PREP NOTEBOOK: PC baseball heads south; Perkins trio wrestles at nationals

While most area baseball teams are waiting for dry, warmer weather, Port Clinton's squad is packing its bags for a spring break of baseball and the beach. The Redskins will play four games next week at the Cal Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C., starting with Monday's 9 a.m. game against Buckhannon Upshur High School in West Virginia. This will be the PC program's first trip south to play ball during spring break. The original plan was to go in 2020. "We've tried a couple times but had to cancel because schedules didn't line up and then COVID," PC coach Tracy Bodi said. The Redskins will leave town Sunday in a charter bus. Hal and Diane Hawk, owners of Crown Battery in Fremont. "That was such a gracious aid to us," Bodi said. "We'd like to thank all the people who have helped make this happen." The Redskins will play games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Ripken facility that features turf fields. "The idea is to go down and get reps that we couldn't get up north," Bodi said. "The big thing is to get valuable experience." PC went 9-16 overall last year, 2-8 in the SBC Bay Division and has eight seniors on its 11-player varsity roster. Perkins trio wrestles at nationals VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Perkins wrestlers Billy Smith, Zach Oprzadek and Wyatt Nemitz all competed Friday at the NHSCA national wrestling tournament in Virginia Beach. Smith, a senior, beat a wrestler from Massachusetts, 8-0, to advance to a 113-pound quarterfinal Saturday at 12 noon. Smith earned the No. 1 seed in senior nationals and had a first-round bye. A junior, Oprzadek split his matches Friday at 138 pounds. He won by fall in the opening round, then lost 8-2 to a wrestler from Georgia. He'll take the mat again at 8 a.m. Saturday. Nemitz, a sophomore, fell 10-2 to a wrestler from Pennsylvania on Friday morning and will wrestle in the 113-pound consolation bracket Saturday. Oak Harbor softball heads south Oak Harbor's softball team is spending an extended weekend in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The Rockets are scheduled to play three games Saturday, two Sunday and two Monday. Their opponents include three teams from Ohio — Pickerington North, Delaware Hayes and Cardington Lincoln.