NWOAL SOFTBALL Bryans Thea Staten drives a three run homer over the center field fence in the second inning of a win over Delta
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
The path to the league title will once again go through the Fountain City as Bryan loses just one letterwinner from last season’s team that went 23-2 (7-0 NWOAL) and advanced to the regional semifinals.
Thirteen letterwinners return for the Lady Bears featuring sophomore pitcher Thea Staten who was 1st team All-NWOAL, All-District, and All-Ohio as a freshman.
Evergreen and Swanton return a solid nucleus with the Vikings led by Penn State commit Macy Chamberlin behind the plate and Swanton being paced by Heidelberg commit Taylor Forrest in the circle.
Two new coaches join the league with Corey Whitaker taking the helm in Delta and Ralph “Chach” Leija becomes Wauseon’s fourth coach in as many years as the Indians look to bounce back from a subpar 2023 campaign after back-to-back trips to the district finals.
Below are the team-by-team previews for this season in order of last season’s league standings.
1.Bryan (23-2, 7-0 NWOAL; Lost to Tallmadge in Division II regional semifinal, 7-3)
HEAD COACH: Samantha Molina (5th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Reese Grothaus (OF)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Marlee Yoder (CF), Ella Voigt (C), Kailee Thiel (1B); Tabithah Taylor (OF); Teaghan Blad (OF); Katelan Nagel (2B/P/OF), Emily Hess (Utility); Sophomores – Thea Staten (P), Josey Arnold (2B), Mylie Vollmer (2B); Mackenzie Blevins (3B/OF), Clare Stever (OF), Analicia McCoy-Martinez (OF)
NEWCOMERS: Freshman – Amiyah Langham (SS/P)
STRENGTHS: “The girls have worked very hard during the few weeks of this season. Our team is very athletic and strong. We have a wide variety of athletes that are a part of our team.”
“Many of our girls are multiple sport athletes. Coming off of a great tournament run last year, we are ready to work hard and continue with the success we had. Many of our players have also tasted success in earlier seasons this past year and are prepared for what is to come this season.”
“We are bringing back pitcher-catcher duo with Thea Staten and Ella Voigt, which will be a great first step of leadership on the field. Katelan Nagel and Amiyah Langham may also see some time pitching.”
“Both have been working extremely hard during the off-season to become stronger and more skilled pitchers, on top of playing other sports. We have seven seniors on our team this year- who will guide us on the field.”
“Our senior class is strong, and we have seen the huge amounts of success they have brought into the other girls’ program the last few years. We look forward to seeing that leadership on the softball field.”
“Our freshmen and sophomores will also continue to improve in their leadership skills- they will continue to get better each day! We are excited to see the potential of our other players step up into some new roles this year.”
WEAKNESSES: We have a variety of athletes still who had successful winter sports seasons, which is great because they are having great tournament runs, so they were late joining us.”
“With that being said, we will not have a full team until game week or right before it, which could be a weakness for us.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Liberty Center and Swanton will be strong contenders in the league this year. Archbold will also continue to be a team to look out for.”
“All the league teams continue to improve. Each program in our league has a chance to knock off someone on any given day.”
“Our goal is to compete for a NWOAL Championship and make a good tournament run on a yearly basis. We want to continue to build this program to compete in the NWOAL and Division II.
- Liberty Center (14-6, 6-1 NWOAL; Lost to Genoa in Division III sectional semifinal, 4-3)
HEAD COACH: Nikole Keil (2nd Season)
Requested information not submitted by print deadline.
