As the new coronavirus restrictions blew into Greater Cincinnati with the March wind, it's been well-documented that many seniors have been left with the empty feeling of spring sports seasons never taking place and canceled graduation ceremonies.
While there are many stories to be told, here are several OHSAA softball superlative feats that never took place.
Milford
There have been rumblings that summer club team softball could start in June, but that doesn’t ease the pain the Milford Eagles have of missing what may have been a promising season. Milford has won five of the last seven Eastern Cincinnati Conference titles and would have given defending champ West Clermont a run for it 2020 (the two teams split last season) after a 19-7 (12-2) 2019 run. Lily Copp (.340) and Hillary Huffer (2.28 ERA) were coach Christy Gregory’s departing seniors.
“I was hoping to be the one to tell my players but (Governor) DeWine made the announcement instead of OHSAA,” Gregory said of the spring stoppage.
The upside for Milford is that much talent returns. Olivia Craycraft led the ECC in hitting as a sophomore in 2019 at .557. Sam Boothby is an NKU commit who hit .486 and was 14-3 pitching in 2019 as a sophomore. Classmate Emily Allphin batted .452 with five homers and 41 RBI. Taylor Stemmerding, Brooklyn Stewart and Kaitlyn Bibb were all poised for big years as sophomores.
Craycraft should be a name to watch as she led the league in hitting, hits, triples, on-base percentage and steals in 2019 in addition to being second in her class with a 4.65 GPA. The family athletic DNA is also solid as sister Margaret was a diver at Princeton, brother Graham ran cross country and track at Bellarmine and brother Harris runs cross country and track for a Boston College club team.
“She’s a natural outfielder but we needed her as a shortstop,” Gregory said. “You would never ever know she’s not a true shortstop. She’s very athletic and very dedicated and just wants to be the best at anything she does.
No shot at redemption for Lakota East
Perhaps no team was itching to get back on the field than Lakota East, which played in last year's Division I state championship, the last official OHSAA-sanctioned softball game to date.
The Thunderhawks were three outs away from a state championship, but ultimately fell to Louisville in a grueling two-day affair in Akron last June.
Lakota East was returning a slew of contributors from last year's 30-win club, including eight juniors who were penciled into the state championship game lineup.
Lead-off hitter and third baseman Cassidy Hudson led the squad last year in batting average (.523), hits (58), doubles (12), home runs (4) and stolen bases (16).
Middle infielders Hailey Holtman and Abby Beckham each hit over .430 with Beckham owning 41 hits and 35 RBI while Holtman knocked in 23 with 18 extra-base knocks. Jess Church was the team's starting right fielder and Emily French knocked in a dozen, going 12-for-22 at the plate.
Outfielder Madison Cureton and first baseman Ali Lewis each hit just under .400 with 23 RBI in 2019. Center fielder Kylee West hit .360 with a club-best six triples and swiped 15 bases.
Catcher and cleanup hitter Abby Niehaus was also coming back. She hit .473 and knocked in 42.
Lakota East was vying to become Greater Cincinnati’s first-ever Division I state softball champion since the OHSAA switched to a divisional format in 1990. Cincinnati had sent a Division I team to the state tournament in 23 of the last 24 years, but they have combined to go 0-8 in state finals. Now, there's no telling if 2020 would've been the year that streak was snapped.
Anderson softball was primed for big year
Ellie Caldwell, a three-year starter for Anderson, will narrowly miss out on breaking the school's all-time career hits record. The shortstop and catcher hit .412 as a junior in 2019 and was a first-team Eastern Cincinnati Conference selection. Caldwell, who is considering a walk-on opportunity at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, finished just three hits away from the school record.
She was also one of a half-dozen, seniors returning, a group that was hoping to deliver an ECC championship. Last season, the Redskins finished fourth. In 2018, a loss to Loveland in the regular-season finale kept them from winning a share of the league crown.
"It's extremely disappointing, especially since we had six returning seniors, and most of us had been playing together since we were in fifth grade," Caldwell said. "This year we had a strong shot at the ECC title. I thought this could've been our year."
Caldwell, Tori Madden, Ali Madden and Stella Wulker were all vying to set new school records in hits, home runs, RBI, doubles, triples and batting average. Ali Madden and Wulker split pitching duties last season, combining for 17 wins and a 2.49 earned-run average.
All four play on the OFC Heat in the summer and are hoping to get one last chance to suit up together. The summer season has not been cancelled yet, providing some hope.
"We're just trying to stay positive," Caldwell said.
Anderson did get in a friendly scrimmage with Turpin on March 13 before spring sports were shut down.
"It wasn't about the result but about playing softball against our neighborhood rival and friends, one more time," Anderson head coach Dick Purtell told The Enquirer's Scott Springer.
