High School Sports
Nathan McDaniel stepping down as Elberta High football coach, athletic director
Elberta High head football coach and athletic director Nathan McDaniel is stepping down after five years at the school. McDaniel turned in his resignation Friday morning. “It’s been an incredible honor and privilege to serve as the head football coach and athletic director at Elberta High School for the last five years,” he said in […]
Elberta High head football coach and athletic director Nathan McDaniel is stepping down after five years at the school.
McDaniel turned in his resignation Friday morning.
“It’s been an incredible honor and privilege to serve as the head football coach and athletic director at Elberta High School for the last five years,” he said in a statement. “Elberta has been a blessing for me and my family, and I am eternally grateful for them, principal Branton Bailey, the Baldwin County Board of Education and the towns of Elberta, Summerdale and Lillian.”
McDaniel said the decision to step away was “100 percent” his call. The Warriors went 10-40 in his tenure but took significant steps forward in facilities and competitiveness during his time at the school.
“It has been a pleasure and an incredible challenge to try to get this program off the ground,” he said. “When we arrived in 2020, we didn’t even have the basic tools to compete at any level. Now, they have state-of-the-art facilities that will set this place up for future success. I feel like it is time for me to step aside and explore other opportunities.”
McDaniel said he would remain as athletic director for the remainder of the school year and re-evaluate what is next at that point.
“I am eternally grateful for the friendships and experiences that we have made over the last five years,” he said. “Elberta is a wonderful place, and I am blessed to have been a part of it. God is faithful, and I am excited to see what’s next.”
In a social media post, McDaniel also thanked his assistant coaches and the Elberta players along with his wife Tamara and their daughters, Mia Marie and Alma.
“We have awesome kids,” McDaniel said in his post.
McDaniel was just the third coach in Elberta’s short history. Greg Seibert started the program. The team went 5-9 in two seasons as a junior varsity program under Seibert, while playing mostly against varsity competition. Lanny Jones followed him but resigned in April 2020, having not coached a game.
The Warriors compete in Class 5A, Region 1 along with Vigor, Williamson, Citronelle, UMS-Wright, B.C. Rain, LeFlore and Faith Academy. Four of those schools (Vigor, UMS, LeFlore and Faith Academy) will also have new coaches in 2025.
McDaniel’s first head coaching job came at Baldwin County High where he went 31-29 in six seasons from 2014-2019.
Prior to his arrival at Baldwin County, he spent two years as defensive coordinator at Daleville, four years as linebackers coach at Prattville and two years as defensive coordinator at Daphne. He was a part of Prattville state championship teams in both 2008 and 2011.
Elberta head coach, Nathan McDaniel speaks to his team prior to their game against Gulf Shores in Elberta, Ala., Friday, August 20th, 2021. (Travis Middleton | preps@al.com)Travis Middleton | Preps@al.com
BALDWIN COUNTY COACHES
Longest tenured current head football coaches in Baldwin County.
Phil Lazenby (Bayside Academy, Bayshore Christian) – 18 years
Tim Carter (Fairhope) – 10 years
Kenny King (Daphne) – 9 years
Keith Smith (Snook Christian) – 7 years
Chase Smith (Robertsdale, Orange Beach, Spanish Fort) – 6 years
Deric Scott (Foley) – 5 years
Philip Rivers (St. Michael) – 4 years
Mark Hudspeth (Gulf Shores) – 4 years
Barrett Trotter (Bayside Academy) – 2 years
Wade Waldrop (Orange Beach) – 1 year
Andrew Davis (Baldwin County) – 1 year
Based on football seasons completed.
The Robertsdale and Elberta jobs are currently open.
High School Sports
Wellesley sports update
The latest Wellesley, Mass., sports news: WHS girls’ 2024 soccer team ranked in top 25 nationally The United Soccer Coaches organization doesn’t move quite as quickly as do the players on the field. It has just issued recognitions for fall teams, and the 2024 Division 1 Champion Wellesley High School girls’ soccer team has earned […]
The latest Wellesley, Mass., sports news:
WHS girls’ 2024 soccer team ranked in top 25 nationally
The United Soccer Coaches organization doesn’t move quite as quickly as do the players on the field. It has just issued recognitions for fall teams, and the 2024 Division 1 Champion Wellesley High School girls’ soccer team has earned a Rankings Award as one of the top 25 nationwide.
