Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Legendary basketball coach Larry Brown was once asked what the key to being a good coach was.
He chuckled and said, "Get good players."
No one would argue that Eastwood softball coach Joe Wyant hasn't had his share of talented players come through his program in the last 18 years, but he's been the lone constant for the last two decades, winning eight league titles, five district championships and one regional title while establishing the Eagles as one of the top teams in northwest Ohio.
Now in his 27th year coaching softball, Wyant won his 500th game on April 28 when Eastwood narrowly defeated Maumee, 6-5. The Panthers, who were picked to win the Northern Buckeye Conference, scored three runs in the seventh inning and left the bases loaded.
Shortstop Ady Bowe, the lone senior on the team, talked about the nerves she experienced as the Eagles worked to get the final out when pitcher Kenzie Hady got a strikeout on a full count.
"After we got two outs, there were four more batters after that, (and) my heart was racing the whole time," Bowe said. "I was nervous, but excited because I knew what was going to happen with the last out.”
Bowe said Wyant was appreciative after the game.
"In our huddle, he said he appreciates all of us being here with him to experience the achievement,” she said. “He appreciates the players, assistant coaches, his family, the parents and past players for getting him to this (milestone)."
Wyant has a career record of 501-192 (.723), including the team’s win over Otsego on April 30. He's 373-98 at Eastwood. Prior to that, he was 114-84 at his alma mater, Lakota, where he started the program before coaching there for eight seasons starting beginning in 1995. He was 14-10 in one season at Oak Harbor in 2005.
Wyant was inducted into the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame last summer. He is the 23rd coach in Ohio to reach the 500-win milestone, according to the OHSAA record book.
It would be very hard to name every elite player that has played for the Eagles, but some of them include: Bowe, Hady, Ashley Hitchcock, Delaney Maynard, Maddy Dyer, Lilly Escobedo, Katy Dewyre, Alissa Ray, Krista Jennings, Mackenzie Albright, Brooke Albright, Cassidy Rolf, Christine Foster, Whitney Foster, Alena Gabel, Cassi Kieper, Carleigh Coffield, Jessica Smith and Lily Escobedo.
"For being a small school, for softball to be successful at Eastwood, we have to battle one of the best track programs in northwest Ohio (for athletes),” Wyant said. “Sometimes softball and baseball don't always get the best players. The first two years of softball at Eastwood were big for me. In the program's first 17 years, there were four winning seasons. My first two years, coming back the next year and winning the next year, I think we got a (greater) share of players, and they stayed with softball. I tried to get involved with local softball."
The lone Division III regional championship came in 2013 when Albright and Whitney Foster led the Eagles to the state semifinals, and from 2016-19, Eastwood went 108-8 and won three district titles, losing to state power Cardington-Lincoln three times. Hitchcock, who went on to pitch at Rutgers and then at Miami (Ohio), was a force both in the circle and at the plate for the Eagles and is arguably the greatest player in the history of the program.
"In 2013, we didn't win the league that year, (but) we beat Elmwood in the district finals, and that was a good team,” Wyant said. “We were a good team. I think we were 29-4. We went 24-4 and won the NBC the year before. I didn't get left with very much for my first year at Eastwood, just (returning) three starters. I had two freshmen pitchers, and they split the time back and forth. My first year, in 2008, we were district champions. We got hot and beat Bellevue in district finals. In 2009, we won the league and were 21-5 that year. That started it, I think."
The Eagles, who were picked to finish fifth in the league, are now 14-1 and 7-1 in the NBC, just one game behind Lake. The teams were slated to meet May 2 in Millbury.
"This year, the reason we're doing well is my varsity starters in 15 games have only made 12 errors,” Wyant said. “We've never had more than two errors in a game and five games where we didn't have an error. This year, we're down to less than one error per game. I think that's a key. And Kenzie has only walked 18 batters."
Eastwood baseball coach Kevin Leady, who has built up quite the program himself, believes Wyant’s success can be contributed to a hard-nosed approach.
"To win 500 games is incredible,” Leady said. “It takes longevity and a lot of hard work and dedication. Joe is a hard-nosed coach and the girls take his personality. His teams are tough, gritty and always find a way to fight through any situation to come out on top. We've worked with Joe for 15 years, and it's been great to see his girls have such success throughout the years.”
Bowe, who is set to continue her softball career at Heidelberg University, agrees.
"Coach Wyant has a different coaching style, he's old school,” she said. “I think him letting us coach ourselves and let the captains take over (is great). I think us having that connection allows us to play together more as a team, and helps us push together."
The captains are Bowe, Hady and Karly Wasserman.
"We have shocked a lot of people," Bowe said. "I'm excited to see how far we can get.”
Bowe credits Hady for fighting back after injuring her shoulder last year.
"I think it's really important that she came back after her shoulder injury,” Bowe said. “She's pitched very well. We have a good backup (in Sophia Rankin), but Kenzie is strong after the injury. Not having that injury get in the way is obviously really important and helps us have the energy we do on the field."
After a big rematch against Lake on May 2, Eastwood has several NBC matchups left in the season, including a road matchup at Oak Harbor on May 5 and at home May 16 against Maumee, which is slated to be the home finale.
