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Mud Hens' bats silent in 11-3 loss to St. Paul Saints
A four-run top of the second inning was all St. Paul needed to dispatch Toledo, but for good measure the Saints continued to add on throughout the game for an 11-3 victory over the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field on Saturday. In that top of the second, St. Paul’s Wynton Bernard led off with a single and scored the game’s first run when Anthony Prato followed with a triple. Then, Patrick Winkel’s RBI single scored Prato to make it 2-0. Two batters later, after a Payton Eeles walk, Dalton Shuffield’s single scored Winkel (3-0). The Saints later added another run on Rylan Bannon’s one-out RBI single. For Toledo (42-52) in the bottom of the inning, Spencer Torkelson garnered a leadoff walk and rode home on a Bligh Madris double that made it 4-1. Following Ryan Kreidler’s fly out, the Mud Hens trimmed the deficit in half (4-2) thanks to Justice Bigbie’s RBI single, scoring Madris.
Pain, joy, and thousands of dollars: Get to know the new era of club volleyball
Hitting the road is a regular part of life for the Rodriguez family from Oregon. “You come home and you look at the bank account sometimes, and you’re like, ‘Man. But it was a fun weekend,’” said David Rodriguez, the father of 18-year-old Adella and 17-year-old Hayden. The travel — and expenses related to it — aren’t vacations. Instead, this plays out at the end of many two-day trips to national club volleyball tournaments in which the daughters play. Adella and Hayden have played on the Toledo Volleyball Club’s travel teams for the past eight years or so. And several times a year, Rodriguez and his wife will join their girls on trips to Florida, Missouri, Maryland, or wherever else the tournament might take them. Their daughters bring their laptops to do homework on the flights or between matches, but they work to enjoy the rare unscheduled moments on the road.
Dana Open comes to Highland Meadows for 35th time
It’s a milestone year for the Dana Open, as the LPGA event celebrates its 40th anniversary and status as the second-longest-running non-major championship. This is also the 35th playing at Highland Meadows, the Sylvania golf club that has grown synonymous with the Jamie Farr-turned-Marathon Classic-turned-Dana Open, hosting many of the tournament’s greatest moments. “Highland Meadows membership, it is a great partnership,” Dana Open tournament director Judd Silverman said. “As successful partnerships go, both parties understand each other’s needs, and we’ve always been able to work it out. I just couldn’t be more appreciative of the support that the club has provided the tournament through the years. I think it’s been a win-win situation, and no partnership is going to last that long if it’s not.” The Jamie Farr Toledo Classic began in 1984 at Glengarry Country Club (now Stone Oak), where it remained until moving to Highland Meadows in 1989. A burned-down clubhouse and Glengarry’s sale to Cavalear Corporation factored into the course change. The marriage has been positive for both sides, evidenced by the length. One tournament at a single course for more than three decades on the LPGA Tour is unheard of.
Wannasaen leads by 3 entering final round of Dana Open
A Saturday duel at the Dana Open turned into the Chanette Wannasaen show. The 20-year-old Thai and defending champion Linn Grant were tied at 12 under par when they stepped to the tee at the par-4 ninth hole at Highland Meadows. By the time they signed their scorecards a little more than two hours later, Wannasaen led Grant by five, and she was three shots clear of second-place Haeran Ryu. “I think today was really good,” said Wannasaen, who shot a 5-under-par 66. She had four birdies during a six-hole stretch (9-14), providing a final-round cushion that could yield her second LPGA Tour victory. Wannasaen’s first win came last year at the Portland Classic, where she won as a Monday qualifier.
Briggs: Barry Bonds' anticipated visit to Cooperstown tells you everything about Jim Leyland
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Before Jim Leyland was a Hall of Fame manager, he was the bleeping manager, and he made sure the best player he ever coached knew it. Yes, we’re talking about The Tirade. If you’re among the millions of baseball fans who have watched Leyland’s legendary reaming of superstar slugger Barry Bonds during spring training in 1991 — footage of which ought to be a first-ballot entry into the YouTube Hall of Fame — you might assume the two men never spoke again. That’s how badly the then-Pirates skipper ripped into Bonds after the reigning National League MVP was moping through camp during a contract dispute.
