AKRON — It wasn’t the way the Louisville High School softball team was hoping for the season to end.
There were still many reasons to be proud, though, after Louisville’s remarkable tournament run ended with a a 10-1 loss to Bloom-Carroll in the Division III state championship game.
Louisville (18-14) was one of the Cinderella stories of the OHSAA state tournament.
The Leopards endured a difficult independent schedule that featured six games against regional finalists before producing a memorable tournament run that took Louisville all the way to the final night of the Division III schedule.
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“The one thing I’m going to remember about this group is the personality they showed,” said Louisville assistant coach Sarah Cantley, who stepped in as acting head coach during the state tournament. Her sister, Emily Brislen, is Louisville’s head coach but was unavailable to coach after giving birth to a son Thursday.
“We had a goal to be in this game early and the regular season got off to a bit off a tough start for us,” Cantley said. “The kids persevered through that and stayed ready to battle. They played for each other and they have laid the groundwork for special things to come. You couldn’t ask for a better group of players or leaders.”
The bond with teammates and the community are things the players will fondly remember.
“Putting on this jersey meant the world to me,” senior Addy Campbell said. “Wearing that ‘L’ … meant something special from the time I was a kid until now. It went from being an extra small all the way up to a medium. You can see the support and love the community had for us. Our fans showed out today. The stands were flooded with Louisville shirts for this game.”
Leah Claugus provided the highlight of the night for Louisville in the state championship game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was a moment that had the underdogs riding high, at least for a moment.
“We were the underdogs the entire tournament and we did it,” Claugus said. “We made it to this game. The players and the coaches are like family to me. It means the world that we were one of the last two teams playing in the state.”
Taking each game one at a time may have been the key to the tournament run.
“I always looked at one game at a time on the schedule,” junior Shaelyn O’Neill said. “I’d just get up and look at the day and see we had another game. The only thing different was this one was going to be the last one. I had a chance to play in a state title game with my best friends. Not a lot of players get the chance to say that.”
You can expect many of the graduating Louisville players to still be around the team in some fashion. The bonds formed are not easily severed.
“It isn’t just four years and you are done,” Cantley said. “The fields are always open to these players. They know that. We like to build relationships that last a lifetime at Louisville.”
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Louisville softball makes memories to last a lifetime at state tournament
Reporting by Cliff Hickman, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cliff Hickman, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
