Hall inductees give credit to their families

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 12:49 AM Monday, November 30, 2009

HAMILTON — The importance of family was a common thread running through the induction ceremonies of the 28th Butler County Sports Hall of Fame dinner, held Sunday, Nov. 29, at the Courtyard by Marriott.

Middletown’s Marianne Morris remembers the days of her youth, before she became a pro on the LPGA Tour.

“My dad spent countless hours on the golf course with me as I was growing up,” Morris said. “Then we’d come home, not speaking, literally, and my mom would mediate.”

Morris, who is retired from professional golf now and is back living in Middletown, was one of 11 inductees honored on Sunday.

The other inductees were Dick Ballard (Ross High School), Tony Bradley (Talawanda), Ken Cohen (Middletown), Paul Fernandez (Ross), Norm Grevey Jr. (Hamilton), Patrick Kreke (Badin/Fenwick), Travis Myers (Talawanda), Di Armogida Princell (Talawanda), Dominic “Dom” Scrimizzi (Hamilton Catholic) and Tyrice Walker (Hamilton).

Myers, a standout diver at Talawanda and Miami University whose father passed away recently, gave many reasons for his participation in the sport: “I dove because it’s a sport in which a short, deaf child could be successful ... I dove for the small boy sitting in the sand with a dream ... I dove for the twinkle in my father’s eye, and I miss that twinkle.”

Fernandez, who coached Ross to its first state championship in softball earlier this year, said if it weren’t for his wife, Regina, “I probably wouldn’t be here (on the podium) ... She means a lot to me.”

Tyrice Walker, a basketball standout at Hamilton High, Xavier University and in Europe, noted “my family has been there with me through thick and thin.”

Another Big Blue standout, Norm Grevey Jr. — part of the legendary basketball family headed by Norm Grevey Sr., who was in attendance on Sunday — was a devastating shooter and joked that around his house “pass is a four-letter word.”

Kreke, an outstanding athlete at Badin who as coach of the Fenwick boys basketball team has guided the Falcons to two district titles, noted that his parents raised nine children, “a wonderful group of people ... and athletics was an important part of every one of their lives.”

Princell, who earned 10 varsity letters at Talawanda and has won many titles in softball, said her seven children “are my greatest source of accomplishment.”

Ballard, who coached Ross football to four playoff berths, noted that he is the eighth of nine children “and the only one to go to college ... It’s been a great ride.”

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