home runs that we have seen from judge so far this season is due to the fact that he leads the majors in barrel percentage per plate appearance and hard hit percentage. He is also second in the league in average exit velocity, only behind his teammate and fellow Yankee outfielder, Giancarlo Stanton. 

This was regional week for the softball and baseball teams! To begin, the baseball team played Clinton on Monday night, coming away with a 3-2 win. This advanced them to play Pontiac on Thursday. The Spartans were not as good as Pontiac’s baseball team and lost 1-14. Pontiac is now going to the regional championship game on Monday vs Tremont. Olympia High School hosted all these regional baseball games. The high school baseball season has now ended and the boys are ready to play travel ball. The baseball program is grateful for finally having a full season that was very fun and memorable, too!

Last Sunday, May 15, the Cincinnati Reds wrapped up their series in Pittsburg by throwing a no-hitter against the Pirates. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, the Pirates managed to get one run across while holding the Reds' offense to no runs in the game. The Reds became the first team since 2008 to throw a no-hitter and lose the game. Reds’ rookie pitcher Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game. Hunter Greene went seven and a third innings and had nine strikeouts and only three walks before the eight inning, when he walked two batters. Art Warren came in and walked one batter to load the bases. The Pirates then managed to get a groundout to the second baseman that drove in their only run of the day. 

Post-season for Olympia High School athletics is coming into full gear. Just this week Girls Track and Field competed in their IHSA Sectional Meet. Anna Beiber qualified for State at the meet with a time of 2:21.68, just 2 seconds under the state qualifying time. Melissa Bieber just barely missed the qualifying time by .29 seconds with a 47.98 in the 300 hurdles, which is less than a second off the school record. Boys Track and Field will compete in their Sectional this coming week on the 18th.

Central Illinois native Reid Detmers threw the first solo no-hitter of the 2022 MLB season on Tuesday night for the Los Angeles Angeles. Detmers, who was making just his sixth start of his rookie year, helped guide the Angeles to a 12-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Detmers threw a career-high 108 pitches and struck out just two batters while walking only one in his no-hitter. Tuesday night’s no-hitter from Detmers was the Angels’ first no-hitter since July 12, 2019, which was a combined no-hitter. Detmers’ two strikeouts were the fewest in a no-hitter since 2011. His solo no-hit performance was also the first for the Angeles since 2012. Detmers also became the youngest Angel to throw a no-hitter and the first lefty since 1970. Detmers tossed the 12th no-hitter in Angels franchise history. Before Tuesday night, Detmers had never gone more than 6 innings in any of his previous major league starts. To make this incredible performance by Detmers even more impressive, the Tampa Bay Rays entered Tuesday night’s game as the only team in the American League that had yet to be shut out in 2022. 

The Spartans started off the week with a win. The girls' soccer team played Decatur Lutheran for their senior night. But, instead of the traditional senior night, they had a foreign exchange student night. The three girls include Kaat Biskanter, Lea Gersdorf, and Sofia del Val. The soccer team won with a score of 4-1. Raquel Birky earned a hat trick. Brooke Rogers also scored a goal. Assists by Tarah Hilt, Grace Birkey, Kensie Kleinschmidt, and Andi Ewalt. Congrats on such a fun game! They had three more games this week too. It was a tie against IVC 2-2, a loss of 0-4 against St. Thomas More, and a lose 1-8 against Bloomington.

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker put himself in elite company on Tuesday night when he won his 2,000th game as a Major League manager. If he was not already a lock to get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Baker will surely get in after reaching this incredible milestone. At 72 years old, Dusty Baker became just the 12th MLB manager to reach 2,000 wins, and the first black manager to ever join the 2,000 win club. Of the 11 previous managers who reached 2,000 career wins, 10 of them have already been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The only one who has not yet been inducted, Bruce Bochy, has not yet been eligible for induction. It is safe to say that Baker has most likely earned himself a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

The Boys Track and Field Team started off their week successfully in Heyworth with multiple first-place finishes. Owen Dare got first in the 400, Caden Clark got first in the 3200, Keagan Uphoff placed first in the 110 and 300 hurdles, and the 4x200 team came in first as well as the 4x400 and 4x800 teams. In the high jump, Olympia took the top two spots with Chase Litwiller in first and Keagan Uphoff in second, and Chase Ragar placed first in the boy’s triple jump. 

The Chicago Cubs made one huge offseason signing before the 2022 season by going out and getting the highly sought-after Japanese free agent, Seiya Suzuki. The Cubs made the Japanese slugging outfielder their next right fielder for a five-year, $85 million deal. In just his first couple of weeks in Chicago, Seiya is already making his presence felt. As of Thursday, April 28, Suzuki had played in all 18 of the Cubs’ first 18 games. Already, throughout his first 18 games, Seiya has five multi-hit games, including a two-homerun day against the Pittsburg Pirates on April 12th, Suzuki’s fourth game of his MLB career. With a .333 batting average, 4 home runs, 14 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.090, Suzuki is in the top 15 of any MLB player in batting average, home runs, RBIs, and OPS. Maybe one of the most impressive things about Seiya Suzuki's short MLB career is his incredible plate discipline. Suzuki very rarely swings at pitches outside of the strike zone, which is a great way to ensure the high on-base percentage which Suzuki has so far. His incredible understanding of the strike zone also helps him hit the ball really hard. Suzuki had the fifth-highest barrel rate in the MLB, as of Tuesday, April 26th. Suzuki’s barrel rate was 21.2%, essentially what this means is that 21.2% of the time that Suzuki hit the ball, it came off the bat with an exit velocity of 98 miles per hour or higher.