‘Hound sophomore pitcher Stephanie Dent goes the distance in an upset of Delaware Hayes. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Despite a No. 11 district seed and a 15-10 record, Grove City’s softball team has played its way into yet another regional title game with sharp defense, solid pitching and clutch hitting. Also a traditional power, Lebanon joined the party with an exciting walk-off win over Marysville.
London, OH – If Grove City’s tournament opponents looked at its underwhelming record and No. 11 district seed and figured the Greyhounds would be an easy out, well, shame on them.
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With back-to-back wins over top-10 state-ranked teams, tradition-rich Grove City is headed to the regional championship game for the 10th time. And while a 5-3 win over a powerhouse Delaware Hayes squad in a Division I regional semifinal at Ralph Cornwell Field Wednesday might have raised some eyebrows across the state, those in the know would bristle at the suggestion it was a major upset.
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Asked if was at all surprised by his team’s impressive tournament run, 25th-year Greyhounds coach Ted Williams paused for a moment to search for the right words.
“I knew that we could play,” he said, adding that the team needed time to get its footing after a midseason injury to No. 1 pitcher Cami O’Neal. “We just needed to get together. Going into the tournament, I felt like we were ready to go.”
Grove City had knocked off fourth-seeded Hilliard Bradley (tied for seventh in the final Ohio coaches state poll) on Monday to gain its 10th district title since 1990. But the challenge against 25-2 Delaware – which had outscored its opponents 251-42 – seemed a bit more daunting. The fifth-ranked Pacers came in batting .397 as a team.
And just like that, Grove City wills its way into the regional final as first baseman Shiloh Smith secures the last out of the game against Delaware.
Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Dent, however, was up to the challenge, limiting Delaware to just two hits with 11 strikeouts. She did walk four batters and hit two others, but the Pacers couldn’t come up with the clutch hits.
‘I didn’t really have a strategy,” said Dent, who primarily served as a reliever before O’Neal’s injury, said. “I just went pitch by pitch. I just tried to keep my energy and my defense really lifted me up and kept us in the game.”
Trailing 1-0, Grove City (15-10) inflicted most of its damage in a four-run third inning to take command.
With the bases loaded, Quinn Loar hit a two-RBI double to the right center field fence. Addie Cherry then delivered a two-RBI single to make it 4-1.
“I just stayed confident, looked over the gaps in the field and went for the first good pitch I saw,” said Loar, a towering junior catcher. “That four-run inning really hyped the team up and probably made (Dent) a lot less nervous.”
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It was a night of mixed emotions as coach Ted Williams consoles and celebrates with Grove City junior pitcher Cami O’Neal after the win. O’Neal, who has missed much of the 2025 season with a nagging injury, has funneled her energy into becoming one of the team’s greatest cheerleaders.
Delaware responded with a two-run homer by Zee Brown in the bottom half of the inning but could muster little else the rest of the way.
Tommi Ewing added a bases-empty homer in the fifth for Grove City, which also got a three-hit performance from Lexi Witts. Lear reached base three times.
Loar said she and her teammates thought they were peaking toward the end of the regular season, but probably could not have foreseen this kind of run.
“We just never gave up,” she said. “It’s a little bit crazy. We haven’t been this far since 2019, and now we want to take it a step further.”
Delaware coach Mark Thomas insisted that his team didn’t take Grove City lightly.
“Teddy runs a great program over there, regardless of record,” he said. “You can never overlook one of his teams.
“Today, their pitcher threw really well against us and seemed to keep us off balance. We just couldn’t see the ball well. We also made some defensive mistakes that I hadn’t seen us make all year.”
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Lebanon 3, Marysville 2
Four-time All-Ohio senior catcher Ella Teubner hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to send sixth-ranked Lebanon (25-4) into Friday’s 5 p.m. title game against Grove City.
Winning pitcher Sophia Sheidler celebrates with teammate Sophie Abrams after Abrams scored on a seventh-inning walk off RBI single by Iowa signee Ella Teubner.
Sophie Abrams led off the seventh with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jane Leuzinger. A wild pitch sent Abrams to third and set the stage for Teubner, an Iowa signee who came in batting .629 with eight homers, 51 RBI and an astounding 1.148 slugging percentage.
“I was nervous, but I’ve been in that situation before so I settled my nerves and did my thing,” Teubner said. “I don’t hit it in the ground a ton so I knew if I waited on my pitch I could just let it go and being Sophie home.”
Warriors coach Brian Kindell, who recently amassed the 500-win milestone in 25 years with the program, had a good feeling with the top of his lineup looming.
“Any time we get those kids up, I’m feeling pretty confident,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of upperclassmen who have played in regional games and a final four before and, frankly, I think they’re at their best in these situations with the game on the line.”
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Marysville coach Jennifer Segner-Maxwell knew her team’s back was against the wall after Abrams’ leadoff single.
Warrior freshman Georgia Underwood gets a little too aggressive on the bases and has to scramble back to safety.
“For them to get their leadoff hitter on was crucial,” she said. “Eighty-five percent of the time that run is going to score and they had their best hitters coming up, too.”
Marysville (21-7) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth on a rather bizarre sequence.
Leadoff batter Sienna Hutchins drew a walk and stole second. Brie Jennings then popped up a bunt attempt that third baseman Kennedy Jauch appeared to make a spectacular diving catch on, but the umpires ruled it a trap. Jauch fired the ball back to second base in hopes of picking off a retreating Hutchins but no defender was covering the bag and the ball rolled into center field. Hutchins, a Bowling Green signee, scored easily and Jennings wheeled around the bases for what could best be described as the ultimate Little League home run.
Incensed by the call, Lebanon roared back in the bottom of the frame to tie it thanks to four singles. Pitcher Sophia Sheidler drove in one of the runs and Teuber added another on a flyout.
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The Monarchs had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the seventh but stranded a runner at third.
“I thought we battled a very good pitcher, one of the best we’ve seen all year, but we couldn’t get that go-ahead run across,” Segner-Maxwell said. “We achieved our primary goals this year, but to be that close in the regionals, it’s painful.”
Abrams had three hits and Sheidler had two hits and struck out 13 batters in the circle for Lebanon, which will be shooting for its sixth regional title on Friday. The Warriors have been state runner-ups three times (2012, 2015, 2017) and last won a regional in 2023.
Lebanon’s Sophia Sheidler gets airborne as the winds and delivers during the regional semifinal against Marysville.