Columbiana team gets regional berth

COLUMBIANA -- The Columbiana Softball Association is taking a step up the ladder.

A team of 15-and-under all-stars won the Ohio Senior League state championship last week and is going to the Little League Central Regional in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

"This group of girls is special," head coach Jordan Reynolds said. "They are talented from top to totton and have the 'it' factor. They just want to win."

Columbiana will participate in opening ceremonies on Monday and the begin play in the six-team double-elimination regional on Tuesday. The tournament winner advances to the Little League Softball World Series.

Columbiana will open against Kentucky at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The winner advances to play Indiana at 6 p.m.

“We’re kind of going in blind," Reynolds said. "We don’t know much about them. I watched some highlights from last year and we’re going to be competitive."

All of the games are scheduled to be shown on ESPN or ESPN+.

This is the first Columbiana team to get this far, so it is new territory.

"We only selected players out of Columbiana," Reynolds said. "We are one of the only team in the entire tournament that is one school. We were kind of under the impression it had to be that way, but found out differently."

Columbiana rolled through the district tournament and -- after one of three teams in the state tournament dropped out -- beat Cuyahoga Falls twice, 8-5 and 7-5, for the state championship.

Reynolds said the team played .500 ball during the regular season when all 14 players batted. He said they shortened the lineup for the tournament and added two girls from the 12-and-under.

"Once we go the top nine girls in there, we're running like a top," he said.

He said he has been coaching the girls since T-Ball when they were 4 and 5 years old.

"They’re very talented," Reynolds said. "They are going to hitting lessons every week. Pitching and fielding lessons. They put a lot of time in. They truly deserve this."

The strength of the team is obvious.

"Pitching," Reynolds said. "We have an extremely strong pitching staff. We have five pitchers who could start for any other team."

He said three of the girls are pushing 60 mph.

Reynolds said the team had some guests at Tuesday's practice, including former Austintown Fitch All-Ohioan and current Georgia Tech pitcher Sydnie Watts along with Columbiana varsity coaches Madison Kurtz and Kurt Eisenbraun.

"They had a blast," Reynolds said. "We did a lot of fielding and a lot of hitting and some basic IQ.”

Columbiana has at least two more games and hopefully more this season.

"Thank the parents for putting up with the crazy softball schedule," Reynolds said. "Weather never helps during softball season.”