5 central Ohio storylines to watch entering OHSAA softball district semifinals
The Central District softball tournament has reached the semifinal stage, with most of the favorites still alive and a few underdogs in the field for good measure.
Semifinals take place Monday and Tuesday across all four divisions, with district finals Friday and Saturday at Pickerington Central.
Here are five storylines to watch entering next week:
1. Surging Marysville embraces challenge
Even having to replace six of nine starters, the Monarchs (16-8) have hit their stride, winning 10 consecutive games from April into early May to earn the sixth seed in Division I. Marysville will visit No. 5 Grove City (21-5) in a semifinal Tuesday.
Three-year starters Camryn Harbold (1B), Sienna Hutchins (SS) and Maya Segner (2B) have provided veteran leadership, but coach Jennifer Segner-Maxwell has tinkered with the lineup on almost a daily basis. Hutchins, the team’s leadoff hitter and “our spark plug,” in her coach’s words, was injured for the first few weeks, but her return coincided with the team’s winning streak.
Harbold and Segner are seniors. Hutchins is a junior.
Sophomore Josie Bumgarner and freshman Brooklyn Gamby split the pitching duties.
The Monarchs chose a loaded bracket that also includes fourth-seeded Delaware Hayes. No. 7 Teays Valley and eighth-seeded Gahanna Lincoln followed suit.
“(The choice was) we either go into a bracket with Lancaster (or) Watkins (Memorial) and probably walk to the district final, or go and compete and try to win that district title,” Segner-Maxwell said. “The way this team is playing and the way they’re developing, we have a chance.”
2. Schedule toughens Olentangy Liberty
Beyond the top seeds, one of the teams hoping its regular-season schedule pays dividends is Liberty. The 11th-seeded Patriots (10-6), who lost 3-2 to third-seeded Hilliard Bradley in late April and also played several other top seeds in divisions I and II, are in the same bracket as No. 2 Lancaster and could face the Golden Gales in a district final.
Liberty will host No. 16 Olentangy (17-8) in a semifinal Tuesday. The winner gets Lancaster (25-2) or 22nd-seeded Chillicothe (16-11).
Center fielder and Kent State signee Brooke Aberle had four hits and shortstop Izzy Matteo added three Thursday in a 15-0, five-inning rout of No. 28 Hilliard Darby to start the postseason. Emily Chevalier struck out 12.
“In my six years at Liberty, this is the best draw we have had,” coach Ty Kashmiry said, citing the home district semifinal. “Our league (the OCC-Central) is tough every year, but I think the entire season prepares you for the tournament.”
3. Platfoot sparking veteran Jonathan Alder
Eight returning starters and 14 letterwinners back from last year’s Division II district runner-up team have bolstered the Pioneers (18-4), the district’s No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked team statewide, and so has the return of a high-powered leadoff hitter.
Senior Evan Platfoot, who is back after devoting her junior year to basketball, leads Alder in batting average (.540) and hits (47). She batted second during the Pioneers’ run to the state final in 2022 and had 15 hits in the tournament.
Alder has two home runs as a team, with two batters at or near .400 in Natalie Newman (.403, 29 hits) and Maggie McCoy (.392, 29 hits).
“We’re not a home run-hitting team, not at all,” coach Dave McGrew said. “It’s not like the ’19 team that won state where we had a girl with 18 home runs and two with over 30 stolen bases. We had it all. This is a little more ‘roll your sleeves up and let’s go get this any way we can’-type team.”
Alder will host 12th-seeded Heath (15-10) in a semifinal Monday.
4. High-powered Cardington seeks run in Division III
Having started five freshmen a season ago with no one lost to graduation, the Pirates’ high expectations have come to fruition with the No. 2 seed in Division III. They have three players hitting more than .400 and five at .367 or better.
Senior pitcher and Buffalo signee Genevieve Longsdorf leads the way at the plate (.473, 35 hits, 4 home runs) and in the circle (195 strikeouts in 106 innings). Junior Ariana Simpson (3B/P; .484, 31 hits, 3 home runs, 21 RBIs) and freshman Alexis Longsdorf (SS; .463, 31 hits) bolster the offense.
