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Frank Brandy returns to coach Anderson basketball

Anderson's Frank Brandy is back as head basketball coach. Brandy had previously coach the Redskins for 21 seasons starting in 1992.

Scott Springer

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP - A little over two months ago when Anderson High School didn’t renew the contract of varsity basketball coach Chris DeLotell, Frank Brandy didn’t picture himself doing much more than his current real estate job with ERA.

But, he didn’t realize the fever had already taken hold. The 1982 Anderson grad is now back in the saddle with the job he held for 21 seasons.

The former Anderson head coach returned to coaching freshman ball when his son Michael was a senior, then recently assisted DeLotell.

The story then took a twist when he was asked if he was interested in warming the front seat of the bench again.

Brandy thought he may coach again somewhere, but leading Anderson again seemed to be in the rearview mirror. An interview process reinvigorated him and eventually, it was “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” as The Who famously sang in 1971.

“I never ever thought it would be Anderson,” Brandy said. “I figured I had done that and if I was going to be a head coach maybe I’d look at a smaller school or a different situation.”

As one thing led to another, athletic director Chris Newton was eventually tweeting out the news on May 6.

“Frank had that fire in his eyes to be back on the court,” Newton said of the interviews. “Frank’s an Anderson man and defines that hard-nosed, blue-collar approach we love to see in our athletic teams. I’ve knowns Frank a long time and know how many Anderson alums have benefited and loved playing for him.”

Added Brandy, “I did realize last year when I was assisting how much I missed it, I was fine where I was but I realized I really enjoyed being back.”

Starting in 1992, Brandy went 254- 189 as Anderson’s head coach with six Top 10 city finishes His 2002-2003 team was a league champion featuring future Illinois football player Chris Norwell.

As a player, he was a three-year starter and captain on teams that won the 1980-81 and 1981-82 Hamilton County League crowns.

As the new coronavirus restrictions blew into Greater Cincinnati with the March wind, it's been well-documented that many seniors have been left with the empty feeling of spring sports seasons never taking place and canceled graduation ceremonies.

While there are many stories to be told, here are several OHSAA softball superlative feats that never took place.

Milford

There have been rumblings that summer club team softball could start in June, but that doesn’t ease the pain the Milford Eagles have of missing what may have been a promising season. Milford has won five of the last seven Eastern Cincinnati Conference titles and would have given defending champ West Clermont a run for it 2020 (the two teams split last season) after a 19-7 (12-2) 2019 run. Lily Copp (.340) and Hillary Huffer (2.28 ERA) were coach Christy Gregory’s departing seniors.

“I was hoping to be the one to tell my players but (Governor) DeWine made the announcement instead of OHSAA,” Gregory said of the spring stoppage.

The upside for Milford is that much talent returns. Olivia Craycraft led the ECC in hitting as a sophomore in 2019 at .557. Sam Boothby is an NKU commit who hit .486 and was 14-3 pitching in 2019 as a sophomore. Classmate Emily Allphin batted .452 with five homers and 41 RBI. Taylor Stemmerding, Brooklyn Stewart and Kaitlyn Bibb were all poised for big years as sophomores.

Craycraft should be a name to watch as she led the league in hitting, hits, triples, on-base percentage and steals in 2019 in addition to being second in her class with a 4.65 GPA. The family athletic DNA is also solid as sister Margaret was a diver at Princeton, brother Graham ran cross country and track at Bellarmine and brother Harris runs cross country and track for a Boston College club team.

“She’s a natural outfielder but we needed her as a shortstop,” Gregory said. “You would never ever know she’s not a true shortstop. She’s very athletic and very dedicated and just wants to be the best at anything she does. which played in last year's Division I state championship, the last official OHSAA-sanctioned softball game to date.

Bitter endings for several softball seniors and teams

Scott Springer and Shelby Dermer

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The Thunderhawks were three outs away from a state championship, but ultimately fell to Louisville in a grueling two-day affair in Akron last June.

Lakota East was returning a slew of contributors from last year's 30-win club, including eight juniors who were penciled into the state championship game lineup.

Lead-off hitter and third baseman Cassidy Hudson led the squad last year in batting average (.523), hits (58), doubles (12), home runs (4) and stolen bases (16).

Middle infielders Hailey Holtman and Abby Beckham each hit over .430 with Beckham owning 41 hits and 35 RBI while Holtman knocked in 23 with 18 extra-base knocks. Jess Church was the team's starting right fielder and Emily French knocked in a dozen, going 12- for-22 at the plate.

Outfielder Madison Cureton and first baseman Ali Lewis each hit just under .400 with 23 RBI in 2019. Center fielder Kylee West hit .360 with a club-best six triples and swiped 15 bases.

Catcher and cleanup hitter Abby Niehaus was also coming back. She hit .473 and knocked in 42.

Lakota East was vying to become Greater Cincinnati’s first-ever Division I state softball champion since the OHSAA switched to a divisional format in 1990. Cincinnati had sent a Division I team to the state tournament in 23 of the last 24 years, but they have combined to go 0-8 in state finals. Now, there's no telling if 2020 would've been the year that streak was snapped.

Anderson softball was primed for big year

Ellie Caldwell, a three-year starter for Anderson, will narrowly miss out on breaking the school's all-time career hits record. The shortstop and catcher hit .500 as a junior in 2019 and was a first-team Eastern Cincinnati Conference selection. Caldwell, who is considering a walk-on opportunity at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, finished just three hits away from the school record.

She was also one of a half-dozen, seniors returning, a group that was hoping to deliver an ECC championship. Last season, the Redskins finished fourth. In 2018, a loss to Loveland in the regular-season finale kept them from

Brandy was inducted into the Anderson Hall of Fame in 2008.

He hopes to play a little faster with some pressure defense, hoping to develop relationships with players that will play extremely hard for him.

“That’s something I’ve learned over the years,” Brandy said. “If you can get high school kids to do that. You have a fighting chance. There’s a lot of different ways to win but you’ve got to have guys that are willing to play really hard and are committed to what you’re doing, whatever that is.”

His coaching career began in 1983 in the Forest Hills School District at the middle school level, he then coached freshman ball at Turpin, then at Anderson, then Anderson’s junior varsity and finally the varsity beginning 28 years ago.

Anderson’s last winning season was 2016 when they went 14-9.

DeLotell had led the Redskins the last seven seasons.

“Hopefully it will work out for Anderson High School,” Brandy said. “I want to do well for them and the kids”

Senior Kaila Nutter would have played softball for West Clermont High School. She has a 4.64 GPA and is committed to play for Case Western Reserve University where she will dual major in data analytics and mathematics. THANKS TO KRISTA NUTTER

Ken Craycraft joins his daughter, Olivia, after Olivia’s Cincy Slammers won the season-ending championship softball tournament in Columbus. Craycraft also plays for Milford High School and led the ECC in hitting in 2019, only to be shut down in 2020. THANKS TO KEN CRAYCRAFT