2021 Season Summary From the Stands and Online Games

[sportsnutscioto]

2021 Regular Season
SOC II
Wheelersburg: Probably the strongest team in the area with big bats in Eaton and Hughes. Solid youthful pitching in Howard that will carry them for a while. Several younger players that know how to play the game. Tough loss this year with the shortstop Eller.

South Webster: A lot of talent in Webster. They played a great matchup with Wheelersburg earlier this season. Messer is a very good pitcher and has been a great leader for this team. This team has a bright future ahead of them moving forward.

West: McDermott is as good of a pitcher as any of the top pitchers in the surrounding counties. Rollins provided a big bat this year as a freshman and will only get better as she gets older. West has some pieces to be a tough SOC II team.

Minford: Blevins is one of the better all around players in the SOC. She has speed, power and versatility to play a couple different positions. Minford seemed a bit young this year, but played some good softball in a tough conference.

Waverly: They have some very talented players and are going to lose some to graduation. Lucky they have some young talent on their roster and some coming up that will keep them competitive in the SOC.

Oak Hill, Valley, Northwest, Eastern will need to rely on some young talent coming in to improve on their seasons. Based on information I’ve heard Valley has some young players coming that should make an impact over the next few years and can put them right back in the mix. Northwest is losing a solid player in Burchett to graduation and that’s a big gap to fill.

SOC I
Notre Dame: Probably the best overall pitching staff in the area with Sparks and Ford. They lose a couple key contributors after this season to graduation, but having two pitchers that can keep teams honest will continue to keep them at the top of the smaller SOC.

Clay: Lutz is one of the best pitchers in both divisions of the SOC and Bazler has been a solid battery mate for the Clay pitching staff for four years. The graduate some core players and leaves me to wonder what players can fill those voids.

Symmes Valley: They are always competitive and coached well. It must be something in the water out in Willow Wood that always brings competitive softball talent through the system. Look for them to challenge ND for the top spot next season.

New Boston, Green Western, Sciotoville will need to hit the reset button. I say the key to some success at these smaller schools is to develop a young pitcher and catcher, and get a few kids playing travel softball, and your teams will improve.

OVC
Ironton: Moore is one of the more dominate pitchers in the area and will continue to improve as she finishes her high school career next season. She led Ironton to an OVC title as well as having a good year at the plate.

Portsmouth: Possibly the biggest turnaround team in the area. Strong play from Perry at shortstop and at the plate as well as solid years from Ramey and Dickerson. In the circle Phillips has been able to keep hitters honest. This is a young team with some good years ahead of them.

Coal Grove: They had a solid year, but lose two key players in Dillow and Griffith to graduation. They still have some starters coming back next year, but will need to fill some big voids next season.

Rock Hill: similar to Coal Grove they will lose some key players to graduation in Hanshaw and Howard. They have been consistently middle of the pack in the balanced OVC. Still one of the best softball fields in Ohio.

Fairland, Gallia, Chesapeake, South Point each have quality players. Fairland and Gallia will get better in the off season. Chesapeake and South Point have some work to do.

SOC I
There’s ND, Clay, Symmes Valley and then a whole bunch of teams that beat up on each other. This division of the SOC has the biggest discrepancy between the top teams vs the bottom. It would be nice to see softball become a priority at some of these other schools.

SOC II
Wheelersburg is the team to beat. They always have players waiting to fill voids and younger talent coming in. I see West, South Webster, Waverly and Minford giving some teams trouble next year. It’s a good time to be in the SOC II in softball. Games are pretty competitive.

OVC
As long as Moore is in the circle Ironton will be a tough team to handle. There are a couple OVC teams that can give them some trouble. Portsmouth had a win at Ironton this season. Coal Grove and Rock Hill hitters had some success against Ironton as well. I look for Portsmouth, Gallia and Fairland to be top tier teams next season.

[RiverRatfastpitch]

Great review,thanks.

[ColdHardTruth]

Very good Review.

I didn't have a player in it this year so I missed some games but from what I did see in the SOC1

Notre Dame - losing several starters but keeps the best pitcher and is in good shape to replace the starters.

Clay - Bazler and Lutz will carry them and keep them in the hunt for SOC. Did lose a great player in Munion though.

Symmes Valley - I think they are in good shape. Lost a bat or two but they seem to always replace them. Plus the Coaching staff is the best in the area about getting their girls out and working this fall.

Green - Lost a great player in Jenkins. Sweeney also had a lot of pop in her bat. They still return i think 7 seniors. But their kids just don't get involved in Summer/Travel ball and that's why they will never catch the top.

New Boston - I really like the core of this team. If they could keep them together and get them playing in the Summers also, there's talent there.

East & Western - both of them will continue to struggle. It's not an issue with their Staffs. I think it's just their kids aren't that interested in Softball lol.

St. Joe - Let's just hope they have a team.

[SoftballGirl]

Very good Review.

I didn't have a player in it this year so I missed some games but from what I did see in the SOC1

Notre Dame - losing several starters but keeps the best pitcher and is in good shape to replace the starters.

Clay - Bazler and Lutz will carry them and keep them in the hunt for SOC. Did lose a great player in Munion though.

Symmes Valley - I think they are in good shape. Lost a bat or two but they seem to always replace them. Plus the Coaching staff is the best in the area about getting their girls out and working this fall.

Green - Lost a great player in Jenkins. Sweeney also had a lot of pop in her bat. They still return i think 7 seniors. But their kids just don't get involved in Summer/Travel ball and that's why they will never catch the top.

New Boston - I really like the core of this team. If they could keep them together and get them playing in the Summers also, there's talent there.

East & Western - both of them will continue to struggle. It's not an issue with their Staffs. I think it's just their kids aren't that interested in Softball lol.

St. Joe - Let's just hope they have a team.

I am more of an SOC1 follower so I can really only comment on those teams.

ND will continue to win with their pitching. They have enough young players to soften the impact of losing the seniors.

Clay - Bazler graduated and won't return She will head to Rio. Lutz will carry them most games through the SOC. Losing their best hitters through graduation that they will need to replace but have a few nice young players moving up.

Symmes Valley - Will return a nice pitcher that was a surprise to teams this year I think. Returning her will help win several games. They will replace the players they are losing and will compete for the 2 spot.

Green - Will be a similar to the team they were this year. Lost a couple seniors but should finish around the 4th spot in the league similar to years past.

New Boston - Loses one player due to graduation but was a good solid player in the outfield making some nice catches and a solid bat at the plate.

East/Western - Agree pretty much with your statement on these two teams.

[ColdHardTruth]

I could have swore Bazler was only a Junior