By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Field softball team lost nine seniors to graduation from last year’s team that finished 22-8, captured the Metro Athletic Conference title and qualified for the Division IV regional semifinals, the farthest the team has ever advanced in the postseason.

You would have figured that 2026 would be a rebuilding season for the Falcons.

“We knew we had a bunch of new, young players coming to varsity,” said longtime head coach Beth Dyer, who also piloted Field to regional-semifinal berths in 2022, 2019, 2009 and 2007.

Field sophomore Allison Barto rounds third on her way to score during lat Friday’s Division IV regional championship victory over West Geauga.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

“We were looking forward to seeing what they were capable of doing and how they’d be able to compete.”

Compete they did.

And it certainly has not been anything close to a rebuilding season.

Not only did Dyer’s squad qualify for regionals again, it has advanced all the way to the state tournament this coming weekend at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

“Obviously, the girls have exceeded any sort of expectation at all,” said Dyer. “We’re so excited, we’re thrilled, we’re beaming with pride and enthusiasm. We have some good players who have developed. I think they’re wanting to carry on the tradition of Field softball, being a good team and winning league and competing in districts and hopefully regionals. The kids have good fundamentals, and they’re coachable. They believe in themselves that they can do it.”

Field qualified for the state tournament by way of 15-5 bashing of West Geauga in a regional final last Friday at Devine Diamond in Kent, a game that was called after six innings due to the 10-run rule. Winning by a 10-run margin this deep into the postseason is a rarity.

“We’ve been swinging the bats pretty well lately,” the coach said of her team that hasn’t lost a game since April 25.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Said Dyer, “We told the kids, ‘It’s a long ballgame. All you have to do is chip away. You’re not going to change the game with one swing. Just put the ball in play, play hard and make things happen,’ and several players did that.”

Falcons freshman Ryann Huddleston connects on a first-inning single during Friday’s regional final win.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

The Falcons forged ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the first and led 6-5 heading to the last of the third.

It was all Field from that point on. Five runs in the third blew the game open. A run in the fifth and three more in the sixth were just for show.

“We were fortunate enough to get out on top after that first inning,” Dyer said. “We also knew West Geauga was hitting the ball pretty well, too, so we had to calm down the pitching, make the defensive plays and just keep adding the runs. And we did.”

Leading Field’s 14-hit attack were junior second baseman Gracie Hoskin, senior first baseman Lilli Sutkowy and senior catcher Averi Weis. Hoskin singled four times and had three RBI, Sutkowy doubled three times and drove in two runs and Weis had two doubles and knocked in three runs.

“Gracie is a really smart batter,” said the coach. “She has a tough task of following Lilli in the lineup, so sometimes they intentionally walk Lilli, and Gracie is always able to move Lilli over and drive in runs. She looks for her opportunity to get on base and put the ball in play and does a great job at it.

“Lilli is consistently the hitter in the lineup. She usually puts on a hitting display when she’s at the plate. To have the season she’s having her senior year is absolutely remarkable and something hopefully that she always remembers.”

Not to be outdone, senior designated player Carly Eldreth socked a home run.

Five errors by West Geauga resulted in only seven of Field’s runs being earned.

Senior catcher Averi Weis arches back to try to catch a foul ball.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

Two nights earlier, last Wednesday also at Devine Diamond, the Falcons advanced to the regional final with a thrilling, nerve racking 2-1 eight-inning win over Lakeview in a regional semifinal.

With two outs in the top of the eighth, Weis tripled in Hoskin for what would be the winning run.

“Averi,” Dyer said, “was robbed of a hit earlier in the game when Lakeview’s centerfielder made a great catch. Averi was just determined to put the ball in play and get on base in the eighth, and she did. She comes up with key hits quite often and is a rally starter, too. She’s very focused and a tough out.”

The Bulldogs outhit Field 11-5, but could muster only that single run against junior pitcher Adrianna Berry, who struck out three and walked one.

“Adrianna was tough as nails,” said the coach of her first-year starter. “She acted like she was a veteran out there. West Geauga had a really tough, tough lineup. They put the ball in play a lot and hard, but it didn’t seem to faze her. They had some opportunities, but she made great pitches, and our defense was clutch; the girls made some really, really good plays to get us out of some innings.”

The Falcons take a 22-3 record into what is a monumental task in their state semifinal game Friday at 3 p.m. when they will oppose Springfield Kenton Ridge. Not only are the Cougars defending state champions, they are on quite a roll to say the least in the form of 62

straight wins dating back to the start of last season, when they finished 32-0. They are 30-0 this season, including a 40-0 win in their first tournament game, one of a dozen shutouts they have posted.

Field sophomore Bre Homan celebrates on second base during last Friday’s victory over West Geauga in the Division IV regional final.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

“We know Kenton Ridge is good,” said Dyer. “Everybody is good at this point. We know they have experience being here.”

If Field gets past Kenton Ridge, next up would be the winner of the other semifinal between 23-0 Bryan and 26-0 Newark Licking Valley in the state championship game on Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Golden Bears have 16 shutouts and have yielded just 12 runs the entire season, while half of the Panthers’ wins have been bagels.

In case you haven’t done the math, the combined win-loss record of the three teams besides Field in the final four is a staggering 79-0.

“I think the girls are going to be able to handle this big stage because nothing all season has gotten to them,” Dyer said. “It doesn’t matter who they’re facing, where they’re playing …

they just go out there to play their game and have fun doing so.”