Garaway softball outlasts Crooksville to return to Sweet 16

CAMBRIDGE — Garaway captured a second straight Division VI district softball title and fifth overall under ultra-successful head coach Dennis Koshmider, as the top-seeded Pirates defeated a determined Crooksville team, 4-0, on May 21 at Cambridge City Park. The win vaults the Pirates (25-5), state runner-up in 2025, into another Sweet 16. They will play either Lucasville Valley or Leesburg Fairfield, who play on May 22 to determine the Southeast District representative, in the semifinals at 5 p.

m. on May 27 at Pickerington Central. Seventh-seeded Crooksville, in the East District for the second year after spending the entirety of its sporting history in the Southeast, finished a 12-15 season.

More: OHSAA baseball scores, schedule for the 2026 East District tournament More: OHSAA softball scores, schedule for the 2026 East District tournament More: Maddison Kelley carries Conotton Valley past Caldwell, back to Sweet 16 “I was really proud of our team today playing with such strong defense and really good pitching that kept us in the game,” Koshmider said afterward. “We just had to find ways to manufacture runs. Their pitcher (Elyse Baker) was really working the outside part of the plate and we were putting the ball in play but they were making defensive plays.

I think they came in with that game plan, and that has definitely been a weakness for us to hit to the opposite side of the field. But our girls made adjustments, and we got a run here and a couple runs there and the last one was a nice one. ” Crooksville head coach Casey Vallee had nothing but praise for his Ceramics, who trailed just 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning before Garaway added two runs in the fifth and an insurance tally in the sixth inning.