Cardington (16-5) opened the tournament Wednesday with a 30-0, five-inning rout of ninth-seeded Harvest Prep. The Pirates host No. 11 Utica (10-10) in a semifinal Monday.
“The overall growth and maturity of this team from last year to this year (stand out),” coach Baylee Adams said. “(Division III) is very tough. It’s going to be a hard road to a district championship. Any of the top 10 teams could win.”
5. Danville takes early Division IV showdown
There will be only one district champion in Division IV, as has usually been the case in the Central District, but the top-seeded Blue Devils (22-4) opened the postseason with a district final-type win, finishing off visiting and No. 2 seed Newark Catholic 7-0 on Friday. Danville was leading 5-0 on Thursday when the game was suspended in the fourth inning because of rain.
NC (17-9) slotted itself on the bracket for a potential second-round matchup with Danville but was held to four hits, striking out 14 times against Blue Devils pitcher Addy Bocock.
Abi Sapp’s three hits and three RBIs paced Danville, which broke the game open with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth.
Danville is seeking its eighth district title in nine years and first state berth since 2017.
Central District semifinals schedule
DIVISION I (all games 5 p.m. Tuesday)
No. 19 Dublin Coffman (15-11) at No. 1 Watkins Memorial (26-1)
No. 20 Olentangy Berlin (17-10) at No. 13 Olentangy Orange (15-7)
No. 22 Chillicothe (16-11) at No. 2 Lancaster (25-2)
No. 16 Olentangy (17-8) at No. 11 Olentangy Liberty (10-6)
No. 21 Big Walnut (19-9) at No. 3 Hilliard Bradley (23-1)
No. 12 Dresden Tri-Valley (21-6) at No. 9 Mount Vernon (20-7)
No. 7 Teays Valley (19-7) at No. 4 Delaware Hayes (19-5)
No. 6 Marysville (16-8) at No. 5 Grove City (21-5)
FINALS: Coffman or Watkins Memorial vs. Berlin or Orange; Chillicothe or Lancaster vs. Olentangy or Liberty; Big Walnut or Bradley vs. Mount Vernon or Tri-Valley; Delaware or Teays Valley vs. Grove City or Marysville
DIVISION II (all games 5 p.m. Monday)
No. 8 Buckeye Valley (16-7) at No. 1 Granville (25-3)
No. 12 Heath (15-10) at No. 2 Jonathan Alder (18-4)
No. 15 Hamilton Township (5-17) at No. 4 Licking Valley (18-8)
No. 7 Lakewood (13-9) at No. 5 Bloom-Carroll (15-11)
FINALS: Buckeye Valley or Granville vs. Hamilton Township or Licking Valley; Heath or Jonathan Alder vs. Bloom-Carroll or Lakewood
DIVISION III (all games 5 p.m. Monday)
No. 12 Marion Pleasant (11-13) at No. 1 Fairbanks (18-2)
No. 11 Utica (10-10) at No. 2 Cardington (16-5)
No. 4 Fredericktown (16-4) at No. 3 Liberty Union (18-6)
No. 10 West Jefferson (10-11) at No. 6 Galion Northmor (14-10)
FINALS: Fairbanks or Pleasant vs. Fredericktown or Liberty Union; Cardington or Utica vs. Northmor or West Jefferson
DIVISION IV (all games 5 p.m. Tuesday)
No. 7 Ridgedale (13-2) at No. 1 Danville (22-4)
No. 9 Fisher Catholic (20-3) at No. 3 Mechanicsburg (16-3)
FINALS: Danville or Ridgedale vs. Fisher Catholic or Mechanicsburg
Southeast District semifinals
DIVISION II
No. 12 Waverly (11-14) vs. No. 4 Logan Elm (17-8), 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ohio University
No. 6 Circleville (15-8) vs. No. 3 Hillsboro (19-4), 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Ohio University
FINALS (Friday at OU): Logan Elm or Waverly vs. Athens or Thornville Sheridan; Circleville or Hillsboro vs. Chillicothe Unioto or Proctorville Fairland
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 central Ohio storylines entering OHSAA softball district semis
