[Colley9288]

As the middle of June quickly comes upon us, the fifth edition of the 2014 Gene Bennett Classic is set to get underway! The classic is held in honor of legendary Reds scout and area native, Gene Bennett, who has contributed a great deal to the Tri-State area in addition to his efforts as a scout.

The Wheelersburg native first entered the Reds organization as a scout in 1952 before moving to a part-time scouting position following the 1958 MLB season. In 1975, he was promoted to scouting supervisor for the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana and would continue to work with the Reds in various capacities until announcing his retirement before the start of the 2011 season. During his 58-year tenure with the Reds, Bennett would sign the likes of Don Gullett and Barry Larkin among with many other notable Reds greats and would help the Reds to three of the franchise's five World Series rings.

As far as the event is concerned, the field will consist of 16 teams. Those 16 teams will be split into four separate divisions and games will be played at seven different ballparks around the region across a four-day span, with the playoff brackets set to begin on Saturday morning and the semifinal and championship games to be played on Sunday morning. The championship game will be played at Branch Rickey Park on Sunday at noon:
Here are the divisions as follows:

Oliver Division:
Midwest Pelicans
Kentucky Colonels
Reb's Sports Academy
Michigan Bulls

Tenace Division:
Midland Redskins
Motor City Prospects
Ohio Yankees
Ohio Red Storm

Gullett Division:
Ohio Warhawks
Prospect Scouts
CageRat Baseball
Great Lakes Canadians

Hisle Division:
Huntington Hounds
Bullett Proof Academy
Dayton Classics
Midwest Prospects

The sites for the Gene Bennett Baseball Classic are as follows:
Branch Rickey Park (Portsmouth, Ohio)
Portsmouth High School - Hatcher Field (Portsmouth, Ohio)
Wheelersburg High School (Wheelersburg, Ohio)
Minford High School (Minford, Ohio)
Greenup County High School (Lloyd, Kentucky)
Lucasville Valley High School (Lucasville, Ohio)
Portsmouth West High School (West Portsmouth, Ohio)

Game schedules, rosters, and other notable updates will be included in subsequent posts.

[Colley9288]

Here is the schedule for the Gene Bennett Classic for Thursday, June 12th:
Branch Rickey Park
9 AM: Huntington Hounds vs. Bullett Proof
Noon: Midwest Pelicans vs. Michigan Bulls
3 PM: Ohio Yankees vs. Prospect Scouts
6 PM: Opening Ceremonies
6:30 PM: Ohio Warhawks vs. Midland Redskins

Portsmouth High School:
11 AM: Dayton Classics vs. Midwest Prospects...
3 PM: Midwest Prospects vs. Huntington Hounds

Wheelersburg High School:
11 AM: Kentucky Colonels vs. Reb's Sports Academy
3 PM: Midwest Pelicans vs. Reb's Sports Academy

Minford High School
11 AM: CageRat Baseball vs. Ohio Warhawks
3 PM: Michigan Bulls vs. Kentucky Colonels

Greenup County High School
11 AM: Ohio Redstorm vs. Ohio Yankees
3 PM: CageRat Baseball vs. Ohio Redstorm

Valley High School
11 AM: Midland Redskins vs. Motor City Prospects
3 PM: Motor City Prospects vs. Great Lakes Canadians

West High School
11 AM: Great Lakes Canadians vs. Prospect Scouts
3 PM: Bullett Proof vs. Dayton Classics

[Colley9288]

The schedule for the Gene Bennett Baseball Classic on Friday, June 13th, is as follows:

Branch Rickey Park
9 AM: Reb's Sports Academy vs. Midwest Prospects
Noon: Ohio Redstorm vs. Motor City Prospects
3 PM: Dayton Classics vs. Kentucky Colonels
6 PM: Great Lakes Canadians vs. CageRat Baseball

Minford High School:
Noon: Midwest Prospects vs. Bullett Proof
3 PM: Bullett Proof vs. Midwest Pelicans

Wheelersburg High School:
9 AM: Motor City Prospects vs. Ohio Yankees
Noon: Ohio Yankees vs. Midland Redskins
3 PM: Midland Redskins vs. Ohio Redstorm

Greenup County High School:
Noon: Huntington Hounds vs. Dayton Classics
3 PM: Michigan Bulls vs. Huntington Hounds

Valley High School:
Noon: Reb's Sports Academy vs. Michigan Bulls
3 PM: Prospect Scouts vs. CageRat Baseball

West High School:
9 AM: Kentucky Colonels vs. Midwest Pelicans
Noon: Prospect Scouts vs. Ohio Warhawks
3 PM: Ohio Warhawks vs. Great Lakes Canadians

[Colley9288]

We will now commence with releasing the rosters for the 2014 Gene Bennett Baseball Classic. The first roster that is available to us comes from the Midwest Prospect, who hail out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Their head coach is Tom Lindhe.

