Garaway softball offense powered a record-setting campaign

While the 2026 softball season didn’t extend quite as far into the summer as the Lady Pirates of Garaway had hoped, this season was another grand effort, one that saw Garaway claw its way to the regional finals, where it finally ran into a buzzsaw pitcher who was able to shut down the mighty bats of the Lady Pirates.

That was something few teams could do during this offensive campaign for Garaway.

The term “power trip” may have been coined to define something a person does for the pleasure of using power to control other people, but this power trip was created solely for the enjoyment of the Lady Pirates fans and to strike fear into opposing teams.

2026 truly was a monumental power bomb for Garaway.

According to head coach Dennis Koshmider, all those home runs aren’t the product of higher swing paths and trying to go yard every at-bat.

“Believe it or not, we work very hard on hitting hard line drives, hitting the ball where it’s pitched and hitting mistake pitches,” Koshmider said. “I discourage them from trying to hit home runs, and they’ve done a good job of that all season. Trying to hit home runs leads to bad habits, but when you’re simply trying to drive the ball with line drives, sometimes those leave the yard.”

The main catalyst was sophomore shortstop True Tango, who smashed numerous records this spring. The Lady P’s Player of the Year set a season batting average highwater mark of .600 and on base percentage of .644. She mashed out a record 63 hits, 15 doubles and eight triples, all new single-season records. She also hit double-digit homers.

However, Tango was far from alone in making opposing pitchers more than a bit nervous. Senior Krista Miller collected her 141st hit during the tournament run, becoming the all-time career leader by passing All-Ohioan Anya Misko while also setting the career triples mark. Junior Audrey Miller nearly hit .500, smashed a dozen home runs and drove home 43 (and added a 9-2 record on the mound).

“It’s pretty tough to go 3-for-5 and not have your batting average go up,” Koshmider said. “True actually hit a home run this season, came around the bases and apologized to me afterward by saying, ‘Honestly coach, I wasn’t trying to hit a homer.’ It isn’t every day someone apologizes for that.”

The power grid made the Garaway lineup light up from one through nine for the Lady Pirates’ bats. It made for a ton of taters and a great team batting average.

Koshmider said many of the girls utilize the hitting facility at Koshmider’s house to hone their swings, and that often begins right after volleyball season, several months prior to spring games.

From tee work to live pitching, perfecting their swings and fashioning line drives is a focal point.

One thing Koshmider said about his teams is batting averages aren’t important overall because oftentimes those numbers balloon from facing lesser talent on the mound and inferior teams.

He said what really matters is what the batting average looks like when facing quality starting pitching.

“When we’re hitting the ball hard off of good pitching — which we did a lot of this year — then we’re doing something special,” Koshmider said. “We’re fortunate to have a group that is very talented and dedicated to making themselves better every day.”

Krista Miller, Nadia Pope, Jaylene Jimenez, Kyleigh LaCroix and others only add power to the club.

Koshmider said across the board the girls responded to everything the coaching staff suggested, and that has built confidence, which led to execution.

The team hit right around .400, with eight of the main hitters batting .380 or higher. Koshmider said the JV program is only grooming more players to step in and add to the power surge.

This season definitely — to coin a dated adage — was “da bomb” for Garaway. With the bulk of talent returning next season, it doesn’t look like there will be any power outages in Sugarcreek next season.