Greenville sophomore Ella Oswalt dominated Troy with 16 strikeouts and allowed only three baserunners in Friday’s 5-0 victory. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie Wright-Daniel)
Sophomore Ella Oswalt’s growing confidence in her changeup helped her tie a career-high with 16 strikeouts against previously unbeaten Troy.
Greenville, OH – Ella Oswalt’s fastball has been known to buzz hitters at 66 mph, the level of velocity that attracts Division I college scouts.
But for Oswalt – Greenville’s sophomore pitcher – velocity is relative. It’s not always how fast she throws, but sometimes how slow that gets batters out. She loves the deception of the changeup.
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It’s become a strikeout pitch.
“If hitters are on their toes and they’re just expecting gas, why wouldn’t you throw the changeup – throw them off,” she said.
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Oswalt’s changeup – not to mention her fastball and outside-corner-crossing curveball – threw off Troy’s potent lineup Friday in a showdown of the Miami Valley League’s best softball teams. A showdown Oswalt owned.
Oswalt threw the Trojans off to a degree they couldn’t imagine. She struck out 16, threw her third no-hitter this season, and second this week, to lead the once-beaten Lady Wave to a 5-0 victory at Lady Wave Stadium, handing Troy its first loss this season.
“My mindset going in was to throw strikes and let my defense do the work behind me, not overthrow and not try and get strikeouts, stay calm and just trust my defense,” said Oswalt, who tied her career high in strikeouts, a mark she first hit against Piqua on April 22.
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The Trojans struck out looking four times and suffered through spans of six straight and five straight Ks. The changeup was a common third-strike villian, almost standing still before a too-early swing or freezing a batter in her stance.
“It’s definitely a developing pitch I’ve been working on because last year I think I got hit more because I didn’t have changing speeds,” Oswalt said. “But now that I have it in my arsenal, it’s quick to use.”
Kendall Cromwell’s fourth-inning single was key to a three-run inning that built a 5-0 lead.
Oswalt pitched a five-inning perfect game over winless West Carrollton on Wednesday. All 15 outs were strikeouts. Against Troy she was perfect through five innings before hitting Klover Holub with a pitch to lead off the sixth. But a popped-up bunt to third baseman Kendall Cromwell doubled Holub off first. So through six Oswalt had faced the minimum number of batters.
That changed in the seventh. Makayla Kennedy reached base on an error, a hard-hit grounder to shortstop Leah Force, and advanced to second when the throw went into foul territory. Oswalt intentionally walked Amayah Kennedy to set up a double play.
The Wave got an inning-ending double play but not the kind they were playing for. Oswalt struck out Riley King. Strike three bounced off freshman catcher Jordyn McMullen, and Makayla Kennedy tried to steal third. But McMullen threw her out to end the game.
“We’re playing a good team, you gotta tee it up and go,” Greenville coach Jerrod Newland said. “Playing a good team. Their seniors have never beat us, though. They’re 0 and 7.
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“I don’t circle any games on our schedule all year, but when you get a chance to play a good league team – they don’t lose many games every year except the two to us – it’s fun to play good teams.”
Troy (20-1, 14-1 MVL) hopes to change its fortunes against the Wave (21-1, 15-0) when the teams meet again Monday in Troy. But the Trojans will have to play a much cleaner game and probably get five or six hits. They committed five errors Friday, helping the Wave to a two-run second and three-run fourth.
Despite the team’s five errors, Troy second baseman Alexis Ater made two highlight plays. Here in the third inning she dives for a popup over the pitcher’s head. In the fifth she dove to her left to catch a line drive and end the inning.
“Our biggest issue were the errors – we haven’t made that many errors all year,” Troy coach Scott Beeler said. “You come up here, Greenville has half their student body in the dugout over there, and you gotta try and ignore it and make the plays. I thought we would play a lot better than we did. That was probably the worst game of our season.”
The Wave didn’t batter the Trojans with the top of their order as they usually do. They had six mostly scattered hits and took advantage of Troy’s errors.
“I love that we came out and we had fun,” Oswalt said. “Everyone on the field today had fun and had grit and wanted to win. There wasn’t a single person in the dugout that did not come here to kick butt. Today was special just because we knew that we had to win.”
The Wave’s first run scored on a throwing error and the second on a groundout by Rielynn Davidson. The 2-0 lead was enough, but after another error opened the fourth, the bottom of the Wave’s order took advantage. Hallee Fourman singled in a run and a second scored because of an outfield error on her hit. Then leadoff hitter Force singled home the final run.
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“We mixed it up a little bit today,” Newland said. “But bottom line is good kids make plays, and we got a lot of great kids on the team. Love where we’re at. Love where we’re playing, playing fast and good.”
Troy starter Julia Rose didn’t get hit hard but was the victim of five errors in the first four innings.
Beeler used two pitchers as he most often does. He started Julia Rose, a senior who is good at hitting her spots and forcing soft contact. She induced a lot of groundballs, but the errors hurt. She left after Force produced the fifth run and was replaced by freshman Reese Campbell, whose movement is a different look than Rose. He can also turn to sophomore Makayla Kennedy, the hardest thrower of the three.
“We try to use two in a game, just to keep the teams off their game,” Beeler said. “If we throw Julia again, I think Julia can be as effective as she was tonight, but we just got to make the plays.”
Newland also uses two pitchers. Oswalt has pitched 81 innings and junior Lizzie Shaffer 50, both with sub-1.00 ERAs. They also are the team’s top run producers and home run hitters.
“Because we got two aces,” Newland said. “They’re both 1A, 1B, and using both it keeps the horse healthy to the end.”
While the big girls played on the high school field, Blaiklyn Sharp and her friends, who hope to one day play for the Lady Wave, practiced on the adjacent fields.
Whichever pitchers start Monday, both teams have much to play for. The Wave can all but sew up the league title with two league games left against Sidney (8-10). The Trojans can put themselves in position to share the title.
“I can’t wait to go to Troy Monday for a war,” Newland said. “We’ll get their best shot again. I can’t wait to go play and shut the door and get the sweep.”
Oswalt wants the sweep, too. But she thinks more about a bigger goal, a place the Wave last made it to in 2023. And every time she comes to the field she sees the sign that commemorates the program’s 2007 championship.
“State,” she said. “That’s the only thing I think about before I go to bed. When I wake up in the morning, my number one goal is to go to state.”
But Beeler is focused on Monday. He expects his team to rebound from Friday’s disappointment with better defense and some hits to put pressure on the Wave’s defense in hopes of finding a way to win a low-scoring game.
“These girls want it bad,” he said. “They want to beat them bad.”
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