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Madison Wendel is The Daily Standard's Softball Dream Team Player of the Year.
Coldwater, junior
Pitching: 20-6, 1.08 ERA, 267 strikeouts
Hitting: .518 avg., 9 HR, 31 RBI
MAC Pitcher of the Year
When she is on her game - and more often than not, that is the case - Madison Wendel dominates the game of softball in this area.
The Coldwater junior repeats as The Daily Standard's Softball Dream Team Player of the Year after another stellar season in the pitching circle and at the plate.
Wendel, who has verbally committed to continue her career at NCAA Division I Marshall, remained the area's premier pitcher as well as Coldwater's best offensive threat, as the Cavaliers went 21-7 this season.
After going a combined 39-10 with 505 strikeouts in her first two seasons for Coldwater. Steinke lifted those totals in 2023. In her opening game against Fort Loramie, Wendel struck out 13 Redskins and scored the winning run in the top of the sixth in the Cavaliers' 2-1 victory. Coldwater opened the season with five straight wins before losing the second game of a doubleheader to Indiana powerhouse South Adams. which lost in the Class 2A regional final this season. The Cavaliers' chances to repeat as Midwest Athletic Conference champions hit a snag in a 6-1 loss to New Bremen, then were ended in a 9-3 loss against Parkway.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers finished the regular season at 20-6 and 5-2 in MAC play. In the opening game of the Division III tournament, Wendel, who had come close to no-hitters before, earned her first varsity perfect game, striking out 12 of the 15 Bluffton batters she retired in order en route to a 10-0 win to reach the district semifinals and face a tough Van Buren team, which had ended Coldwater's season in the 2021 sectional tournament.
Wendel started the district semifinal by getting a strikeout, passing Marion Local great Dana Hartings to become the MAC's all-time strikeout leader with 767 punchouts and then added five more to finish the season with 772. The Cavaliers tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth, but the Black Knights got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh for the 2-1 victory.
Wendel finished her season with a 20-6 record, a 1.08 earned run average and 267 strikeouts in 168 1/3 innings. At the plate, Wendel batted a team-high .518 with nine home runs - raising her own school record to 30 and closing in on the Mercer County and MAC career mark of 41 held by Parkway's Haley Hawk - 11 doubles and 31 runs batted in.
Wendel, the MAC's Player of the Year as a sophomore, was named the Pitcher of the Year this season as the conference coaches split the baseball and softball awards to name a Pitcher and Position Player of the Year in each sport. Wendel was also named first-team All-Ohio by the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association.
Trey Stover is The Daily Standard's Softball Dream Team Coach of the Year.
Parkway, coach
21-6, 6-1 MAC
Division IV State Semifinalist
MAC Co-Coach of the Year
After the program suffered a rare losing season in 2022, Parkway coach Trey Stover knew he had the building blocks for 2023 to be magical.
In his third season after taking over for retiring Hall of Fame coach Mark Esselstein, the Parkway grad lost just two seniors from 2022 and still had a young team.
Stover's steady guidance helped the Panthers reach the state tournament for the first time in 10 years and the fourth time in school history, earning him Softball Dream Team Coach of the Year.
The Panthers opened up 4-1 out of the gate and lost a tough 10-2 game to Minster in MAC play on April 13, but Parkway soldiered on and took advantage of Coldwater beating Minster late in the season to clinch a share of the league crown with the Wildcats with matching 7-1 records.
After losing 7-0 to Russia on May 5 and then 3-0 to Adams Central on May 8, Parkway got a tuneup win over Jackson Center before turning its focus on the postseason. After a run-rule win over Hardin Northern, Parkway was four outs away from seeing its season end in the district semifinals before scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat St. Henry 4-2. Then Parkway got back-to-back payback wins, avenging its regular season loss to Minster with a 6-2 win in the district final and then edging Russia 2-1 in nine innings in the regional semifinal at Northmont.
Parkway then punched the ticket to the program's first state appearance since 2013 with a 10-3 win over Covington. The Panthers' run ended against a tough Hopewell-Loudon squad in the Division IV state semifinal by a 9-1 margin to finish 21-6.
One of the big keys to the Panthers' success is the reemergence of Meg Henkle as a pitcher. After struggling as a sophomore, Henkle went 18-5 with a 3.25 ERA.
The Panther offense provided the runs to keep Henkle in games. First baseman Paige Stephenson led the team and area with a .538 average. Madison Louth, who focused more on center field than pitching this season, batting .500 with freshman shortstop Brittyn Bruns batting .446 as Parkway averaged just over nine runs per contest and batted .369 as a team.
CATCHER
Hannah Oldiges, Minster
.346 avg, 11 home runs, 36 RBI
FIRST BASE
Paige Stephenson, Parkway
.538 avg, 33 runs, 32 RBI
SECOND BASE
Rya Buschur, St. Henry
.424 avg, 7 doubles, 22 runs.
SHORTSTOP
Lyndi Hemmelgarn, Minster
.286 avg, 10 doubles, 33 runs
THIRD BASE
Leah Lefeld, St. Henry
.383 avg, 5 home runs, 32 RBI
OUTFIELD
Madison Louth, Parkway
.500 avg, 37 runs, 20 RBI
Camryn Swain, Marion Local
.371 avg, 20 runs, 11 SB
Rylin Trego, Minster
.440 avg, 32 runs, 27 RBI
DESIGNATED PLAYER
Brittyn Bruns, Parkway
.446 avg, 33 runs, 11 stolen bases
UTILITY PLAYER
Mikaela Hoskins, Minster
.372 avg, 17 runs, 23 RBI
PITCHER
Madison Wendel, Coldwater
20-6, 1.08 ERA, 267 strikeouts
Meg Henkle, Parkway
18-5, 3.25 ERA, 83 strikeouts
Carlee Rethman, St. Henry
11-9, 2.56 ERA, 204 strikeouts
HONORABLE MENTION
Celina: Payton Bertke
Coldwater: Claire Steinke, Jordan Hemmelgarn
Fort Recovery: Maddie Guggenbiller,
Marion Local: Allison Dirksen
Minster: Kaycie Albers, Emma Linn
New Bremen: Alayna Ross, Ella Pape
Parkway: Adria Miller, Avery White
St. Henry: Lauren Thieman, Jalynn Everman
St. Marys: Adyson Van De Keere
