SUGAR GROVE ― Lakewood’s softball team raised the intensity level a notch on its bus trip to Berne Union on May 21.
It helped the Lancers earn another ride later that evening, their long-awaited “best ride in America” through the streets of Hebron on local fire trucks.
Even with five state championships and three state runner-up finishes, this one felt a little different for the storied program. Playing as just a 15th seed, for the first time ever in a Division I district final after deciding to move up from Division IV, Lakewood jumped on sixth seed Upper Arlington with five first-inning runs and never let up in a historic 9-4 victory.
“I think about Lakewood softball for 365 days a year,” coach Jon Griffith said, explaining the move up. “I know our team and know our division. In Division IV, we know all of those teams, and they know us. In Division I, they don’t know us, and we loved that challenge of playing the bigger schools. We scouted [fourth seed] Delaware (which they beat 3-1 in eight innings) and Upper Arlington three times each over a week and a half, and our scouting was incredible.”
The Lancers (18-11) suffered lopsided losses in May to Licking County League-Cardinal Division champion Johnstown, which won a Division V district title, Mount Vernon and Gahanna. Lakewood will take the lessons from those games into a matchup with Lancaster (21-7), a 17-11 winner against Marysville, at 5 p.m. May 27 at Olentangy in a regional semifinal.
“We had the music blaring on our trip down, but even without the music, there was plenty of energy,” said freshman Allie Stimmel, whose pitching and hitting helped trigger the win. “We know we can beat anyone, as long as we have the energy and play as a team.”
Her catcher, junior Riley Williams, said the music always gets the adrenaline going, but this time, the pre-game hype was at a different level. Williams went 3 for 3 and Stimmel 3 for 4. They combined for three home runs and four RBIs.
“Playing in the LCL really gave us an extra boost,” Williams said. “We knew what we wanted today, knew what we have been working for. And we had an opportunity to ride the fire trucks.”
Said Griffith: “The greatest motivation of all is to ride on the trucks.”
They got to do so for the first time since 2021’s run to the state semifinals. But that was in Division II. Their successful foray into the big school division featured blasts (four home runs) and bloops, along with Stimmel’s six-hit, seven-strikeout pitching with only one walk.
Briana Hoisington singled on the first pitch of the game. Stimmel followed with another hit, and Averie Adams popped an RBI double down the left field line, followed by Ashlyn Carder’s looper over first that made it 2-0. After Cora Redman avoided a double play, scoring another run, Williams slammed her fourth homer of the spring over the center field fence, making it 5-0.
Stimmel launched the first of her two solo home runs starting the second, and Redman singled home Jaycie Montie, who had walked, as Lakewood sent 18 batters to the late over the first two innings in going up 7-0.
“We haven’t hit like that in a while against a high level of pitching,” Griffith admitted.
The Golden Bears (21-8) kept pecking away and trimmed the lead to 7-4 in the fifth, but Stimmel limited the damage, ending a pair of threats with strikeouts. Then, the Lancers lowered the boom in the sixth as Stimmel drilled her fourth home run of the season and Montie followed with another solo shot. Stimmel finished with a flourish, striking out U.A.’s top of the order to end the game.
“I knew they were good, so I really worked on my spin, spun it a lot,” Stimmel said. “It’s been a big boost by all of my teammates. Cheering me on has really helped.”
She has gradually become Lakewood’s ace as the season has worn on.
“We’ve slowly worked her in,” Griffith said. “One key start was against Watkins [Memorial]. She gave up four in the first, but it was her first start against a big-time opponent. Then she pitched the whole game against [top seed] Hilliard Bradley.”
Williams said they relied on curveballs and changeups against Upper Arlington’s potent lineup. The Bears came in averaging over nine runs per game.
“We tried to get them to chase away, and sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t,” she said. “You could definitely tell that at the beginning of the year, [Stimmel] was a little nervous. She was one of two freshmen and was separated from her friends. The progress she has made was big for her future and playing college softball.”
Stimmel threw 116 pitches, 79 for strikes. Adams added two hits for the Lancers, who outhit U.A. 13-6.
Now, Stimmel faces surging Lancaster, which rallied from a 6-0 deficit and hit three home runs in its third consecutive district title, and 16th straight win. She and her Lakewood teammates don’t figure to be daunted at this point.
“[Stimmel] is very mature for her age,” Griffith said. “She doesn’t get too high, or too low.”
Cincinnati Oak Hills (22-5) plays Grove City (18-10) in the other regional semifinal on May 27 at London, with the title game May 29 at Olentangy to determine a trip to Akron’s Firestone Stadium.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Lakewood softball makes history with first Division I district title
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
