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ATHENS — The saying is that pressure is a privilege.
And much of the reason why the Notre Dame Titans' softball program is as good as it is, certainly, is because that phrase is taken entirely to heart by the 2025 OHSAA Division VII State Champions.
Down 1-0 after the opening half-inning of play following a two-out error, the Lady Titans again responded with a massive first inning as each of the first three batters in the opening frame reached, with Lyndsey Schaefer's RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first tying the score and a two-out, two-RBI double to left field by Ava Rush giving the Lady Titans the lead for good.
Rush, the team's ace and leader for Notre Dame — in spiritual and verbal form — then proceeded to throw a complete game six-inning gem with eight strikeouts while not allowing an earned run as the Lady Titans never trailed following the opening inning en route to its 3-2 win over Conotton Valley that allowed Notre Dame to claim its second consecutive OHSAA Division VII, Region 26 Championship and advance to Akron's Firestone Stadium this upcoming week.
As has been the case throughout the 2026 season, Notre Dame head coach Shad Ford said that the Lady Titans' ability to execute defensively in pressure situations was the difference.
"When the game got tight there, we just buckled down," Ford said. "We told the girls all year, 'Defense wins championships.' If we score three, four, or five runs, we know we can win any game we're in. That's what happened (on Saturday)."
The Notre Dame battery, which includes Rush as well as senior catcher Kate Entler, say that the group's hard work and togetherness have continued to help hold the Lady Titans together through the trials and tribulations that most certainly greet any team during the path and the windy road that a long season presents.
"We've been working hard all season," Rush said. "It's for this. We're in a regional final. This is where we wanted to be. We just stayed disciplined and stayed ready."
"This is a very close-knit team," Entler said. "We've played together forever, and the seniors that are graduating have played with the juniors and sophomores forever. It's a forever kind of thing."
Getting a run to begin the game after an intentional walk to two-way standout Maddison Kelley — Conotton Valley's pitching ace and a Valparaiso commit who hit 15 home runs and batted .521 for the 2026 season coming into Saturday's regional final — was followed by a two-out error, Notre Dame never appeared rattled.
That was evidenced early as after an outfield error, Notre Dame two-hole hitter Alayla Soard was hit by a pitch while Entler worked a walk on a full count on Kelley.
This set up another productive at-bat by Schaefer, who fouled off four consecutive pitches and took a ball before lofting a deep fly ball to left field, scoring Notre Dame outfielder Jaysa Bryant to tie the score at one apiece.
"It's awesome to have people behind you that I am just as confident in as I am myself," Entler said. "Shad always tells us that he believes in one-through-nine, and a lot of teams don't have that belief. That's something that I look forward to having as a coach. Knowing that he believes in you when you go up to bat and is cheering for you and is encouraging you is big, and having teammates who encourage you all the time is amazing to have. I believe in every single girl just as much as I believe in myself."
"(Brandon) Entler does the scheduling for us," Ford said. "We do have a great schedule and his work in that is huge. It's an extremely tough schedule. We've seen 10 teams that have pitchers heading to NCAA Division I programs, so we've seen pitching like we faced against Conotton Valley before. We came out hot early and hit it. We put the ball in play."
Following a strikeout, Rush stepped up to the plate with the bags still full and two gone in the inning. The junior stepped in and launched a line drive RBI double to left field, scoring both Soard and courtesy runner Sophie Phillips to give the Lady Titans a 3-1 lead after an inning of work.
"We're down 1-0 to start, but that's nothing we couldn't handle," Rush said. "The bases were loaded. I just knew it was time for me to do a job. I'm not swinging for a grand slam. I just needed a base hit. I needed to do my job, as a batter in this lineup, and not do it for myself, but the name on my chest. Going up there, we've been using the word 'discipline' all week, and we've stayed disciplined and ready. I'm going up there looking for something in the zone that I can drive and hit hard. (Kelley) threw it low and in, it had a little speed on it, and I took it. Standup double."
"Ava's a sneaky-good hitter," Ford said. "Teams are going to catch onto that, and at the state tournament, she might be pitched around now. She's got a hot bat for us too at the moment. She's not only special in the circle. She's an all-around player."
In the second inning, a leadoff walk and a pair of errors with one gone in the top of the second inning allowed Conotton Valley's Ava Williams to drive in a run with a two-out RBI single to left field. But Rush battled back, forcing a pop fly on the very next pitch that Maycee Ford tracked down in shallow center field which allowed Notre Dame to keep its 3-2 advantage.
