GREENVILLE – Ella Oswalt picked the perfect night to deliver one of the biggest performances of her young Greenville career.
The Greenville Lady Wave sophomore and 2025 First Team All-Ohio standout fired a no-hitter Friday night against the previously unbeaten Troy Lady Trojans, leading Greenville to a 5-0 Miami Valley League shutout victory at Lady Wave Stadium.
The win gives Greenville sole possession of first place in the MVL at 15-0 in league play. The Lady Wave improved to 21-1 overall, while Troy fell to 21-1 and 14-1 in the MVL.
“Great day for Lady Wave softball, amazing day for Lady Wave softball,” said veteran Greenville coach Jerrod Newland. “We don’t circle many games, but when you get a chance to play MVL games like this – I love it, love it.”
Oswalt was dominant from start to finish, allowing no hits while striking out 16 Lady Trojans. She walked one batter, throwing 64 strikes and 23 balls. The sophomore struck out the side in the second, third, and fifth innings.
Troy entered the night with the MVL’s top two hitters, Mimi Shaw with a .694 batting average and Amayah Kennedy at .661, but left Greenville without a hit.
“She’s trying to hone in her craft and get better every day,” Newland said of Oswalt. “She’s a stud – she just no-hit 20-0, Troy. That was a good game.”
Greenville jumped out early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Troy committed an error on a ball hit by Oswalt, Lizzie Shaffer singled to right field, and Jordyn McMullen reached on another Troy error to score Rylie Pfledderer for a 1-0 lead. Rielynn Davidson followed with a groundout to second, bringing home another run for a 2-0 Lady Wave advantage.
The score stayed there until the bottom of the fourth, when Greenville added three more runs. Davidson reached on a Troy infield error, Kara Blumenstock was hit by a pitch, and freshman Hallee Fourman delivered a run-scoring single to center. Kendall Cromwell followed with an RBI single to left, and Leah Force added a run-scoring single to right to push the Lady Wave lead to 5-0.
That was more than enough for Oswalt, who kept the Troy lineup off balance all night.
“They had two runners and they both got doubled up,” Newland said. “We mixed it up a little bit today, but bottom line, we made some good plays.”
Force led Greenville at the plate with two hits from the leadoff spot. Davidson, Cromwell, Force, and Fourman each drove in a run. Greenville committed one error and turned one double play, while Troy was charged with five errors.
Troy senior Julia Rose took the loss in the circle, allowing four hits and five runs over three and two-thirds innings. She struck out two and did not walk a batter.
Oswalt entered the game leading the MVL with a 0.66 ERA and 139 strikeouts. After Friday’s performance, she now stands at 155 strikeouts on the season.
“When you get a chance to play a good league team, they don’t lose many league games every year except to us,” Newland said. “Fun to play good teams, 5-0 Greenville.”
The two teams will meet again on Monday at Troy with the MVL championship race still very much in focus.
“I can’t wait to go to Troy Monday for a war,” Newland said. “We get their best shot again, but we got the first part of the sweep.”
Newland praised his team’s overall effort, including the leadership of seniors Lily Brubaker and Kendall Cromwell.
“We have a lot of great kids on the team,” Newland said. “Love where we’re at, love where we’re playing. We’re playing fast and good, and our two seniors play really good and lead us along.”
Greenville travels to Troy for a Monday night MVL matchup with a 5 p.m. start time. A win would all but assure the Lady Wave of an outright league championship with two league games remaining against the 8-10 (7-7) Sidney Lady Yellow Jackets.
BOX SCORE:
123 456 7 R H E
000 000 0 0 0 5 Troy
200 300 X 5 6 1 Greenville
