Staff file photo / Neel Madhavan Fitch sophomore Kaliana Ray (2) swings and makes contact with a pitch during the Falcons’ district final win over Chardon last season.

AUSTINTOWN — For the last two years, Austintown Fitch has reached the pinnacle of high school softball in the state of Ohio — back-to-back Division I state championships.

After dominating its opposition to put together an undefeated season in 2023, Fitch did it again last year, dropping one game to fellow state champion Canfield, as the Falcons proved that their run the previous year was no fluke.

Despite two former stars moving on to the college ranks, the Falcons still have plenty of firepower up and down their lineup as they hope to make another run at states and chase a possible three-peat.

“It’s weird this year, (expectations) are definitely still high, as we’re two-time state champions, but I know people have definitely lowered them because we’ve lost big factors of this team,” senior Sam Severn said. “But personally, I think our expectations are the same as they have always been — get as far as you can, get better every day and just be able to improve. There’s always room for improvement.”

One of the biggest changes for high school softball this season are the expanded divisions.

With the growth from four divisions to seven, Fitch was slated to drop down to Division II. But the Falcons want to continue to play against the biggest and toughest schools, so they opted instead to continue to play in Division I.

“Our girls were not very happy about being dropped to D2, and as soon as we talked to them about it, they immediately said, ‘Is there any way we could go up to one?'” head coach Steve Ward said. “It was their mindset that we’re a Division I team. We want to be going after all the big schools, and that’s just our attitude and mindset — we’re going to go after the biggest, toughest division any chance we can.”

But perhaps the biggest change for Fitch this year is the departure of Sydnie Watts in the circle.

Watts, who as one of the highest-rated pitchers in the country, broke and set countless pitching records for the Falcons in three years, opted to forego her senior season and enroll early at Georgia Tech. She’s already made nine appearances this season and is 2-0 for the 17-11 Yellow Jackets.

As a result, the Falcons will rely on five different pitchers to fill the void left behind by Watts, including juniors Jeweliana Farmer and Miley Summerville and freshmen Tori Greathouse, Cece Busico and Kourtney Fedorek.

“Everybody in the scrimmages has been rotating and throwing, so it’s going to be the hot hand to see what we can do,” Ward said. “They complement each other very well going in for one another. We don’t feel as if we’re throwing the same pitcher over and over. They each have their own pitches that they like and that they’re very effective on.”

Despite being without a primary shutdown strikeout pitcher, the Falcons have junior catcher Kylie Folkwein back and will rely more on their fielding and defense this season than they have in the past.

Through two scrimmage wins against Ursuline and fellow defending state champion Strasburg-Franklin (Division IV), Ward said he’s seen the defense already stepping up.

“So far in two scrimmages, we’ve played very well defensively, very sound and very smart,” Ward said. “Our pitchers are growing. They’re very young in terms of innings thrown in games, but so far, they’ve been managing and getting better every practice. They’re stepping up into the moment and it’s very exciting to see them and the entire team grow.”

Even though Watts and Ayla Ray (Youngstown State) have moved on, one thing Fitch has no shortage of throughout its roster is offense.

“Our hitting is going to be really important,” Folkwein said. “This year, we need to hit to keep our pitchers’ back. I feel like we’re going to step up with our hitting a lot.”

With the likes of Severn (.472), Folkwein (.476), senior Rachel Spalding (.205), juniors Abby Toth (.583) and Morgan Roby (.485) and sophomore Kaliana Ray (.740) returning, the Falcons have experienced hitters up and down their lineup that are capable of helping them put away opposing teams.

“It gives us confidence in ourselves that when we step into the offensive side and get to the plate, we know that we have the players that are going to make things happen,” Ward said. “We know that something is going to be put into play, and we’ve got the speed and the aggressiveness to really maximize and capitalize on what they do.

“It’s complimentative that when our offense is clicking, and it’s been clicking in the past two scrimmages, it allows our defense to breathe a little bit and gives our pitchers a little bit of room. It’s a lot nicer pitching from ahead.”

Fitch opens the season to begin its pursuit of a third straight state championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. at home against Mentor.