Mid-Ohio Valley Spring Sports 2026: Cadets softball coming off district runner-up season
Trending
BEVERLY -- There's no avoiding the fact that Fort Frye softball will have some huge shoes to fill this spring.
"We are young," said FFHS head coach Brian Duskey. "It's tough when you lose five seniors -- not just five seniors, but five studs, from last year. We'll be learning for the first few games, but hopefully after that we'll get in sync."
Fort Frye advanced to the Division VI district finals last season, falling 2-1 to eventual state runner-up Garaway. Returning starters for the Cadets include Jaden Cox, Faith Treadway and Ella Dowler -- that trio is going to be heavily relied upon for leadership.
Cox has played all over the diamond throughout her career and is expected to man the hot corner this spring. Treadway is sliding over to center field, where Dowler played last year, because Dowler is moving to shortstop after the departure of second team All-Ohioan Emmie Duskey.
"Emmie had a .980 fielding percentage," coach Duskey said. "That's hard to replace. Ella was a star center fielder last year and we're moving her to short this year. She's just an athlete. She's the kid that can play anywhere on the field for you."
Senior Maddie Hinton has earned the starting catcher job after waiting her turn the past few seasons.
"She's always been behind upperclassmen," Duskey said. "It's her first year behind the plate at the varsity level for me. She's got a good bat and is an athletic kid. I'm expecting great things."
Fellow senior Christy Willis is the projected starter at first base. Willis returns to the team after playing her freshman year.
Junior Lexi Handschumacher will complete the right side of the infield at second.
In the corner outfield spots, freshmen Jayci Spurr and Leah Campbell will see some time as will sophomore Abby Bishman.
"I'm still trying to figure out the right combination and what works best for the team in the field," Duskey said. "We always hang our hat on defense. We've got to stop them from scoring first, then string some hits together."
In the pitcher's circle, Elle Casto returns after an impressive freshman campaign.
"She was a rock for us last year," Duskey said. "We expect the same thing this year. She will be my No. 1 pitcher. She's not flashy, but she brings experience and she hits her spots."
Willis and Madeline Morgenstern are other pitching options for the Cadets.
In the batting order, Dowler will be setting the table, followed by Spurr in the two-hole and Treadway, Cox and Hinton comprising the middle of the order.
"Treadway has had the big stick so far," Duskey said. "She's had a heck of a preseason. Cox, of course, will do great things. She's a star hitter, too. And Dowler has great pop. I'm excited to see what the young kids can do for the program."
TRACK
Sarah Burns is returning to her alma mater.
A 2017 graduate of Fort Frye High School, Burns spent the last two seasons coaching Waterford's junior high track team. This year, she's coming back across the Muskingum River to become the head coach of the Cadets varsity track team.
"Going back to my roots was something I was hoping to do," she said. "Being able to try to make a new program and get kids to come back and enjoy track and help them grow in life is a goal I usually try to set. It's always rewarding being able to teach them things that can help them get better."
Burns, who competed collegiately at Capital University, is hoping to take what she learned in college and at Waterford and apply it to the Fort Frye program.
"Waterford was a great blessing," Burns said. "The coaching staff there were definitely great teachers and taught me how to handle kids. I competed in college, and seeing how they taught athletes, that's something I always try to emulate."
FFHS has 15 total kids on its varsity roster -- eight girls and seven boys.
"Our big expectation is growth," Burns said. "A lot of these kids already have the fundamentals they need, it's just a matter of hoping they can learn techniques better -- block work, sprint work, form. A lot of those things are important when it comes to competing."
One athlete to keep an eye on is senior Reiley Miller. Miller is a thrower who recently competed in the Nike Indoor Nationals.
"She's going to be pretty successful this year," Burn said. "She's a very hard working individual and is very set forth on her goals. She's going to bring good success to the team."
Sophomore Graden Miller is the top thrower on the boys side. He's "been putting in a good amount of work and hopefully will make a good impact on the team," Burns said.
Logan Lipscomb (pole vault, sprints) and Caleb Schaad (mid-distance) are the two seniors on the boys team.
Junior Tytan Waller is primed for a big season after making some noise as a sophomore.
"He's going to be a good point-setter for us," Burns said. "I feel like his 400 times will shave off a couple seconds. His goal is to break 50."
Freshman Nathan Adams is showing promise in the high jump. Burns said Adams is learning the fundamentals but should be very productive for the team this spring.
"The goals we've set are to learn and grow," Burns said. "We want to build that mentality. Obviously they want to improve their times and break PRs, but just growing that mentality that putting in the work can build you success. That's kind of how I see things. Success as a runner for me was built on failure. Bobbi Webb was my coach and she instilled things in me, the mentality to grow, not just in sport, but in life.
"I hope we have a great season. I look forward to seeing them on the track."
BASEBALL
Fort Frye is doing some mixing and matching in the field right now.
The Cadets return a strong club led by six seniors, but where guys will be in the field remains a question mark.
"We're still figuring out some things and figuring out roles," said FFHS head coach Trey Engle. "We've got some pieces, we can pitch it a little bit and we've got more offense than we've had in the past. Defensively, we're struggling a little bit because we're juggling guys around to see what fits."
Fort Frye's pitching staff will be anchored by an experienced three-man rotation. Junior Grady Hesson returns as the staff ace while senior Jack McCurdy once again will be the No. 2. Senior Kainan Bradford looked good on the mound for two starts last season before an injury prevented him from throwing again.
"We've got three pretty good top-of-the-rotation guys," Engle said. "We've also got a lot of guys in the bullpen that know how to pitch it."
McCurdy returns as the leadoff man in the lineup. Hesson will be in the two-hole while Bradford provides thump in the three-hole.
Wyatt Duskey, who will bat in the nine-hole, returns at shortstop, while Hesson will be at second base when he's not pitching. A newcomer to the team, junior Grady Shuster, will plug into the cleanup spot in the order. Senior Zander Lowe is back at first base. Classmate Carter Brown can play the infield. Freshman Clayton Tullius is in the mix for playing time in the outfield. Otherwise, there's a lot of unknown regarding who will play what positions for the Cadets.
"We're going to be a bunch of role players," Engle said. "I've been sending kids every which way during practice to make sure they get reps everywhere. We still have some uncomfortability at places. I think guys will get better defensively as we get settled in. We've just got so many guys shuffling around right now."
Engle believes leadership will be Fort Frye's biggest strength. Among the six seniors are Chatum Courson, who is currently shut down from playing after getting some unexpected news regarding his back injury that kept him out most of basketball season.
"We have really good leadership from our senior class, including Chatum," Engle said.
"Even when he can't play, he's still around in the dugout being a good teammate. If we can figure out how to play as a team, the sky is the limit."