Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Coach: Dave Rymers, 18th year
Last year: 13-14 (6-8 NBC)
Key returning players: Kali Bedford (Sr., P/INF); Diem Isbell (Sr., SS); Sophia Gruetter (Jr., 3B/UTIL); Kylee Pietrzak (Sr., C/1B)
Lake coach Dave Rymers has some interchangeable parts.
But what he also has is a potent lineup that has the potential to score a lot of runs.
Picked to finish second in the Northern Buckeye Conference, the Flyers are led by senior pitcher/infielder Kali Bedford, a four-year starter who had a magnificent season in 2024. She hit .407, had five home runs and drove in 25 runs.
Fellow senior, shortstop Diem Isbell, who has signed to continue her career at the University of Detroit Mercy, is also a four-year starter and hit .363 to go with 14 doubles, a home run and 21 RBIs. Third baseman Sophia Gruetter, who is also a utility player, hit .357 last year to go with a home run and 20 RBIs.
Lake has seven batters that hit at least .333 last season.
"I am excited about our depth offensively," Rymers said. "I expect our upperclassmen to lead our offensive attack, but our underclassmen will definitely provide some excitement."
The infield has five players battling it out for four positions — Isbell, Gruetter, Sarah Patrick, Norah Demory and Parker Dart.
The outfield will feature some combination of Gruetter, Ellie Rymers, Jada Jerew and Addy Boehm.
Kylee Pietrzak and Caity Extine arę the catchers while Bedford and Dart are the pitchers.
Senior Madyson Buschmann along with sophomores Maddison Ankney and Sophia Rudey will also work to earn playing time this season.
Dave Rymers knows that with an abundance of talent, especially on offense, his team has to execute the fundamentals to give itself a fighting chance to win some games.
"To be successful, we need to make the routine plays defensively, throw strikes and have productive at-bats,” he said. “Our league will be ultra-competitive. There is a lot of talent that will require us to play high-level softball each night in order to be competitive and win games."
Rymers says the strengths of the team are its defensive versatility, pitching depth and offensive flexibility.
Maumee was picked to win the NBC, followed by Lake, Otsego, Oak Harbor, Eastwood, Genoa, Rossford and Fostoria.
