Celebrating Champions: Aurora, Crestwood, Field, Mogadore, Rootstown softball
Here's a look at Portage County's softball league champions from 2022:
Chagrin Valley Conference champion Crestwood Red Devils
Chasing a second Chagrin Valley Conference title in their first two seasons in the league, the Red Devils faced a bit of an uphill battle having graduated a number of key hitters from a season ago.
"I think a lot of coaches expected us to again fight for the title just because we have [ace] Mikayla [Berquist] coming back and she was so dominating last year," Crestwood coach Leroy Moore said. "But again it was she may hold the other team to a few runs, but are we going to be able to manufacture or score any runs ourselves?"
Moore got his answer early as the Red Devils exploded for 13 runs to open CVC play against Berkshire, then manufactured just enough runs to win a pair of key contests against Kirtland (4-2) and Wickliffe (9-3).
"Everybody seemed to contribute in that one there," Moore said of the latter victory. "So that was a good vision for us I think at the beginning of the season that hopefully we would be able to continue everybody contributing."
Berquist (.432, 4 2B, 3 HR) was a star as expected at the plate as well as on the mound, Bella Hunter (.370, 5 2B, 2 HR) carried over the momentum from her big freshman season and freshman Alyssa Hallis (.407) was a revelation in centerfield. Meanwhile, outfielder-turned-shortstop Aimee Barnauskas (.364, 6 2B, 2 HR) had a huge season to provide protection for Berquist in the order.
"We knew just like last year, we used Mikayla kind of to protect Maci [Head]," Moore said. "Now, with Maci being gone, we needed someone to protect Mikayla because a couple teams did the exact same thing. They would intentionally walk Mikayla when they had runners in scoring position. But Aimee came through for us in a lot of the key games with just getting the hits where we needed to."
Title Path
W 13-0 @ Berkshire | W 4-2 Kirtland | W 9-3 Wickliffe | W 21-0 @ Cardinal | W 7-0 Berkshire | L 7-4 @ Wickliffe | W 19-1 Cardinal | W 6-4 West Geauga | W 10-0 @ West Geauga | W 5-1 @ Kirtland
Roster
1 Gianna Kalista 4 Bella Hunter 6 Ally Clayman 8 Erin Hallis 11 Mia Gullatta 15 Olivia Gullatta 17 Aimee Barnauskas 18 Shelby Long 19 Kayleigh Helm 21 Alyssa Hallis 24 Carly Morell 25 Madison Dustman 34 Abby Guyette 42 Mikayla Berquist
Metro Athletic Conference champion Field Falcons
How good would the Falcons be without longtime ace Alexsa Hurd and a number of solid Class of 2021 standouts who surrounded her? No one quite knew entering the season, as Field had seniors in the outfield but underclassmen all over the rest of the diamond, including myriad freshmen.
"It's kind of weird having so many freshmen," senior Sarah Rufener said. "We didn't have any freshmen last year, so having this whole group of underclassmen, it's honestly eye-opening."
The way Field's all-freshman pitching staff performed was particularly eye-opening as Maddie Burge (13-3, 2.05 ERA, 69 K, 14 BB), Olivia Dyer (2-0, 2.63, 26 K, 5 BB) and Kailyn Gressman (8-1, 4.02, 39 K, 7 BB) all impressed.
The lineup was no less impressive, including five players topping .400: Megan Schmidt (.536, 42 RBIs, 36 R, 9 HR, 8 2B), Devon Carpenter (.476, 24 R, 20 RBIs, 8 2B), Kelly Troup (.442, 32 R, 23 RBIs), Sarah Rufener (.434, 31 RBIs, 26 R, 9 2B) and Mallie Ruscitti (.410, 31 R).
The Falcons sent a statement early, winning their first five MAC contests by double-digit margins and at least doubling up on their first seven conference foes. Still, Field had its challenging contests as the season went on, edging Coventry and Norton by a run (with both Comets-Falcons games turning into one-run Field victories).
"It was really good," Carpenter said as she looked back on her Falcons career. "We had a lot of good experiences. We went to districts multiple times, and we're just so lucky to have a coach who really encouraged us and pushed us."