From there, Conotton Valley struggled to get much generated as Rush continued to keep the Lady Rockets off balance.
Winners of 20 games themselves, Conotton Valley (20-10) got back-to-back singles from Arionna Spano and Ashtyn Walker to put runners on first and second base with one gone in the top of the sixth, but Rush responded by not allowing a ball to leave the infield, forcing a pop out and obtaining a half-inning ending strikeout while needing just seven pitches to record the final two outs of that frame.
"You just have to remind yourself that pressure is a privilege," Rush said. "It's a privilege to be out here today competing for a regional final. It's a blessing, it really is. As long as I do my job and throw hard and I hit my spots, my defense has my back, whether it's Maycee in center field, Bella at second base, Kate behind the plate, or anybody else. I just know that I have to do my job and stay grounded in what I know, and we'll be okay."
Conotton Valley got a single from Ava Williams to lead off the seventh inning, but the Lady Rockets got nothing more as a 6-4 fielder's choice, a pop out and a strikeout followed.
"I've been catching Ava since I was about eight years old," Entler said. "I'm very excited to see where we can go in Akron and see us finish it off in the best way that we can."
With the victory, Notre Dame (26-5) earned a trip back to Firestone Stadium in Akron, where the Lady Titans will play Sycamore Mohawk (26-3) on Thursday, June 4 at 12:30 p.m. in Akron. The winner of that contest will play the winner of Cortland Maplewood and South Charleston on Friday, June 5 at 8 p.m. in a OHSAA Division VII State Championship contest.
"We'll take a day off here and get back to it and have the same mentality," Ford said. "We'll play good defense, score a couple of runs and have a good attitude. The four seniors (Kate Entler, Maycee Ford, Lyndsey Schaefer, Alayla Soard) wanted their season to end in Akron. They got that taste last season and they're going back. We'll give it a shot."
"I'm trying to play for my teammates, especially my three senior teammates (in Alayla, Lyndsey and Maycee)," Entler said. "I'm trying to help us stay in it. It's an awesome place to be, and I'm very excited to go back."
"This was the final step to Akron, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a blessing to be able to keep going to have two more games with these seniors," Rush said, getting emotional. "It means a whole lot."
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And much of the reason why the Notre Dame Titans' softball program is as good as it is, certainly, is because that phrase is taken entirely to heart by the 2025 OHSAA Division VII State Champions.
Down 1-0 after the opening half-inning of play following a two-out error, the Lady Titans again responded with a massive first inning as each of the first three batters in the opening frame reached, with Lyndsey Schaefer's RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first tying the score and a two-out, two-RBI double to left field by Ava Rush giving the Lady Titans the lead for good.
Rush, the team's ace and leader for Notre Dame — in spiritual and verbal form — then proceeded to throw a complete game six-inning gem with eight strikeouts while not allowing an earned run as the Lady Titans never trailed following the opening inning en route to its 3-2 win over Conotton Valley that allowed Notre Dame to claim its second consecutive OHSAA Division VII, Region 26 Championship and advance to Akron's Firestone Stadium this upcoming week.
As has been the case throughout the 2026 season, Notre Dame head coach Shad Ford said that the Lady Titans' ability to execute defensively in pressure situations was the difference.
"When the game got tight there, we just buckled down," Ford said. "We told the girls all year, 'Defense wins championships.' If we score three, four, or five runs, we know we can win any game we're in. That's what happened (on Saturday)."
The Notre Dame battery, which includes Rush as well as senior catcher Kate Entler, say that the group's hard work and togetherness have continued to help hold the Lady Titans together through the trials and tribulations that most certainly greet any team during the path and the windy road that a long season presents.
"We've been working hard all season," Rush said. "It's for this. We're in a regional final. This is where we wanted to be. We just stayed disciplined and stayed ready."
"This is a very close-knit team," Entler said. "We've played together forever, and the seniors that are graduating have played with the juniors and sophomores forever. It's a forever kind of thing."
Getting a run to begin the game after an intentional walk to two-way standout Maddison Kelley — Conotton Valley's pitching ace and a Valparaiso commit who hit 15 home runs and batted .521 for the 2026 season coming into Saturday's regional final — was followed by a two-out error, Notre Dame never appeared rattled.
That was evidenced early as after an outfield error, Notre Dame two-hole hitter Alayla Soard was hit by a pitch while Entler worked a walk on a full count on Kelley.