“This achievement sets your team apart from other teams, demonstrating your program’s commitment to success on the field and befitting the accomplishment of your team and its student-athletes during the recently completed season,” according to the organization.
High flying ultimate team
Congrats to the Wellesley High Ultimate Frisbee Team, which won the Division 2 Amherst Invitational Tournament this past weekend.
Coach Jim Chen writes: “This year was the 32nd Amherst Invite, and it attracted some of the best national east coast teams. As a first-year team last year, we came in 5th. This year, Wellesley went undefeated (5-0), and avenged over Monument Mountain HS twice to win the Div2 championship.”
Captains Sam Hano and Jason Chen led the way throughout the weekend.
More: Ultimate frisbee’s future in Wellesley up in the air (2023)
We welcome photos & updates on Wellesley sports action: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
High School Sports
Athletes of the Month
The Catholic Star Herald highlights the Diocese’s student athletes who stood out during the month of April. Marissa Gras Marissa Gras Holy Spirit High School, Absecon Lacrosse Marissa Gras’ raw athletic ability helped her become not only a steady goaltender on the Holy Spirit High School girls lacrosse team, but also the program’s all-time leader […]
The Catholic Star Herald highlights the Diocese’s student athletes who stood out during the month of April.
Marissa Gras
Holy Spirit High School, Absecon
Lacrosse
Marissa Gras’ raw athletic ability helped her become not only a steady goaltender on the Holy Spirit High School girls lacrosse team, but also the program’s all-time leader in saves.
Gras, a soccer player by trade, took up lacrosse during her sophomore year when the team had an opening at goalie. Since then, the Spartans senior has been tremendous, making her 200th career save on senior night against our Lady of Mercy Academy on April 14. Two games later, Gras made nine saves in a tight 9-8 victory over Lenape to break Piper Martin’s record of 209, which was set in 2022.
Through April, Gras made 61 saves as Holy Spirit was 7-4, and she had 223 saves for her career. Gras will play soccer next year at Rowan College of South Jersey, Cumberland Campus.
Sophia Greenwood
Paul VI High School, Haddonfield
Golf
Make it back-to-back championships for the Paul VI High School girls golf team as the Eagles bested the field for the second straight year at the 26th annual Camden County Commissioners Cup on April 29.
Held at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, Sophia Greenwood of Paul VI won the individual girls title by shooting a 90, leading the Eagles to the team title.
Greenwood started her season strong by carding a 48 at the nine-hole Moorestown Invitational on March 24. She finished the month even stronger by shooting a season-best 41 (five-over-par) on March 30 in a win over Lenape to give Paul VI a 7-1 record.
Greenwood, a senior from Medford, will attend Lehigh University next year.
Anthony Hermenau
Holy Spirit High School, Absecon
Lacrosse
A steady goal-scorer since he was a freshman, Anthony Hermenau became the latest addition to Holy Spirit High School’s 100-goal club in boys lacrosse.
Hermenau needed just six goals to reach the milestone entering the 2025 season, and he accomplished the feat in just his third game on April 4 with a hat trick in an 8-7 victory over Clearview.
Hermenau has posted five hat tricks on the season, including a five-goal game against Lenape on April 24, which matched a career high. Hermenau scored 25 goals and assisted on 11 more in the month of April and stood at 119 career goals heading into May. He will play Division II lacrosse next year at Coker University in South Carolina in the South Atlantic Conference.
Braeden Lipoff
Gloucester Catholic High School, Gloucester
Baseball
Braeden Lipoff’s season started red-hot. The junior catcher hit .655 in the month of April as the Gloucester Catholic High School baseball team began its quest for a third consecutive state title.
In his first 10 games of the 2025 season, Lipoff hit safely in every game, contributing 20 hits and 15 RBIs while scoring 12 times. The East Carolina University commit uncorked a 5-for-5 effort April 26 against Saint Augustine Preparatory School at the Downbeach Coaches vs. Cancer showcase in a battle of the two top-ranked teams in the state. Lipoff homered twice that game and drove in seven runs in a 14-5 victory to help keep the Rams rolling on an undefeated season.
