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AKRON — The Mahoning Valley’s softball program had a historic year in 2024.
Area teams won all four of the Northeast regional titles, even though three teams competed for state titles and only two—Austintown Fitch and Canfield—won the championship.
South Range earned its third Division III regional title in as many years with a victory against Champion, while Fitch and Canfield each successfully defended their regional titles in Division I and Division II. Mathews won the regional title in Division IV, its first since 2012.
In other words, this past season, the Valley ran softball in northeast Ohio.
Falcons coach Steve Ward remarked, “It’s an amThey never stop challenging one another and themselves. As a result, there are a lot of children in our Valley who play summer soccer as teammates. That mindset of “we’re just going to keep pushing, keep getting better, and access new layers” is, I promise you, prevalent throughout our entire Valley.
“It’s an amazing time, because it’s amazing to see how much the entire community and the coaches support each other and the other players.”
Each of the four teams arrived to Firestone Stadium in Akron last weekend with the Valley’s banner, despite having taken distinct routes to get there.
Mustangs coach “We love our softball in the Mahoning Valley for sure.”azing testament to how hard these players work.” They don’t take vacations; they work nonstop all year long stated Jim Nicula. “It’s really nice when you’re going to have that (shared success), because these kids are friends with so many of the other kids on those other teams, and they play travel ball or summer ball and just hang out together.”
Even more astounding is the fact that the two state winners, Canfield in Division II and Fitch in Division I, compete in the same conference, the All-American Conference.
When the clubs met again a few weeks later, the Cardinals defeated Fitch 2-1 in their second visit, after the Falcons had won 5-0 in the season’s first home game.
Each of those games functioned as a yardstick for both sides in their individual travels to the heading.
The Cardinals’ coach Michael Kernan stated, “We weren’t excited about playing them the first two games of the season.” “After our opening game loss to them, 5-0, I thought, ‘We can do better than that.'” The children held that to be true. We also said that we needed to step it up. The tone was set by that game. After that, we played them roughly ten days later after being rained out for the second game, and we defeated them. However, it elevated our group to a new level. That most likely elevated them to a new level as well.
“I assured our children that we were superior to it. However, we improved, we got ready, and we took charge. Early on, we had a measuring stick. And for us to triumph They, in my opinion, boosted the team’s self-assurance and enabled us to proceed in a responsible, constructive way.
Throughout the season, all four of the teams consistently ranked within the top four in the state’s softball coaches poll, though not exclusively.
Along with Columbiana, Champion, a longstanding softball powerhouse and nine-time state champion, was also placed in Division III by the state. However, the Raiders won the Division III bracket, and both teams ultimately lost to South Range: the Clippers lost in the district final, while the Golden Flashes lost in the regional final. At one point throughout the season, Lakeview was also included in the poll.
In the regular season, there’s a chance the local teams are rivals. However, they’re all eager to see one another through, particularly when it’s tournament time.
We’re wishing each other luck and congratulating each other. We take some pride in the fact that we are representing the Valley, according to Kernan. “We care for each other as much as we compete with each other.”
