Chase Ballinger
There are players who start a year on fire and then there is this Sussex Academy senior on the lacrosse team. Chase has signed to play soccer at Division III Elizabethtown this fall, but he is giving Seahawks fans a reason to watch this exciting lacrosse team to the tune of six points per game. Chase opened the year with a hat trick and a literal handful of assists in an eight-point performance at Delmar. He followed that up with four goals and two assists in the 12-5 victory over Middletown. In the April 1 19-0 win over Lake Forest, Chase tallied one goal and added three assists, giving him eight goals and 10 assists through the first three games of the season. If he wanted to, he could probably play lacrosse at the next level, but the incredibly gifted soccer player knows his future is on the bigger field with bigger goals. He hopes to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a state trooper.
Grayce Glover
This three-sport letter winner has represented Sussex Academy athletics at the varsity level since her eighth-grade season of softball. After helping lead the volleyball team to an 11-4 regular season and a trip to the state tournament, Grayce was an anchor on the basketball team. She hauled in her 500th career rebound toward the end of the season. Big Dog is a well-earned nickname for a girl with a lot of fight to her bite and who relishes the big moments. She smashed two home runs in the softball season-opening win and scored the winning run in the 15-14 victory over rival Indian River. Holding down the keystone in softball, she can often be heard encouraging her teammates and whoever is in the circle. Softball may be the sport she ends up playing at the next level, but whoever gets her in whatever sport she chooses will get more than their money's worth from Big Dog.
Dom Mangini
This 6-foot-5, 245-pound right-hander is off to a great start on the mound and at the plate for the Cape baseball team. In the 5-0 win over Caesar Rodney, the Vikings’ ace struck out five in 5.2 innings. He also had a hit in the game. He continued to be hot at the plate, driving a booming grand slam and a single against a tough Dover squad March 31. In the same game, he shut the door on the Senators on the mound in the seventh inning. "Dom is a gentle giant," said Cape coach Ben Evick. "He's a great kid. He worked extremely hard this off-season on getting in great shape and much stronger. He has big-time stuff on the mound and an extremely high ceiling. He also worked very hard offensively and is showing to have legit power and the ability to drive the ball gap to gap." He is a member of the Henlopen Leaders group and plays for the Showcase Baseball Academy in the off-season. In his spare time, he can be found fishing.
Brian Sponaugle
This Valparaiso senior is a distance runner and decathlete. In his younger years, he was an all-star catcher in Milton Little League. Brian is third on Valpo’s all-time list in decathlon with 6,148 points and second on the top performers list in javelin with a throw of 196 feet. Brian has always been the academic guy, graduating summa cum laude from Cape. After the 2024-25 track season, Brian was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and College Sports Academic All-District. He earned MVC Honor Roll, the Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award and the Presidential Academic Honors Award. Brian was part of Cape’s 2022 Division I 4-by-800 relay state championship team. He was all-conference in the relay and the 800 as a senior. He is majoring in mechanical engineering. He’s another local diversified multi-sport athlete who lists fishing among his favorite things to do.