Title Path
W 12-0 Ravenna | W 18-2 @ Streetsboro | W 12-1 Springfield | W 15-0 @ Ravenna | W 14-4 @ Woodridge | W 14-7 Springfield | W 9-0 Streetsboro | W 10-9 Norton | W 22-0 Woodridge | W 4-0 Cloverleaf | W 15-3 @ Cloverleaf | W 5-4 @ Coventry | W 12-4 @ Norton | W 4-3 Coventry
Roster
00/99 Bailey Evans 1 Olivia Dyer 3 Delaney Richmond 7 Tia Ulrich 8 Sarah Rufener 9 Mallie Ruscitti 10 Carlee Chambers 12 Kailyn Gressman 15 Devon Carpenter 17 Maddie Burge 20/44 Megan Schmidt 22 Kelly Troup 30 Anna Harlin
Suburban American champion Aurora Greenmen
The Greenmen's journey to a repeat league title didn't get off to a great start as they lost two of their first three Suburban American contests.
Aurora didn't blink, winning 11 of its final 12.
"They're a unique group," Greenmen coach Sam Petrash said. "We had high expectations coming in and we didn't get off to the start that we wanted to, but they didn't panic. We knew we had a good team. We knew we had a solid roster."
The pitching was a constant as Bowling Green commit Mackenzie Krafcik (7-4, 3.47 ERA, 74⅔ IP, 89 K, 25 BB), a senior, was joined by sophomore McKennah Metzger (8-3, 1.93 ERA, 61⅔ IP, 80 K, 19 BB), who earned Suburban American Pitcher of the Year honors.
"That was the least of our concerns when we would go into games," Petrash said. "We knew we had the pitching to compete. The luxury we had with the two of them is you didn't have to show the same pitcher twice in conference games. You could mix them up to throw different looks at your opponents."
Meanwhile, the Aurora lineup, after slumping a bit early, produced double-digit runs in 11 of its last 15 regular-season games. Eight Greenmen hitters with at least 25 at-bats topped .300: Sophie Retton (.522), Metzger (.446), Ava Ryncarz (.403), Sophie Petrash (.361), Maggie McVicker (.351), Kayla Ring (.328), Madeline Dalessandro (.328) and Madison Zdanowicz (.314).
"When you have hitting like that, with the high averages, those are singles and doubles that you string together and you can put runs up and it seemed like it wasn't one player doing it all year," Petrash said. "You would have a different hero in every game."
Title Path
L 4-0 @ Tallmadge | W 13-3 Roosevelt | L 6-4 @ Copley | W 10-3 Tallmadge | W 14-0 @ Roosevelt | W 13-7 Copley | L 11-10 (9) @ Highland | W 12-5 Revere | W 15-4 Highland | W 8-1 Cuyahoga Falls | W 10-2 Cuyahoga Falls | W 5-1 @ Revere | W 10-0 Barberton | W 12-4 @ Barberton
Roster
1 Rayna Unverferth 2 Sophie Retton 4 Sophie Schecterman 5 Avery Qualters 6 Ava Ryncarz 7 Madeline Dalessandro 9 Kayla Ring 10 Maeve Russell 11 Mackenzie Krafcik 15 Brooke Manav 16 Sydney Rampton 21 Maggie McVicker 22 McKennah Metzger 25 Sophie Petrash 27 Summer Collis 28 Julia Miller 34 Madison Zdanowicz
Portage Trail Conference co-champion Mogadore Wildcats
Coming off back-to-back league titles (the second of which was a three-way tie), the Wildcats weren't exactly an underdog. But after graduating a five-person Class of 2021 that included four current college players, Mogadore had a ton of holes to fill.
What the Wildcats did bring back was a championship mentality and that was made clear during a mid-season comeback win against Southeast.
"Whenever I took over, I kept thinking I wanted a team mentality where we show up and we just expect to win and someone has to take it away from us," Mogadore coach Jeff Fankhauser said. "It's almost like it's become that where when we show up, the girls kind of expect to win. Like we don't think anyone's going to beat us, even whenever they get down."
