“They don’t take mediocrity,” Detwiler said. “They just won’t have it.”
For her effort this season, Detwiler was named the 2011 News-Sun All-Area Softball Coach of the Year.
The Tigers finished 27-3, winning both Ohio Heritage Conference and Division III district titles for the eighth straight season.
“We had a real special team chemistry and had a ton of fun this year,” Detwiler said. “When you coach a group of girls like I have, it may sound like I’m bragging, but they’re just very special. They work hard and do anything you ask them to do and then some. It makes coaching pleasurable and really easy.”
The turning point in the season was in the D-III sectional finals. The Tigers trailed Preble Shawnee 6-0 early in the game, but they fought back to win 7-6 in eight innings.
“They just showed me and everybody who they were,” Detwiler said. “A lot of teams would’ve given up being down six runs.”
The feeling of nearly being sent home spurred the Tigers to a berth in the state tournament for the third time in three years. They fell to Baltimore Liberty-Union 1-0 in the D-III state semifinals.
“I was sad for the girls because I knew how hard they worked,” Detwiler said. “Everybody works hard, but when they’re your girls, you want it for them.”
The Tigers will lose five seniors, but they return a wealth of talent, including All-Ohio selection Becka Peterson, pitcher Alyssa Neff and second baseman Andrea Markin.
They expect the tradition to continue next season.
“The girls have bought into it,” Detwiler said. “They don’t feel pressure to keep doing it and going that far. It’s just an expectation they place on themselves.”
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