Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes. YSU fifth-year Elyssa Imler tags out a runner during a game against Detroit Mercy last year.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State is coming off one of its best seasons in program history.

The Penguins tied a school record for wins (36), while also winning their second regular season Horizon League championship in program history. In large part, YSU’s success was a product of the team’s experience-laden roster.

However, most of those seniors have graduated, which means that the Penguins will field a young squad for the upcoming 2025 season, consisting of six freshmen and seven sophomores.

“We lost a good core of players. There were six of them that started… so that’s a lot. Some of them were four- or five-year players,” said head coach Brian Campbell, who is entering his 17th season at YSU. “What it brings is that these older players are teaching the younger. We have a good group of freshmen and sophomores. We have three seniors this year, so it’s about them teaching what we do and giving them that experience.”

YSU’s youth do have an experienced group of returners to look towards to lead the way this season.

Fifth-year and reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Elyssa Imler is at the forefront of that group, which also includes sophomores Lydia Wilkerson, Autumn Behlke and Macy Littler and juniors Kennedy Dean and Ashlyn Bishop.

Imler led the Penguins with a .340 average, while also tallying 36 runs, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs. She’s used to having older players to look up to, but now that mantle falls on her shoulders.

“It’s a little different. I’m used to always looking up to one of the older girls,” Imler said. “I am kind of quiet, but I do lead by example, and I notice girls picking up on that too. (I’ll be) working hard at something, and even when I’m struggling, I continue to work hard. They see that, they keep working hard and eventually they get it.”

Both Dean and Bishop each gained valuable experience last year, as they both started significant portions of the season for YSU.

Dean was a mainstay in the Penguins’ lineup, starting 46 games, while batting .271 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs, as she proved to be one of the better power hitters in the Horizon League. Bishop battled .236, while starting 28 games.

“As one of the older girls, we’ve all kind of come together and taken these younger girls under our wings,” Dean said. “We’re teaching them the Youngstown way. We play gritty softball, so we’re teaching them that and teaching them how we play the game here at Youngstown State.”

Despite only being freshmen last year, Wilkerson, Behkle and Littler were each valuable contributors during their first season with the Penguins, as Wilkerson and Littler each earned Horizon League All-Freshman Team honors.

Wilkerson started every game, had the second-best batting average on the team (.331) and led YSU with 55 hits, while Littler batted .250 with 12 RBIs in 40 starts.

Behlke played in the lineup and in the circle last year, and is YSU’s most-experienced returning pitcher. She batted .271 with 13 RBIs in 21 starts and went 4-2 with a 4.61 ERA in 12 appearances in the circle.

Behlke, along with sophomore Maci Boggess (1-4 with 5.89 ERA), will be tasked with leading the Penguins’ four-player rotation in the circle, which includes freshmen newcomers Kelsey Ogin and Autumn Boyd.

“(Behlke and Boggess) had an opportunity to get some experience,” Campbell said. “I know Sophie (Howell) and Devan (Ryan) from last year took a lot of the innings, but I think that when we look back at a lot of the pitchers that we’ve had here — you can go back to Maddi Lusk, Elle Buffenbarger and Sophie — you look at the first couple years, they were able to get some innings, and then they took off from there.

“I think that’s something they’ve taken seriously and they took advantage of their opportunities. We’re in a situation now with two freshmen and two sophomores that they’ll have to be able to make their adjustments and learn that striking out everybody is not what we’re looking for. Get the ground ball, get the pop up and let the defense work behind you.”

YSU’s six-member freshmen class includes two local products — Austintown Fitch’s Ayla Ray and Champion’s Bella Meyer. Ray was a focal point of the Falcons’ back-to-back Division I state championship teams, while Meyer was a prolific hitter for one of the most decorated softball programs in the state.

“They have great sticks, (they’re) very fast and you can see that drive in them,” Imler said of the freshmen class as a whole. “They want to be out there, and they want to be on the field.”

As always, the Horizon League figures to be tough with plenty of competition this upcoming season. The Penguins experienced that first hand last year when they lost their opening two games in the conference tournament, despite being the No. 1 seed and the tournament host.

“The Horizon League has always been a great conference,” Campbell said. “When you go down through it, there’s always teams that are up there in the Horizon League. I love it, I love playing in it.. This will be 17 years as a coach here playing in the Horizon. I think it really brings out the competitive nature every weekend because you can’t just show up, you never know what’s going to happen.”

YSU opens the 2025 season on Friday morning against Dayton as part of the Wofford Tournament down in Spartanburg, S.C.