BY CAM CROUCH (’19)

Ever since the team won the Division II State Championship in 2015, this Granville team has made a lot of noise following their title.

This young squad brought a lot of energy to the field in their 2018 tenure. Despite the ups and downs, the injuries, and the off the field issues, the team has found a way throughout the season.

The softball team finished with a solid 18 wins along with 7 losses with two ties. They held a conference record with 8 wins and 4 losses. They also finished the season ranked 52nd in the state of Ohio among every division.

More importantly, they made a deep run into the OHSAA playoffs, falling short in the regional finals. Coming out as a third seed, they dominated the first seed, Lakewood, in their playoff pool. In outstanding play between the two Licking County powerhouses, the team won 9 to 1 and advanced onto the next round.

The team then faced off against River View in the Regional Semi-Finals, where they were battling in a close game until Junior Ally Fisher blasted a Grand Slam to center field to bust open the game and lead the squad to the Regional Finals.

As they made it to the Regional Finals, they were two more steps away from sniffing another shot at the State Title. The team faced off against a very solid Fairfield Union team. The game was very close throughout as Granville took a 2 to 0 lead at the bottom of the 2nd Inning. Fairfield answered back in the top of the 4th as they tied it at 2s. Granville took another 2-run lead in the 5th, but Fairfield boasted a crazy 7 run inning in the top of the 6th to run away to the State Semifinals.

After this solid run, the team is returning five key seniors to the team in high hopes to walk away with a State title in their 2019 season.
For how young the team was this season, I would like to applaud the coaches and players for putting together such a spectacular run this season.