ONTARIO — Payton Kuenzli and her Ontario teammates earned their pizza party Tuesday evening.
The Warriors were in a celebratory mood after avenging two regular season losses to Madison with a 17-3 win over the Rams in their Division II sectional opener at Madison.
The seed for Tuesday’s victory was planted last week when Kuenzli, the Richland Source Athlete of the Week, twirled a six-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win over Tiffin Columbian. Kuenzli struck out 14 of the 18 batters she faced and earned a nomination as the JJHuddle.com & Bucknuts Week 6 softball player of the week.
“We had been beaten two times by Madison already this season, so we were a little nervous when we found out we would be playing them again in the tournament,” Kuenzli said. “After (the perfect game), we got a boost in our confidence.”
A senior and four-year starter, Kuenzli was the ace up Ontario coach Chris Musille’s sleeve. The Rams hadn’t seen the hard-throwing right-hander in the two earlier meetings.
“We wanted to save Payton after we found out we would see Madison in the tournament,” Musille said. “She has been throwing the ball really well for us all season long.
“She had everything working against Tiffin Columbian. She was hitting her spots, changing speeds and throwing all of her pitches for strikes. When she does that, she is hard to hit.”
Heading into last week, Kuenzli ranked among Richland County leaders with five wins, 93 strikeouts and a 2.83 earned run average. She was also hitting a team-best .510.
“We only have four seniors on the roster and we lean on them to be leaders,” Musille said. “Payton is definitely a leader. She has played a lot of travel ball in the summer and she has a lot of experience. Our younger girls look up to her.”
It has been a season of transition for the Warriors. After years of being one of the biggest schools in the North Central Conference, Ontario moved to the Northern Ohio League and is one of the smallest schools in its new conference. The Warriors also moved up to Division II after six years in Division III.
“It has been a big transition, especially for the seniors, because we were used to playing in the North Central Conference for all those years,” Kuenzli said. “The competition is the NOL is tougher and I think that has helped prepare us for the postseason.”
Tuesday’s win was Ontario’s first sectional victory since 2012. The Warriors were seeded second last year but lost their tournament opener to Upper Sandusky.
“It meant a lot to us to beat Madison because we haven’t had a lot of tournament success in the past,” Kuenzli said.
Musille, in his first season as head coach, likes the direction of the program. His daughter, Lindsay, is one of Ontario’s talented underclassmen.
“We are one of the smallest school in our league and we’re one of the smallest Division II schools in the state. I think we’re only a couple girls over (the cutoff for Division III),” he said. “It has been a big adjustment for our girls this season, but they are learning how to win.
“This is probably the toughest schedule Ontario has ever played, but facing bigger schools all year is paying off. We have four talented seniors, but we don’t have a single junior on the roster. We’re still very young. I am definitely excited about the future of the program.”
Kuenzli and her fellow seniors, Meredith Remy, Cheyanne Dehart and Laura Kitts, may have helped lay the foundation for years to come.
“Hopefully, this will help the program get turned around,” Kuenzli said. “It’s nice to think that we may have played a small part in that.”
The Warriors will return to tournament action Friday at Clyde. Ontario also has two Northern Ohio League games to play.
“We’re 9-11 overall and 6-4 in the Northern Ohio League with games left against Bellevue and Tiffin Columbian,” Musille said. “We’re really excited about where we are and we’re looking forward to finishing the season strong.”
Kuenzli agreed.
“The future is looking good,” she said.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“She had everything working against Tiffin Columbian. She was hitting her spots, changing speeds and throwing all of her pitches for strikes. When she does that, she is hard to hit,” said Musille.