- Swanton (10-10, 5-2 NWOAL; Lost to Tinora in Division III sectional final, 6-0)
HEAD COACH: Lauren Yoder (2nd Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: None
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Taylor Forrest (P/1B) – .500 avg, 3 home runs, 12 RBIs, 13 runs; Pitching: 80.1 IP, 2.10 ERA, 93 strikeouts; Kyleigh Shinaver (OF) – .250 avg, 13 runs; Leanna Wilson (P/OF); Hailey Keefer (OF/2B); Sophomore – Alexa Faber (2B) – .571 avg, 3 home runs, 29 RBIs, 27 runs; Lyla Carrizales (SS/OF) – .385 avg, 15 RBIs, 26 runs; Payton DeTray (Utility) – .280 avg; Carli LaGrange (C/OF); Jordyn Ramirez (3B); Sydney Bonnette (C/1B); Cheyanne Alexander (OF)
NEWCOMERS: Sophomore – Emma Forrest (OF); Freshmen – Adriana Elliott (P/OF), Gabbie Orner (Utility), Myla Rober (OF), Myla Goins (OF), Kendall Baumbarger (1B)
STRENGTHS: “We are led in the circle by our four-year starter Taylor Forrest. We also return our entire infield (all sophomores this season) and our centerfielder, senior Kyleigh Shinaver, so defense should be solid.”
“In the lineup, we return our top 5 hitters, including one of the best hitters in the league and in our area, sophomore Alexa Faber.”
WEAKNESSES: “We are filling two spots in our outfield this season, so we are lacking some experience there. Although our pitching ace is solid, we have some inexperience in the bullpen.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We intend to compete again for the league title this season, as we lost that game 2-1 last year against Bryan, which would have given us a share of the league for the first time in school history.”
“We have tons of experience in our infield, and with our returning pitcher/catcher duo with Taylor Forrest and Carli LaGrange, I expect a big season from our girls.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Bryan should once again be the favorite in the league this season, however we look to revenge our loss against them this year.”
“Liberty Center should also be solid again, and Archbold is always a solid program. Evergreen shouldn’t be counted out with a player like Macy Chamberlain.”
- Archbold (14-9, 4-3 NWOAL; Lost to Eastwood in Division III sectional final, 9-2)
HEAD COACH: Sarah Dominique (1st Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Natalie Nofziger (P) – .463 avg, 25 RBIs; Pitching: 3.13 ERA; Ella Bowman (OF) – .312 avg, 17 RBIs; Breanna Boysel (OF) – .284 avg, 20 RBIs; Maddie Thiel (2B) – .354 avg, 9 RBIs
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Meghan Taylor (C) – .220 avg, 13 RBIs; Ryann Burkholder (3B) – .298 avg, 10 RBIs; Katie Stoner (P) – .200 avg; Kaylen Behnfeldt (1B) – .140 avg; Emily Wyse (OF); Rayne Kinsman (Utility); Juniors – Tess Ames (Utility) – .301 avg, 20 RBIs; Grace Meyer (Utility); Sophomores – Makena Thiel (P/SS/OF) – .273 avg; Adi Kinsman (SS) – .276 avg, 10 stolen bases
SEASON OUTLOOK: “With the loss of a very successful senior class, we are looking forward to seeing the younger athletes step up and assume new roles. We have a very challenging non-league schedule this season, which will help to prepare our younger athletes for NWOAL and tournament action.”
“It is going to take some time for us to get all of the pieces put together and grow into our new roles, but our goal is to be playing our best softball at the end of the season.”
“While our staff is looking forward to seeing the growth and development of our younger athletes, we are also looking forward to the continued leadership and example set by our returning letterwinners.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “There will be some great competition in the NWOAL again this year. There are key players returning as well as some promising newcomers on every team.”
“We look for each league opponent to be a challenge with several teams fighting for the top spot. I look for Bryan, LC, and Swanton to be in the mix for the top spot.”
- Evergreen (8-13, 3-4 NWOAL; Lost to Northwood in Division III sectional semifinal, 15-4)
HEAD COACH: Jim Zoltowski (3rd Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Marissa Van Denk – .262 avg; Hannah Double – .226 avg, 11 RBIs
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Macy Chamberlin – .731 avg, 21 home runs, 44 RBIs; Courtney Robertson – .379 avg, 15 RBIs; Shelby Moore – .370 avg; Rachel Hoffman; Katie Hoffman, Kira Keller – .258 avg, 9 RBIs; Pitching: 5-8; Evy Shrader – .242 avg, 17 RBIs; Pitching: 3-5; Ava Vaculik – .279 avg, 10 RBIs; Riley Studenka – .200 avg
NEWCOMERS: “This year we have a large group of freshmen joining our program. All together this group is a great asset to our program as a whole, as they will be able to learn more from our large group of returning players, as well as add new strengths to our program.”