Roster:
#1 - Seth Watts (Edgewood High School, Class of 2015)
#4 - Jordan Ramey (Cincinnati Moeller High School, Class of 2015 - University of Cincinnati commit)
#5 - Ben Beachy (Springboro High School, Class of 2015)
#7 - Brandon Giltrow (Lakota West High School, Class of 2015)
#8 - Tyler Burdick (Glen Este High School, Class of 2015 - Morehead State University football commit)
#9 - Dalton Hansel (Fairfield High School, Class of 2015)
#11 - Tristian Lana (Milford High School, Class of 2014)
#12 - Daniel Sepulveda (Kings High School, Class of 2015)
#13 - Evan Moores (Glen Este High School, Class of 2015)
#15 - Kyle Campbell (Blanchester High School, Class of 2014 - Mount St. Joseph's commit)
#19 - Austin Woodby (University of Cincinnati)
#21 - Bryan Thurnauer (Lakota West High School, Class of 2014 - Georgetown College (Ky.) commit)
#22 - Genesis Hillard (Cincinnati Colerain High School, Class of 2015)
#24 - Jake Mason (Cincinnati Anderson High School, Class of 2014)
#32 - Noah Heard (Fairfield High School, Class of 2014 - Tiffin University commit)
#33 - Steven Jankowski (Cincinnati Turpin High School, Class of 2015)
#34 - Dalton Dahley (Clintwood (Va.) High School, Class of 2014)
#52 - Ronnie Murphy (Glen Este High School, Class of 2015)
#88 - Peyton Burdick (Glen Este High School, Class of 2015 - Wright State University commit)

[Colley9288]

The second roster that is available for the 2014 Gene Bennett Baseball Classic comes from the Kentucky Colonels, who are based out of Florence, Kentucky. Their head coach is Walt Terrell.

Roster:
#00 - Matt Wehrle (Dixie Heights High School, Edgewood, KY, Class of 2014
#2 - Henry Kerns (Dixie Heights High School, Erlanger, KY, Class of 2015
#4 - Lou Bunning (Fort Thomas Highlands High School, For...t Thomas, KY, Class of 2015)
#5 - Chase O'Connor (Gallatin County High School, Gallatin County, KY, Class of 2014)
#6 - Tony Lacourte (St. Henry High School, Erlanger, KY, Class of 2014)
#9 - Marshall Rich (Union High School, Ryle, KY, Class of 2015)
#13 - Jeremy Downs (Union High School, Ryle, KY, Class of 2014)
#16 - Ethan Harrison (Dixie Heights High School, Erlanger, KY, Class of 2015)
#19 - Colin Hathorn (Cooper High School, Burlington, KY, Class of 2015)
#21 - Noah Galvin (Covington Catholic High School, Fort Mitchell, KY, Class of 2015)
#23 - Blaise Ostertag (Conner High School, Burlington, KY, Class of 2015)
#24 - Reed Spata (Covington Scott High School, Taylor Mill, KY, Class of 2014)
#25 - Jake Schmidt (Beechwood High School, Fort Mitchell, KY, Class of 2015)
#32 - Spencer Hackworth (Bishop Brossart High School, Alexandria, KY, Class of 2015)
#40 - Mac Welsh (Ryle High School, Walton, KY, Class of 2014)
#41 - Andrew McWhorter (Walton-Verona High School, Hebron, KY, Class of 2014)
#42 - Colin Suttles (Dixie Heights High School, Edgewood, KY, Class of 2015)
#43 - Seth Caple (Dixie Heights High School, Ludlow, KY, Class of 2014)
#44 - Sean Lawrence (Simon Kenton High School, Independence, KY, Class of 2015)

[Harry Rex Vonner]

First class event. Kentucky Colonels are a good group.

[Colley9288]

Time to release more rosters! The third roster that comes to us comes by way of the Midland Redskins, out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Loaded with talent, Midland finished 47-6 in 2013 and has featured numerous amounts of big names in the past, such as Chris Welsh, Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Matheny, Mark Mulder, Ryan Theriot, Nate McLouth, Zack Greinke, Cameron Maybin, Justin Jackson, Yasmani Grandal, Matt Harvey, and Eric Hosmer among many, many others!

