Several locals play in OHSBCA All-Star Game

CHILLICOTHE - The heat was not going to stop the players from getting in one final game of baseball.Mohawk coach Zach Hawkins, Fairview's Andy Singer and Defiance's Rick Weaver led theNorthwest team 11-2 over a combined Central and Southeast team at the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star games on Wednesday at VA Memorial Stadium.For a player and a coach from the same school to be picked is a rarity, but that's exactly what happened. Reunited once more on the diamond, Hawkins got to coach Hunter Haynes for his final time as a high school athlete.Haynes made school history as he is only the second player to be invited to play. The first player from Mohawk was Austin Harper in 2017. He was one of nine Division VII players chosen to play in the games."Hunter (Haynes) had an amazing career and senior season," Hawkins said. "He was very deserving to play in this game."Hawkins wrote his own Warrior legacy as he became the first Mohawk coach in school history to coach at the OHSBCA All-Star games."It was a great honor to be selected to coach in the game," said Hawkins of the experience. "I feel spoiled about some of the great experiences that I have gotten to have with the players. None of them would be possible if not for the great players we have at Mohawk."In addition to Haynes being on the Northwest team, his teammates included fellow Division VII ace pitcher Shane Jones of New Riegel and Division VI Hopewell-Loudon's Cohen Sendelbach. Coming in from Division III was Columbian's ace pitcher Isaiah Tilse. Jones and Sendelbach will be teammates next year at Heidelberg.Tilse is going to Bryant and Stratton College, which belongs to the United States College Athletic Association (USCAA), which rules over intercollegiate athletic programs for small colleges, community colleges and junior colleges.As for the underclassmen, there were two from the local area. Junior Nicholas Parks from Seneca East played on the Red team, and junior Jeremiah Fishpaw from Buckeye Central played on the white team. Parks played shortstop and third basemen, while Fishpaw played as both catcher and pitcher in the game.Hawkins acknowledges that to do something like this was a cherry on top of the cake."To be part of a selective game like this is awesome. I'm very proud of the success of the team this season, and of Hunter too. It was a great year," he said.