Here's an in-depth look at all of Portage County's high school softball all-league, all-district and all-state honorees, starting with the top awards won by local standouts.
Metro Athletic Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year Maddie Burge (Field junior)
Pitching Stats: 19-2, 2.12 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 28 BB, 96 K
Batting Stats: .436, .500 on-base, 39 RBIs, 21 runs, nine home runs, eight doubles, five triples
Maddie Burge was always going to shoulder more of the load in 2024.
After senior Olivia Bey suffered an early season injury, Burge took on an even greater role in the circle than anticipated and prospered for the Falcons, going 19-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 96 strikeouts against 28 walks.
"I saw a lot of determination from her this year," Falcons coach Beth Dyer said. "Just having the experience of being an upperclassman, too, definitely helped and knowing what it takes to be successful."
Blessed with good speed and good movement, Burge kept opposing hitters off-balance. And, as a hitter, Burge meshed the ability to hit for average (.436) and power (22 extra-base hits).
"She leads off for us for a reason — because she usually is putting the ball in play and getting on base," Dyer said. "She's a pretty consistent hitter there at the top of the lineup, somebody who I think is respected throughout the league and feared because she can hit the home-run ball."
Metro Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Beth Dyer (Field)
In the circle, the Falcons leaned on Maddie Burge. There's no question about that.
At the plate, Field featured remarkable balance, batting .408 as a team with 11 regulars hitting at least .348.
"It was a strong lineup one through nine," Dyer said. "Even some kids who weren't necessarily consistently in the lineup were just as good."
After finishing a game back in the league title race in 2023, the 2024 Falcons refused to allow a repeat, winning critical tight games over Coventry and Springfield early in the season, then crushing their competition the rest of the way to finish 14-0 in league play.
"I just think [it was] that experience and just a little bit more of the composure and knowing what they want to accomplish," Dyer said. "It took a little bit more, I think, seriousness, if you could say, but they felt more comfortable, and I think they felt more confident, too, without arrogance."
Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year Shelbie Krieger (Rootstown senior)
Pitching Stats: 10-7, 2.63 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 159 K, 30 BB in 93⅓ IP
Hitting Stats: .492, six doubles, six home runs, 22 RBIs, 18 runs
Shelbie Krieger was one of Ohio's best pitchers as a freshman. She only got better as the years progressed.
In 2024, the Miami (Ohio) commit put up a 2.63 ERA, striking out 159 batters in 93⅓ innings. While Krieger has long been a strikeout machine, she also became a much more efficient pitcher.
"I've seen her grow where she doesn't fully rely on her speed," Rovers coach Paige Byers said. "It's a little bit more spin and then ultimately relying on her defense because she's picked up that the batters are going to put it in play, but she has a group of eight girls behind her who are going to do everything they can to help her out and make her successful."
Although Krieger will focus on pitching in Oxford, she can hit, too. As a senior, she led Rootstown's regulars with a .492 batting average while showing considerable pop with a team-leading six home runs.
"She's a force to be reckoned with," Byers said. "When she goes up there, we know she's going to put it in play and it's going to be in play hard, and it's even better when she sends it over the fence hard."
Portage Trail Conference Coach of the Year Jeff Fankhauser (Mogadore)
The 2023 Wildcats won their first district title but came up just shy in the league race. The 2024 Mogadore team quickly set a different tone in PTC play, picking up key league wins over Rootstown and Southeast to build an early lead and holding it the rest of the way.
Wildcats coach Jeff Fankhauser pointed to his team's depth. In the circle, both Katie Gardner (11-3, 1.49 ERA) and Addie Christy (6-3, 2.29) shone. And at the plate, Mogadore featured a remarkably balanced lineup, with six of nine starters topping .300: Christy (.453), Gardner (.434), MJ Shellenbarger (.373), Olivia Kidd (.361), Gracie Funk (.305) and Lily Hotchkiss (.302).
