“We got to see it happen live, and we all were around each other,” Simpson said. “The whole Shawnee softball community, all of it. We were all there, and we got to see Indian Lake defeat Ben Logan, and that’s how we knew that we clinched the title, and it was honestly amazing to have it happen on our senior night. I could not have asked for a better outcome.”
Shawnee won its CBC Mad River Division title during Gary Baugh’s first season as varsity head coach. Baugh has been a JV coach and varsity assistant at Shawnee since 2016, and he took over after Devin Spitzer stepped down to become Shawnee Middle School principal last year.
“There’s a lot of thanks that we can give out for everybody that’s come before us as far as players, coaches,” Baugh said. “They sprinkled a little bit into it to try to get here. Obviously, we wish we could have had a lot more to this before now, but we’re so grateful that we were able to be the ones to do it.”
The Braves were 3-2 and 1-1 in the CBC after a 9-4 loss at Kenton Ridge on April 2. After that, Shawnee went on a 13-game winning streak.
Baugh and the Braves didn’t lose a conference game the rest of the season, and their 182 runs entering postseason play was fourth in the CBC and their 1.15 team ERA topped the conference.
Baugh said the loss to Kenton Ridge made the Braves “sit back and look at ourselves as a team and what we were capable of doing,” and he said Shawnee was “definitely poised” to still meet its team goals set at the beginning of the season.
“For them to come together as a team, with the chemistry that we have — the feeling of family, the want and drive for the other girls — if they’re not having such a good game or may be off just a little bit, for somebody else to step in and pick them up, they’ve allowed them to do that,” Baugh said. “The drive to just go as far as we can go and play for one another has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Among Shawnee’s highlights this season includes the school’s first win over Jonathan Alder, a 14-3 victory on the road on April 10. The Braves also swept Benjamin Logan in April, and they entered the postseason on a five-game winning streak during which they outscored opponents 69-1.
Senior pitcher Aleeseah Trimmer, also a four-year starter at Shawnee, leads the CBC with a 0.46 ERA and 201 strikeouts and ranks second with 20 wins. She was recently named the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division player of the year.
The Braves have “been working really hard to make a run” and winning the Mad River Division title can help Shawnee “set the tone” in the postseason, Trimmer said.
“It really means a lot because especially playing for four years you always have goals that you want to reach,” Trimmer said. “It’s cool to think that that’ll be in history and that (banner) will be hanging up in Shawnee for a really long time, and to know that I was a part of that is really special, especially accomplishing it with the girls on the team. I really love being around them, and it was a good team to do it with.”
Shawnee beat Dixie 20-2 last Friday and Middletown Madison 15-0 on Monday to advance to their second straight district final game. They’ll play Blanchester (16-10) in a D-V district final at 5 p.m. Thursday at National Trail High School.
Simpson said she knew the Braves were bound for “a special year” during winter workouts when “we were closer than ever.” Now with two postseason victory boxes checked, Shawnee’s sights are set on adding to it.
“Our hitting looks sharp, our defense is always on point. I’m really excited,” Simpson said. “I think if we keep doing what we do and we stay with our family mindset and our do-damage mindset I think that we could shock a lot of people here in our community.”
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