The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Firelands, Vermilion athletes pick colleges
Twelve athletes at Firelands High School and two Vermilion Sailors sign their National Letters of Intent to designate their college choices.
The Falcons are spreading their wings, as 12 Firelands athletes signed their National Letters of Intent on May 5.
The athletes represented seven sports and signed to 10 different schools. Those signing were: Patrick Brightbill (Malone, soccer), Trevor Damron (Coastal Carolina, baseball), John Gall (Heidelberg, soccer), Tori Grasso (Capital, basketball), Kyle Hieb (Mount Union, wrestling), Daniel Hribal (Mount Union, baseball), Doc Januzzi (Waynesburg, basketball), Ben Markovich (Heidelberg, football), Colin Myers (Wilmington, basketball), Maddie Sims (Mount Union, track), Trevor Stefanski (Ashland, football) and Megan Vaughn (Baldwin Wallace, track).
“It was a tough decision,” Stefanski said. “But what it came down to was closeness and being home. I wanted to stay close to home.”
Stefanski, an offensive lineman, graded out at 85 percent while tallying 43 pancake blocks last season, earning him a firstteam spot on the Morning Journal All-Stars. Stefanski was named to The Morning Journal All-Star second team in 2015 and received Honorable Mention status in 2014 as a sophomore.
“Playing here was great,” he added. “Especially when we made that playoff run, but all great things must come to an end.”
Damron, a strong lefthanded pitcher, said his decision to join the NCAA Division I-reigning national champions Coastal Carolina Chanticleers was easy.
“I was on vacation and ended up signing to their camp,” Damron said. “I did pretty good while I was down there. Then coach (Gary) Gilmore invited me back for a visit the next day and ended up offering me. It’s pretty cool getting an offer from such a great baseball school.”
Damron is 16-5 in his career with a 1.28 ERA and 283 strikeouts. He also earned the 2017 PBR Preseason All-Ohio First Team award.
Grasso, a first-team Morning Journal All-Star from this winter and thirdteam selection in 2016, will play basketball at Capital. She averaged 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and 2.6 steals this past season.
“I was looking at a few schools and they were actually the last one I visited,” Grasso said. “And I just felt good about it. When you know. .. then you know. I want people at Firelands to remember me as a good friend and leader.”
Myers is a multi-sport athlete, excelling in basketball, football, track and baseball. But Myers will play only basketball at Wilmington. This past year, he averaged 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists and earned first team All-Lorain County Division II and Morning Journal All-Stars second team.
“Basketball has always just been fun for me,” Myers said. “You can just go out in the driveway and shoot around. It’s been a great experience here at Firelands and playing all these sports. The coaches have been great and encouraged multi-sport athletes.”
Sailors sign
On May 4, a pair of Vermilion athletes made their choices. Caliegh Holcomb (softball) signed with Lake Erie and Jake Baxter (track) signed with Tiffin.