Ahhh… Warm weather, festivals, golf, gardens, swimming, and YSU Football just around the corner.  September 4 is less than three months away and soon the Penguins of Youngstown State will be sweating in preparation for their trip to Happy Valley.  The YSU ticket office is open and there are some quality games scheduled to take place at the Ice Castle this season.  New Coach, Eric Wolford, wants these days to be community-based gatherings of fraternal celebration.  Buy a tailgate pass when you get your tickets.

Here is a promo schedule of this year’s YSU home schedule:

Sept. 11 (Butler, 6 p.m.) State Farm Kids Day (tailgate); Coca-Cola / 27 WKBN Schedule Magnet giveaway; BJ Alan Phantom Fireworks Postgame Extravaganza;  Howland High School Marching Band at half; $5 Super September game tickets.

Sept. 18 (Central Connecticut St,  6 p.m.) State Farm Kids Day (tailgate); PNC Bank / Fox Youngstown schedule poster giveaway;  BJ Alan Phantom Fireworks Postgame Extravaganza;  Lakeview High School Marching Band at half;  $5 Super September game tickets.

Sept. 25 (Southern Illinois,  4 p.m.) State Farm Kids Day (tailgate);  Coca-Cola / WFMJ TV-21 / Farmers National Bank water bottle giveaway;  Boardman High School Marching Band at half;  $5 Super September game tickets.

Oct. 9 (North Dakota St., 4 p.m.) McDonald’s / myvalleysports.com keychain giveaway;  Poland High School Marching Band at half.

Oct. 30 (Northern Iowa, 1 p.m.) Homecoming! Athletic Hall of Fame Game;  Lyden Oil / WFMJ TV-21 Stadium Cup giveaway;  Homecoming Parade before the kickoff.

The YSU Women’s Softball Team has signed Samantha Snodgrass.  She was recently named the Gatorade Player of The Year for the entire State of West Virginia.  Snodgrass pitched 21 consecutive innings of scoreless ball and recorded 11 strikeouts in a game then came back and whiffed 14 in the next game during West Virginia’s State Tournament.  She posted a 28-1 record with an ERA of 0.39 during the regular season.

Oh, yeah, she can hit too.  Snodgrass batted .473 with 13 homers and compiled 54 RBI.  Welcome to YSU!

• Leetonia’s Aaron Merrill is at it again.  Merrill has been breaking shot put and discus records anywhere he has thrown.  Merrill was recently selected First-Team ESPN The Magazine/ CoSIDA All-District IV for the second year in a row.  Merrill sports a 3.79 GPA and is majoring in Criminal Justice.  Merrill, who posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in the Spring Semester, won the indoor and outdoor shot put conference titles.
• YSU Baseball Sr. Tom Clayton was named the Player of The Year in the Horizon League.  Clayton was the first Penguin in 56 years to earn such notoriety.  Clayton batted .414, scored 43 runs, hit 15 doubles and 10 home runs and knocked in 44 runners in 47 games this season.
• Speaking of baseball success, Jacke Healey and Eric Marzec were selected late in the 2010 MLB Draft.  Good luck to both of the former Penguin standouts!