Strasburg-Franklin softball has record night in winning OHSAA Division IV state championship

AKRON, Ohio – Records are meant to be broken. Or at least tied.

Strasburg-Franklin did both Saturday night in a 8-2 win over Hopewell-Loudon in the OHSAA Division IV state championship game at Firestone Stadium.

First, the Tigers tied the record for most state championships won by a softball team in Ohio, with nine. The second of consecutive titles tied Strasburg with Warren Champion and Akron Springfield.

“It's just very special,” Strasburg head coach Tom Spidell said. “You know, this, this started back in 1987 with the first one and it just continues to grow. And the alumni that are out there are so supportive, the whole community is supportive, and everybody's just so proud of it.”

To get to the record-tying win, Strasburg’s pitcher put on a record-breaking performance.

Junior Amelia Spidell struck out 18 hitters, a new OHSAA Division IV state tournament record, breaking the old record of 15 which she had tied in the state semifinal on Friday night.

“Honestly, I had no idea that I had gotten to 16 until after everyone was screaming a little bit louder,” Amelia Spidell said. “And then I kinda was like, ‘oh, ok’, but I was really happy and I'm just happy that I can do that for my team and just help them out.”

She struck out the first 12 hitters she faced in the game and 17 of the first 18 outs she recorded came via the strikeout.

The Strasburg offense gave Spidell all the support she needed before she even walked out to the circle, as Maggie Richards took the first pitch she saw in the top of the first and blasted a three-run homer to right field.

“I didn't think it was gone,” Richards said.

Her pitcher laughed.

“Everyone but you knew it was gone,” Amelia Spidell said.

But getting that lead made it easier for the pitcher to settle in early.

“That three-run lead in the beginning was so huge,” Amelia Spidell said. “It just made me feel like I could relax and just trust my defense to do we needed to do and I couldn't have asked for a better first inning.”

Richards added an RBI in the third when she singled to score Hayley Reiger. The Tigers added three in the fifth on an RBI triple by Spidell and RBI doubles by Reiger and Sydney Sibila.

Hopewell-Loudon got its first baserunner on a walk to Isabelle Beidelschies to lead off the fifth and Sydney Brickner got the first hit of the day with an inside-the-park home run to make it 7-2.

Strasburg answered in the sixth when Lilly Myers walked and eventually scored on a groundout by Spidell.

Strasburg hopes to make more history next season, where a three-peat would put the Tiger alone at the top of the Ohio records with 10 titles. Holding that record would also give the Spidells some bragging rights, as Spidell’s pitching coach Alanna Barker (now Overholt) won four titles at Springfield.

“(Amelia’s) pitching coach is from Springfield and won four state championships,” Tom Spidell said. “So knowing that she could tie her this year and then the goal is to stand alone there at 10 the following year.”