Historic Firestone Stadium is set to host all 21 games in the newly expanded state tournaments which includes seven divisions for the first time.
Here are five things to know about the softball state tournament:
1. Kenton Ridge (30-0) and Tri-Village (28-0) are two of three teams still undefeated.
The Cougars clipped Newark Licking Valley 11-1 on Saturday to win their second straight regional championship and eighth in school history.
The Patriots are returning to the state tournament for the fifth time, but they last made it this far in 1985.
Kenton Ridge topped the final Ohio High School Softball Coaches poll in Division IV while Tri-Village was No. 2 in the DVI poll.
Wheelersburg (26-0) is also undefeated in Division V. The Pirates were No. 2 in the final coaches poll behind Baltimore Liberty Union, the Division III champion last season.
2. An all Southwest Ohio state championship game is possible in Division I.
Like Kenton Ridge, Lebanon is also a recent participant in the final four. The Warriors lost in the semifinals to Austintown-Fitch two years ago, dropping them to 3-2 in the state semifinals. They made it to the championship game in 2012, ’15 and ’17 and lost in the semifinals in ’14.
This year the Warriors are 26-4 after beating Grove City 5-3 in a regional final Saturday.
They were No. 6 in the final state coaches poll and are led offensively by senior Ella Teubner, who is batting .614 with 10 homers and 61 RBIs. Sophia Sheidler, a 20-game winner with 264 strikeouts and a 1.84 ERA, also has 51 RBIs and is hitting .521.
Lebanon faces 28-2 Lancaster in a state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
3. Centerville a Cinderella?
The Elks (17-13) beat Fairmont in a regional final to earn their first trip to the softball final four.
They finished fourth in the GWOC regular season standings and were 5-10 in late April but went 9-1 in May and have won seven in a row.
Freshman Caitlyn Belcher got the win Saturday to improve to 14-12 on the season with a 3.40 ERA.
Sophomore Natalie Carr leads the Elks offense and was the only Centerville player to make the All-GWOC first team. She is hitting .490 with a league-best nine home runs and has knocked in 33 runs.
Centerville faces Massillon Jackson, the No. 9 team in the final coaches poll, at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Division I state championship is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday.
4. Covington is on a similar run.
The Buccaneers were 7-7 in mid-April but are 12-2 since, including a 10-6 win over Southeastern in a Division VII regional final Saturday.
Senior Elizabeth Coblentz leads the Covington offense with a .500 batting average and 12 homers while sophomore Emalyin Johnson is hitting .490 with 11 dingers.
Covington has outscored opponents 79-13 in the postseason and is aiming for its first state championship game appearance. The Buccs lost in the Division IV semifinals in 2002, ’11, ’12 and ’13.
They play first-time state participant Portsmouth Notre Dame at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the Division VII final is Thursday at 8 p.m.. Notre Dame (26-3) was tied for second in the final state poll.
4. The Cougars have been dominant all season.
Kenton Ridge has allowed 29 runs in 29 games and scored 403.
Freshman sensation Ivee Rastatter leads the offense and pitching staff with a batting average of .635 and an ERA of 0.83. She also has 17 homers and 68 RBIs while notching 27 wins and 200 strikeouts.
Classmate Lily Foulk is hitting .578 while sophomore Jayden Davis is batting .611 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs.
KR is 5-2 in state semifinal games but 0-5 in the championship game.
They play Lexington (24-3) at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning in the first game of the state tournament. Lexington was ranked fifth in the final state poll.
The winner of that game will play Hillsboro of Cortland Lakeview in the Division IV state title game at 3 p.m. Thursday
5. Tri-Village is back in the softball final four after a 30-year absence.
The softball state tournament began in 1978, and Tri-Village played in four of the first seven. The Patriots lost in the semifinals of Class A in 1979, ’81 and ’85 while falling to Portsmouth Clay in the 1980 Class A title game.
This season Camryn Osborne and Emma Greer, the Western Ohio Athletic Conference player of the year, have combined for 23 home runs while junior Elizabeth Poling is a 20-game winner for Emily Osborne, the WOAC coach of the year.
The Patriots play Dalton (22-10) at 3 p.m. Friday in a matchup of the top two teams in the final Division VI coaches poll.
The other Division VI semifinal pits Sugarcreek Garaway against Gibsonburg at 5:30 p.m., and the championship game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
About the Author