"I think their biggest aspect was the team effort that they always did," Fankhauser said. "They bought into the team idea, and everybody, one through 14, was just involved in being part of the team and they bought into what part they had in the team success."
Suburban American Pitcher of the Year McKennah Metzger (Aurora senior)
Pitching Stats: 20-1, 1.25 ERA, 141 K, 26 BB in 112 IP
Hitting Stats: .646, 2.127 OPS, 19 2B, 14 HR, 61 RBIs, 26 runs
Of all the crazy numbers McKennah Metzger put up over the course of her career, "17" might be the craziest.
As in 17 program records.
Yes, that's right, the Coastal Carolina commit now holds Aurora's career records for plate appearances, at-bats, hits, singles, doubles, home runs, RBIs, batting average, slugging and OPS. She also set six single-season hitting records this year: doubles, homers, RBIs, on-base, slugging and OPS. And she set another single-season mark with 20 wins in the circle.
It was a simply jaw-dropping year.
"She doesn't settle for anything," Greenmen coach Sam Petrash said. "She doesn't become complacent. She wants more, and it's evident in her numbers from year to year. Her stats were crazy her freshman year, and to think that they got better every year after that kind of tells you, it tells you what kind of person she is."
Suburban American Player of the Year Sophie Schecterman (Aurora junior)
Stats: .543, 1.479 OPS, 11 2B, 30 RBIs
Watch Sophie Schecterman walk up to the ballpark and you'd never know how dangerous she is.
"If you look at her walking up to the ball field, number one, you would never guess she was a catcher," Greenmen coach Sam Petrash said. "And, two, you would never think, 'Wow, this girl's got a cannon for an arm.' She's fast, she runs fast, she's got power in her bat. She just knows how to barrel it up consistently and she's got good bat speed."
Schecterman hit .543 while also helping McKennah Metzger have a superb season in the circle. And, yes, despite being on the small side for a catcher, she hit for prodigious power, with 16 of her 38 hits going for extra bases, including 11 doubles.
"She's kind of extraordinary in that she presents herself as she's kind of your typical player, but when she's in the weight room, when she's at practice, when she's playing, she's intense," Petrash said. "She's an intense competitor, she turns it up, and it carries over onto the field with her performance."
Suburban American Coach of the Year Sam Petrash (Aurora)
Sam Petrash isn't one to pat himself on the back, but the Greenmen coach is more than happy to compliment his players, who put up one of the great seasons (24-2) in Portage County history. That included a fourth straight league title and the second district title in program history.
The stats tell part of the story, with eight of nine starters batting above .300. Five topped .475: McKennah Metzger (.646), Sophie Retton (.598), Sophie Schecterman (.543), Lailah Bohanan (.513) and Sophie Petrash (.475). Oh, and Metzger also went 20-1 with a 1.25 ERA.
But beyond any one stat, Petrash points to the team's impressive chemistry, stemming from many of the players competing in youth ball together.
"We would just go out and compete and play," Petrash said. "[We] built a lot of chemistry, and the girls, they just knew they had something special as they were growing up."