Roster (NOTE: some contain duplicate numbers):
#2 - D.J. Wilson, Canton, OH, Class of 2015 (Vanderbilt)
#3 - Greg Deichman, Metarie, LA, Class of 2014 (LSU)
#3 - Dillon Cooper, Raleigh, NC, Class of 2015 (East Carolina)
#3 - Ty Duvall, Lebanon, OH, Class of 2016 (Vanderbilt)
#4 - Jeb Bargfeldt, Owasso, OK, Class of 2014 (Wichita State)
#4 - David M. Burkhalter, Ruston, LA, Class of 2014 (Louisiana-Monroe)
#9 - Rodney Hutchinson, Mason, OH, Class of 2015 (North Carolina)
#11 - Austin McNicholas, Austin, TX, Class of 2016 (Texas)
#13 - Grant Schreiver, Edgewood, KY, Class of 2014 (Louisville)
#13 - Justin Smith, St. John, FL, Class of 2014 (Miami (FL))
#14 - Jonah Patten, Ossian, IN, Class of 2014 (Arkansas)
#16 - Nick Kahle, Simi Valley, CA, Class of 2016
#17 - Alex Lange, Lee's Summit, MO, Class of 2014 (LSU)
#17 - Ethan Larrison, Shelbyville, IN, Class of 2014 (Indiana State)
#18 - Reece Calvert, Plano, TX, Class of 2014 (McClelland JC)
#18 - Garrett Christman, Noblesville, IN, Class of 2014 (Butler)
#19 - Jack Schaff, Springboro, OH, Class of 2014 (Florida International)
#21 - Brendan Spagnuolo, Masspequa, NY, Class of 2014 (Vanderbilt)
#21 - Zach Willeman, Napolean, OH, Class of 2014 (Kent State)
#22 - Luke Matheny, Chesterfield, MO, Class of 2015
#22 - Trey Miller, Lexington, KY, Class of 2014 (Michigan)
#24 - Jeren Kendall, Holmen, WI, Class of 2014 (Vanderbilt)
#29 - Jarett Rindfleisch, Middletown, OH, Class of 2014 (Ball State)
#29 - Liam Sabino, East Stroudsburg, PA, Class of 2014 (Vanderbilt)
#30 - Greyson Jenista, Eudora, KS, Class of 2014 (Wichita State)
#33 - Chris Martin, Mason, OH, Class of 2014 (Kent State)
#34 - TJ Zeuch, Mason, OH, Class of 2014 (Pittsburgh)
#40 - Brock Barger, San Angelo, TX, Class of 2014 (Oklahoma)

[Colley9288]

The fourth roster available to us comes from the Ohio Yankees, via their website. The Yankees, who are coached by Paul Kelly, hail from Hudson, Ohio.

Roster:
#2 - Jacob McKenzie, Class of 2015 (Hudson High School)
#3 - Nick Deleone, Class of 2015 (Walsh Jesuit High School)
#4 - Damian Maglione, Class of 2015 (Lake High School)
#8 - Matt Gugliotta, Class of 2015 (Twinsburg High School)
#13 - Cory Earnsberger, Class of 2015 (Northwest Canton High School)
#14 - Zach Manos, Class of 2015 (Canton Hoover High School)
#17 - K.J. Tench, Class of 2015 (Hudson High School)
#23 - Mitch Eglar, Class of 2015 (Twinsburg High School)
#24 - Chuck Kuhn, Class of 2015 (Twinsburg High School)
#25 - Andrew Czech, Class of 2015 (Twinsburg High School)
#33 - Dalton Davis, Class of 2015 (Lake High School)
#40 - Ben Wake, Class of 2014 (Tuslaw High School)
#44 - Jake Szendrey, Class of 2015 (Canton Hoover High School)
#50 - Jake Jones, Class of 2015 (Marlington High School)

[Colley9288]

The closest organization to Branch Rickey Park has its roster set up for the 2014 season, as the Huntington Hounds are ready to roll with a bunch of area prospects that will feature some familiar names to many! The Hounds are coached by Caleb Stewart.

Roster:
Jacob Barnwell, Boyd County High School (Ky.) (Ohio State commit)
Tate Brock, Hurricane High School (W. Va.) (West Virginia commit)
Colton Bonnett, Robert Byrd High School (W. Va.)
Trey Dawson, Hurricane High School (W. Va.)
Connor Golden, Charleston Catholic High School (W. Va.)
Dylan Slack, Nitro High School (W. Va.) (Lenoir-Rhyne commit)
Joey Mundy, Huntington High School (W. Va.) (Vanderbilt)
Hosea Nelson, De La Salle Collegiate Prep (Warren, Mich.)
Alex Sommerville, Point Pleasant High School (W. Va.)
Justin Graham, Rowan County High School, (Ky.)
Dazon Cole, West Bloomfield High School (Mich.) (Central Michigan commit)
Seth Kinker, Cabell Midland High School (W. Va.) (Ohio State commit)
Wade Martin, Wheelersburg High School (Ohio)
Cameron Planck, Rowan County High School (Ky.)
Tristan Fields, Herbert Hoover High School (W. Va.)
Chandler Sedat, West Bloomfield High School (Mich.)
Cameron Fritz, Ashland Paul Blazer (Ky.)
Pierce Knisley, Waverly High School (Ohio)
Jacob Hamilton, Pikeville High School (Ky.) (Kentucky commit)