Ohio coach proposes to rival coach on field

An Ohio high school softball coach threw a curve at the rival team’s coach when he dropped to one knee on the diamond and asked for her hand in marriage.

Glen Este High School varsity coach Tim Gregory and Milford High School coach Christy Foster had been dating more than two years before Wednesday’s proposal.

Gregory says “softball is really what brought us together.” Foster, of course, said yes to the proposal and called it perfect.

 The ensuing game wasn’t, though. Gregory’s team won 1 to 0.

 Read more: Ohio coach proposes to rival on field

Battle of the bots: Teens shoot for the moon [Video]

Some bright young inventors will be at the Memorial Coliseum this weekend to show off their creations. 

Check out America’s newest generation of inventors!

Some of the teens, in the past, have ended up working for NASA.

Watch this story about these inventive teenagers: It’s the battle of the bots at the Memorial Coliseum… and it’s free!

One school, eight sets of twins [Video]

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have a twin? We get those answers and more from not one, not two, but eight sets of twins at St. Francis school.

“Huh? No I’m not a twin she’s my clone.,” the Laa sisters say. They are members the most exclusive club at school. From two years old to seventeen, enrolled here are 8 sets of twins.

The twins say their classmates all react the same way. “They are shocked because we look nothing alike,” the Damaschi brothers say.

All 8 sets are fraternal and not identical twins. “They don’t think that were twins usually when we tell them,” Taylor Damaschi says, “why am I bigger than him, I’m still younger.”

Conner and Taylor have some obvious differences but some of the twins look a lot alike. “I can’t tell them apart but they are fraternal,” Sister Joan of Arc Souza said.

She says a school discount for siblings could be the reason for the twin invasion here. “We always want to wear the same things so we’ll fight over clothes sometimes a lot most of the time,” Emma and Claire Laa said.

Read more and watch that story: One school, eight sets of twins

Teen finds missing baby in stolen car [Video]

 

A baby is safe after a car with the child inside was stolen on Detroit’s northwest side Wednesday morning.

“When I seen my little boy, I was just so happy,” said the 5-month-old’s mother, Bianca Bell.

Bell’s son, Joshua, was in the backseat of a vehicle at a gas station on Fenkell and Strathmoor roads when his father went into the gas station for a moment. Police said that’s when a thief jumped in the running vehicle and drove away with the child.

Students who were waiting for a bus nearby saw the car pull in and park and the driver walk away.

Bianca Bell, crying tears of joy, said she thought for a moment that she was never going to see her son again.

Read more: Baby Inside Of Stolen Car Found Safe

Watch that story: Baby Boy Found Safe in Stolen Car

Exchange program breaks down stereotypes [Video]

Skaneateles and Fowler High School students are learning they have a lot in common.  Friday, students took part in an exchange program organized by Interfaith Works, which helps break down stereotypes by bringing students together. 

“Well, actually, before I came to fowler — I’m embarrassed to admit this — I was really scared,” says Skaneateles senior Madison Eckles.

Chris Gilkes, a senior at Fowler, says “I always thought Skaneateles — not to be mean — was going to be racist, which it’s really not.”

Skaneateles’s Josh Tracy is shadowing Fowler’s Gilkes; the pair met earlier this year during the schools’ first exchange.

“We’re definitely going to keep in contact, cause he’s getting recruited for basketball,” says Tracy.

“I just wanted to show that we’re not bad people. We’re the same. We just live in a different location,” says Gilkes.

In the fall, students compiled a list of assumptions they had about each other. Every so often they’ll revisit the list and see if the stereotypes still ring true.

Read more and watch that story: Exchange program breaks down stereotypes

Win one for Coach [Video]

John Baggs turned the St. Scholastica baseball program around and changed the lives of his players. He lost his life on Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. after a battle with cancer. Baggs’ team played its first games Tuesday night at 10:45 at the Metrodome.

This team has won 12 straight conference titles but that’s just a part of the reason Baggs was a great coach.

“Baseball was important but the lessons he taught the kids about life, it was amazing,” said St. Scholastica Baseball Parent Ron Rover

And as they watched a game, fans and former players were reflecting on the program and on its lost leader.

“He took the baseball lessons and turned them into life lessons. Took the approach, this is going to help you in baseball, that this is going to help you in life as well. So that will stay with me forever,” said Former St. Scholastica Player Nick Bjerken

That’s what you felt; that John Baggs had lived his life the right way. And his impact will be felt because of it.

