Youngsters headline first Northern 10 softball season
The headline all year long in Northern 10 softball has been youth. Next year might not be any different.
Many of the top players in the conference will be returning for two or even three more seasons, especially in pitching. Freshmen Sydney Studer of Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky's Blayc Hacker headline the cream of the crop on the hill.
Hacker led her Rams to the N10 title going 12-1 with 94 strikeouts and a 1.74 ERA in 84 2/3 innings pitched. Upper compiled a record of 24-2 and 17-1 in the N10. Their only loss was to Buckeye Central in the second game of the season. Hacker also tossed a no-hitter against Bucyrus earlier in the season.
"I play travel ball and I spend a lot of time working on my game and getting better," Hacker said.
It is no surprise to Upper Sandusky head coach David Young that Hacker has had such a tremendous freshman season. "Blayc works extremely hard in the offseason and has a passion for what she does," Young said.
Studer also will be returning for three more seasons, music to Colonel Crawford head coach Chuck Huggins' ears. Studer led the league in every pitching category with 19 wins, an astonishing 152 punch outs and a 1.31 ERA in 161.7 innings pitched. What Studer enjoys most is not pitching, but being around her teammates.
"It is so much fun playing on this team because of my teammates. I can trust them behind me on defense. They are really reliable so it is nice as a pitcher," Studer said. "I just practice a lot and trust my teammates."
Huggins knows he has a special player for a very long time and recognizes the work ethic from Studer is second to none.
"I am so proud of Sydney Studer. The amount of work that she puts in to be at this level is amazing and she just has dedicated herself to the game of softball. She loves it so much and you can tell she is having so much fun out there. She is definitely being rewarded for all of her hard work," Huggins said.
The homerun queen, Mohawk junior Cambria Kohleberg, will also be returning for another year. Her six homeruns put her one ahead of Colonel Crawford sophomore Alexus Burkhart and fellow Warrior junior Hannah Kieffer. Mohawk freshman Hannah Jordan also was in the top four in home runs with three. Three Warriors occupied the top four spots. All will be returning next season.
Ridgedale's sophomore sensation Hannah Ferguson won the batting title with a .538 average compiling 49 hits and 41 RBI. She also added six triples. Mohawk had an amazing six players hit over .400 on the season with Kieffer leading the way with a .471 average.
Upper Sandusky freshman Madeline Dyer led the league in stolen bases with 36, seven ahead of Colonel Crawford's Burkhart.
It was a rough year for traditional powerhouse Bucyrus who finished 7-17 and 6-12 in the N10. Losing four seniors to graduation, the Redmen still return their top pitcher, junior Toni Zeigler who had a 2.74 ERA and 106 strikeouts.
They youth is spread around the league. Mohawk will lose the most players with seven gone to graduation. Upper Sandusky will lose just two from its championship team and Colonel Crawford will lose just one from its talented bunch. Seneca East will also look to contend in the future with just one senior moving on.
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