Locals play key roles in Mt. Union softball success

ALLIANCE -- Four Youngstown-area softball players -- Ronda Barth (Western Reserve High), Ashley Ault (Mineral Ridge), Cindy Green (McDonald) and Carissa Prince (Lakeview) -- have helped the Mount Union College softball team compile a winning record as the season draws to a close.
The Purple Raiders had an 18-14 record, including 9-7 in Ohio Athletic Conference, entering Saturday's game at Ohio Northern.
Mount Union will close the regular season Monday at Wooster at 3:30 p.m.
Barth, a junior catcher, leads the team in hits (42), RBIs (29), doubles (10) and total bases (61), while her .424 batting average (42-for-99) also is tops among regular hitters. She also has a .616 slugging percentage, 15 runs and three homers.
Ault has most wins
Ault, a sophomore pitcher, leads the team in wins (6-4) and has a 2.31 earned run average with 33 strikeouts and eight walks in 75 2/3 innings.
At the plate, Ault has a team-best .600 batting average (3-for-5) ahead of Barth.
Green, a freshman pitcher, registered the most strikeouts on the staff with 34, and had a 3-5 record, 3.87 ERA and 17 walks in 38 innings.
Green also is batting .303 (10-for-33) with six RBIs and five runs.
Prince, a freshman second baseman-third baseman, is batting .276 (24-for-87) with 13 runs and eight RBIs.
Gillam wins honor
SPRINGFIELD -- Norah Gillam, a junior pitcher for the Wittenberg University softball team from Canfield High, has been selected to the North Coast Athletic Conference's 20th anniversary softball team.
Gillam, the only one of the 16 players on the team still playing, was an All-NCAC first-team pick the past two seasons, and also was named newcomer of the year as a freshman in 2002.
This season, Gillam had an 8-2 record and 2.01 earned run average over 73 innings, helping Wittenberg to a 16-8 record, including 9-1 in the NCAC. She had 51 strikeouts and 20 walks.
Last week, she won three games over the distance with a two-hit shutout against Denison, a six-hitter over Ohio Wesleyan and a five-hitter versus Oberlin.
Marzano nears mark
HIRAM -- Senior Joe Marzano (Cardinal Mooney) of Hiram College is nearing the school record for career home runs.
Marzano slammed four home runs last week to give him six for the season and 17 for his career -- just one shy of the school career record of 18 held by Dom Yazbek (Chaney).
Yazbek is a student assistant coach for the team.
Marzano is batting .317 (32-for-101) with 23 RBIs and 19 runs.
Last week, he went 9-for-21 (.429) in six games with eight RBIs, seven runs and three doubles.
Logar helps Kent State
KENT -- Tracie Logar, a senior pitcher for the Kent State softball team from McDonald High, posted a 4-3 record with a 1.58 ERA to help her team to a 19-15 record, including 10-3 in the MAC.
Logar, who has 28 strikeouts and 16 walks over 48 2/3 innings, also is batting .234 (11-for-47) with eight RBIs and five runs.
She is a three-year letterman.
Also with the KSU team is Julie Kemesky, a junior outfielder and two-year letterman from Austintown Fitch, who is batting .150 (3-for-20).
Last year, Logar had a 5-6 record with a 3.30 ERA, 35 strikeouts and 22 walks; while Kemesky played in 24 games and batted .250 (3-for-12).
Sega is KSU starter
KENT -- Matt Sega, a senior infielder for the Kent State baseball team from Canfield High, was batting .256 (11-for-43) with five RBIs entering a three-game series with Bowling Green starting last Friday.
Sega has started all 12 games and helped the Golden Flashes to a 6-6 overall record, all of the games played against Mid-American Conference teams.
Last year, Sega ranked fifth in batting average on the team among regulars with .296, with 40 RBIs and a team-best two triples, while starting all 54 games. He also had 11 doubles and five home runs.
For his career, he had a .273 (99-for-362) batting average with 63 RBIs entering this season.
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