Eagles take their lumps, then miss regional by one run

Eastwood softball coach Joe Wyant was hoping that his team could finish in the upper division of the Northern Buckeye Conference. 

Mission accomplished. However, a tournament run has proven that Eastwood softball is getting back to where it once was, so look out for next year.

This was a team that Wyant said had “attitude, desire and worked hard to get better,” and they proved that in their Division III district final at Rolf Park in Maumee Thursday.

The Eagles finished 21-8 overall and 10-4 in the league, reaching the district finals only to fall to NBC champion Otsego, which is ranked ninth in the state, 2-1.

In league games, Otsego had beaten Eastwood 11-1 and 12-1. In the top of the seventh of the district final, down by one run, sophomore Delaney Menard delivered a two-out double through the left-center field gap to the fence, so the Knights intentionally walked Eastwood’s best hitter, freshman Lilly Escobedo.

However, the two were stranded when Otsego pitcher Lexi North got the final batter to pop up to first baseman Evelyn Rider.

Eastwood actually outhit Otsego 8-6, and the Eagle’s freshman pitcher, Cassie Kieper, struck out four and walked only one. 

“Cassie did a great job pitching and kept them off balance,” Wyant said. 

Maynard was 2-for-4, Escobedo and sophomore Grace Kingery were both 2-for-3, and junior Kaitlyn Luidhardt and sophomore Jessica Smith both had base hits. In four of seven innings, Eastwood had put runners in scoring position, but they stranded seven. The first thing Wyant said to his girls once the game ended was, “Great job girls.”

“The first two times we did not play them very well, but this time we played very well,” Wyant said. “We fought hard, we had chances, we got a player in scoring position, but we just did not get a key hit or a clutch two-out hit with someone on. That is what happens in close games.”

The last year Eastwood had a season, two years ago, they went 27-2. However, only two players, Luidhardt and senior Jaylee Souder, returned from that team with any significant varsity experience. Souder was a second team All-NBC designated hitter as a sophomore.

The 2021 season saw a 63-game conference winning streak ended by Elmwood. Even though Eastwood’s dominance of the league was over, no one is displeased about the season’s outcome. Two girls had to be scratched in the tournament game because of injuries, adding to the frustration.

“I think this has been a great season for us. After a year off, we had no idea where we would be at,” Wyant said. “The girls did a great job. They kept their heads up, they worked hard at it. We only had two seniors and two juniors on the team, and we had two freshmen and four sophomores all year, so we feel pretty good with the record that we have. We’re a young team so we were definitely getting better as the season went on.”

Wyant said in the league he had considered Otsego and Elmwood to be the top tier and Eastwood and Lake to be the second tier. Eastwood defeated Lake, 2-1, in a district semifinal at Rolf Park on Monday, and also got the Flyers 6-3 and 12-6 during the regular season.

Loaded with a solid curveball, Kieper has been Wyant’s ace in the circle. She finished the season 21-7 with 218 strikeouts, 47 walks, and allowed 176 hits and 79 earned runs in 167.2 innings for a 3.38 ERA. 

Wyant says he has “some big hitters” and that is an understatement. At the plate, eight hitters have batting averages over .300, three over .400 and two over .500. Escobedo leads the way batting .576 (55 for 95) with 14 doubles, one triple, two home runs, four stolen bases and 37 RBIs.

Maynard is hitting .524 with (56 for 107) with 10 doubles, 11 triples, seven home runs, five SB, 39 and RBIs. Luidhardt is batting .441 (46 for 106) with eight doubles, one triple, four home runs, seven SB and 37 RBIs. Souder is batting .410 (41 for 100) with one double, one triple, 11 SB and 19 RBIs.

Sophomore Katie Oestrich is batting .438 (21 for 48) with seven SB and eight RBIs. Sopohomore Jessyca Smith (31 for 92) is hitting .337 with four doubles, a triple, a home run, nine SB and 20 RBIs. Junior Sam Sibbersen is batting .318 (27 for 85) with two doubles and 25 RBIs. Sophomore Grace Kingery is hitting .309 (25 for 81) with four doubles, one triple, four SB and 13 RBIs.

For a team that did not win the NBC, they defeated some top-notch programs.

“We beat a really good Clyde team (10-2), and that is probably one of our better wins, and we beat Sylvania Northview (14-6), which is a pretty good team, at Eastwood. We beat a good Evergreen team — but we split with them (10-9 win and 12-6 loss), but Kieper just pitched one game against their best pitcher, and they have a nice team. Our losses are all to really good teams — we have not lost to a bad team.”

In his 13 years at Eastwood, Wyant’s teams have gone 295-76, and if you include one year at Oak Harbor and eight at Lakota, his career record is 426-167. He has won nine league championships, seven district titles and one regional title.

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