Read more and watch that story:  Team Mourns Coach By Winning Double-Header

Teens learn life lessons while fighting fires [Video]

Georgetown County has something be proud of. Their school system is leading the way in South Carolina in making unique employment opportunities for students getting ready to graduate high school.

When the 14 students enrolled in the class complete their requirements they will be certified and ready to be hired as firefighters anywhere in the country when they turn 18.

It’s the perfect opportunity for students who may not see college as an option for any number of reasons, including financial reasons.

Even for those who choose to go to college after high school and those who don’t go into firefighting, the class teaches important life skills.

 Read more and watch that story: New program makes high school students firefighters after graduation

Chasing a championship for Kody [Video]

When the high school wrestling season began, Kody Neill of Holly had one simple goal. He wanted to qualify for the state high school wrestling tournament.

He never got that chance.

An auto accident on Dec. 27, 2008 claimed his life, but it couldn’t take his memory from his teammates and coach.

“Everyday at practice I still look for him to walk through the doors with that smile on his face,” Lyndon Wagner, coach of the Holly wrestling team, said.

“Oh, I know he’s with me,” Hayden Nordyke, a teammate of Kody’s, said. “I’ve even said sometimes I feel him with me when I get a little boost. I know that’s him, that he’s pushing me.”

Six wrestlers on the Holly team qualified for the state high school wrestling tournament. They will have the support of many from the town, including Kody’s family. As the individual wrestlers competed on the mat, Kyle and Gale Neill cheered them on.

“His dad will even come into the wrestling room and sit there and watch because there’s a piece of Kody in every single one of those wrestlers and he sees that,” Wagner said.

The loss of Kody has also driven the team to exceed expectation.

“I’ve never seen this team wrestle like this in my life,” Kyle Neill said. “You can tell they’ve go Kody in their hearts.”

Read more and watch this very well-done and touching story: Chasing championships and memories

Former Down Syndrome athlete makes Hall of Fame [Video]

 

Get your tissues ready as master storyteller Boyd Huppert does it again in the story of true inspiration. This is a truly amazing story about an extraordinary man.

We should all be so lucky to put in four years at high school and take away an experience so rewarding we wish it would never end.

It was like that for Billy Steil when the class of 1983 crossed the gym floor at Rocori High School.

“I didn’t want to leave,” says Billy as he sits in the boys locker room two hours before a wrestling meet.   

His own wrestling career was cut short by a junior high school injury and concerns about heart problems more prevalent in Down Syndrome kids.

Now, 28 years and four coaches later, Billy Steil is still managing to manage. 

“He’s just part of the team,” proclaims Paul Court, Rocori’s current coach.

For a generation of athletes and fans, Billy has come to symbolize the spirit of Rocori. “An icon is a good word,” says Nathan Humbert who wrestled for Rocori in the 1990s.

The only thing that makes him sad is that at season’s end everyone else has to go away.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he says to Dorf as tears well up in eyes. “I’m gonna miss you too Bill,” says the sturdy senior as he locks Bill in hug.

Rocori parent Molly Olivier has seen this before. “He’s extremely sensitive. He falls in love with the team and the seniors mean so very, very much to him every year and he gets upset that there’s a senior leaving, and we keep reminding him, there’s more coming up next year. They’re going to be your new best friend next year.”

Trust me when I say you really want to watch this story.

Watch the story: Land of 10,000 Stories: Rocori is ‘Billy’s Place’

They’re 0-17 but new fans give team something to “shoot” for [Video]

I got this one as a tip from a reader. It’s a simple story that is oddly touching.

If you’ve ever felt like the unappreciated underdog — this one is for you!

The Roosevelt Lady Roughriders were 0-17 heading into Tuesday night’s game against Madison. Their coach, Craig Woods, said a typical night will draw a sparse crowd of about 30 people.

But on this night, 1,600 packed the gym at Roosevelt to watch the girls basketball team’s final home game of the year.

With his team holding a winless record, Woods never expected to see the stands packed. But a recent column by Steve Duin in The Oregonian newspaper sparked a storm of support for his winless team.

“Usually this kind of support comes to winning teams, so for this to happen to a team that’s not winning, it’s really, really something,” Woods said.

the players’ own parents were unable to attend games, many of them because they couldn’t afford a car, the $6 tickets or were forced to stay home to watch their children.

On senior night, however, hundreds of people from across the metro area packed the stands. The crowd included a group of about 900 from Southlake Church in West Linn.

“We just wanted to come out and give the girls a reason to get excited,” said Kelly Mooney, who attended the game.

Read more and watch this story: Fans Pack Stands For 0-17 Roosevelt

Photo: Flickr user  ~*cheri*~