Bubba Kapral Executive Sports Editor

GLEN DALE — Kristin Lewicki has achieved a lifetime goal. Now it is time to step back and ponder her future.

The John Marshall grad just recently completed her first year as a professional hockey player after a remarkable collegiate career. She helped the Buffalo Beauts reach the National Women’s Hockey League championship game last month.

Lewicki enjoyed a banner rookie campaign, making the NWHL All-Star Game and winning the Fastest Skater Award in conjunction with the game.

The way the league operates is all players receive one-year contracts. They essentially become free agents after the season and can sign with any other league team.

Lewicki has been invited back by the Beauts for Year 2. At this point, she is uncertain on what she wants to do. Finances play a big part of her decision-making process.

“The Buffalo coaches have asked me to come back. May 1 is the timelime to make a decision. Other teams may contact me before that,” Lewicki said. “I love the game but money is an issue. We don’t make a lot of money.

“Many players have jobs to supplement their salary. There is a pro league in Canada but it doesn’t pay as much. But if I choose to play it will be in Buffalo.”

Lewicki, while pleased with her first pro season, felt she could have been a little more productive.

“I was hoping to produce more but I realize I had to make a big jump from D-3 hockey. I had to make adjustments,” Lewicki said. “I had to bring my “A” game every night. I had to change my role and I am OK with my role. The pro game is a lot more physical but I did get used to it.

“It was great to be a part of a pro team. It was a great opportunity, and as a team it took us a while for put things together. After the Pagula family bought us it made a big difference. They own all the pro teams in Buffalo. They took us seriously and gave us a new direction and everything fell into place for us.”

While Buffalo finished second in the regular season standings and advanced to the championship game, it was not the ending Lewicki was hoping for.

“We accomplished a lot but it was not the outcome we had hoped for. We wanted to defend the title,” Lewicki said. “We have a young team and a great rookie crop. We just came up one win short.”

Lewicki netted five goals and two assists in 14 games in her rookie campaign.

The soft-spoken star was a two-time All-American and is the sixth all-time leading scorer in NCAA D-III history. Lewicki authored a sensational senior season with 32 goals and 34 assists in 31 games. Those numbers pushed her career totals to 179 points in 113 games — 90 goals and 89 assists.

The multi-talented forward also received the ultimate honor. She was named the U.S. College Hockey Division III Women’s Player of the Year for the 2016-17 season.

Should Lewicki opt not return to the Buffalo Beauts or sign with another pro team, she has a game plan in place.

“I have always planned a career with the FBI. But you have to be 24 years old to work with the FBI. So I may pursue a position with the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives),” Lewicki said. “If I don’t play pro hockey again I can always said I did it.”

MAJOR LEAGUES

The Tampa Bay Rays have a heavy Ohio Valley flavor on its roster in the likes of Chaz Roe and Stan Boroski.

Roe was born in Steubenville, son of a Buckeye North athletic star, before spending his prep days in Kentucky. Roe, 31, is pitching for his fifth major league team.

The hard-throwing righthander has already made seven appearances this spring out of the Rays’ bullpen. He is 0-1 on the season with six strikeouts and one walk in 5 innings of work. He has recorded two holds and owns a 5.40 ERA.

Roe was former Kentucky prep baseball player of the year (2005). In his senior year, he was tabbed the 35th best prospect in the nation and was chosen in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft by the Colorado Rockies, the 32nd pick overall.

He has pitched in the majors for the Diamondbacks, Rangers, Yankees and Braves.

His parents, Don and Kelly (Hoover) Roe, are both Buckeye North High graduates. Don was a Huskies football great, earning a scholarship to the University of Kentucky, starring at linebacker for the Wildcats.

Chaz’s great-uncle is Pittsburgh Pirate legend Bill Mazeroski. His uncle, Jim Hoover, is a teacher-coach at Martins Ferry High. The Roe family moved to Kentucky when Chaz was 2-years-old.

Boroski, meanwhile, is the Rays’ bullpen coach. He is a former three-sport star at Buckeye South High School. He is a member of the OVAC Hall of Fame.

Boroski is the longest tenured Tampa Bay coach, now in his ninth year. Prior to joining the Rays, he spent 18 years with the Astros organization.

After Buckeye South, Boroski enjoyed a splendid Ohio University baseball tenure. He was chosen by the Brewers in the 20th round of the 1981 June Draft as a catcher. After two years in the Brewers system, he switched to pitcher and was signed by the Royals, where he remained for four years.

OHIO’S FINEST

∫ The Shadyside Relays — dubbed as “Ohio’s Finest” — will take on some Tar Heel flavor this Saturday.

Emma Smith — a junior at Hopewell High School in Huntersville, N.C. — will be competing in the Tiger Town event in the 400 and 800 meters. Her mother is Anna Smith, a former cross country and track runner at Shadyside High from 1983-86 for OVAC Hall of Famers Butch and Donna Joseph.

Emma is making the trip so her many family members, still residing in the Ohio Valley, can watch her perform. Her interim coach is Brent Warren, a Shadyside High runner from 1980-83.

Emma is not only dedicating the meet to her parents but also to Butch Joseph. The Tiger coaching legend died earlier this year.

BUBBA’S BITS

∫ Former Toronto three-sport star Blaze Glenn is enjoying a banner baseball season for Youngstown State. Glenn is batting .303 with six home runs, 20 RBI, 15 runs scored and six stolen bases for the Penguins.

∫ The annual Easter Seals Telethon will be staged today on WTRF TV 7. Five OVAC prep grid coaching heavyweights are taking pledges for a great cause. Steubenville’s Reno Saccoccia, Martins Ferry’s Dave Bruney, Wheeling Central’s Mike Young, Weir’s Tony Filberto and Wheeling Park’s Chris Daugherty will all be on starting at 4 p.m. Each will have their separate phone numbers. Those numbers are Filberto (304-233-4950); Young (304-233-4951); Saccoccia (304-233-4952); Daugherty (304-233-4954) and Bruney (304-233-4955).

∫ Former Indian Creek ace softball hurler Paige Geanangel is turning in a solid season in the circle for Youngstown State. The talented right-hander is 8-9 on the campaign in 21 starts. She also has recorded a save. Geanangel has a sharp 3.48 ERA while striking out 50 batters in 96 innings of work.

∫ Nicole Detling and John Allen Jones, doctor of divinity, will be honored as the Barnesville Area Education Foundation’s 2018 Hall of Fame inductees during the school’s alumni banquet July 14 in the high school cafeteria. Detling, Ph.D., is a 1993 graduate of BHS, and Jones was graduated in 1957. After being a minister in Ohio, he served in churches in Kentucky and Tennessee. While in Tennessee, country singer Carl Lee Perkins was a member of his congregation. Perkins wrote a song, “Preach on Brother John,” to honor Jones and also included him in his book, “Disciple in Blue Suede Shoes.” Detling was a star athlete at Barnesville High and Ohio Wesleyan. She is now coaching U.S. Olympic athletes. In the recent Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, Detling trained 12 medalists. She is also a noted author.

∫ The Ohio Valley Football Coaches Association will hold its Recruiting Night on May 2 beginning at 6 p.m. at Generations in Wheeling. All high school and college grid coaches are invited. Cost is $10 for high school coach and $30 for colleges. Coaches are asked to bring player profiles. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call either Reno Saccoccia (740-283-8974) or Mike Young (304-312-9125).