One of my longtime sports colleagues shared something this weekend that struck a chord regarding high school softball in north central Ohio. “We’re spoiled here,” he said.
I’d been thinking the same thing while covering post-season games the past few weeks. We’ve got some amazing programs with great players and veteran coaches.
So let’s explore this further.
The obvious place to start is Wednesday’s Division VII state semifinal game in Akron pitting Mohawk (25-5) against Monroeville (26-3). The Lady Warriors have been a machine as of late, including securing a pair of seventh-inning victories.
The tradition is rich in Sycamore with 800-plus victories, 21 league crowns combined in the Midland Athletic League and the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, 17 district titles and, after last Friday, five regional championships.
The school is making its fifth state tournament appearance. It had a runner-up finish in 1994 and captured state titles in 2003 and 2005.
TOUGH SCHEDULES
A big reason for this year’s success — in my opinion, and it’s one shared by others including head coach Mindy Walton — is the competitive schedule the N10 offers, as well as the non-league games Mohawk has played.
One of the five losses came at the hands of Ontario, a Division IV school in the powerful Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. Ontario finished 17-9 and fell to rival Lexington 2-1 in the district semifinals.
By the way, Lady Lex (24-3) won a regional 6-1 over Bryan last weekend and is headed to Firestone Stadium as well. It’s their first state appearance since 2002.
Another Richland County school lost a heartbreaker in its regional final as Madison (21-7) fell in a Division III regional final 6-5 to Holland Springfield. A walk-off grand slam ended a strong Rams’ season.
We might as well throw in another MOAC team, River Valley, which made its way to a district final and a 20-6 record.
Back to the N10, Wynford had a historic season. Nothing sort of remarkable actually, considering it had no seniors and limited tourney success.
The Lady Royals won their first district title before bowing out in the Division VI regional semifinal 3-2 in nine innings. It outscored its first three opponents by a combined 40-0.
Along the way Wynford won 14 games. Buckeye Central and Upper Sandusky each won 17 contests.
The Buckettes lost to Wynford in the district final, while the Lady Rams fell to Clear Fork in a tough D-IV sectional final.
“We all know how the N10 goes. Anything can happen,” Walton said after a narrow league win last month.
Indeed we do. Backyard rivalries always bring out the best in teams regardless of records.
Mohawk beat New Riegel (21-5) by a 2-1 margin to capture the district championship. The two schools are separated by 17 miles.
“You have two schools close together. The girls know each other and know our strengths and weaknesses. And we know it’s going to be a fight ’til the end,” Walton said.
Her comments can be applied to dozens of matchups in the region. Familiarity, in these instances, doesn’t breed contempt. It breeds winning.
Buckeye Central head coach Todd Messmer offered this after a win over Bucyrus.
“The N10 is a tough league. Anything can happen. All the teams, when it comes to tournament time, are on the same level.”
FINDING SUCCESS
The obvious takeaway: Iron sharpens iron. In other words, playing good teams only makes you better.
Nearly every area softball coach I’ve spoken with this year has alluded to that fact. It’s clearly one reason area teams are finding so much success.
Having strong traditions doesn’t always guarantee victory, however.
Schools like Colonel Crawford, Carey and Bucyrus might have “been down” a bit from previous seasons. They’ve all won tournament games in the past.
But those teams and others were still competitive during a cool, wet spring.
Galion struggled through a challenging 10-16 season after making a district final appearance in 2024. But the Lady Tigers showed grit and heart battling top seed Oak Harbor before losing 5-4 in a Division IV district semifinal.
Looking ahead to Mohawk’s opponent in the state tourney, Monroeville certainly is no slouch.
The Eagles went 12-2 to finish behind Crestview (14-0) in the Firelands Conference.
Tiffin Calvert is another nearby small school with a big identity. The Senecas lost in the other D-VII regional semifinal to Ayersville last week, but not before amassing a 23-5 mark.
Success isn’t guaranteed in any sport, and softball is no exception. But if you watched games around north central Ohio this spring, you couldn’t help but notice the number of quality programs.
It’s no accident that so many have advanced in tournament play, including the two going to Akron. In part at least, they have their county and league rivals and neighboring schools to thank for it.
Conchel has covered high school sports since 1980 in more than a dozen newspaper and website markets. Softball is one of his favorite sports to follow.