GREENVILLE – The Greenville Lady Wave varsity squad’s first 10 players took the night off Thursday, trading their spikes for tennis shoes in the opening round of the 2026 OHSAA Division III fastpitch softball tournament as the Lady Wave rolled to a 12-0 no-hitter over the visiting Trotwood-Madison Lady Rams.
Greenville coach Jerrod Newland elected to play the game respectfully, utilizing the “leaving the base too early” rule while giving valuable varsity experience to the next group of Lady Wave players.
“Great day for Lady Wave Softball,” said Newland. “Getting the tournament games started, the 10 regulars in tennis shoes and 10 kids going.”
The No. 1-seeded Lady Wave entered tournament play ranked No. 2 in the state, while the Lady Rams came in as the No. 14 seed.
Greenville dominated from the start behind strong pitching performances from Lizzie Shaffer and freshman Elle Kayler, who combined for the no-hit shutout.
Shaffer was nearly untouchable in her three innings of work, retiring all nine batters she faced while striking out eight. Kayler followed with two scoreless innings, striking out four while issuing one walk.
Kayler also led the Lady Wave offense, collecting three hits in three at-bats with singles in the first, second, and third innings.
Greenville exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kayler singled home a run, Cloe Shuttleworth delivered a two-run single, Ayla Weyant was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run, Caleigh Stebbins drew a bases-loaded walk, and Rylie Pfledderer doubled to score two more runs.
The Lady Wave added two runs in the second inning after Trotwood-Madison dropped a third strike and Carlee Yundt singled to left field.
Greenville pushed the lead to 10-0 in the third inning when Kayler singled to right field to plate another run.
“Liz threw great tonight, getting us going out there,” said Newland. “Pitched the first three innings, and Elle getting her varsity debut coming in for two first shutout innings.”
Greenville finished with 10 hits on the night. Yundt, Weyant, and Kayler each drove in two runs, while Shuttleworth added two hits in three at-bats. Riley Thomas showed patience at the plate with two walks.
The Lady Wave offense also displayed aggressive baserunning, swiping four bases during the game while the Greenville defense played flawlessly without committing an error.
“Just proud of the kids and love everything and just the spunk and urgency, fun atmosphere today, good crowd for the first round tournament game,” Newland said.
Newland also praised the visiting Lady Rams’ effort.
“Trotwood, hats off, making some plays – neat coaching staff over there, some energetic guys,” said Newland. “Proud of the kids and 12 zip and moving on to round two, and good teams are getting beat – any day anything can happen.”
With the win, Greenville improves to 26-1 on the season and advances to the second round to play Vandalia-Butler. T
The Lady Wave will host Fairmont Firebirds on Saturday, May 16, at 11 a.m. Fairmont comes into the game coming off a Tuesday night 13-1 run-rule win over the 23-3 Troy Lady Trojans.
“Proud of the kids, great opportunities and great dugout atmosphere,” said Coach Newland. “Just excited for where we’re at, 26-1. We have a great Fairmont team here Saturday to play another great Division-I opponent and D-I pitcher on the mound for them – can’t wait to play them and get ready for Tuesday for Vandalia-Butler, great opportunity for two home games and get ready for next week, District Final Week.”
Newland emphasized the importance of respecting both the game and the opponent while allowing younger players to gain tournament experience.
“Absolutely respect the game,” said Newland, “getting 10 in tennis shoes and 10 playing, proud of the kids.”
BOX SCORE
123 456 7 R H E
000 000 0 0 0 6 Trotwood-Madison
721 2X0 0 12 10 0 Greenville
