Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Baseball sign ups slated at Ossian
Northern Wells Minor League and Wells County Junior League baseball sign ups are being taken at the Ossian Town Hall, as follows: Thursday, March 4, 5-8 p.m.; Saturday, March 6, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Thursday, March 11, 5-8 p.m.; Saturday, March 14, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Ages 4-12 and under. Cost is $55 for T-Ball, Coaches Pitch and Lower Minor and $60 for Junior League 10-and under and 12-and under. Birth certificates are needed.
Junior League tryouts are at the Norwell auxiliary gym on March 6 from 2-4 p.m. and March 12 from 5-7 p.m.

Summer youth activities planned
Registration for summer T-Ball, Farm, Junior and Baseball Leagues will be held at the City Hall building on the following dates and times:
Saturday, March 6, 9 a.m. - noon
Thursday, March 11 6 - 8 p.m.
Sandy Koufax Baseball (13-14 years old) and girls’ softball also will be accepting registrations on March 6. The Wells Community Swim Team also will be available for information on its program.
Sandy Koufax will continue to accept registrations at the Parks Dept. office until April 2. Girls’ softball will be sending registration forms home with students through area schools.
Tryouts for Farm and Junior League Baseball will be at the Bluffton Middle School on Saturday, March 13. Junior League will be from 9-10:30 a.m. and Farm League from 10:30 a.m.-noon. Age is determined by what the participant is on May 1. T-Ball is for 5 years (parent must help coach) – 8 years, Farm League is 8 years (may or may not be placed on a team, but still eligible for T-Ball) – 10 years of age. Junior League is for 10 years (may or may not be placed on a team, but still eligible for Farm League) – 12 years of age. Sandy Koufax is for youth 13-14 year olds. Girls’ softball is for grades 2-12.
For more information please call the park office at 824-6069 or e-mail us at: parks@ci.bluffton.in.us

Register for Pee Wee Soccer
The Bluffton Parks & Recreation Dept. will be registering girls and boys currently in grades K-3 for its Pee Wee Soccer League at the City Hall Building on Saturday, March 6 from 9 a.m.-noon. Cost is $15 per child and includes a T-shirt. The league will be held on six Saturdays, April 3-May 8 at the Bluffton City Gym.
There are some changes to the program this year. The games will be in the afternoons (starting at 1 p.m.) so not to conflict with the Upwards program and the participants will be assigned a time instead of a team. They will come the same time each week and will run through drills (by paid staff) for the first part of the time, then divided into two teams to scrimmage. They will be with the same group of children each week, but will be divided differently each week for the scrimmage. They will still be divided into grade categories of K-1 and 2-3. If you have further questions, call or e-mail the office at 824-6069 or parks@ci.bluffton.in.us

Crusaders even their wrestling record
The Norwell Crusaders’ wrestling team came from behind to defeat Riverview 31-24 Thursday night and even its record at 3-3.
Norwell’s Dalton Ziko (75 pounds) started things off with a 9-7 decision and Joe Becker (85) pinned his opponent in 50 seconds to give the Crusaders a 9-0 lead. Riverview won the next two matches with pins to take a 12-9 edge. Justin Miskin (105) scored a 10-0 major decision to put Norwell back on top 13-12.
Riverview won three of the next four matches, while Norwell’s Evan Roebuck (140) pinned his opponent in 2:51.
Riverview had a 24-19 lead before Norwell’s Cody Felger (200) pinned Jarod Bartrom in 2:51. That gave the Crusaders a 25-24 lead. Chase Nash was able to preserve Norwell’s win with a pin in 59 seconds.
The Norwell junior varsity lost 30-24. Winners were Hunter Dillon (85), Noah Tobias (100), Chandler Kohler (125), Tony West (200) and Miskin (110).

Fastpitch umpire clinic slated
The North Eastern Indiana Athletic Officials Association (NEIAOA) umpire clinic at Extra Innings will be either March 20 or 21.
The focus will be on plate and base mechanics for high school fastpitch and Little League major and minor umpires. It is open to anyone interested in developing their aptitude for positioning and mechanics in umpiring Little League or fast pitch, so that they may continuously improve their skills and abilities and ultimately reach their career goals in umpiring. Registration deadline is March 15. For more information, call Sharon Boren at 260-437-1348 or e-mail at borensm@verizon.com.