Five things to know about Tallmadge softball heading into OHSAA state tournament

The OHSAA softball state tournament returns to Firestone Stadium in Akron this weekend with 16 teams playing for a state championship.

The Division II and Division III state semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, with the Division I and Division IV semifinals Friday.

The winning teams return Saturday to compete in the state championships.

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Tallmadge in Division II is the lone local entry in the tournament.

Tallmadge (23-8) will play Greenville (29-4) in a state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The other semifinal in the division pits Canfield (23-2) against Steubenville (23-5) at 3 p.m.

The Division II state championship is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Here are five things to know about the Tallmadge softball team:

Who are the regular starters on the Tallmadge softball team?

Junior Riley Jackson is Tallmadge’s ace pitcher and junior Lexi Gray is the catcher.

The Tallmadge starters across the infield are senior Jocelyn Caffelle at first base, senior Emma Garbinsky at second base, junior Ashlyn Severns at shortstop and junior Sydney Becks at third base.

The Blue Devils outfielders are senior Marley Queen in left, junior Mia Zappola in center and sophomore Leila Staszak in right.

Junior Kathryn Headrick, sophomore Katie Huth and sophomore Payton Almond regularly see time at designated hitter or in the field.

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Who are the top hitters on the Tallmadge softball team?

Becks is Tallmadge’s leader with a .585 batting average with 31 hits, 13 RBIs and 23 runs.

Caffelle leads the Blue Devils in RBIs with 32 and hits with 47. She is batting .495 with 18 doubles, one triple and 30 runs.

Staszak is batting .467 with 21 hits, two home runs, 18 RBIs and 18 runs.

Queen is atop Tallmadge’s home run list with three this season. She is batting .426 with 43 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, 31 RBIs and 29 runs.

Gray leads the team in runs scored with 36. She is batting .385 with 42 hits, nine doubles, three triples and 21 RBIs.

Severns is batting .370 with 34 hits, two home runs, 26 RBIs and 31 runs.

Garbinsky is batting .369 with 31 hits, seven doubles, three triples, 22 RBIs and 25 runs.

Tallmadge’s other batters over .300 are Huth (.383, 18 hits, one home run, 18 RBIs, 12 runs), Almond (.378, 17 hits) and Headrick (.361, 22 hits, six doubles, one triple, one home run, 20 RBIs and 18 runs).

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Who are the top pitchers on the Tallmadge softball team?

Jackson is Tallmadge’s ace with a 14-5 record and a 1.76 ERA. She has 166 strikeouts and 29 walks in 115⅔ innings.

Zappola is 5-1 with a 2.64 ERA and 54 strikeouts and 16 walks in 58⅓ innings.

Tallmadge’s other pitchers are Huth (2-2) sophomore Larissa Taylor (2-0).

What happened to Tallmadge senior Zoe Rensel?

Rensel, a Rhode Island softball recruit, was lost for the season because of an injury in the middle of April. She was batting .388 with 19 hits, six doubles, one triple, two home runs, seven RBIs and 16 runs this season.

What is Tallmadge's history in the OHSAA softball state tournament?

Tallmadge is set to make its 16th state tournament appearance in softball.

The Blue Devils have won seven softball state championships: Class AAA in 1981 and 1987, Class AA in 1988 and 1989 and Division II in 1993, 1997 and 1998.

Dave Harris coached the 1981 team that won the Class AAA state title, the 1983 Class AAA state runner-up team and the 1982 and 1985 teams that were a Class AAA state semifinalist.

Roger Howard coached the 1987 (Class AAA), 1988 (Class AA), 1989 (Class AA) and 1993 (Division II) state title teams. He also coached the 1990 and 1995 teams that were the Division II state runner-up.

Don Duffy coached the 1997 and 1998 Division II state championship teams and the 1999 team that was a state semifinalist.

Coach Brittany Lightel was a sophomore player on Tallmadge’s 2009 Division II state semifinal team and her sister, Kirsten Lightel, was a senior player on Tallmadge’s 2014 Division II state semifinal team. Current assistant coach Ed Seeker was the head coach of both of those teams.

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.