Notebook: Upper Arlington Golden Bears’ strong season ends with loss in pitchers’ duel

The upward trajectory of the Upper Arlington softball team continued this season, even though the Golden Bears fell short of a Division I district final.

Senior pitcher Caroline Langmeyer struck out 10 and scattered three hits May 17, but the 12th-seeded Bears lost 1-0 to fourth-seeded Gahanna in a district semifinal at Pickerington Central.

Langmeyer, junior second baseman Drew Carlton and freshman third baseman Ava Brown each singled for UA. Langmeyer led off the seventh with a hit and advanced to second when sophomore catcher Melanie Amann walked, but advanced no further.

The Bears finished 21-7, their fourth consecutive winning season, and have 43 wins the last two years.

“If Caroline pitched a good game, we knew we’d be in the game,” coach Terry Streng said. “We gave ourselves chances to score.”

Junior Audrey Szollosi (OF) led the team in batting average (.556) and hits (50), ahead of Langmeyer (.516, 49 hits, 28 RBI) and senior Sophia Schweisthal (OF; .406, 23 hits, 13 RBI).

Junior Ayva Lasley (3B/P) batted .391 with 24 RBI and led the Bears in home runs with five, ahead of two from junior Paige Parker (1B). Five players added one each as UA averaged 7.4 runs and reached at least a district semifinal for the third consecutive year.

Parker had a team-high 29 RBI.

Langmeyer went 9-5 with a 2.48 ERA, 145 strikeouts and 45 walks in 101 2/3 innings to lead the pitching staff. Lasley was 6-1 with a 3.81 ERA, 68 strikeouts and 52 walks in 49 2/3 innings.

The Bears were seeking their first district title since 1994 and first district final appearance since 2019.

“The girls are just gamers. They always fight and they’re never out of games,” Streng said. “Some of these younger girls will be important for us for a while.”

•The Grandview Heights boys tennis team will have a new look next season after all seven of its primary players were seniors.

The Bobcats had three courts lose in district-qualifying matches on the first day of the Division II sectional tournament May 12 at Columbus Academy. Senior Max Lauer, who played first singles in the regular season, went 2-1 at sectional, losing to Jonathan Alder’s Nathan Zang 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Both doubles teams went 1-1 and fell one win short of reaching district. Seniors Dominic Moretti and Adam Narcelles lost to Academy’s Rowen Lo and Ryan Panley 6-0, 6-0, and seniors Connor Hayes and Hayden Roemer fell to Academy’s Saagar Arya and Vincent Sommer 6-1, 6-4.

Seniors Keegan Kearney and Tyler Schmied each went 1-1 in singles.

“We had eight seniors who have been our core group of guys for the past couple years,” coach Ben McCollough said. “Having them around was awesome for me as a first-year coach because they really helped me out. They really liked to play and really enjoyed themselves.”

The Bobcats finished 6-3 overall and were third (3-2) in the MSL-Ohio Division behind champion Academy (6-0). Their league contest with Wellington was rained out midway through the match and could not be made up.

The only players with varsity experience expected to return are freshmen Charlie Heald, Porter Knouff and Charlie Russell.

“All three ... played one varsity match this year,” McCollough said. “We’ll have a bunch of fresh faces next year, which will be a totally different story.

“It will be fun because we have a ton of younger players, and they’re eager to play. It’s great to have a big group of freshmen ready to take their turn at it.”

—Scott Hennen

•The performances of freshmen McKenna Hudson (2B/3B/OF/P) and Alexa Ray (C) gave Wellington softball coach Me-Chelle Burkhalter hope that the Jaguars can continue an upward trend that saw them win six more games this season than a year ago.

Ray led the team in average (.583), hits (21), RBI (22) and home runs (2), ahead of senior Alexis Burkhalter (3B/P/C; .450, 19 hits, 1 home run, 14 RBI, team-high 14 stolen bases).

“Every team we played knew Alexis and were expecting her but always asked about Alexa,” said coach Burkhalter, whose team finished 7-8 overall and 4-6 in the MSL-Ohio. “She made a name for herself with her confidence, high softball IQ and skills. McKenna Hudson is a natural second baseman but also figured out how to play third, a little outfield and (also) saw some time (in the circle).

“I’m very proud of this team. They worked hard and improved in every category as a team from batting average to fielding percentage.”

Wellington went 1-18 overall and 0-9 in the league in 2021.

Alexis Burkhalter, a Belmont Abbey tennis recruit, pitched in five of the Jaguars’ seven wins.

Other players eligible to return include junior Maya Avery (SS) and sophomore Eve O’Sullivan (LF/C).

—Dave Purpura

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GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS BOYS TENNIS

•Record: 6-3 overall

•MSL-Ohio standings: Columbus Academy (6-0), Bexley (5-1), Grandview (3-2), Wellington (2-2), Worthington Christian (2-4), Buckeye Valley (1-4), Whitehall (0-6)

•Seniors lost: Connor Hayes, Keegan Kearney, Max Lauer, Jake Leach, Dominic Moretti, Adam Narcelles, Hayden Roemer and Tyler Schmied

•Key returnees: Charlie Heald, Porter Knouff and Charlie Russell

UPPER ARLINGTON SOFTBALL 

•Record: 21-7 overall

•OCC-Central standings: Hilliard Bradley (7-3), Olentangy Liberty (7-3), Upper Arlington (6-4), Dublin Coffman (5-5), Olentangy Orange (5-5), Hilliard Davidson (0-10)

•Seniors lost: Eve Hartranft, Caroline Langmeyer, Megan McKinney and Sophia Schweisthal

•Key returnees: Ava Brown, Drew Carlton, Ayva Lasley, Paige Parker and Audrey Szollosi

•Postseason: Def. Northland 17-0 (5 innings); def. Olentangy Berlin 5-4; lost to Gahanna 1-0 in Division I district semifinal

WELLINGTON SOFTBALL

•Record: 7-8 overall

•MSL-Ohio standings: Buckeye Valley (10-0), Bexley (5-5), Whitehall (5-5), Wellington (4-6), Worthington Christian (4-6), Grandview Heights (2-8)

•Seniors lost: Blais Blackburn, Alexis Burkhalter, Ayana Cooper, Rex Harvey-Thurston, Drew Ober and Lexi Robbins

•Key returnees: Maya Avery, McKenna Hudson, Eve O’Sullivan and Alexa Ray

•Postseason: Lost to Fairfield Christian 15-1 (5 innings) in second round of Division IV district tournament

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