TVHS girls softball team played hardball all the way
The 2025 Tusky Valley girls varsity softball team made it as high as regionals after winning the IVC Championship for the first time in school history.
The Tusky Valley High School girls softball team may not have gone as far as they wanted to this year, but they played hardball the whole way to the regional game against Wellston.
Along the way the Trojans left two dozen teams in the dust as they built a 24-2 season record, brought home the Inter Valley Conference South Championship for the first time in school history, and racked up six IVC South awards including Player of the Year for Brennen Reichman and Coach of the Year for Staci Martin.
The Lady Trojans have been to regionals before, but this season they set and broke a number of records. Head coach Staci Martin thinks she has at least part of the answer.
“My entire batting lineup, from top to bottom, all of those girls can hit and put the ball in play,” Martin said. “Brennen’s pitching obviously helps.”
Let’s talk about Reichman for a minute. The sophomore pitcher stands 6 feet, 1 inch off the mound. In her freshman year, she shattered the school record for strikeouts. This year she broke that record and then broke it again to amass a career total of 440 in two years. Her earned run average is 1.43.
Reichman excels at the plate too, as is evidenced by her .433 batting average. With all that said, Martin said all her players contributed greatly to this year’s success.
“Arieana Wade has a batting average of .437 and has hit eight home runs this season,” Martin said. “Elli Wallick has seven home runs and a batting average of .407. Hallee Borell and Ashley Binsley hit home runs too.”
Pretty fly coaching
Steve Franks, Tusky Valley’s athletic director, credits a coaching change and a new philosophy for part of this year’s success.
“Staci took over as head coach this year, and she did an outstanding job,” Franks said. “I think a big part of it was the philosophy this year. And we had some girls that were pretty dedicated come in. We’re not a very veteran team, but with a young team performing this well, things look very bright for the future of softball here.”
But Martin said she could not do it alone.
“I 100% believe that if it wasn’t for having Andy Reichman and Kristen Miller on the coaching staff with me, the success of the team wouldn’t be where it is,” Martin said. “The three of us mesh together really well, and it makes a difference.”
Andy Reichman, pitching coach and father of Brennen Reichman, commended the team members for their work this year.
“Our message to the girls this year was that we expected 100% participation when possible,” he said. “The attendance we got was awesome. So they deserve it, man. They put the work in, and I think it showed.”
Martin also recognized the contributions made by assistant coach Kristen Miller.
“We brought Kristen on staff this year, and she’s been a heck of an asset,” Martin said.
Miller came to Tusky Valley after serving as head coach for the girls softball team at Louisville High School. She was part of the 2019 Leopards coaching staff when they won the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state championship.
About those awards
Here is a complete listing of the IVC South awards Tusky Valley won this year:
—Brennen Reichman: first team, IVC South Player of the Year.
—Arieana Wade: first team.
—Elli Wallick: second team.
—Kyra Garbrandt: second team.
—Ashlee Binsley: honorable mention.
—Staci Martin: IVC South Coach of the Year.
The team roster this year included the following by number: Hailee Rotunno, freshman, shortstop, 1; Elli Wallick, sophomore, center field-third base, 4; Morgan Wright, sophomore, left field, 5; Ava Beatty, freshman, center field, 7; Chloe Stephenson, sophomore, outfield, 8; Addison Witham, freshman, middle infield, 11; Calli Stutz, freshman, outfield, 13; Kyra Garbrandt, senior, co-captain and first base, 15; Brooklyn Menifield, junior, second base, 16; Arieana Wade, senior, second base, 18; Ashlee Binsley, senior, pitcher-utility player, 21; Hailey Patterson, sophomore, third base-outfield, 25; Hallee Borell, junior, catcher, 26; Delaney Erickson, junior, left field, 33; and Brennen Reichman, sophomore, pitcher-shortstop, 39.
The future looks bright
How will the young Lady Trojans softball team fare next year and beyond? According to the coaches and the girls, they plan to continue winning.
“We had a lot of freshman step up and play huge roles this year,” Andy Reichman said. “I told Staci the cupboard is loaded for the next several years. I’m really excited to see how the program we’ve put together benefits them and how they take it and run with it.”