Reunion to bring back Seneca County League memories

The last league contest happened 21 springs ago, capping a four-plus-decade-long run. But for one day next month, the rivalries will be renewed. Former athletes, coaches and cheerleaders will gather Aug. 13 for a little golf, a little food and more than a little reminiscing about the Seneca County League. “We’re going to straighten out some of these lies in one night about who won what,” said a chuckling Dan Thallman, a Bloomville graduate who helped organize the reunion. The gathering is Aug. 13 at Nature Trails Golf Course in Kansas. The day begins with a golf scramble at 8 a.m. Cost is $30 per per player, which includes a cart and 18 holes of play. The reunion and meal kick off at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $15, with a cash bar. The deadline to register is July 15. Attendees can register by calling a committee member from their school: Attica – Al Stephenson (419) 618-8904; Bettsville – Harry Burd (419) 618-7704; Bloomville – Dan Thallman (252) 617-2008 or Dan Price (703) 597-2529; Hopewell-Loudon – Carl Rainey (567) 230-8385; New Riegel – Steve Lucius (419) 934-0168 or Steve Bouillon (419) 934-9771; Old Fort – Ron Rau (419) 937-6182; Republic – Duane Lewis (419) 569-8890; and Thompson – Jim Moyer (567) 201-8865. While the league operated for more than 40 years, organizers are focusing on attracting former coaches, players and cheerleaders who represented their teams from 1973 or earlier. The league began in the late-1930s and ended with the 1984-85 school year, with some of the then-remaining teams helping for the Midland Athletic League. Ten teams called the SCL home during the league’s run before school district consolidation and moves whittled it down. Melmore High (now part of Mohawk) and Jackson-Liberty (now part of Lakota) left the league before the 1960s. Thompson left in 1968 to join Bellevue. Bloomville left in 1969 to join Tiffin City Schools, before later becoming part of Buckeye Central. Attica and Republic merged in 1970 to form Seneca East, but remained in the SCL with Bettsville, Hopewell-Loudon, New Riegel and Old Fort. Since many of the schools didn’t offer football, the SCL focused on basketball, baseball, softball and track. And there were plenty of successes. The league got back-to-back state baseball titles from Old Fort in 1968 and New Riegel in 1969, with runner-up finishes coming from New Riegel in 1941 and Old Fort in 1971. Old Fort also reached the state semifinals in 1975. Old Fort also finished second in the state golf tournament in 1984. No SCL team won a state boys basketball title, but Bettsville reached the state tournament in 1938 and Attica did so in 1941. League teams never finished first or second in boys or girls track (girls track became a sanctioned Ohio high school sport in 1975), but SCL teams had individuals and relay teams do well at the meets. 1954 – Old Fort’s Dave Graham tied four others for third in the Class B high jump 1957 – Old Fort’s Bob Kein tied one other for second in the Class B pole vault 1958 – Bloomville’s Elwood Bliss fifth in Class A shot and fifth in Class A discus 1959 – Bloomville’s Elwood Bliss second in Class A shot and fourth in Class A 120-yard hurdles 1960 – Attica’s John Forehand and Jerry Stallings tied another for third in the Class A pole vault 1963 – Thompson’s Leonard Dale second in Class A mile 1964 – Thompson’s Leonard Dale first in Class A mile (4:31.7) 1966 – Old Fort’s Mike Mager first in Class A 180-yard hurdles (20.3); Thompson’s Mike Grant first in Class A long jump (22-4 3/4) 1967 – Bloomville’s Dan Price fifth in Class A two-mile 1975 – Seneca East’s Tom Fries third in Class A boys two-mile (9:55.0) 1976 – Hopewell-Loudon’s Doug Brickner third in boys Class A 100 (9.9); Old Fort’s Karen Cleveland third in 1976 girls Class A 440 (1:00.4) 1977 – Old Fort’s Karen Cleveland sixth in girls Class A 440 (1:01.0) 1978 – Seneca East’s Karen Beatson second in girls Class A 880 (2:24.8) 1979 – Hopewell-Loudon’s Kerry Brickner first in boys Class A 100 (10.1); Old Fort’s Pete Yaskowitz first in boys Class A high jump (6-8); Old Fort’s Karen Cleveland third in girls Class A 440 (59.8); Old Fort’s Beverly Lynch third in girls Class A mile (5:20.9) 1980 – Seneca East’s Ron Bernard, Eugene Scherley, Doug Heyman, Ken Davis first in boys Class A 4×400 (3:24.9); Seneca East’s Ken Davis sixth in boys Class A 400 (50.3); Old Fort’s Pete Yaskowitz fourth in boys Class A high jump (6-6); Old Fort’s Tony Miller tied one other for fifth in boys Class A pole vault (12-6) 1981 – Seneca East’s Ken Davis, Doug Heyman, Mike Miller, Todd Nemer third in boys Class A 4×400 (3:23.09); Seneca East’s Ken Davis fourth in boys Class A 400 (49.81); Old Fort’s Tony Miller fifth in boys Class A pole vault (13-0); Old Fort’s Clark Sturgill sixth in boys Class A 3,200 (9:51.04) 1982 – Hopewell-Loudon’s Steve Huffman fifth in boys Class A shot (50-6) 1983 – Hopewell-Loudon’s Steve Hoover tied one other for third in boys Class A high jump (6-2); Seneca East’s Laura Hoerig, Kelly Coffman, Nancy Fortney, Terri Schreiner third in girls Class A 4×200 (1:47.96); Seneca East’s Laura Hoerig, Theresa Schaaf, Kelly Coffman, Terri Schreiner fifth in girls Class A 4×100 (51.17); Old Fort’s Donna Kessler third in girls Class A high jump (5-5) 1984 – Seneca East’s Todd Hansen, Greg Rotrock, Rick Ehvesman, Jim Schueler fifth in boys Class A 4×400 (3:24.81); Seneca East’s Jim Reesman tied five others for second in boys Class A high jump (6-2); Seneca East’s Jim Dillinger second in boys Class A discus (160-3); Old Fort’s Donna Kessler fifth in girls Class A high jump (5-5) 1985 – Seneca East’s Jim Schueler sixth in boys Class A 300 hurdles (39.06) Scores of other athletes earned district and state honors in sports. Thallman, for instance, was named the Class A player of the year for the 1968-69 boys basketball season. And it seems basketball is what comes to mind when it comes to remembering the Seneca County League, sort of an Ohio version of the movie “Hoosiers,” said Price, a 1967 Bloomville graduate. He said the crowds were packed, the play was fierce and the gyms were an experience – and something to plan for and around. “Many times we would have to put our foot on the wall to take it out of bounds because the lines were right up to the wall,” Price said. “Many of the gyms were in auditoriums. You went diving for a ball and you’d fall three to four feet into the orchestra area. “Every gym was lit differently. Some of them had shadows, some of them were well-lit. The ones that were in auditoriums had curtains and the curtains would hang down in the corners. Guys would take jump shots and the ball would hit the curtains. It was not out of bounds, it was considered a live ball,” he said. And if they didn’t have enough to talk about after each regular-season game, there was always the county tournament at Heidelberg’s Seiberling Gymnasium. The tournament lasted a few days, and not only included basketball games, but also contests for each school’s cheerleaders. Price said he remembers growing up and listening to the double-elimination tournament – he said it ended sometime in the 1960s, and helped with postseason seeding – on the radio, and listening to his sister lament about her squad not winning a cheerleading award. Regular-season or otherwise, Thallman said those games bound everyone in each community together. “You think about all the schools, that’s all those people had, those schools. They farmed all day or worked in the factories,” he said. “In the winter it was basketball Friday night and Saturday night. It drew those communities together. The places would all be packed Friday night and Saturday night. “It’s what held those communities together,” Thallman said. And they’ll get a chance to relive that experience one more time, Price said. “The reunion is not about honoring these great guys,” he said, “it’s about getting everyone back together.”