With fewer power hitters than prior years, the Wildcats focused on putting the ball in play with five players (with at least 10 plate appearances) topping .280: Olivia Kidd (.542), Addie Christy (.344), Katie Gardner (.308), Gracie Funk (.288) and Melanie Eichler (.286).
"We kind of put the pressure on the defense to make plays against us, which in the past, I had so many power hitters and base-hit hitters, it didn't matter," Fankhauser said. "This year, we kind of created stuff and the girls were all in. They were fine with whatever they had to do for the team."
And while Gardner (11-3, 1.39 ERA, 132 K, 21 BB in 105 2/3 IP) was sterling on the mound, she also got plenty of help from a characteristically solid defense.
"We did our best to make sure that we could play defense because [assistant coach] Tom [Pollock] and I both kept thinking if we're going to win games, it's going to be 3-2 or 2-1 or whatever," Fankhauser said. "So we worked on defense a lot, made sure they knew where they're going with the ball, so that nothing was a surprise for them, and I think in the long run, it paid off."
Title Path
W 12-0 LCC | W 3-2 (9) Rootstown | W 1-0 (9) JFK | W 7-1 Southeast | W 13-0 @ LCC | W 11-8 Southeast | W 13-0 JFK | L 3-2 (9) @ Rootstown | W 12-0 Aquinas | W 11-0 Aquinas
Roster
0 Addie Christy 3 Savannah Thomas 5 Hennessy Brake 8 Olivia Kidd 9 Gracie Funk 10 Melanie Eichler 11 Katie Gardner 12 Zoey Ruppel 14 Lily Hotchkiss 20 Brianna McQuain 21 Sydney Stefan 22 McKenna Whitehead 33 Lily Custer 34 Ali Peak
Portage Trail Conference co-champion Rootstown Rovers
The pitching would be superb.
Everyone knew that with Shelbie Krieger leading the way.
What really stood out as Rootstown captured a share of the league championship for the second straight season was how the hitting came along.
Indeed, five Rovers players topped .400: Krieger (.483), Jessica Hahn (.469), Maddie Wise (.435), Macie Coleman (.415) and Abby White (.404).
"We are definitely well-rounded," Rootstown coach Paige Byers said. "We had a lot of girls come in clutch. If the top of the lineup was struggling, the bottom of the lineup stepped up for us to score the runs and vice versa."
Still, as strong as the Rovers' lineup was and as dominant as Krieger (13-2, 0.79 ERA, 106 1/3 IP, 246 K, 31 BB) was on the mound, winning their share of the PTC didn't come easy.
Five of the Rovers' eight league games were decided by five runs or fewer, but no series was wilder than Mogadore-Rootstown. The Wildcats won their first meeting, putting pressure on the Rovers to win the second game in order to tie for the title. Mogadore took the lead in the top of the seventh, but Jessica Hahn hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the frame and Rootstown scored the winning run on an error two innings later.
"We all knew going into that game what that game meant and we had to have a win and it was a little rocky there," Byers said. "They came back and it was all about heart. We told the girls you are very capable of doing this one hit at a time."
Title Path
W 5-1 @ JFK | L 3-2 (9) @ Mogadore | W 15-11 LCC | W 5-0 Southeast | W 17-2 @ Lake Center | W 3-2 (9) Mogadore | W 4-3 @ Southeast | W 16-0 @ JFK
Roster
2 Savannah Adkins 3 Shianne Stefancik 5 Josslyn Harris 6 Macie Coleman 7 Olivia Buckel 10 Zoe Pastva 11 Taylor Banks 12 Shelbie Krieger 16 Delta Nichols 18 Bella Giulitto 20 Maddie Wise 22 Clara Butcher 24 Jessica Hahn 25 Zoe Noel 27 Boston Silveus 29 Natalie Hammerschmidt 30 Abby White 31 Hannah Skinner 35 Allison Smith 35 Grace Luli 42 Erika Bentley
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Celebrating Champions: Aurora, Crestwood, Field, Mogadore, Rootstown
