Findlay's softball team opens season by vetoing Presidents

Softball MARION – Findlay High softball coach Brian Steffes is expecting big things from this year's team.Saturday's season opener against Marion Harding should only fuel that fire.Left fielder and leadoff hitter Monika Kerwin drove in five runs and senior catcher Addy Sprang and freshman third baseman Emma George knocked in three each as Findlay opened its 2026 season with an overwhelming 20-2 win over Marion Harding.Kerwin, a returning all-league player from last year's 14-10 team, singled in two runs during a nine-run Findlay rally in the third inning, and added a three-run home run in the fifth.Sprang, who earned honorable mention all-Ohio recognition last season when she led the Trojans in batting average (.513), hits (39) and runs scored (tied, 34) and set schools records (dated to 1993) for home runs in a season (8) and career (15), was 2-for-3 with a three-run double in the nine-run third.George had three hits, including RBI singles in the first, second and third third innings.Senior outfielder Ryan Boes, who hit .313 last season with one home run, 15 RBI and 22 runs scored, had two hits, drove in two runs and scored three against Marion Harding. Emily Cole and Laine Boes added RBI hits as well.Natalie Steffes got her senior season off to a strong start. The right-hander, a four-year starter with 38 career wins and around 250 career strikeouts, limited Marion Harding to three hits and two runs – neither one earned – in the five-inning game. She struck out five and walked just one.Cole, 4-6 last season with a 4.92 ERA, will also see time inside the pitching circle for the Trojans, who will face some of their biggest challenges in league games against teams like Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg. Anthony Wayne reached the Division II state semifinals last season; Perrysburg advanced to the Division I regional finals before its season ended.Findlay continues a season-opening road swing with a game at Wapakoneta today and a doubleheader at Lima Shawnee on Saturday.The Trojans home opener is next Monday with Maumee. Findlay 359 03—20 14 3Harding 020 00—2 3 6WP—Steffes (1-0). LP—Hecker (0-1). TOP HITTERS: (Fin) Kerwin 2-1B, HR, 5 RBI; R. Boes 1B, 2B, 2 RBI; Sprang 1B, 2B, 3 RBI; Cole 1B, RBI; George 3-1B, 3 RBI; L. Boes 1B, RBI. CAREY 30 FOSTORIA 0FOSTORIA – Carey pounded out 20 hits and capitalized on 12 walks and seven Fostoria errors to rout the Redmen 30-0 in the 2026 season opening softball game for both teams.Bayah Harsanje, Autumn Bouillon and Tylinn Stoll combined for 10 hits and 16 RBI to lead a potent Carey offense. Harsanje, a junior catcher, was 4-for-4 with two walks, three singles and a home run, five RBI and four runs scored.Bouillon, a senior outfielder, drove in six runs with two singles and a double and Stoll, Saturday's winning pitcher, had a single, two doubles and five RBI.Stoll allowed just two hits over five innings and struck out nine.In other opening day matchups, Coldwater rolled past North Baltimore 22-5 in five innings and Hardin Northern beat Bucyrus 9-3.Carey 417 7(11)—30 20 1Fostoria 000 00—0 2 7WP—Stoll (1-0). LP—Rumschlag (0-1). TOP HITTERS: (Car) Niederkohr 2-1B; Bouillon 2-1B, 2B, 6 RBI; Stoll 1B, 2-2B, 5 RBI; Harsanje 3-1B, HR, 5 RBI; McKelvey 2-1B, RBI; Hohman 2-1B, 2 RBI; Luhring 2B, 2 RBI; Hanna 2B, 2 RBI. (Fos) Shrinder 1B; Edwards 1B. H. NORTHERN 9 BUCYRUS 3 BUCYRUS -- Milee Seabrook had a single, a double and three runs batted in, and Hardin Northern raced past Bucyrus, 9-3 in the season opener for both teams. Kaitlin Whitaker had two hits (triple) and an RBI for the Polar Bears, while Katy Barlow added a hit and an RBI. Lyla Holtzberger picked up the win in the circle for Hardin Northern, which will host Riverdale Tuesday. Girls LacrosseNOTRE DAME 8FINDLAY 7TOLEDO – Goals by Ava Cooper and Noah Tesner in the last two minutes of regulation fueled a furious Findlay rally that tied the game, but Toledo Notre Dame had the final say –and the final edge – in nipping the Trojans 8-7 in overtime in a nonleague girls lacrosse match on Saturday.Cooper and Greta Zaciewski scored two goals each for Findlay, which doubled its win total in 2025 by going 6-9 in Stefan Adams first season as Trojans head coach.Tesner, Mihaya Saito and Josylin Hunt had the other goals for Findlay. Isabelle Speer and Taylor Ziegler-Bucher had assists for the Trojans, who complete a season-opening three-game road swing Tuesday at Toledo Central Catholic. Findlay will face Marysville on Thursday in its home opener..