Inclusion is best when it’s natural and unplanned

Travels with Fredman - That was going to be the name of my column in 1982, so I could write about whatever happened on my sports beat. Instead I titled it People in Sports, and I still write about whatever happens. Like Friday afternoon, my grandson, Davey, dancing with the Beacon cheerleaders at halftime of the girls’ game. A great example of inclusion inside a diversified public school. The fact that I’m related to him and his dad is the principal and we all have the same name is just a confluence of coincidences. I don’t write the script, just report on it.    

Just some guy - I am the sports guy in Delaware who knows the most people who don’t know him back, and I’ve been out in the open for the last 43 years. It’s always apparent when I go to an event upstate. Mostly the old to younger former coaches and athletes don’t see us and certainly don’t get the downstate connections to families over generations. Amazingly, I go to sports in Philly and it’s more like Sussex County; everybody knows somebody that you know and they’re likely to know your name if you ever stepped on a field anywhere close to the 215 area code. Enjoy your moments, Sussex County Eagles fans, and be happy your compadres from Philly take off to the Jersey shore for summer vacation.    

Wacky World of Sports - Cape boys’ basketball came storming back with a 26-6 fourth-quarter run to beat Indian River 65-56. The Indians led 50-39 entering the final period. Cape wrestling, coming off a loss to Sussex Tech, beat a strong Laurel team 38-21 on Friday night then went down to Indian River Saturday and beat the Indians 36-34. Eduardo “Gameday” Saez, 182, has won three matches in a row. Beacon basketball’s Morgan Mahoney scored 17 in the win over Chipman. She is one of the best eighth-graders I’ve seen downstate, and Mehkia Applewhite is right there with her. Cape junior Kenny Witherspoon came from nowhere to jump a personal best of 5-feet-10-inches to win the Henlopen Conference high jump championship. Sammy Mohr was named Defensive Back of the Year for the Delaware Valley College Aggies. Sussex Tech girls’ swimmers stopped Sussex Academy’s 10-0 season with a 106-64 win. The girls of coach Michelle Thomas remain undefeated after taking first place in all 11 events. Sussex Tech boys’ basketball, under first-year head coach Damon Ayers, won its eighth straight game 74-62 over visiting William Penn Jan. 27 to improve to 13-2 on the season. The Ravens were 5-15 last season. The Ravens made 10 three-pointers in the game. Damon Ayers and assistant Warren Perry are both related to Purnell Ayers, who was inducted into the Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame the same day. Sam Young, via Cape and Delaware, is now a sophomore pole vaulter at University of Virginia. He jumped 15-feet-3-inches at the Liberty Kickoff Track Complex for sixth place. Sam jumped 16-feet even Jan. 19 at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational at Iowa City. Roxanne Ramirez (Sussex Tech) is a freshman distance runner on the University of Delaware’s indoor track team. Other Delaware women on the team include Deja Rodriguez-Santiago, distance runner from Milford; Myrissa McFolling-Young, a thrower from Smyrna; and Sarah Hillman, a thrower from Polytech. Lizzie Frederick, a sophomore, and Taylor Gooch, a redshirt sophomore, are lacrosse players at Temple University. Jackie Cerchio, a freshman out of Methacton High in Audubon, Pa., is also playing for Temple. Jackie is the niece of Cape teacher and Parsons boat Captain Mike Cerchio, who is married to the former Lisa Pierce. Lisa and Terri Pierce, Taylor’s aunt who’s married to Eric Gooch, are sisters, so Cape cousins in the kinship house. Jamie Trabado, out of Polytech, is a redshirt freshman midfielder for the University of North Carolina women’s lacrosse team. Jamie is coming off ACL surgery, which sidelined her last season. Salesianum wrestling (11-1) is very much in the statewide picture with recent wins over Caesar Rodney 34-21 and Sussex Central 36-25. The Sals will grapple at Smyrna Friday, Feb. 2. Smyrna closes the dual-meet season at Sussex Central Wednesday, Jan. 31, then hosts Sallies Friday night and Caesar Rodney Saturday night. The Henlopen Conference Middle School wrestling tournament is set for this Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Milford Academy gym. Go on now, git!