Lakota West rides hot bats to OHSAA Division 1 softball state title

AKRON, Ohio – Southwest Ohio had not held the OHSAA Division I state softball trophy since the 1980s. That changed on Saturday afternoon as Lakota West took home the title with a 9-2 win over Holland Springfield.

The fireworks for the Lakota West offense started right out of the gate, as pitcher KK Mathis hit a 2-run homer in the top of the first inning.

The Firebirds added three runs in the third and two more in the fifth before adding a final run in the sixth. The entire lineup produced, as eight of the nine starters hit safely for a combined 13 hits in the game.

Mathis led the attack with three hits, while Kendall Forren, Lily Volmer and Haley Hibbard had two hits each.

While it was the bats that got Lakota West heree and ultimately is what won the game for the Firebirds, it was a play on defense in the second inning that changed things.

Lakota West led 2-1, but Springfield had runners on first and second with one out. Sydney Schwietermann hit a ball to right field and it looked like Volmer made the catch, but she dropped the ball.

“When I caught it, I apparently didn’t catch it,” Volmer said. “So I threw it to second.”

Waiting at second base was shortstop Molly Grace, who tagged the base for an out and then tagged the runner who had been on second for a double play. She also went and tagged the runner from first just in case.

“I was really confused, I’m not going to lie,” Grace said. “I didn’t know what the call was so then I just took the ball and started tagging every person on the field I saw.”

The umpires got together to sort it out and decided the call on the field of a double play stood.

From that point on, Mathis didn’t allow a hit for the next three innings as the offense stretched the lead.

“Today I went out there and I had to be on,” Mathis said. “This is the moment you have to play your best ball, no matter what. I just knew I had to come up big for my teammates today.”

For the seniors, it was a bittersweet day. They were holding the championship trophy, but also knew this was the end of the line for their high school careers with the girls they have played with for years.

“We are really happy we got to play one more game and end up being happy towards the end and getting the win,” Forren said. “It’s really sad because this is my last time playing with all of these people.”

But no better way to go out than on top, and that’s what Lakota West did on Saturday. 

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