First Team All-Ohio
Division II
P McKennah Metzger (Aurora senior)
C Sophie Schechterman (Aurora junior)
Division III
OF Morgan Muncy (Southeast sophomore)
Division IV
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore senior)
Honorable Mention All-Ohio
Division II
P Maddie Burge (Field junior)
INF Sophie Retton (Aurora junior)
Division III
OF Abby White (Rootstown senior)
First Team All-District
Division II
P McKennah Metzger (Aurora senior), P Maddie Burge (Field junior), C Sophie Schecterman (Aurora junior), INF Sophie Retton (Aurora junior), OF Lilli Sutkowy (Field sophomore)
Division III
OF Morgan Muncy (Southeast sophomore), OF Abby White (Rootstown senior)
Division IV
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore senior), C Olivia Kidd (Mogadore senior)
Second Team All-District
Division II
INF Kailyn Gressman (Field junior)
Division III
P Shelbie Krieger (Rootstown senior)
Division IV
INF Addie Christy (Mogadore junior), OF Angelina Jones (Windham senior)
Honorable Mention All-District
Aurora: Sophie Petrash
Crestwood: Bella Hunter, Kayleigh Helm
Garfield: Kolby Fresch, Maddy Wilson
Mogadore: Lily Hotchkiss
Ravenna: Shyanna Dillbeck, Kasey Sterba
Rootstown: Natalie Hammerschmidt, Lilly Kamenash
Southeast: Lexi Morris, Ava Stephens
Streetsboro: Hailey Miller, Olivia DeToro
Waterloo: Bayley English
First Team All-Conference
Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division
INF Bella Hunter (Crestwood senior), DH/UTIL Grace Harper (Crestwood freshman)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier
P Lizzy Moore (Garfield senior), C Kolby Fresch (Garfield junior)
Metro Athletic Conference
Field junior Kailyn Gressman, Field sophomore Lilli Sutkowy, Field junior Mckayla Miller, Ravenna sophomore Mallory Sterba, Streetsboro sophomore T'Lanee Boyett
Portage Trail Conference
P Katie Gardner (Mogadore senior), P Miranda Timko (Southeast freshman), C Olivia Kidd (Mogadore senior), 1B Addie Christy (Mogadore junior), M-INF Lily Hotchkiss (Mogadore junior), 3B Morgan Muncy (Southeast sophomore), OF Abby White (Rootstown senior), OF Alexandria Morris (Southeast senior), OF Gracie Funk (Mogadore junior), At-Large Natalie Hammerschmidt (Rootstown senior), At-Large Ava Stephens (Southeast junior)
Suburban American
Sophie Petrash (Aurora junior), Sophie Retton (Aurora junior), Lailah Bohanan (Aurora sophomore), Ashley Legg (Roosevelt senior)
Second Team All-Conference
Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division
OF Erin Hallis (Crestwood junior), INF Mia Gullatta (Crestwood senior)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier
INF Maddy Wilson (Garfield senior)
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier
P Kristlyn Kehrer (Waterloo freshman), C Bayley English (Waterloo sophomore), INF Morgan Sweitzer (Waterloo senior), OF Taryn Brown (Waterloo senior)
Metro Athletic Conference
Field junior Tia Ulrich, Field junior Olivia Dyer, Ravenna junior Whitney Holmes, Streetsboro freshman Chloe Cutright
Portage Trail Conference
P Katie Sisley (Rootstown sophomore), 1B Izzy Schuller (Southeast freshman), M-INF Addie Goldstein (Southeast junior), 3B M.J. Shellenbarger (Mogadore sophomore), OF Rylee Clark (Mogadore sophomore), OF Lilly Kamenash (Rootstown freshman), At-Large Boston Silveus (Rootstown senior)
Suburban American
Madeline Dalessandro (Aurora senior), Rayna Unverferth (Aurora junior), Avery Qualters (Aurora junior), Natalie Lowe (Roosevelt junior)
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division
Crestwood: SR Kaitlyn Huffman, JR Kayleigh Helm
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier
Garfield: JR Juliana Genovese
Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier
Waterloo: SR Miranda Long
Metro Athletic Conference
Field: JR Jessica Pollard, JR Delilah Rahe
Ravenna: JR Shyanna Dillbeck, FR Kasey Sterba
Streetsboro: JR Hailey Miller, FR Olivia DeToro
Northeastern Athletic Conference
Windham: SR Angelina Jones, SO Sydnie Sweet
Portage Trail Conference
Mogadore: SO Jayden Miller
Rootstown: SO Reise Thomas
Southeast: SR Mya Sutcliffe
Suburban American
Aurora: FR Lila Bultrowicz, JR Julia Miller
Roosevelt: JR Avery Gates, SO Brynn Moser
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