Girls Best of the Week: Cardington softball regaining its groove with four wins last week

CARDINGTON — The Pirates are regaining their mojo.

After nearly a decade of dominance in winning league championships and making annual runs to the regional or state tournaments, Cardington is bouncing back from last year's 12-11 mark.

The Pirates ran their record to 6-1 this year with four victories last week.

Who got it done at the next level? College Notebook: Pleasant grad Carter Chase cracks Ohio State wrestling lineup

Check out the latest: Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month: River Valley's Alexis Manning meets her expectations

They kicked it off with a 7-0 victory over Hamilton Township when Genevieve Longsdorf was in All-Ohio form, throwing 13 strikeouts with two walks and three hits allowed, adding a double at the plate. Celia Hall smacked three doubles, while Hailey Littlemeyer cracked a double and single for three RBIs, and Kayden Burchett chipped in with three singles and Morgan Powell with two.

Longsdorf then threw a one-hitter against Northmor, walking two and striking out a dozen, while hitting a double and two singles in the 7-1 victory. Power doubled three times with three RBIs, and Hall doubled again, while Madison Dornon tripled. Alexis Longsdorf added two singles, while Northmor's lone hit was a double by Raelyn Fulk.

Cardington again jumped on Northmor, winning 11-1 in six innings. Genevieve Longsdorf hit a homer, two singles and three RBIs, while pitching a four-hitter with a walk and eight strikeouts. Ari Simpson homered and singled; Alexis Longsdorf doubled and singled; Burchett went 4-for-4 with singles; and Hall and Littlemeyer both singled twice. Mahaila Strobel doubled and singled for Northmor.

The Pirates also beat Pleasant 5-1 as Genevieve Longsdorf gave up five hits, no earned runs, one walk with nine strikeouts. Simpson hit a home run and double for three RBIs, while Alexis Longsdorf, Burchett and Hall all singled twice. For Pleasant, Kylie Eastep struck out seven in the pitching circle, and Kenzie Patterson singled twice.

Here are some other highlights from around the area during last week's girls spring sports action:

More softball

● Northmor took care of Pleasant 14-7 as Madison Simpson hit a triple, double and single for the Golden Knights. Also for Northmor, Kallie Wright singled three times, Katalina Roseberry doubled and singled, and Fulk tripled. For Pleasant, Eastep doubled twice; Faith Staley singled three times; and Hannah Miller and Nicole Robinson had a pair of singles apiece.

● River Valley topped Marion Harding 18-7. Leading the Vikings were Delaney Myers with a homer, double and two singles; Bentley Auld with a triple and double; Chrissy Viteck with three singles; Sidney Street with a double, plus 12 strikeouts at pitcher; and Lanie Wooten and Addi Braun with two singles each. Harding's Kameron Biederman homered, doubled and singled, while Janaiye Braddy and Raina Smith singled two times apiece.

● River Valley beat another Marion County foe, downing Elgin 18-4. Wooten gave up six hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts; Auld had a home run, double and single; Street hit two doubles and a single; Alexis Williams batted two doubles; Braun had a double; and Myers blasted a homer and single. For Elgin, Emilie Bishop knocked a homer, while Maycee Muselin and Madison Hill both singled twice.

● Ridgedale got a couple of much needed games in last week to run its record to 3-0. In a 12-2 win over Upper Scioto Valley in five innings, Kenzie Delaney went 4-for-4 with a double, while pitching nine strikeouts, two walks and three hits allowed. Lilly Ruth added a homer and single, Aubrie Smith a triple and single, Brenda Scott a double and single for three RBIs, Alexis Burton three singles in four at-bats, Riley Delaney a double and two singles for three runs and Alexa Garnes two doubles. They also beat Mount Gilead 4-1 with Ruth tripling, stealing three bases and scoring three runs. Kenzie Delaney singled twice and struck out 15 MG players, walking no one and giving up three hits.

● North Union took two wins from Graham, beating their opponent 8-0 and 6-1. In the shutout, Reese DeCamp tossed a three-hitter with a walk and seven strikeouts. At the plate, Kale Keigley tripled; Kailin McElroy doubled and singled with two steals; Savannah Queen doubled; and Emma McElroy singled twice. In the other victory, DeCamp allowed two hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. Ryleigh Rasey doubled and singled, and Keigley singled two times.

● Highland lost to Shelby twice. In the 14-1 loss, Aubree Bellamy hit two singles. In the 19-9 loss, the Scots led 5-0 in the first inning, and it was tied at 9 in the sixth inning. Jossalyn Varney hit her first home run for Highland, while Nikki Bennett singled twice and Kaymi Lewis had three RBIs.

