To be the winning team, fan votes play a heavy role, along with consideration from our sports team here at LINK.
Nominations are reader-submitted or recommended by our sports team. Our Team of the Week program honors all local sports at all levels, whether it’s youth or adult-oriented recreation, high school or college, professional or amateur.
The new school year has added to the awards program. OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and LINK nky are excited to expand in addition to the weekly winners, the program will be including three winners for Team of the Season and one overall winner for Team of the Year for the 2024-25 sports seasons.
New this year for the program is the addition of the Team of the Season (TOTS) and Team of the Year (TOTY) awards. Sports seasons are considered fall, winter and spring for the purpose of this awards program. At the conclusion of each sports season, an overall TOTS winner will be chosen from all previous TOTW winners for that season. Their school will also receive a $500 scholarship to be presented to the athlete of their choice at the end of the school year.
Finally, the program culminates by selecting one TOTY from the three TOTS award winners. Online and print articles will again be published, a large commemorative plaque will be presented and the school will receive an additional $500 scholarship to be presented to the athlete of their choice at the end of the school year.
The call for nominations, voting and winning announcement for each will follow the same format as the TOTW.
This week’s nominated teams are listed below with some information provided by the submitter or LINK nky staff. The poll where you can vote follows at the end of the article.
Voting is open until Friday at 11:59 a.m.
NOTRE DAME ACADEMY TENNIS
The Pandas won the 9th Region tennis title after wins over Villa Madonna (3-0), Highlands (3-0) and Ryle (3-1).
The team is coached by Lyndsey Maynard with Lil Berling, Malia Christensen, Brooklyn Esposito, Paige Haas, Lila Harris, Kate Harris, Francie Kreutzjans, Taylor Maynard, Bella McElwee, Grace Summe and Eva Tully on the roster.
They advance to the state tournament that starts June 3 in Lexington and will face the 15th Region winner in the first round.
HOLMES BASEBALL
The Bulldogs closed their season out on a high note as they went 3-1 last week. They defeated Bracken County (10-7), Dayton twice (14-6 and 14-4) before losing to Beechwood (12-0) in the 35th District tournament semifinals.
In the win over the Polar Bears, Deontae Graves led the way at the plate with two hits and two RBI. Tyler Brashear added a hit with three RBI as their patience at the plate paid off, recording 12 walks. Ryshawn Clifford, Konscious Johnson and Braxton Graves also added RBI. Ezaiah Tillman registered the win on the mound with 3.2 innings on the mound.
In scoring 28 runs in two games against Dayton, Brashear did a lot of the damage with seven runs driven in the two games, Deontae Graves drove in three runs and Xarion Foster and Braxton Graves drove in two.
In the district semifinal loss to Beechwood, they battled, trailing 2-0 through 3.5 innings before the Tigers opened the floodgates with a 10-run bottom of the fourth.
VILLA MADONNA BASEBALL
The Vikings set a school record for wins in a season with 18 after a 11-1 victory over Ludlow in the first round of the 34th District tournament.
They went 3-0 last week with wins over Dayton (16-0), Boone County (8-5) and Ludlow. The win over Boone County was their first since at least 2007, how far back the head-to-head matchups went on the KHSAA website.
Standouts on the week include Joe Rice with four RBI, Ben Murray-Cirulli with five RBI, Otto Breitling with three RBI, Tyler Brandstetter with three RBI, Ryan Timm with five RBI, Michael Callioni three RBI, Luke Smith four RBI.
Timm picked up two wins on the mound, Brandstetter with one.
Their season came to a close on Sunday with a 4-0 loss to St. Henry in the 34th District semifinals.
HIGHLANDS SOFTBALL
A dominant week of softball for the Bluebirds had them outscore teams 36-1 as they closed out the regular season with a 25-6 record.
They defeated Dixie Heights (14-0), Walton-Verona (11-0) and Ryle (11-1). The win over Ryle was Milt Horner’s 138th as head coach, a program record for all-time wins.
Kaitlyn Dixon was nearly un-hittable. She tossed 16 innings, pitched two no-hitters, allowed just one hit and struck out 38 batters. The offense piled up 40 hits in the three contests. Standouts were Cam Markus with five RBI, Morgan Pompilio five RBI, Bailee Class two RBI, Kate Class six RBI, Allison Meyers seven hits and Dixon with five RBI.
They followed that up with 10-0 victory over Dayton on Sunday to earn a berth into the 36th District championship and the 9th Region tournament.
SCOTT SOFTBALL
The Eagles tallied wins over Lloyd Memorial (15-0) and Holy Cross (8-1) last week to enter the 37th District tournament on a high note.
They enter the district tournament on a three-game winning streak after having lost six games in a row.
In the win over Lloyd, Jamie Golden and Ashlynn Riley drove in three runs apiece while Elise Manhardt had four hits. Avery Reeves added two RBI while Addyson Riley pitched a one-hitter in four innings of work, striking out four.
In the regular season finale win over Holy Cross, Addyson Riley notched two hits and an RBI while Ashlynn Rile drove in two runs. Golden, Manhardt and Emerson Morman also drove in runs. Scarlett Cochran pitched a complete-game in the circle, allowing four hits, an earned run and struck out eight.
Scott looks to advance to the district championship for just the second time since 2019 as they face Bishop Brossart in the semifinals on Monday.
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