This set up another productive at-bat by Schaefer, who fouled off four consecutive pitches and took a ball before lofting a deep fly ball to left field, scoring Notre Dame outfielder Jaysa Bryant to tie the score at one apiece.
"It's awesome to have people behind you that I am just as confident in as I am myself," Entler said. "Shad always tells us that he believes in one-through-nine, and a lot of teams don't have that belief. That's something that I look forward to having as a coach. Knowing that he believes in you when you go up to bat and is cheering for you and is encouraging you is big, and having teammates who encourage you all the time is amazing to have. I believe in every single girl just as much as I believe in myself."
"(Brandon) Entler does the scheduling for us," Ford said. "We do have a great schedule and his work in that is huge. It's an extremely tough schedule. We've seen 10 teams that have pitchers heading to NCAA Division I programs, so we've seen pitching like we faced against Conotton Valley before. We came out hot early and hit it. We put the ball in play."
Following a strikeout, Rush stepped up to the plate with the bags still full and two gone in the inning. The junior stepped in and launched a line drive RBI double to left field, scoring both Soard and courtesy runner Sophie Phillips to give the Lady Titans a 3-1 lead after an inning of work.
"We're down 1-0 to start, but that's nothing we couldn't handle," Rush said. "The bases were loaded. I just knew it was time for me to do a job. I'm not swinging for a grand slam. I just needed a base hit. I needed to do my job, as a batter in this lineup, and not do it for myself, but the name on my chest. Going up there, we've been using the word 'discipline' all week, and we've stayed disciplined and ready. I'm going up there looking for something in the zone that I can drive and hit hard. (Kelley) threw it low and in, it had a little speed on it, and I took it. Standup double."
"Ava's a sneaky-good hitter," Ford said. "Teams are going to catch onto that, and at the state tournament, she might be pitched around now. She's got a hot bat for us too at the moment. She's not only special in the circle. She's an all-around player."
In the second inning, a leadoff walk and a pair of errors with one gone in the top of the second inning allowed Conotton Valley's Ava Williams to drive in a run with a two-out RBI single to left field. But Rush battled back, forcing a pop fly on the very next pitch that Maycee Ford tracked down in shallow center field which allowed Notre Dame to keep its 3-2 advantage.
From there, Conotton Valley struggled to get much generated as Rush continued to keep the Lady Rockets off balance.
Winners of 20 games themselves, Conotton Valley (20-10) got back-to-back singles from Arionna Spano and Ashtyn Walker to put runners on first and second base with one gone in the top of the sixth, but Rush responded by not allowing a ball to leave the infield, forcing a pop out and obtaining a half-inning ending strikeout while needing just seven pitches to record the final two outs of that frame.
"You just have to remind yourself that pressure is a privilege," Rush said. "It's a privilege to be out here today competing for a regional final. It's a blessing, it really is. As long as I do my job and throw hard and I hit my spots, my defense has my back, whether it's Maycee in center field, Bella at second base, Kate behind the plate, or anybody else. I just know that I have to do my job and stay grounded in what I know, and we'll be okay."
Conotton Valley got a single from Ava Williams to lead off the seventh inning, but the Lady Rockets got nothing more as a 6-4 fielder's choice, a pop out and a strikeout followed.
"I've been catching Ava since I was about eight years old," Entler said. "I'm very excited to see where we can go in Akron and see us finish it off in the best way that we can."
With the victory, Notre Dame (26-5) earned a trip back to Firestone Stadium in Akron, where the Lady Titans will play Sycamore Mohawk (26-3) on Thursday, June 4 at 12:30 p.m. in Akron. The winner of that contest will play the winner of Cortland Maplewood and South Charleston on Friday, June 5 at 8 p.m. in a OHSAA Division VII State Championship contest.
"We'll take a day off here and get back to it and have the same mentality," Ford said. "We'll play good defense, score a couple of runs and have a good attitude. The four seniors (Kate Entler, Maycee Ford, Lyndsey Schaefer, Alayla Soard) wanted their season to end in Akron. They got that taste last season and they're going back. We'll give it a shot."
"I'm trying to play for my teammates, especially my three senior teammates (in Alayla, Lyndsey and Maycee)," Entler said. "I'm trying to help us stay in it. It's an awesome place to be, and I'm very excited to go back."
"This was the final step to Akron, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a blessing to be able to keep going to have two more games with these seniors," Rush said, getting emotional. "It means a whole lot."
Continue reading...