Jack Kelly Lyons
Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill
Golf
The Camden Catholic High School boys golf team had a fantastic showing at the 26th annual Camden County Commissioners Cup thanks to stellar shooting by junior Jack Kelly Lyons.
Kelly Lyons fired an eight-over-par round of 80 at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood on April 29 to capture second place individually while helping the Irish take second place in the team standings in a field of 17 schools.
In nine-hole matches this season, Kelly Lyons has posted a score of 39 on several occasions, including back-to-back games on April 24 and 28. His 39 against Pennsauken on April 28 was the best score of the match.
Kristen Wareham
Wildwood Catholic Academy, North Wildwood
Softball
Kristen Wareham’s hot bat at the top of the order has helped Wildwood Catholic Academy surge up the standings this season.
The senior catcher carried a .606 batting average into May, hitting safely in all of the Crusaders’ first 10 games. With a small bench, Wareham’s defensive play has been a crucial part of Wildwood Catholic’s game plan each outing as she forms the battery with pitcher Emma Johnson.
Wareham has helped lead the Crusaders to a 5-5 record by driving in 14 runs through April 30. She started the season with a bang with nine hits in her first two games, including a career-high five-hit effort in a 23-0 win over Pleasantville.
High School Sports
Pope Leo XIV's Creole heritage highlights complex history of racism and the church in America
NEW ORLEANS — The new pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy. All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal great-grandparents were ”free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora […]
NEW ORLEANS — The new pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy.
All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal great-grandparents were ”free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found. As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures in Louisiana, the pope’s maternal ancestors would be considered Creole.
”It was special for me because I share that heritage and so do many of my friends who are Catholic here in New Orleans,” said Honora, a historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter.
Honora and others in the Black and Creole Catholic communities say the election of Leo — a Chicago native who spent over two decades in Peru including eight years as a bishop — is just what the Catholic Church needs to unify the global church and elevate the profile of Black Catholics whose history and contributions have long been overlooked.
Leo, who has not spoken openly about his roots, may also have an ancestral connection to Haiti. His grandfather, Joseph Norval Martinez, may have been born there, though historical records are conflicting, Honora said. However, Martinez’s parents — the pope’s great-grandparents — were living in Louisiana since at least the 1850s, he said.
Andrew Jolivette, a professor of sociology and Afro-Indigenous Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, did his own digging and found the pope’s ancestry reflected the unique cultural tapestry of southern Louisiana. The pope’s Creole roots draw attention to the complex, nuanced identities Creoles hold, he said.
”There is Cuban ancestry on his maternal side. So, there are a number of firsts here and it’s a matter of pride for Creoles,” said Jolivette, whose family is Creole from Louisiana. ”So, I also view him as a Latino pope because the influence of Latino heritage cannot be ignored in the conversation about Creoles.”
High School Sports
HIGHLIGHTS
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Indians allowed six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Canadians. The Indians and Canadians are now tied 2-2 through four games of the six-game homestand. The Canadians got on the board first in the first inning as a fielding error brought […]
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Indians allowed six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Canadians. The Indians and Canadians are now tied 2-2 through four games of the six-game homestand.
The Canadians got on the board first in the first inning as a fielding error brought home Adrian Pinto to make it 1-0 Vancouver.
The Indians responded in the bottom of the fourth, when a pickoff attempt by Grant Rogers sailed into center field, allowing EJ Andrews Jr. to take third and turn the corner toward home, where the throw to the plate was not in time and the Indians tied the game 1-1.
The tie was short-lived, as Vancouver scored two runs in the fifth inning off a Sean Keys home run. The Indians threw a bullpen game and had seven different pitchers in the game, with Austin Becker throwing 2.2 innings in relief of Jordy Vargas, the longest of any pitcher for Spokane.
One more run scored in the sixth inning for Vancouver before Eddie Micheletti Jr. hit a home run to left-center field, which scored two runs and made the score 6-1 in favor of the Canadians.
An Adrian Pinto single scored another run, and the next batter, Aaron Parker, blasted one to left field for a three-run homer to put the Canadians up 10-1. Grant Rogers earned the win for Vancouver, going 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out seven.
The Indians look to win Game 5 of the series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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