Greenville celebrates its fifth trip to the state tournament under head coach Jerrod Newland after defeating Western Brown 4-0 Friday in the Division III regional final. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie Wright-Daniel)
Greenville defeats Western Brown, the team that stopped it from making it to state last year, and led by pitcher Ella Oswalt, still hasn’t allowed a run through five tournament games.
Pleasant Hill, OH – When Greenville wins a softball game, veteran head coach Jerrod Newland likes to say, “It’s a great day for Lady Wave softball.” You might hear him say it three or four times.
Once every few years, a Lady Wave day is greater than all the others.
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On Friday evening on a softball diamond at Newton High School surrounded by green-clad fans, the Lady Wave won back what they lost 364 days ago, a day sophomore pitcher Ella Oswalt said was the worst day of her life.
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On that day, the Lady Wave lost to Western Brown in the Division III regional final. The loss motivated them to have the best day of their lives on Friday. They worked all offseason to build a good team into a great one. They dreamed big and loud.
“Very first winter workout said, ‘We gotta go to state, we gotta go to state, we gotta go to state,’” Oswalt said.
The last team standing in the second-ranked Lady Wave’s way was, once again, third-ranked Western Brown. Not this time. Not this team.
When first baseman Lizzie Shaffer caught a popup for the final out, the Lady Wave jumped high and stretched their hands to the clouds. They defeated Western Brown 4-0 in the regional final to earn a berth in next week’s state final four in Akron.
“The best day, best day, the best day,” Oswalt said. “I don’t even know what to say.”
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After their gloves fell to the dirt and they hugged like long-lost family members, they lined up to shake hands with their nemesis. And the man – assistant coach Steve Schmidt – with the big cardboard box of neon-lime regional championship T-shirts ran from the dugout to the outfield grass and yelled, “Akron, baby!”
“It’s just amazing that we did what we did today,” senior Kendall Cromwell said. “We made history.”
For the fifth time in Newland’s 23 seasons as head coach, the Lady Wave (31-1) will play in a state semifinal, riding a 31-game winning streak. They have a week to prepare for Friday’s 12:30 p.m. semifinal at Firestone Stadium against three-time state champion Bloom-Carroll. If Greenville wins, it will play in its third state final at 8 p.m. Saturday, motivated to do what the 2007 team did when it won it all.
Jordyn McMullen approaches home plate after leading off the third inning with a home run for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s just great for the kids and the program and alumni,” Newland said. “I see 20, 30 players here and they’re texting all day, and families and friends – it’s a family.”
The oldest active family members are third baseman Cromwell and senior second baseman Lily Brubaker. They played on Greenville’s last state team in 2023.
“This is the most exciting day ever,” Brubaker said. “When I was a freshman, I didn’t know how much this would mean, and these freshmen have no idea what’s to come.”
One of the freshmen is catcher Jordyn McMullen.
“I got my wish from yesterday,” she said. “We all get to go to state. I’m so happy.”
Cromwell said her younger teammates have often asked about their state experience.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” she said of playing at state. “The momentum with the fans and everything, and the back and forth between both teams is such a fun experience.”
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Fun is what playing for the Lady Wave is all about. When Oswalt strikes out a batter she often stomps her foot. And her infielders raise the arms in a “K” sign. That happened only three times Friday.
But Oswalt didn’t care. Winning is all that matters. And getting another shutout is pretty sweet, too. Greenville has shut out all five tournament opponents and allowed only two runs in May over 11 games.
“Ella accepts that responsibility and puts us in the positions to win,” Newland said. “She works so hard every day of the year, around the clock, she plays for her teammates, and that’s what makes her such a good team player.”
Greenville second baseman Lily Brubaker tags out Western Brown’s Kaylee Harmon on a throw from Rielynn Davidson when Harmon tried to stretch a single into a double leading off the fifth inning.
Oswalt’s teammates appreciate how Oswalt plays for them.
“She has our backs, no matter what, and we have hers,” Brubaker said. “She’s our biggest cheerleader, and she knows her role and we know ours.”
All the roles worked together to prevent the Broncos (28-4) from scoring despite nine hits. Oswalt stranded runners at third base three times and nine runners in all.
“I just knew I had to be myself,” Oswalt said of Western Brown’s scoring threats. “Coach always says stay within yourself, don’t try to do too much. So I was just trying to be myself, and just pitch like I know I can.”
Oswalt pitched with a flawless defense behind her. The biggest play came when Western Brown’s Kaylee Harmon tried to stretch a leadoff single into a double in the fifth inning and was thrown out by left fielder Rielynn Davidson.
“Play of the game, play of the game,” said Oswalt, who allowed a pair of one-out singles after the big play. “If we don’t get her out, they probably score that inning. She hit a gapper, but Rielynn hustled over there and got her out at second and never gave up.”
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Oswalt threw 101 pitches in Thursday’s semifinal win over Tippecanoe. She threw 126 Friday, but she never felt tired. Too much adrenaline and too much on the line.
“Ella’s ability is insane,” McMullen said. “She’s an amazing pitcher, and our defense is amazing. We all have so much trust in each other that even if the ball gets hit, we know we’re going to be able to stop it, and we know we’re going to get the out.”
Greenville, however, took advantage of its scoring opportunities.
First baseman Lizzie Shaffer catches the final out to send the Lady Wave to state.
Leah Force reached second to start the game when her fly ball was dropped in left field. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Shaffer’s sacrifice fly.
McMullen led off the third inning with a bullet of a home run to center for a 2-0 lead. After her big double in Thursday’s win, she said she wanted to try to hit a home run but focused instead on just getting any kind of hit. History almost repeated.
“I got a ball that I wanted, and I just took it and drove it,” she said. “Honestly, when I was up to bat that time, there wasn’t anything going on. I was just like, make contact.”
The two-run lead made Oswalt feel better about the chances of Friday turning out to be the best day of her life.
“It’s like a weight lifted off your shoulders,” she said.
Oswalt and her teammates lifted more weight before the inning ended. Three singles by Force, Oswalt and Brubaker pushed the lead to 3-0. Force singled in the final run in the fourth and Oswalt had more than enough of a lead to work with.
“You can’t do it by yourself,” Oswalt said. “We would not have won today without the defense, without the hitting, because I didn’t hit anything. All I did was pitch. And that’s the mindset you have to have, is that people are around you to do it with you, and not do it for you.”
Greenville finishes its victory celebration with confetti.
Newland loves that attitude about his team. His confidence is so high that he isn’t afraid to consider what might happen in that day’s game and write down what he thinks the final score will be.
On Thursday, he wrote 4-0. His team won 3-0.
On Friday, he wrote 4-1. In the seventh, Newland’s center fielder, Brianna Klosterman, almost made a shoe-top catch. She kept the ball in front of her and kept a runner from scoring.
“Thought the girl scored and I was going to be right,” Newland said.
But happy to be wrong and get the shutout?
“Oh, absolutely.”
What a day.
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