Cape Henlopen (Lewes) head football coach Thomas Ott was arrested Thursday night and charged with four counts each of second-degree rape and unlawful sexual contact, two counts of fourth-degree rape and one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child and unlawful imprisonment.
According to police reports, Ott has been having an inappropriate relationship with a female minor since 2006, and was arrested after the victim’s brother called police after finding her tied up in the family’s basement.
Ott, a paraprofessional at the school, was appointed head coach last summer after serving as an assistant varsity coach the previous six seasons. He led the Vikings to just one win as Cape suffered its 10th consecutive losing season.
According to Cape Henlopen School District superintendent George Stone, Ott has been suspended with pay while the school launches an internal investigation. Ott was committed to the Sussex Correctional Institute in lieu of $128,500 bail. His hearing is Thursday.
2. Wilmington Charter (Wilmington, Del.) boys lax dominates Christiana (Newark, Del.) and Delcastle Vo-Tech (Wilmington, Del.): Charter of Wilmington scored five first-quarter goals over a four-minute span on its way to a 17-1 landslide win over visiting Christiana in a Blue Hen Conference boys lacrosse game Tuesday. Junior Joe Rittenhouse led all scorers with four goals while four others scored two goals each. Charter (5-0) then soundly defeated Delcastle, 18-0, behind senior Andrew Michalowski’s four goals.
3. Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) topples Rodney (Camden, Del.) in boys lax: Junior attackman Andrew Blundin exploded for six goals to lead undefeated Sallies to an easy 19-10 win over Caesar Rodney in a nonleague game Thursday afternoon. Blundin then scored three goals Saturday in the Sals’ 8-2 win over St. Andrew’s.
4. Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Del.) girls lax opens up with wins: Cape Henlopen, honored recently as the state’s team of the year after becoming the first public school ever to win a girls lacrosse state title, trounced Caesar Rodney, 20-1, for its second lopsided win of the season. Junior Margaret Bartley had six goals to pace the Vikings (3-0).
5. St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.) baseball off to hot start: Defending state champion St. Mark's (Wilmington) is off to a quick 3-0 start on the baseball diamond. This past week the Spartans defeated Indian River, 4-1, and in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, dominated Sussex Central, 11-1. Junior Christopher Murphy (2-0) pitched a complete game and Nathan Nowell was 3 for 3 at the plate in the win over Indian River. Against Sussex Central, the Spartans put together a complete team effort, knocking out 12 hits, including six doubles and three home runs. Senior Brandon Baker had two of those home runs.
First-rate performances in the First State
* Lincoln Lamberton (Salesianum): The junior third baseman had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning to lift Sallies to a 3-2 win over St. Elizabeth.
* Chris Doherty (St. Elizabeth): The junior outfielder belted out three hits and three RBI in his team’s 9-1 win over Caesar Rodney. Doherty then went 2 for 4 with three RBI, including the game-winner, in the Vikings’ 7-4 over William Penn on Saturday.
* Chris Murphy (St. Mark’s): The junior right-handed pitcher struck out seven batters and scattered just six hits in a 4-1 complete-game win over Indian River.
* Brandon Holcombe (Brandywine): The junior pitcher tossed a two-hitter to pick up his first varsity win in the Bulldogs’ 12-1 win over Wilmington Friends on Saturday.
* Andrew Blundin (Salesianum): The junior attackman scored nine goals this past week to give the Sals big wins over Caesar Rodney and St. Andrew’s.
Game to watch
* Traditional powerhouses Tower Hill (Wilmington, Del.) (3-0) and Tatnall (Wilmington, Del.) (0-1) square off in boys lacrosse action Tuesday at 3:45 at Tower Hill.
* Middletown (Middletown, Del.) (4-0) travels to Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) (3-1) on Thursday at 4 p.m. for a nonleague baseball game.
The buzz
Smyrna (Smyrna, Del.) High graduate Marianna Freeman heads the class of 2010 inductees into the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame. Freeman played center on the hardwood floors at Smyrna before going on to start at Cheyney University, where she was part of a 28-0 team in 1979. After working her way up the college coaching ladder she landed at Syracuse, coaching the Orangemen for 10 years, yet citing her proudest accomplishment as having graduated 100 percent of her players. Now that’s refreshing!
Delaware Military Academy head baseball coach Larry Wheeler became the all-time winningest coach in Delaware high school baseball history when he won his 412th game Saturday when the Seahawks downed Charter of Wilmington, 7-5. Wheeler moved past the late Rev. Robert Kenney, who coached Salesianum for all 411 of his wins.
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and occasional color commentator for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
