IBERIA — The Castle just keeps getting more attractive.

On a cool, blustery Tuesday afternoon the Golden Knights and Lady Redmen christened the new softball diamond at Northmor High School.

“This ranks anywhere in the state of Ohio as far as a baseball and softball complex,” Lady Knights head coach Matt Wiseman said after the season opening win.

After spotting Bucyrus a 3-0 lead courtesy of an Ashley Davis home run to right-center field, Northmor’s bats came alive as it posted a 14-4 win in 6 innings.

The beautiful turf-laden softball and baseball infields were installed this spring, to go along with the football field, which debuted in August of 2020.

“Some of the girls at higher level travel ball play on some turf fields,” Wiseman said. “We brought 5 freshmen up and they’re learning first-hand what it’s about, so it’s an adjustment. We have practiced on it.”

Work was done by Maumee Bay Turf of Oregon, Ohio. The company provides synthetic and natural athletic field design, construction, renovation, maintenance, and supply.

Northmor, ranked 17th in the Division III preseason coaches’ poll, responded with a 7-run fourth inning and added 3 more in the 6th.

“We didn’t start out well, but in the end the girls got it done. This group’s gonna hit. Our 3 through 7 or 8 are all pretty good hitters,” Wiseman said.

Kate Kissling got the win on the mound, striking out 6 Bucyrus batters. Northmor had 12 hits from 7 players.

“After the first inning, she settled in. She’s a freshman making her first start and did a real nice job, threw 4 or 5 pitches for strikes to keep them off balance,” Wiseman said.

Bucyrus coach Jerry “Pudge” Hargis talked about his team’s youth.

“We’re a young team with 3 seniors. We make young mistakes. Our infield, two freshmen and two sophomores, are learning. I’m disappointed in how we played mentally. I thought we were a little further along,” Hargis said.

Karmyn Blizzard and Marissa Middleton opened the game with sharp singles to left off Kissling and scored on Davis’ blast.

“We’re gonna get better. It was a bad day for us and a good day for them. They can hit the ball,” Hargis said.

“I think we had 5 errors going into the last 2 innings. We only had 3 ground balls hit to us that we didn’t field. We just didn’t play very well and we’re gonna work on it and we will get better.”

Davis also had a double in the third inning. Teammates Sierra Frost added a single, Middleton a double and Blizzard a triple.

For Northmor, catcher Taylor Cantrell collected 4 hits, including a double. Katalina Roseberry also tripled.

Miheala Strobel belted a double, junior Emily Zeger a double, and three hits from McKenna VanDyke — a double and a pair of singles.

Freshman left fielder Reagan See added a pair of one-baggers for the Lady Knights.

The baseball team posted a 10-0 run-rule victory over Bucyrus at the adjacent field.

Knights head coach Buck Workman appreciates what went into the complex.

“Our administration and board members all are in agreement that the sports facilities are part of the school. The main priority is the education aspect, but these nice facilities go hand-in-hand to help students want to come to school here and they enjoy playing and practicing on nice facilities.”

Workman has been at the school for 22 years.

“It’s awesome and great to see the growth.”

Coaches and players are adjusting to the artificial surfaces.

“It plays a lot slower than you would think, because right now it’s nice and flush and the beads are thick,” Workman said. “It’ll probably play a little bit faster as the weather gets dryer and warmer.

“But right now, we’re just trying to find our way with the nuances on the field, how to judge the ball off the bat and because it’s a different bounce off the backstop.”

A mat is on backorder for the baseball backstop to keep the ball from shooting straight off the wall.

Workman says players expect a true hop on the infield turf.

“They get a little spoiled because they know they’re going to get a good hop here. Then they get on the grass fields and go, ‘I have to get the ball with my hands.'”

Workman’s squad has played on turf fields during the summer.

“When you play travel ball, they try to put you on the nicer fields, so in Columbus — and we go down to Kentucky — we’ve seen a lot of it; probably 75 percent of the time we’ve played on turf.”

The baseball squad returns its pitching staff and boasts 9 seniors.

“We finished pretty strong last year and were 17-10. We’ve got a good group of guys. I know these guys as well as any players I’ve had. They’ve come up with my sons, who are a junior and a senior,” Workman said.

Both coaches are looking forward to more innings on the new fields.

“I imagine we’ll play a lot of home games,” Wiseman said.

Box score

Bucyrus       300 001 X         4        7       6

Northmor    031 703 X       14     12       0

WP: Kate Kissling (6 SO, 2 W)

LP: Ashley Davis (5 SO, 2 W)

HR: (B) Ashley Davis (3-run, first inning).

Triples: (B) Karmyn Blizzard; (N) Katalina Roseberry.

Doubles: (B) Ashley Davis, Marissa Middleton; (N) Miheala Strobel, Emily Zeger, McKenna VanDyke, Taylor Cantrell.

Multiple hits: (B) Ashley Davis, Marissa Middleton, Karmyn Blizzard; (N) Taylor Cantrell 4, McKenna VanDyke 3, Reagan See.

Records: Bucyrus 0-1; Northmor 1-0.