Back on top: Winning fits Flashes to a ‘T’

By Joe Scalzo

sports@vindy.com

CHAMPION

On Monday afternoon, Champion High softball coach Cheryl Weaver was wearing a 2006 Division II state runner-up T-shirt when one of her players, junior pitcher Lindsay Swipas, said, “Mrs. Weaver, I like that shirt.”

“And I said, ‘Well, I’d like another one with 2011 on it,” Weaver said. “And then a bunch of them went, ‘You want a state runner-up shirt?’

“And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re right. Sorry.’”

With three state titles, Champion is the most-decorated softball team in the tri-county area — a point of pride, considering the team’s state tournament history is plastered on a sign in front of the high school. Ironically, on Wednesday, the Golden Flashes played the only other Mahoning Valley team with more than one title — Badger — winning a sectional final 19-1 in five innings.

The Flashes won titles in 1978, 1980 and 1994 and Weaver said people still talk about pitcher Jackie Beavers, who led the Flashes to their last championship. (Her father, Ed, still watches games from time to time.)

“I just remember Champion softball always being so good,” said junior Haley McAllister. “When you get up here, you just want to keep up that status and do your best for the team.”

The Flashes (20-0) went 26-2 last year and advanced to the regional semifinal, falling to eventual state champion Jeromesville Hillsdale, 5-0. All but two players returned for Champion, which is ranked first in the latest statewide coaches poll.

This year’s team has a good mix of youth and experience — there are four seniors, three juniors and six sophomores on the varsity roster — and while Swipas gets the most attention, it’s not a team that relies on one or two players. Case in point: Six different players had extra base hits in Wednesday’s win.

“We always play as a team,” said senior Taylor Petersal. “No one player shines out from the rest.”

Weaver has had teams that need to sit down and focus before games, but she said this year’s team is more likely to joke around or talk about something other than softball. Then, when the game starts, they flip the switch.

“We’re focused on the field,” McAllister said. “We know when we’re in between the lines, we’ve got to get the job done but we also like to have fun and just be supportive of each other and try to keep everybody pumped up.”

Although this spring has been a nightmare, weather-wise, the Flashes have been able to practice indoors at an abandoned bus garage — they’ve nicknamed it “Winter Haven” in honor of the Indians’ former spring training site — and feel like they’re sharper than many area teams.

Whether that means Weaver will be adding to her T-shirt collection in a few weeks, well, that remains to be seen.

“Once you’ve been there [to state], the goal is always to go back,” Weaver said. “Anything less doesn’t seem right.

“But right now, we’re focused on districts and we’ll worry about state later. It’s like a ladder. We’ve got another step to take.”