Amherst’s senior players gave a plaque to coach Bill Matthews on Wednesday to commemorate his 400th career victory.
Aleecia Sunagel, Ari Antonopoulos and Olivia Sliman presented the plaque at home plate before the Comets’ game with Avon Lake. Matthews’ assistant and former player, Lacey Reichert, presided over the brief ceremony.
Matthews reached the milestone Monday when his undefeated Comets manhandled Berea in a Southwestern Conference game on the road.
“I’m still having fun after all these years,” said Matthews, who’s in his 25th season.”
Why not? The Comets are the only remaining unbeaten softball team in the area. The Ohio High School Fastpitch Coaches Association ranked them fourth in Division I earlier this week.
“The kids have been having fun,” Matthews said. “They haven’t had any pressure put on them, they just go out and play.
“I really think if we lose a game it’s not going to be a big deal. We’ll come back the next day and play. The seniors have done a great job of keeping them loose and putting them in their place and that kind of stuff.”
He’s seen some changes in the sport over the years. The biggest?
“I think hitters have caught up with the pitching,” Matthews said. “Five, six, seven years ago, pitchers dominated. But now you need hitters, teams do have hitters and they can hit the best pitchers. In general, the kids today aren’t better athletes, but they’re more skilled at softball because they play it longer and play more of it.”

Dukes’ Roth to retire

Tom Roth, Wellington’s highly successful veteran coach, said he will retire as a coach at the end of the season, his 23rd. He will continue to teach. He has already packed it in as defensive coach on the football staff. The reason? His son Jeff is an athlete at Bellevue High School and Roth wants to see him play.
“I was in the booth at a game last fall when my cell phone rang,” he said. “It was my wife. She said, ‘Jeff just scored his first varsity touchdown.’ I was really sorry I missed that. I want to go see him play.”
Roth is easily the most successful softball coach the school has had. He led the Dukes into the Division III state championship game last spring, which is further than any other Wellington team has ever gone. This year’s team has been ranked in the Division III top 10 each week of the statewide poll and climbed to sixth place in the current poll.
When he hangs it up, Roth will have something more than 370 career victories, which ranks fourth all-time among Lorain County softball coaches. Only former Keystone coach Dave Leffew (428), North Ridgeville coach Norm Frindt (404 to start the season) and Amherst’s Matthews (401) have put up more.    
Jen-less Raiders roll
Columbia suffered a big blow when pitcher Jen Solanics was forced to rest her arm because of a strain. She is one of the top hurlers in the area and a big reason for the state-ranked Raiders’ success.

What to do?

Coach Ken Richardson sent junior outfielder Kristen Minarchick into the circle when the Raiders played in the Columbus Centennial Tournament last weekend. The result was amazing.
Columbia won two of three games and lost the third only because two errors allowed four unearned runs.
Minarchick allowed only one run and catcher Emily Nagle drove in the winning run in a 2-1 win over New Riegel, the state’s fifth-ranked Division IV team.
JV pitcher Emily Gault and Minarchick both pitched in a 6-5 win over Millersport. In that one, Jenny Kus drove Sarah Viccarone home with the eighth-inning winner.
Nagle moved to short and Rachel Bican to catcher for the third game after shortstop Dani Riolo was injured in the Millersport game. Nagle, a good all-around athlete, made two diving catches.

Wildcats thinking big

Keystone’s young Wildcats were sharp last weekend in winning the 11th annual Elyria Spring Classic. It was their first appearance in the daylong event. They were delighted to take the trophy back to LaGrange, but they have a still loftier goal.
“Every win means something to us, but we know what our prize is,” coach Jim Piazza said. “We want to go to Akron (Final Four site). That’s what our goal is. The kids don’t get excited about anything right now and it reminds me of ’06 when we said, ‘If we don’t go to state, we’re not satisfied.’ They’re staying focused on that.”
Keystone remains the top-ranked Division II team in the Ohio Softball Coaches Association’ statewide poll. And in case you missed it, the Wildcats are ranked 22nd in the country in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or softball@bobdaniels.info.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Cassie Gleisner, Wellington

YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Pitcher
LAST WEEK: What a week for Gleisner, the highlight of which was her 11-strikeout, five-hit shutout of Elyria, then the top-ranked team in
Division I. Did we mention that she won that game with her two-run, eighth-inning triple? Earlier, she was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs against Lutheran West, while she struck out six and walked none in three innings in the circle. She pitched a 16-strikeout one-hitter against Fairview and went 2-for-4 against Keystone in the Elyria Spring Classic title game.
BIO: For the season, Gleisner is 9-1 as the sixth-ranked Dukes’ No. 1 pitcher. That includes 86 strikeouts in 57 innings, during which she has allowed only four earned runs for an 0.49 ERA. At the plate, she is 17-for-39 (.513) with six doubles, a triple, one homer and nine RBIs. She is one of the best all-around softball players in the history of the program. She formerly played on the basketball team. She belongs to FFA and the school’s leadership planning committee. Gleisner is also a good student who enjoys her American government and ag mechanics classes.
LOOKING AHEAD: She has accepted a softball scholarship to the University of Akron. She is undecided about a major, but is leaning toward criminal justice.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.