Who earned all-state, all-district and all-conference honors in Portage County softball
Here is a look at the awards received by Portage County high school softball players (and coaches) in 2023:
Major Awards
Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year Shelbie Krieger (Rootstown junior)
Over her first 14 appearances of the season, Krieger amassed a 1.36 ERA with an even more remarkable 143 strikeouts (against just 17 walks) in 67 innings.
And Krieger was just as good at the plate, batting .556 with 30 RBIs and the bulk of her hits going for extra bases, including eight doubles and five homers.
Oh, and in a performance the Rovers will long cherish, Krieger tossed a no-hitter at rival Mogadore to essentially clinch an outright league championship.
Portage Trail Conference and Ohio Division IV Coach of the Year Jeff Fankhauser (Mogadore)
After another highly successful regular season, with their lone Portage Trail Conference losses coming to Krieger and the Rovers, Fankhauser and the Wildcats had their sweetest success in the postseason, winning their first district title together.
A Mogadore team with just one senior and underclassmen all over the diamond had experience where it mattered most, with P Katie Gardner (12-3, 1.47 ERA) and C Olivia Kidd (.642) developing a stellar partnership. Meanwhile, any number of young players stepped up, from Addie Christy (.379) to Rylee Clark (.423) to Lily Hotchkiss (.449) to M.J. Shellenbarger (.339, 4 HR), proof of a program that remains in great and promising shape under Fankhauser's leadership.
Suburban American Player and Pitcher of the Year McKennah Metzger (Aurora junior)
What didn't Metzger do for the Greenmen?
With the graduation of Mackenzie Krafcik, Metzger took on the vast bulk of the innings for Aurora and was spectacular, going 18-4 with a 1.50 ERA and 177 strikeouts against just 27 walks.
And at the plate?
Well, all Metzger did was lead the Greenmen in batting average (.558), OPS (1.675), slugging (1.081), doubles (12), homers (11) and RBIs (54).
Suburban American Coach of the Year Sam Petrash (Aurora)
Winning a third straight Suburban American championship seemed impressive enough at the time.
As the postseason continued on, Aurora splitting the title with Tallmadge only seemed more remarkable as the Blue Devils went on to win the Division II state championship.
Even more impressive, Petrash led the Greenmen to another title and their first district win in years despite graduating a trio of four-year letterwinners and despite having a single senior on the roster.
How did Aurora do it?
Well, the Greenmen had the Suburban American Pitcher and Player of the Year in McKennah Metzger, to be sure, but they also had a wonderfully balanced lineup and a roster that truly embraced team softball.
All of which was a testament to Petrash's leadership.
All-Ohio
First Team
Division II
P McKennah Metzger (Aurora JR) led the league co-champion and district runner-up Greenmen in batting average (.558), OPS (1.675), doubles (12), homers (11) and RBIs (54). Metzger was also Aurora’s ace, going 18-4 with a 1.50 ERA and 177 strikeouts against 27 walks.
Division IV
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore JR) won 80% of her games, going 12-3 with a 1.48 ERA and more than twice as many strikeouts (109 in 90 innings) as walks. She was also one of the Wildcats’ leading hitters, batting .538 with a team-leading 37 runs and 21 extra-base hits (13 doubles, seven triples and a homer).
C Olivia Kidd (Mogadore JR) reached base in a two-thirds of her plate appearances, including leading the Wildcats in batting average (.642), RBIs (31) and doubles (14), as well as recording twice as many walks (six) as strikeouts (three).
Second Team
Division II
INF Megan Schmidt (Field SR) led the Falcons in a lot of categories, including the two key scoring statistics with 38 RBIs and 33 runs. Per usual, Schmidt mixed the ability to hit for average (.416) and power (11 doubles, 5 homers).
Honorable Mention
Division II
OF Sophie Retton (Aurora) was once again one of the Greenmen’s leading hitters with a .455 batting average, 14 extra-base hits (eight doubles and six homers), 28 RBIs and 27 runs.
Division IV
P Jewel Lilley (Waterloo SR) hit .518 with 29 RBIs, 10 doubles and three homers. She also had a 3.61 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 95 innings.
