PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
NWOAL RIVALS … Josie Russell hits a grounder to second base, which resulted in her reaching base on an Archbold error.
PHOTO BY MARIO GOMEZ / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
SWIPING THE BAG … Archbold’s Charlee Forward slides into second ahead of the tag to record a stolen base.
By: Mario Gomez
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
ARCHBOLD (April 23, 2026) – The host Bluestreaks were not very courteous to their visitors from the east in their Northwest Ohio Athletic League contest against Fulton County and league rival Wauseon.
Archbold started with a six-run first inning and never let their foot off the gas pedal to defeat the Indians 23-1 in a five-inning affair.
“We were expecting them to come out and play hard and put the ball in play,” said Bluestreak head coach Sarah Dominique.
“We’ve been kind of struggling offensively the last five or six games so it’s been kind of a tough time. We’ve been preaching to the girls ‘you’ve got to ride out the valleys and you’ll get back to another peak’.
“We’ve just been patiently waiting for them to get to a peak. It’s nice to do that in a rivalry game.”
Bluestreak pitcher Makena Thiel threw a five-inning no-hitter to aid the Archbold victory. In a quick first inning, Thiel set the Indians down with a popout, a strikeout and a groundout.
Adi Kinsman started the Archbold half of the first getting hit by a pitch. After a Kinsman stolen base, Thiel reached on an infield single moving Kinsman to third.
A pitch in the dirt caught Kinsman too far off third and the Wauseon catcher threw to third to get Kinsman into a rundown.
Kinsman, trying to avoid a tag, dove under the tag at home plate and was safe to score the first run of the game.
Daylin Bosco reached on a throwing error which allowed Thiel to score all the way from second base for a 2-0 Archbold lead.
Maci Martz grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Madison Bowers walked to put runners on first and second with Klaire Kern up to bat.
Kern ripped a double to right center to bring Martz and Bowers home for a 4-0 lead. A single by Charlee Forward brought Kern home to make it 5-0.
Archbold tacked on one more run when Molly Harris singled to score Forward with the final run of the inning for a 6-0 lead.
Another 1-2-3 inning for Wauseon allowed the Streaks to pick up right where they left off in the bottom half of the second.
Archbold sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs to push their lead to 11-0. With one out in the third, Wauseon’s Madison Lane reached on an error to give the Indians their first runner on base of the game.
Lane reached second base, but a flyout to left and a strikeout ended the Wauseon rally. Archbold batted around in the bottom of the third, putting the first six batters on base before the Indians recorded an out.
Thiel singled, Bosco singled and Martz walked to load the bases. Bowers singled to left field to score Thiel and Bosco.
Kern came up and ripped another single to score Martz. Forward walked to reload the bases. Harris hit the ball to third baseman Josie Russell to get the force out at home for the first out.
Emma Meyer grounded to Russell, who stepped on third base for the force and the second out of the inning, but Kern scored to make it 15-0.
Harris was standing on third when a passed ball allowed her to score the last run before Thiel popped out for the third out.
Wauseon scored their only run of the game in the fourth inning. Thiel struck out Lila Schindler to start the inning but walked Bella McGuire to put a runner on first.
A wild pitch allowed McGuire to take second base. A grounder to second by Russell was fielded cleanly, but the throw to first was dropped, and McGuire scored from second for the lone Wauseon run.
The game was well out of reach for the Indians, but Archbold added more insurance runs in their final at-bats of the game.
Aubrey Sommers, who relieved Breah Teal on the mound, gave up a hit to Raegan Gerken but quickly got two outs with a chance to get out of the inning unscathed.
A walk to Demi Short moved Gerken to second. Meg Burkholder singled to right to score Gerken and move Short to third.
Burkholder took second base on defensive indifference and came around with Short to score on a Harris single.
A passed ball moved Harris to second base who then got to third on a Meyer single. Meyer took second on the throw back in from the outfield. Kinsman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Thiel doubled off the top of the fence to left field to score two more runs. Meg Ames singled to left to score Kinsman.
Gerken came up for the second time in the inning and reached on a double that scored Thiel with the final run.
Thiel finished the game strong, striking out two and getting a fly ball to end the game and complete the no-hitter. “She did a great job,” said Dominique on Thiel’s performance. “She put it together and threw a really nice game for us.”
WHS 000 10 – 1 0 1
AHS 655 7x – 23 20 2
WP- Makena Thiel (IP-5, H-0, R-1, BB-1, K-8)
LP- Breah Teal (IP-2, H-12, R-15, BB-3, K-1)
LEADING HITTERS: (Archbold) Klaire Kern – 2 singles, double, 4 RBIs; Charlee Forward – 2 singles, 3 RBIs; Molly Harris – 3 singles, 3 RBIs; M Bowers – 2 singles, 3 RBIs
