Whirlwind week sees major shakeup in Richland County Softball Power Poll
MANSFIELD — Just one week into the 2024 softball season and it is already a whirlwind.
The Richland County Softball Power Poll already has a new No. 1 and had several teams that deserve to be in the top spot. Let's take a look at how everything shook out.
SCORES AND MORE: Richland County Softball Scoreboard: Madison tops Shelby, 10-5
9. Mansfield Christian (0-1)
The Flames look like they are in line for a major rebound this season. In the season-opener, they lost to Plymouth 15-10 in a game that was called after the sixth inning due to darkness. Kaci Powell had two hits for the Flames, but to score 10 runs in the first game of the year is an encouraging sign. They will have to tighten up on defense, but that will come as they play more outside during this crazy early spring. They have a busy week with a two-game series with Central Christian on Monday and Tuesday before playing Buckeye Central and Crestview’s JV team on Thursday and Friday and a doubleheader at Tree of Life on Saturday.
8. Lucas (0-1)
The Cubs had an interesting start to their season falling 9-8 in 10 innings to Willard last week. Those close losses are going to turn into wins eventually and when they do, the Cubs could piece together a run at a Mid-Buckeye Conference championship and maybe even a run in the tournament. They have Loudonville twice this week which will be crucial in the race for the MBC title before ending the week at Mount Gilead on Thursday and at home against New London on Friday.
7. Plymouth (1-1)
The Big Red split their two games last week falling to Colonel Crawford 15-13 before beating Mansfield Christian 15-10. The Big Red will be involved in some high-scoring games this year with their potent offense and the loss of stud pitcher Mackenzie Back. Jaylin Branham had two hits and three RBIs while Emily Irvin blasted a home run and recorded four RBIs in the win over Mansfield Christian. Madison Montgomery also added four RBIs in that win. The Big Red has a Firelands Conference series with South Central this week before hosting Mohawk, Wynford and Black River to round things out.
6. Ontario (1-2)
The Warriors stumbled out of the gate a bit after earning the preseason No. 1 spot in the power poll. They started 0-2 with a 6-5 loss to Madison and an 8-6 loss to River Valley before rebounding with a nice 6-4 win over RV in the second game of the series. Freshman Piper Studer had a huge day in the win with three hits and an RBI out of the leadoff spot. She is going to be something special this year and for the next four years. The Warriors have a massive series with Clear Fork this week before heading to West Virginia for a spring break trip that will see some amazing competition.
5. Clear Fork (2-2)
The Colts had a roller-coaster week last week. It started with a 7-0 loss to Triway before a sweep against Galion winning the first game 4-3 and the second 13-5. Then, it was an 8-7 walkoff loss to Lexington when the Colts scored seven runs in the top of the seventh before allowing four in the bottom of the inning. In the second win over Galion, Katrina Rogers put herself in the record books with three hits and nine RBIs with two home runs. She joins just 100 other players in Ohio high school softball history with at least nine RBIs in a single game. If she continues to swing the bat like that, the Colts could see a successful week against Ontario twice, Cardington and Bucyrus.
4. Lexington (1-0)
Lady Lex was itching to get on the field last week, but kept getting rained out until Friday when they hosted Clear Fork. They took a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning before seeing the Colts explode for seven runs. Yet, Lady Lex responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh as Kylie Thornton’s walkoff double delivered the victory for Lex. She finished with two hits and four RBIs to lead her team to its first win of the season. They hope to get more this week with games against Clyde, Madison twice and Mount Vernon.
3. Shelby (3-1)
The Whippets got out to a hot start to their season with three straight victories over Norwalk, 8-1, and Marion Harding twice, 14-4 and 21-3, before falling to Madison 10-5. Braylee Sturts had a nice start to the season with seven hits, two home runs and six RBIs with eight runs scored in the first four games of her varsity career. Mallary Gundrum also returned from her ACL injury last year in prime form with seven hits, two home runs, nine RBIs and seven runs scored. With that mixture of youth and veteran production, the Whippets could see a successful week against Galion twice this week.
2. Madison (3-2)
The Rams are out to an up-and-down start to the 2024 season. They beat Ontario in Game 1 before splitting with New Philadelphia in the two-game OCC series. Then, they lost to Hillsdale 9-6 before beating Shelby 10-5 to round out a busy week. Kyleigh Reiter is out to a blazing start hitting .611 with 11 hits, five doubles, a triple, seven RBIs and seven runs scored. She is making herself known as one of the best in Richland County already. She will lead the Rams into a two-game series with Lexington this week as they look to build some momentum in the race for a league championship.
1. Crestview (3-0)
The Cougars are one of only two remaining undefeated teams in Richland County after the first week. They run-ruled Black River, 12-2, and Norwalk, 16-0, before pulling off a great victory over Keystone, 7-1, to round out the week. Against Keystone, Sophie Durbin scored the 100th run of her illustrious career. The Cougars are off to a hot start and will try to keep it up this week with two games against Western Reserve before hosting Margaretta on Saturday in a doubleheader that could be a potential district tournament preview.
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Last Week’s Rankings
9. Mansfield Christian
8. Lucas
7. Plymouth
6. Shelby
5. Lexington
4. Clear Fork
3. Crestview
2. Madison
1. Ontario
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Crestview Cougars are No. 1 in this week's Richland County Softball Power Poll
