LEBANON — Wendell Hutchinson expects to endure difficult losses in April like the ones his Centerville softball team suffered Saturday, April 25.
Last year’s gauntlet resulted in a 13-13 regular season and a fourth-place finish in the Greater Western Ohio Conference. But his team matured and reached the Division I state final where it lost to 3-1 to Lebanon.
Whatever helps the Elks reach their potential and get tournament ready is Hutchinson’s scheduling philosophy.
So when Lebanon coach and good friend Brian Kindell asked Hutchinson to bring his team to Saturday’s Reds Futures High School Showcase, there was no hesitation. The task for the Elks: Lebanon and defending Division IV state champion Kenton Ridge.
KR, however, is not the typical Division IV team. The Cougars run-ruled Centerville and Lebanon last year in their 32-0 season. On Saturday, they beat Lebanon 20-1 and Centerville 12-2. The Cougars have won 51 straight and are widely regarded as the best team in Ohio regardless of division.
Hutchinson thought his team would give KR a better game, produce more offense than freshman Lalia Mejia’s two-run homer, and get past the sixth inning. But the most disappointing part of the day was the 7-0 loss to Lebanon.
“Hopefully they keep inviting us back,” Hutchinson said. “When you get a chance to play two great programs like Kenton Ridge and Lebanon you got to come out and you got to play your best. I thought we competed well most of the game against Kenton Ridge, and that's the best team I've seen in high school. The last game just got away from us. We were flat with the bats, and we just never could get anything going.”
Lebanon’s Sophia Sheidler, who beat Centerville in the state final, held the Elks to four hits and struck out eight. Her team came alive late with four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Four singles and an error did the job in the sixth. Lebanon’s Avery Givens hit a solo homer and Sophie Abrams hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
The losses, however, won’t spread dismay around Centerville’s program. The Elks will remember what they did last year. This year they are 13-6 and just finished a challenging 12-game stretch with eight wins. And they have difficult games left with state contenders Greenville and Gahanna Lincoln to further prepare for the tournament.
“We'll get back to playing good softball next week,” Hutchinson said. “Today doesn't take anything away from what we've done so far and what we're going to do in the future.”
The tournament draw is a week away. The Elks might have to go through Lebanon to make it back to the state tournament in Akron. Or like last year, one of them will end up in the Central region and they could meet in Akron again.
“The path to Akron is going to be difficult, but we're going to be right there at the end fighting for a chance to go back,” Hutchinson said. “It's going to take a great effort by somebody to keep us from going.”
The Elks are leaning on a lot of the same players they did last year, led by sophomore pitcher Caitlyn Belcher and junior shortstop and leadoff hitter Natalie Carr.
Likewise, Lebanon’s Kindell sees opportunity for his 15-5 team to make another run at state. He lost three productive seniors from last year’s team.
“We're finding ways to replace that production,” he said. “Do I believe this group has a chance to go back to Akron? Absolutely I do. But we're still a long way away from that becoming a reality.”
Despite the struggles against Kenton Ridge, the 12 walks, the five wild pitches that allowed runs to score and the lack of offense, Kindell felt much better about his team after it rebounded to beat Centerville.
“We just have to keep working on all the little things that we can get better at,” he said. “We saw some of that today coming out of game one and into game two. We were a different team. We got better today.”