Lebanon softball coach Brian Kindell etched his name into Ohio High School Athletic Association record books Saturday when he knocked the door down to the 400-win club.
The Warriors, in their first spring season in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, defeated rival Anderson, 19-0. Kindell has averaged 25 wins per season since becoming the Lebanon head softball coach in 2005.
According to OHSAA records, Kindell is the 35th coach to cross the 400-win plateau and the fourth from Southwest Ohio, joining Lakota West and Lakota East head coach Steve Castner, Ross head coach Paul Fernandez and Lakota West head coach Keith Castner.
"I feel like the luckiest coach in the state of Ohio," Kindell said. "It's because of the type of kids we have at Lebanon. They are really high-character quality kids that are also very, very talented at softball. It's been that way for the last 17 years and 16 seasons that I've been the head coach.
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Under Kindell, Lebanon has never had a losing season and has won nine district titles, three regional championships and has been to the Division I state championship game in Akron twice (finishing as runners-up in 2015 and 2017) in additional to several Greater Western Ohio Conference titles.
Lebanon is hoping to add a share of the ECC title to Kindell's list of accolades. Saturday marked the Warriors' 10th win in their last 11 games and they currently sit at 19-5 overall and 14-2 in league play. Lebanon will conclude ECC competition on Tuesday against Milford — which they lost to, 8-5, on May 3 — and would share the league championship with the Eagles with a victory.
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"There's some really tough team at the top of the conference that are there with us — Milford, Kings, West Clermont, who we had a really good game against earlier this week," Kindell said. "We play more league games so we're not used to going from 11 league games in the GWOC and now we're up to 18. The toughest part has been trying to get all of these in and dodging rain drops, but it's been a really solid transition into the ECC."
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Lebanon is currently hitting .430 as a team and Saturday's 19-run barrage was its third-highest offensive output of the season. Senior Rachel Berry leads the Warriors with a .523 batting average and a club-best 34 hits, while underclassmen Julianna Gonzalez, Ashley Simko and Aubrey Smith each hit over .300. Senior Alyssa Langston is tied for third in the ECC in homers (six) with 24 knocked in a team-high 37 runs scored. Senior Emily Smith and sophomore Reagan Vunak lead Lebanon with 26 RBI.
On the mound, senior Megan Deem leads the ECC in victories with 12 and is third in strikeouts.
"One thing we've really improved on in the last few weeks is our plate discipline and situational hitting," Kindell said. "We're taking really good at-bats right now and that's all the way through the lineup."
Before Lebanon can earn 50-50 rights to the ECC championship, the Warriors will start their bid to be the last Division I team standing in the state when they open up postseason play against Stebbins Monday night at home. Lebanon is a No. 3 seed in the sectional tournament.
"We'll have to focus on both games next week," Kindell said. "We want to try to win a league championship and every year we always have the goal to end our season in Akron and win our last game. That's no different with this group."
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