Staff file photo / Neel Madhavan Canfield’s Marina Koenig makes contact with a pitch and puts a ball in play during the district final against Marlington last year at Hubbard.

CANFIELD — Last season’s “revenge tour” ultimately proved to be a successful venture for the Canfield softball team.

After losing to Tallmadge in the state championship game in 2023, the Cardinals ran it back in 2024. Despite graduating eight seniors, Canfield marched through the regular season and playoffs to capture the Division II state title, its second in program history.

Now this year, with a roster littered with returners from that championship squad, the Cardinals have their sights set on making another run to Akron to try to defend their title.

“We feel pretty confident we’re still a high-caliber team,” head coach Michael Kernan said. “I don’t think in these players’ mindset that anything else is acceptable. I think they are confident in themselves in that manner. They believe that’s a minimum standard. I think getting back to states is a mentality they have.”

When Kernan took over the Canfield job prior to the 2023 season, he talked about reaching Firestone Stadium in Akron being the standard. Since his arrival, that’s proven to be the case.

“Our motivation and our drive to really get far in the tournament again this year should be really strong,” senior Sydney Lutz said.

However, this season, the Cardinals will have to try to get back to states without former ace Malena Toth, who is now at the University of Buffalo.

In her place, Kernan said Canfield has three players vying for the starting pitching job, including juniors Caylee Ortiz and Paris Lindgren and freshman Camryn Hrina. Oritz has the most experience after throwing a 2.97 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work last season, but Lindgren also saw some time after pitching six innings last season.

“Three very capable, different kinds of pitchers,” Kernan said. “What kind of pitchers are they? What kinds of pitches do they throw? That’s a pretty big thing for me. They’re competing for mound time, all three of them. Maybe some are a little more seasoned, some less seasoned, throwing different pitches, but they’re all vying for that starting spot or some mound time. So it’s going to be interesting how that plays out.

“I think whichever way we go, we should find success and I think they’re going to keep pushing each other and making our team better by competing.”

But outside of the circle, the Cardinals return a deep, experienced group to lean on up-and-down their lineup.

It all starts with seniors like Lutz and Marina Koenig, as well juniors Ortiz, Leah Figueroa, Jenna Triveri and Sami Economous.

As a highly-touted catcher, Figueroa batted .472 last season, while leading the team in several major categories, including home runs (10) and RBIs (40).

Ortiz also showcased her offensive prowess last year, batting .353, while leading the team in doubles (10). She also proved to be clutch at states, as she hit a solo home run in the semifinal and a three-run double in the final.

Triveri (.365) was Canfield’s leadoff batter last season, while Lutz (.373), Economous (.254), Koenig (.333) and other returners like seniors Alexa Ignazio (.565), Ava Milligan-Millich (.500) and Alexis Johnson (.433) proved to be valuable contributors.

“I think we have the talent and the athleticism. Eventually our identity is going to click, and I think it’s just going to carry this team throughout the season and carry over what we had last year,” Kernan said. “It’s a scary nine that we have. Our 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 (hitters) are probably batting 3, 4, 5 and 6 in most (other schools’) lineups. That’s a luxury for us. I just think the kids are going to feed off each other.”

With so much experience in the lineup, Canfield might have to rely on its hitters and its defense to aid its pitchers, at least until they start to find their rhythm during the season.

“Our lineup is really strong this year, especially with those girls that are returning and even some new players that we have this year,” Lutz said. “Our pitchers have been working really hard, and I think they know from experience last year and just watching us, that our defense is really strong. So I think they know and are confident that we’ll be there to back them up.”

With the expanded divisions from four to seven, Canfield has dropped from Division II and will play in Division III this season, come playoff time.

“We’re one of the lower enrollment numbers,” Kernan said. “We’re a couple schools away from D-IV, and D-IV and D-III is going to be pretty much night and day, different competition wise. In D-III, we got some Division I’s that came down into D-III. So I think in our division, we ended up getting a little tougher bracket, but that’s okay. We still gotta go play one game at a time and take care of business.”

Canfield is set to open its title defense on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home against Minerva.