STRENGTHS: “This season our biggest strength is going to be our experience as a team. This year we have nine returning from our varsity team last year.”
“This will not only benefit us in games, but as well as building our program with our large group of freshmen. Having a strong foundation on and off the field is important for success.”
WEAKNESSES: “Our challenge this season will be finding our chemistry and learning to feed off each other. We have a few positions that will need to be filled in and finding the right mix will be the key to finding our identity.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “I am extremely excited for this season. We have a lot of returning players enabling us to fine tune and perfect things we may have struggled with last year, led by the battery of Kira Keller in the circle and Macy Chamberlin behind the plate.”
“We also have a large group of freshmen joining our program. Having a mix of experienced players and newcomers allows our returning players to demonstrate and pass on how we run our program.”
- Wauseon (8-14, 2-5 NWOAL; Lost to Maumee in Division II sectional final, 10-0)
HEAD COACH: Ralph “Chach” Leija III (1st Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Ella Albright – .386 avg
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Ella Hageman (P/Utility) – .370 avg; Brianna Hays (C) – .304 avg; Madisyn Ledyard (P); Danica Pack (3B) – .234 avg, 2 home runs; Juniors – Kylerr Bronson (OF) – .271 avg, 2 home runs; Aubrianna Everly (2B/SS) – .244 avg; Ava Kovar (OF) – .343 avg, 4 home runs; Layla Martinez (3B/IF) – .333 avg; Sophomore – Bella McGuire (SS/2B) – .286
NEWCOMERS: Sophomores – Shelbi Leija (1B), Bella McGuire (SS/2B)
STRENGTHS: “This team is battle tested and returns many experienced players in key positions, that will help keep the team levelheaded in the tough close games.”
“We have many leaders on this team that are ready to help each other and provide guidance and support to one another. This team has great chemistry and plays as a cohesive team.”
WEAKNESSES: “The area for improvement would be to have our girls be aggressive at the plate when batting. Our girls are working hard in becoming smart hitters and not just reactionary hitters. We are working on their cerebral attack when coming up to the plate.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “Our coaching staff goals for this season is first to bring in a new perspective to the game and really change the softball program culture. This team is game time experienced, so only a few minor changes are needed.”
“This group of girls are poised to make a run to be NWOAL contenders for league champs. Our team is working hard and plans on making a deep run into the post season.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Our goal this season is to finish at the top half of the league and contend for the NWOAL league championship. This will be a difficult goal for our team, but it is one we are diligently working towards in our practices every day.
- Patrick Henry (8-15, 1-6 NWOAL; Lost to Continental in Division IV sectional semifinal, 4-2)
HEAD COACH: Mike Meyer (15th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: None
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Audrey Honeck (OF); Juniors – Kasey Nelson (C), Mariah Boyer (P), Grace Behnfeldt (SS), Hailee Haas (2B), Addyson Stephens (OF), Illiana Schweibert (1B); Sophomores – Kenna Rosengarten (1B), Ashlyn Mullins (3B)
NEWCOMERS: Junior – Aubrey Evearitt (OF); Sophomore – Sophie Guelde (IF/OF); Freshman – Sophie Schwab (IF/OF), Brooke Scherdt (IF/OF)
STRENGTHS: Experience, defense
WEAKNESSES: Hitting, leadership
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We are looking to improve on our record from last season and also improve on our hitting with runners in scoring position.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Bryan, Liberty Center and Archbold should compete for the league title. We are hoping that we can compete and improve on our league record from last year.”
- Delta (1-19, 0-7 NWOAL; Lost to Archbold in Division III sectional semifinal, 9-3)
HEAD COACH: Corey Whitaker (1st Season)
Requested information not submitted by print deadline.
