- WEEKLY POLL
SLL softball teams tear up non-league opposition
By Scott Calhoun
Special to The Press
sports@presspublications.com
Few would dispute in the high school softball world of Northwest Ohio that the Suburban Lakes League is one of the premiere conferences in this quarter of the state.
State final four appearances in five of the last six seasons, including three straight Division IV titles by Gibsonburg with near misses once each by the Lady Golden Bears in 2004 and Genoa last spring warrant that distinction.
But who would have predicted that all eight programs in the SLL would be boasting winning records as of April 18 — three weeks into the season with an average of 10 games played per team?
That is in fact the case — so the SLL appears to be rising off of an already high plateau of success to something even more impressive. At one point early on against non-league opposition, SLL teams were a combined 36-3 with Genoa rated fifth and Elmwood seventh in the state at the time. Since then, both have moved up.
“I’m not at all surprised by the success of the league,” said Genoa coach Tom Kontak.
“There’s good leadership on all the teams, there’s a lot of enthusiastic community support and there’s a very good commitment in the girls to play summer and travel ball to expand their games.”
Eastwood coach Karen Shroyer pointed out.
“It’s the pitching. There are a lot of good pitchers in the SLL this year,” said Shroyer, whose 6-1 Eagles are coming off a 17-7 season with the program’s first ever district title appearance in 2006.
“If you have strong pitching you don’t have to do a whole lot of defense.”
Kontak agrees.
“Everything starts in the circle. There’s a commitment to pitching in this league,” he said.
The only D-II team in the league — Shroyer’s Eagles are led by one of the area’s top whirlers in senior Alea Haas, who is also the team’s top batter along with senior third baseman Caitlin Bushman and junior third baseman Amanda Taylor.
“We came into the league at 4-0,” said Shroyer, “but when you get into the SLL you know that’s where the competition’s going to be.”
Eastwood is currently tied for second at 2-1, their only loss of the season to date coming by way of a 6-5 defeat at the hands of 7-4 league foe Otsego.
In the second D-III statewide poll released earlier this week 8-0 Genoa is ranked third while 9-3 Elmwood breathes down its neck in the seventh slot.
Kontak’s Lady Comets have all the tools to win the league crown for the second year in a row and perhaps go farther than a state semifinal appearance in 2007. Two All-Ohio players in senior hurler Shannon Szypka (8-0) and senior centerfielder Abbey Kontak head a strong returning contingent that also includes senior catcher Delaney Talmage and juniors Lydia Eckel (3B) and Aerica Susor (1B).
In this league, however, Kontak and his team knows they can’t take anything for granted.
“Top to bottom the (SLL) is good and competitive and has been in the five years I’ve coached in the league,” Kontak said. “There’s no ‘gimme’ games. You better be ready to play or you’re going to get beat.”
Lake and Lakota are the two teams most affected by this month’s adverse weather, but both of those two are already battling to get out of the league cellar with losing records in the SLL.
Woodmore — a team picked by coaches to finish at the bottom of the SLL ladder is instead making heads turn with a 10-2 mark while sitting tied for second at 2-1 in the conference.
Gibsonburg is 9-2 overall but currently tied for last 0-2 in the league — perhaps the best reflection of the meat-grinder reality that will be the SLL slate throughout 2007.
As Kontak points out, that’s the downside of having all the good teams packed into one jar of competition.
“Through the early rounds of the tournament we’ll all end up playing each other and eliminating each other,” Kontak said. “That’s unfortunate because there are some SLL teams that could probably beat some other teams in the later rounds of the tournament.”
The positive side of the SLL grind?
“It prepares you for tournament play because each night you’re having to pitch really well, you’re having to play good defense, and you’re having to manufacture some runs,” Kontak said.
Shroyer made a point to mention the fact that what’s happening right now in the SLL is taking place despite some important disadvantages for the league programs.
“It’s impressive that being the small schools that we are, that our teams can still be that strong,” Shroyer said.
“We don’t have as many players to pick from as the bigger schools.”
By Scott Calhoun exclusively for The Press in Oregon, Ohio.
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