Briggs: From Perrysburg with love, Hall of Fame-bound Jim Leyland never forgot his roots
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — From Jim Leyland’s childhood home on West Indiana Avenue in Perrysburg to his eternal baseball home on 25 Main Street here, the drive is eight hours going on forever. Or so it might have seemed. If you had told a teenaged Leyland that he would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound schoolboy star — blessed with more brains than brawn — would have rolled his eyes harder than a scalding grounder. “I would have said you were out of your mind,” he told me. “I never even dreamed of it.”
Lucas County Farm Connections program serves as educator
A pig produces more than bacon and a cow shouldn’t be looked at as just a milk source. “Animals provide more than just meat,” said Jess Soffee, Lucas County 4-H educator. “They provide makeup, down comforters, glass, inks.” Participants stopping by the 4-H booth at Saturday’s Home Grown: Lucas County Farm Connections program at MacQueen Orchards in Holland could take a quiz from Ms. Soffee about their animal knowledge. “Plastic comes from cattle, poultry, and swine,” she said. “Chewing gum comes from cattle fat and sheep fat. Gummy bears have glycerin from pigs in it. Marshmallows have pork products in them. We’re just educating people where everything comes from — especially in an urban county.”
Trump hits the campaign trail in Grand Rapids, Mich. as official nominee
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Just one week after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail again, but this time, with a new partner. Saturday’s event at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids marked Trump’s first rally as the GOP’s official presidential nominee. He was joined by U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R., Ohio), who accepted Trump’s nomination of vice president. The duo is wasting no time, quickly hopping on the campaign trail after spending the past week in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. Despite the busy week, Trump entered the stage energetically, quickly taking digs at his opponent. “They’re going to go to the convention, and they have a couple of problems,” Trump said of the Democratic Party. “Number one, they have no idea who their candidate is and neither do we.”
Bilingual Spanish-English campaign educates on opioid crisis
Zulay Sierra was driving in Lucas County last spring when a billboard caught her eye. “¡QUIERETE!” the black billboard read — a Spanish phrase translating roughly as “care for yourself.” Before arriving in Toledo in 2021, Ms. Sierra worked as an intensive care unit nurse in her home country of Venezuela. When Ms. Sierra discovered that the billboard was part of a bilingual opioid education campaign, she reached out to the organizers, eager to use her medical expertise to help Spanish-speakers in Toledo. “I wanted to support my Latino community,” Ms. Sierra said in Spanish. “This campaign is not only for Hispanics, but also for the American community, to become aware of the damage that the excessive consumption of these narcotics is causing in the new generations — to the point of death.”
Strumming along: Youngsters strum ukuleles like Tiny Tim in BeInstrumental classes
Jimi Hendrix. Carlos Santana. Eric Clapton. Their names always appear in the list of the best guitarists ever, But can you name the top, or most famous, ukulele players? Among them are many current stars, Taylor Swift and Eddie Vedder are just two, as well as the late George Harrison, Tiny Tim, John Lennon, and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, who, some say, basically brought the instrument out of obscurity with his renditions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wonderful World.”
The new classic: Wood County couple opens vintage automobile museum
MILLBURY, Ohio — As Tammy and Mike Bartlett have spent over two decades collecting cars, their passion has grown from storing their collection in one garage, to building a larger one, yet outgrowing both spaces. Now the pair is showcasing their collectables in a museum for the public to view. The Millbury Classic Cars and Trucks museum, located at 26929 Cummings Rd., features close to 85 cars and trucks on display, said co-owner Tammy Bartlett, along with vintage and neon signs, gas pumps, bikes, and mannequins. “It really never intended to be a car museum in the beginning, but as our collection and our love for purchasing cars just kept growing,” she continued, “we've decided, you know, it would be really nice to share everything with the public.” Besides the classic car museum in Bowling Green, Snook’s Dream Cars, Bartlett said there’s nothing quite like this in the northwest region of Ohio.