Williamsburg
Rick Healey’s Lady Wildcats brought most of the town with them to Akron in 2017 when they won the Division IV state title. Winners of the last six SBAAC-National titles, Williamsburg may have been on the verge of another title team in Healey’s eyes.
Instead, seniors Kara Bailey, Hailey Speeg and Jacee Rohne, starters on the state title team as freshmen, miss out on their final swings along with senior Lexi Lindsey.
Healey has tried to keep the team’s spirits up via social media but has kept the stoppages in perspective. He’s also preparing a video for the squad.
“You’ve traveled a rough road and there’s a ton to hold your head up for,” Healey has told the team. “Hopefully you look back at this and say, ‘What could’ve been?’ or maybe in some of their eyes, ‘What should’ve been?’”
Kara Bailey was coming off of a seven homer 65 RBI 2019 and was First Team SBAAC with Speeg. Healey was Coach of the Year and junior Madi Ogden who overcame tremendous odds to have a varsity career was Player of the Year. Ogden hit an eye-opening .700 in 2019 with 15 home runs and 85 RBI. She also pitched 24 victories and struck out 171 in 139.2 innings. She’s had recent interest from Morehead State and had hoped for more looks in a junior year that never happened.
“Sometimes you’re dealt really good hands in life and sometimes you’re dealt really crappy hands,” Healey said. “It makes you better or bitter. It’s how you deal with that hand. I sincerely hope this group of kids graduating are better from it and not bitter from it.”
The silver lining for Williamsburg is the return of Ogden, Paige Fisher (.521), J.J. Thatcher (.446)r, Brenna Vining (.421) and some promising incoming freshman for 2021.
Mason
The Comets of Liann Muff were 24-4 last season and 15-3 in the GMC. They lost to Division I state runners-up Lakota East twice in extra innings, the last one a 5-4 defeat on May 22, 2019, in the last official game Mason played. Sydney Carter was GMC Player of the Year as a sophomore, hitting.576 with 40 RBI. Seniors this season, Tori O’Brien (Ohio University) was coming off a .511 season with 21 steals, while Carsyn Snead hit .500 in 2019. Sophomore Val Allen would have returned after a .384 freshman season.
West Clermont
The Wolves were the defending ECC champions going 19-6 (13-1) with the one league loss to Milford 5-4 on April 10, 2019.
Kaila Nutter, a West Clermont High School senior softball player had impressive ECC stats at .576 with four homers and 25 RBI but also provided that little extra something for the team that doesn’t appear on the stat sheet. During the 2019 season, Coach Throckmorton literally nick-named her “Clutch Kaila” for always coming up with the game-changing plays when needed most. Her four home runs in 2019 were all game-changers – including her three-run homer in the seventh inning against McNicholas. She also had game-changing or winning home runs against conference opponents Milford and Kings, and again in the postseason against Wilmington, a game-winner that put the Wolves up 3-2. Many of her 25 RBIs in 2019 were game-changers and momentum swingers as well, including a two-run double for the 3-2 win against Anderson to set the team up to win the ECC Championship.
Other seniors missing their seasons include Paige Suggs, Sydney Barger and Kinsey Ventura (.468, .467 and .463, respectively as juniors).
Western Brown
The Lady Broncos would have been a force again as they lost just three seniors off of their 2019 roster which went 25-1 and featured SBAAC-American Player of the Year Sydni Barnes. Barnes has signed to play at Northern Kentucky and was Division I First Team All-State recording a 0.49 ERA with 281 strikeouts. She needed 262 more to reach 1,000 for her career
She also was denied the chance to be the career leader at Western Brown in several offensive categories. She had 33 doubles, the record is 34. She had 137 hits, the career record is 165. She had 100 career RBI with the record being 139. She had 95 career runs scored, the record is 130. She also has 63 career wins as a pitcher with the record at 66.
Taylor
The Cincinnati Hills League has been run by Taylor in recent years as the Yellowjackets have won the last three conference titles outright. Taylor went a perfect 14-0 against CHL foes in each of those three seasons, so they'll take a 42-game conference win streak into the 2021 campaign. In 2019, Taylor outscored opponents 338-32 en route to a 24-4 record and a district championship game appearance.
Taylor would've returned the CHL's top three hitters in seniors Ashley Bucher and Brooklyn Linneman and sophomore Sophia Thoma.
Thoma led the league in hitting as a freshman last season with a .554 batting average with Bucher right behind her at .533. Linneman finished at a .518 clip while leading the conference in home runs (8) and RBI (50). Senior Sophia Reagan was also coming back after a junior season that saw her hit .478 with 27 knocked in and 13 doubles.
Fellow freshman phenom Kylie Burdick hit .463 with seven long balls in 2019. Burdick was 6-0 in the circle with a 1.14 earned run average and a perfect game. Linneman, the reigning CHL Athlete of the Year, was the club's primary pitcher who finished 18-4 with a 0.55 ERA while averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning (225 in 113 IP).
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