All-District
First Team
Division II
P McKennah Metzger (Aurora JR)
INF Megan Schmidt (Field SR)
OF Sophie Retton (Aurora SO)
Division III
OF Abby White (Rootstown JR)
Division IV
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore JR)
P Jewel Lilley (Waterloo SR)
C Olivia Kidd (Mogadore JR)
Second Team
Division II
C Olivia Gullatta (Crestwood SR)
Division III
P Shelbie Krieger (Rootstown JR)
Division IV
C Bayley English (Waterloo FR)
All-Conference
First Team
Chagrin Valley Conference
P Bella Hunter (Crestwood JR)
INF Maddie Dustman (Crestwood SO)
OF Alyssa Hallis (Crestwood SO)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier
P Lizzy Moore (Garfield JR)
OF Kyndall Hahn (Garfield SR)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier
P Jewel Lilley (Waterloo SR)
INF Morgan Sweitzer (Waterloo JR)
Metro Athletic Conference
Megan Schmidt (Field SR)
Bailey Evans (Field SR)
Tia Ulrich (Field SO)
Madison Artz (Ravenna SR)
Samantha Gadus (Streetsboro JR)
Portage Trail Conference
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore JR)
P Morgan Muncy (Southeast FR)
C Olivia Kidd (Mogadore JR)
1B Zoe Noel (Rootstown SR)
M-INF McKenna Whitehead (Mogadore SR)
3B Kaitlyn Hammerschmidt (Rootstown FR)
OF Abby White (Rootstown JR)
OF Rylee Clark (Mogadore FR)
At-Large Ava Stephens (Southeast SO)
At-Large Jessica Hahn (Rootstown SR)
Suburban American
Rayna Unverferth (Aurora SO)
Sophie Petrash (Aurora SO)
Sophie Schechterman (Aurora SO)
Shelby Ellsworth (Roosevelt SR)
Second Team
Chagrin Valley Conference
1B Kayleigh Helm (Crestwood SO)
OF Erin Hallis (Crestwood SO)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier
C Bayley English (Waterloo FR)
INF Miranda Long (Waterloo JR)
Metro Athletic Conference
Olivia Bey (Field JR)
Maddie Burge (Field SO)
Morgan Decker (Ravenna SR)
Whitney Holmes (Ravenna SO)
Hailey Miller (Streetsboro SO)
T’Lanee Boyett (Streetsboro FR)
Northeastern Athletic Conference
Quinn Justham (Windham SO)
Portage Trail Conference
P Liv Bragg (Southeast FR)
C Natalie Hammerschmidt (Rootstown JR)
1B Addie Christy (Mogadore SO)
M-INF Lily Hotchkiss (Mogadore SO)
3B M.J. Shellenbarger (Mogadore FR)
OF Gracie Funk (Mogadore SO)
OF Addie Goldstein (Southeast SO)
At-Large Jade Whitely (Southeast SR)
Suburban American
Sophie Retton (Aurora SO)
Maggie McVicker (Aurora SR)
Abby Dalessandro (Aurora FR)
Skylar Lauck (Roosevelt FR)
Honorable Mention
Chagrin Valley Conference
Crestwood: SR Olivia Gullatta, SR Aimee Barnauskas
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier
Garfield: JR Maddy Wilson
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier
Waterloo: JR Savannah Francis
Metro Athletic Conference
Field: SO Kailyn Gressman, SO McKayla Miller
Ravenna: JR Angelina Fuller, FR Mallory Sterba
Streetsboro: JR Courtney Evert, SR Lacy Campbell
Northeastern Athletic Conference
Windham: SR Jonni Burnside, JR Lexi Goodwin
Portage Trail Conference
Mogadore: JR Bri McQuain
Rootstown: FR Reise Thomas
Southeast: SR Mack Foor
Suburban American
Aurora: JR Madeline Dalessandro, SO Julie Miller
Roosevelt: SR Kasie Crabtree, JR Ashley Legg
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Fankhauser, Krieger, Metzger, Petrash earn top Portage softball honors
