After winning their 32nd straight game, the unbeaten Cougars are state champions for the first time in school history.
Top-ranked Kenton Ridge scored seven runs in the third inning en route to a 9-0 victory over Hillsboro in the Division IV state championship game on Thursday afternoon at Firestone Stadium.
“It comes down to perfection, really,” said Cougars coach Sarah Schalnat, “and we were able to do it. It’s something that is obviously every team’s goal. We were able to accomplish it. These girls get a lot of credit for the hard work they put in, in-season and offseason.”
The Cougars are the first softball team in Clark County history to bring home the state championship trophy and the fifth team in Kenton Ridge school history to win a state championship, joining the boys bowling (2009, 2010), boys golf (2011) and girls bowling (2024) squads.
Cougars junior Kendall Massie and sophomore Jayden Davis each had two RBIs in the victory.
Freshman pitcher Ivee Rastatter won her 29th game of the season, throwing a complete-game shutout, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk.
“This team is different,” Rastatter said. “We work for each other and we push every day no matter how we’re feeling. We’re always there for each other. I love these girls so much.”
Kenton Ridge has advanced to the state tournament eight times in school history, falling in the state title game four times (2013, 2003, 2002 and 1999).
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when junior Brenna Fyffe walked and stole second, moved to third base on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Jayden Davis and scored on a wild pitch.
In the third inning, junior Annie Fincham singled, junior Chloe Glass walked and freshman Lily Foulk was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cougars junior Brenna Fyffe walked to make it 2-0. Davis doubled on a fly ball to right field that touched the chalk, scoring Glass and Foulk to make it 4-0.
Rastatter legged out a single to second base, scoring Davis to make it 5-0. After Davis scored on a wild pitch, junior Cara Cammon smoked a ball off the glove of Hillsboro third baseman Reagan Clemons, scoring courtesy runner Sophia Shingler to make it 7-0. Cammon moved to third on the error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Massie to increase their lead to 8-0.
The game was delayed for 30 minutes due to a lightning delay. When it resumed, Davis walked and scored on a double by Massie to make it 9-0.
With one out in the seventh inning, Hillsboro senior Addie Huff singled, but freshman Addley Miller grounded out to the first baseman Davis. She fired the ball to the shortstop Fincham, who tagged out Huff to seal the state championship victory.
A year ago, the Cougars fell to eventual state champion Canfield 3-0 in a D-II state state semifinal.
The program has been dominant ever since. They won 30 straight games entering the state championship with only nine games lasting more than five innings.
The storybook wouldn’t have been complete without some adversity. Trailing Lexington 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning of a state semifinal game on Wednesday, Cougars sophomore Chloe Glass tripled to tie the game and Davis singled in the winning run to send her team to the state championship game for the first time since 2013.
“We talk all the time that mentality is the thing that’s going to beat us,” Schalnat said. “They did a great job fighting back yesterday and today they were nice and relaxed. Today we were more ourselves than we were yesterday. I’m just really proud of these girls.”
In their final game of the season, the Cougars walked off of the field as champions.
“For my senior year, this is actually a dream come true,” said Cougars senior Kyleigh Schnitzler. “This is all I dreamed of when I was a little girl, when I was eight watching my sister play, when I was watching Ohio State play at their games. This has been an amazing season. I’m so proud of the girls and the work we’ve put in this year.”
Credit: Springfield News Sun
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