Track and field

● Marion Harding's Lydia Price competed at the prestigious Mehock Relays in Mansfield and won the 3200 meters in 11:42.96 and finished fourth in the 1600 in 5:40.59.

● North Union finished fifth with 51.5 points at its 17-team Virg Rankin Invitational as Big Walnut won it with 147 points. Pleasant, Elgin and Ridgedale were ninth through 11th. NU's Gabby Lindsey won the long jump at 18 feet, 3 inches and was runner-up in the 200 at 27.18, while Savannah Amstutz was fifth in the 300 at 1:08.61 and Kennedy Ludwig fifth in the 1600 at 5:49.12. Its 4x100 relay was third in 56.21, its 4x200 fourth in 1:56.5 and its 4x800 fourth in 11:22.62.

● For the Marion schools at North Union, Pleasant's Taydon Obenour was third in the long jump at 16-5, Elgin's Addison Holland third in the high jump at 4-8, Elgin's Madelynn Casey fourth in the long jump at 15-3.75 and Ridgedale's Maddie McKenzie fifth in the 100 hurdles at 17.67.

● Highland, Northmor and Cardington competed at Loudonville's Cowen Invitational that was won by Rittman with 91 points. Highland was sixth in the 16-team event with 51.5 points, while the Knights were ninth and Pirates 13th. Placing in the top five were Highland's Ava Fichtner (fourth, 100 hurdles, 18.34), Audrey Weaver (fifth, 100, 13.79), Camryn Miller (fifth, 1600, 5:35.12), Kindylle Mallow (fourth, 400, 1:06.02), Rossalyn Benedict (fourth, 200, 28.62), Kynzie Green (third, discus, 95-8), Margaret Hennell (fifth, discus, 94-1), Northmor's Nalia Sackman (fifth, 300 hurdles, 54.24), Elizabeth Ruhl (fourth, high jump, 4-8), Natalie Hunter (second, pole vault, 9-0) and Cardington Magi Hallabrin (fifth, 3200, 13:01.55).

● Marion Harding was fifth at the Ontario Relays. Getting in the top four were Autumn Fitzgerald who was third in the 100 at 13.6 and fourth in the 200 at 28.02, Gabrielle Neault who was third in the 400 in 1:08.12, Kamryn McDonald who was third in the 3200 in 14:42.08, the 800 sprint medley which was second in 2:01.43 and the 4x100 which was fourth in 52.35.

● River Valley was eighth at the Ontario Relays we Madison Ward was third in the shot put at 32-7 and discus at 102-0 and Erica Mason was third in the 1600 in 6:06.57.

● Highland won a four-way meet with 164.25 points, beating Mount Gilead's 109.75, Mansfield Chrsitian's 29.75 and Centerburg's 24.5. Picking up wins for the Scots were Weaver in the 100 in 13.83 and long jump at 14-2.75, Benedict in the 200 in 28>56, Iliana Men-Hartley in the 400 in 1:06.7, Fichtner in the pole vault at 8-0, Emma Bolton in the shot put at 29-6, the 4x400 relay in 4:49.26 and the 4x800 relay in 11:07.34.

● Mount Gilead's Darbie Dillon doubled up with wins in the hurdles events at 18.04 and 54.26. The 4x100 won in 54.66 and the 4x200 in 1:55.99. Also for the Indians, Kimberly Staley won the 1600 in 5:45.31, Abby Leonhard the discus in 104-10 and Danielle Pohlkotte in the high jump at 4-8.

Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll, vote:

● There is a new poll currently set up to pick last week's top performer from the nominees below. The poll will run through early Sunday morning at MarionStar.com and its app.

● Ridgedale softball's Lilly Ruth hit a triple, stole three bases and scored three runs in a win over Mount Gilead.

● River Valley softball's Delaney Myers hit a home run, double and two singles in a win over Marion Harding.

● Cardington softball's Celia Hall hit three doubles in a win over Hamilton Township.

● Marion Harding track's Lydia Price won the 3200 meters in 11:42.96 and was fourth in the 1600 at 5:40.59 at the Mehock Relays in Mansfield.

● North Union track's Gabby Lindsey won the long jump at 18 feet, 3 inches and was second in the 200 meters at 27.18 at NU's Virg Rankin Invitational.

● In last week's poll, River Valley's Lanie Wooten, who pitched a five-inning no-hitter with one walk and 14 strikeouts, plus hit a home run, double and single in a win over North Baltimore, earned 598 of 1,033 votes (58 percent) to win it. Other nominees were Highland softball's Lydia Shafer, North Union softball's Savannah Queen and Northmor softball's Madison Simpson.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Girls Best: Cardington softball finding its mojo with productive week