Family mistakes lead to comic relief as 'Jennifer’s Birth' jumps into second weekend
BOWLING GREEN — The comedy is sure to come rolling through again as Jennifer’s Birth, a play presented by the Black Swamp Players in Bowling Green, is showing for its second weekend at the Oak Street Theater. The Rich Orloff play centers on a middle-aged woman — Jennifer — who goes back in time to when she was born and observes her parents navigating the struggles of early adulthood. Jennifer’s Birth won the Black Swamp Players’ third annual Telling Stories playwriting competition, which focuses on producing plays that highlight social justice issues and have not received adequate production. What: ‘Jennifer’s Birth’ Where: 115 Oak St., Bowling Green
Maumee's murky waters: The ruinous consequences of an environmental crime
For more than 24 years, city of Maumee employees routinely reported to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that the town was not discharging sewage into the Maumee River. Those affirmations were manifestly untrue. In fact, between 1996 and 2020, the city of Maumee dumped millions of gallons of sewage-contaminated water into the city’s namesake river. What’s more, during portions of that time, the city’s sewer system was not overseen by an appropriately certified sewer collection operator.
From palettes to palates: Skill sets converge in creating art and food
Chefs and artists alike have a knack for the use of texture, color, and presentation in their varying art forms. These professions are more similar than what meets the eye, both with the same end goal in mind — making sure all components of a dish or art piece are working together. Where they differ is whether they use a palette or palate for their art. Toledo Museum of Art
Outdoors: Lake Erie anglers share fishing intel online
Seems the more current Lake Erie fishing intel is best garnered on social media sites these days, but many anglers savvy to the internet likely already know this. I recently talked to an Ohio DNR official who confirmed this to me in an email with regard to the agency’s fishing reports. “We have learned that the information we provide is generally outdated by the time we post it [we get info from our creel survey, and its often a week or more late by the time we post something],” said Eric Weimer of the Division of Wildlife’s office in Sandusky....
Leyland greatest moments countdown No. 1: Standing up to Bonds
Leading up to Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Perrysburg native Jim Leyland, we’re counting down our five favorite Leyland moments. No. 1: Leyland stands up to Bonds If you didn’t know Jim Leyland, his famed dressing down of Barry Bonds during spring training in 1991 might make him seem like an unflinching tough cookie. But what it really showed was his ability to hold even the biggest stars accountable.
Trending upward: Valentine Theatre's upcoming season keys in on what people want
The Valentine Theatre will be paying tribute to music icons ranging from Neil Diamond to Cher during its 2024-2025 season. While some musical celebrations are returning to Toledo, two shows, Always Loretta and Hank and my Honky Tonk Heroes, are new to the area. The two represent an initial foray into classical country music by the Valentine, which is making the best of two trends: the rise of tribute shows and a resurgence in country music. “A significant number of people love the music of the ’70s and ’80s and want that live performance experience — reliving their youth or simply 'seeing' bands they wish they could have seen back in the day,” said Jason Stumbo, director of bands at the University of Toledo.
Editorial: Iran asking for war
If Iran was complicit in a plot to kill a former American president, that country has committed an act of war. Iran was spared severe consequences from its vicious attack on Israel in April. Iran fired more than 100 missiles deep into Israel, America’s staunch ally in the Middle East. Read more Blade editorials Fortunately for Iran, the cannonade was mostly rendered harmless by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense, with help from the United States, Britain, France, and Jordan.
Editorial: Pops at Promenade?
Blade music columnist Heather Denniss details the downtown Columbus summer draw called Picnic with the Pops and asks; “wouldn’t the strings of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra or the voices of the Toledo Opera along the Maumee River on a sultry night sound and look just as pretty, if not prettier? (“Outdoor concerts make the summer Pops,” Thursday) Columbus Commons, just south of the Ohio Statehouse, is certainly a beautiful location, but it does not match Promenade Park in downtown Toledo along the banks of the river. Ms. Denniss concludes “we can only dream.” But Toledo’s government and business leaders would be wise to make that dream a reality. Nationwide Insurance provides sponsorship dollars for Columbus’ Picnic with the Pops. The investment brings much goodwill and greatly enhances the quality of life in their headquarters city.
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