“The nine losses are probably more a product of who they’ve played and the strength of their schedule than it is anything else,” he said. “They’re going to be really, really tough. North Canton Hoover is going to be North Canton Hoover.”
How good are the Vikings when they get to the state tournament? Well, they’ve never lost there. Eight trips to the Final Four, eight state championships, all in the last two decades.
The Warriors are 29-3 and ranked No. 1 in Ohio, but they were winless in state matchups against Hoover in 2012 and 2014.
Not that Kindell is expecting Lebanon to be intimidated or terribly worried about the past. The Warriors have never won a state title, but they believe this is their year.
“We’re taking that approach,” Kindell said. “We’re not going up there with the mentality just to have some fun. We know it’s very, very difficult to win games up there. We know the task at hand. But we’re going up there to win the thing. We have a very experienced team. I think when our feet hit the dirt, we’ll be ready to let it fly.”
Veteran coach Jerry Goodpasture said his Vikings have elevated themselves over the course of the season. This is the first time they’ve been to state since 2014.
Hoover starts a freshman and three sophomores, including pitcher Grace Vesco.
“We’ve had our ups and downs throughout the year, but we seem to be peaking right about this time,” Goodpasture said. “I think leadership has grown during the year.
“I think maybe in the past with some of the teams, we had a little more leadership overall. With this team, it wasn’t there in the beginning. But I think it developed. Our seniors started to lead the way.
“This is a different team. They didn’t come into the season with the idea that we’re going to win this because we have great tradition. (It was) we’re going to have to do it.”
This is a matchup of teams with a lot of offensive firepower. Ohio University-bound senior shortstop Katie Yun has 11 home runs for the Vikings.
Both teams have quality pitching without overpowering speed. Vesco will start in the circle for Hoover, while Kindell will choose between seniors Alexis Strother and Taylor Lewis.
Lebanon is hitting .408 as a unit and is scoring nearly 10 runs per game. Among the regulars, the batting averages range from senior left fielder Chloe Allen’s .518 to junior center fielder Madison DeGennaro’s .300.
“It’s a very, very balanced lineup with a very consistent blend of speed all the way through it,” Kindell said. “I think great plate discipline is why we’ve taken a step forward offensively right now. We just have not chased any bad pitches, and when you don’t do that, you get up in the count and eventually you’re going to have an opportunity to hit a ball hard.”
The Warriors currently have six players committed to play at the next level: Lewis (St. Peter’s), Strother (Tennessee Martin), Allen (Lake Erie), DeGennaro (Presbyterian), senior third baseman Alex Gibson (Wittenberg) and junior second baseman Madison Hartman (St. John’s).
D-I state schedule
What: Division I state softball tournament
Where: Firestone Stadium, 1575 Firestone Parkway, Akron
Thursday's semifinals: Elyria (20-4) vs. Gahanna Lincoln (25-5), 10 a.m.; Lebanon (29-3) vs. North Canton Hoover (21-9), 12:30 p.m.
Saturday's state final: 10 a.m.
Elyria state history: 12 appearances (1994, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017), two titles (2002, 2009)
Lebanon state history: Four appearances (2012, 2014, 2015, 2017), no titles
Lincoln state history: Five appearances (1979, 1981, 2003, 2011, 2017), no titles
Hoover state history: Nine appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017), eight titles (1998, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
About the Author