The Anthony Wayne softball team did not complete its season with a Division I state title, but it still put together a campaign to remember, finishing with a run to the state championship game in Akron.
The Generals established themselves as contenders with a strong regular season, battling with Springfield for the Northern Lakes League title that the Blue Devils won.
Anthony Wayne carried its fine form into the playoffs, getting the last laugh against Springfield in the regional final and marching through five other opponents to reach the state final against Austintown Fitch.
Here is a closer look at Anthony Wayne’s postseason journey each step of the way.
Sectional final (May 10): Anthony Wayne 10, Wapakoneta 3
Anthony Wayne got the postseason off to a strong start, with Kat Meyers getting the win in the circle.
District semifinal (May 16): Anthony Wayne 4, Bowling Green 0
Behind 16 strikeouts from Brooklyn Patchen, the Generals locked down Bowling Green to advance in districts.
Anthony Wayne’s offense got going quickly, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding another in the second.
Patchen threw 72 of her 93 pitches for strikes and allowed just three hits, all to BG’s Samantha Trimpey. Three times she struck out the side, including on nine pitches in the second.
“Brooklyn pitched especially well, and we played good defense today,” AW coach Ron Myers said. “Hitting comes and goes, and our hitting was off today. We had some opportunities to score and we didn't put a lot on the board. But we got out of it, and a win's a win.”
District final (May 19): Anthony Wayne 6, Whitmer 5
The Generals needed a fifth-inning rally to dodge Whitmer’s upset bid and wrap up the district title. Meyers led the way on offense and defense, delivering a two-RBI double to tie the game and serving as a closer in the circle for the final two innings.
AW scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead, but Whitmer responded with one tally in the second and took the lead in the fourth with a bases-clearing triple from freshman Ryleigh Hannibal.
Whitmer advanced the would-be tying run to scoring position with one out in the seventh, but Meyers struck out the final two batters to end the game.
“We know how well we can play when we are under pressure,” Meyers said. “We just always talk about every practice and every game having grit and take it one inning and one batter at a time, and it just worked out for us.”
Regional semifinal (May 24): Anthony Wayne 4, North Ridgeville 2
The Generals held off North Ridgeville to set up the region final rematch with Springfield. AW broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when Patchen singled home Megan Sumner.
The big inning continued with Teya Marshall’s two-run double to make it a 4-1 lead, and Meyers limited North Ridgeville to one run over the final two innings.
Trinity Nowicki also supplied a highlight that day, opening the scoring with a solo home run to left in the fourth.
“We've had a little bit of a rough hitting time [lately], I guess, and I think the mojo on the team is just so much better,” Nowicki said. “We have so much more energy. I feel like we have that drive and that grit that we're using to win these games.”
Regional final (May 26): Anthony Wayne 7, Springfield 3
Two nationally ranked squads located just a short drive apart collided for their third meeting of the year, this time for a trip to the state tournament.
The Blue Devils had won both regular-season matchups and entered the game unbeaten, but the Generals turned the tables to hand Springfield its first and only loss of the year.
The Generals took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, saw Springfield go ahead 3-2 in the second, then retook the lead 5-3 in the third on Patchen's three-run home run to left-center.
Meyers worked 5⅓ innings in relief, yielding three hits and striking out eight to pick up the win.
“The two games we played against them this year, we gave up that big inning,” Myers said. “Today, we were determined not to let that happen. Our game plan worked, and we really couldn't ask for more from our hitters and our pitcher today.”
State semifinal (June 2): Anthony Wayne 2, Pataskala Watkins Memorial 1
The Generals journeyed to northeast Ohio for the state tournament and secured their spot in the championship when Nowicki’s homer in the third stood up as the winning run.
Watkins Memorial took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and chased AW starter Molly Conner, but the Generals responded to tie the game in the second on Abby Kennelly’s RBI single.
Patchen pitched 6⅓ innings out of the bullpen, allowing just three hits and no runs. AW’s defense committed four errors but managed to hold tight to its slim lead.
“Trinity Nowicki came up and hit a bomb for us,” Myers said. “From that point on, Brooklyn was in control of the game, our defense stepped up, and I'm proud of our Generals today.”
State final (June 3): Austintown Fitch 6, Anthony Wayne 1
The Generals ran into another undefeated team in the final test of the season. AW took an early lead and did not trail until the fifth inning, but it ultimately could not keep up with the Falcons.
In the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Kennelly drew a walk, stole second, and scored on a one-out single just fair down the left-field line by Sumner.
Fitch tied the game in the third when Ayla Ray scored on Kylie Folkwein's two-out single to right field.
Ray later homered on the first pitch of the fifth inning to give the Falcons the lead. The game got away from AW as Fitch scored three more runs in the inning and added an insurance tally in the seventh.
The Generals finished the season 28-5.
“We had a great season,” Conner said. “We really pulled through with each other. We had some losses, but we just came back from those and battled hard until the end.”
First Published June 5, 2023, 10:15 a.m.
