Last year, the Lady Explorers were able to capitalize on the few opportunities afforded them by Simpson. This year, however, several opportunities came and went before Hoover was able to crack the scoreless tie and win, 5-0 in 10 innings.

Lindsay Bartos lead off the fifth inning with a double and her pinch runner was moved to third on a sacrifice by Katey McCandless. Simpson then struck out Meredith and Erin Monsman to strand the runner on third.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Bartos came within five feet of sending Hudson into the Regional Finals with a walk-off homerun. She settled for a double, and was joined on the bases by McCandless (infield hit) and Meredith (hit-by-pitch). Simpson was again able to thwart the Explorers rally, striking out Monsman and inducing a popup to the shortstop by Grace Doman.

North Canton was able to break through Meredith and the Explorer defence in the top of the tenth inning, plating five runs and advancing to the Regional Finals.

Meredith Tosses Third No-Hitter, Explorers Advance
(05.20.08) AKRON: For the second season in a row, the Lady Explores advance to the Regional Semifinals. Pitcher Mindy Meredith's (12-6) third no-hitter of the season enabled the Varsity to beat Wadsworth, 5-1.

Meredith walked three, hit two, and struck out 14, with five of those strikeouts coming in the final two innings. The Grizzlies scored their lone run on an error, a walk, and a passed ball.

The offensive star of the night was Katey McCandless, as she collected two hits and drove in three runs.

The Varsity advances to next Wednesday's Regional Semifinals at the University of Akron against North Canton Hoover. Hudson beat Hoover and their star pitcher, Jessica Simpson, in last year's Regional Finals.

Varsity Eliminates Ellet
(05.19.08) AKRON: One run in the third and two runs in the fourth was all the Varsity would need to knock off the Ellet Orangemen in Monday's District Semifinal. Mindy Meredith struck out 16 and improved to 11-6 on the season. Alyssa Brown clubbed her third homerun of the season.

The Lady Explorers advance to Tuesday's District Finals in Firestone Stadium where they will take on the Wadsworth Grizzlies. Wadsworth beat Stow on Monday, 5-2. First pitch will be at 7:00pm.

Varsity Jackson Game Moved
(05.16.08) AKRON: Friday's game between the Varsity and the Jackson Polar Bears has been moved from 7pm at Firestone Stadium to 5:30pm at Jackson High School in Jackson Township.

Click here for a map.

Monsman Slams Varsity Past SVSM
(05.15.08) AKRON: Erin Monsman crushed a grand slam and drove in a total of six runs as the Varsity blew out St. Vincent-St. Mary at Firestone Stadium.

Varsity Moves On
(05.14.08) CUYAHOGA FALLS: Alyssa Brown singled in Sara Rillero in the top of the eighth inning to put the Lady Explorers on top of Cuyahoga Falls, 3-2. Mindy Meredith was once again stellar in the circle, going eight innings and striking out 12 Black Tigers.

The Explorers advance to the District Semifinals where they will face the winner of the Ellet/Nordonia game. Instead of their usual home at Kent State, the District Semifinals and Finals will be held this year at Firestone Stadium on Monday and Tuesday.

Meredith Finds Perfection
(05.13.08) HUDSON: In their Sectional Semifinal against Kenmore, Mindy Meredith and the Lady Explorers kept the Cardinals off the bases for the entire game. The Hudson offense plated 12 runs in just four innings at the plate.

The Varsity moves on to the Sectional Finals to face #1-seed Cuyahoga Falls. The Explorers and Black Tigers split their regular season series just a week ago.

Varsity Takes Lumps At Prebis Memorial
(04.26.08) LAGRANGE: The Varsity had a rough time over the weekend at the always-tough Prebis Memorial Tournament, coming home with a win and three shutout losses. Friday, the ladies lost to Canfield, 5-0, and 7-0 to 2006 State Champs North Canton Hoover and standout pitcher Jessica Simpson. The Varsity were then shutout on Saturday, 10-0, by DII Regional Champion Archbishop Hoban and their star pitcher Lauren McNeil.

Hudson did manage to get out of LaGrange with a win in their second game on Saturday, 12-5 over Poland Seminary. The Varsity is now 7-5 on the season.

Varsity Completes Stow Sweep
(04.23.08) HUDSON: Hudson (6-3, 2-0) plated five runs in the first three innings and never looked back on their way to a 6-3 victory over rival Stow (9-5, 0-2). The Varsity offense was paced by home runs by Alyssa Brown and Lindsey Bartos. Brown also collected a triple and an RBI. With the win, Mindy Meredith improved to 4-2 from the circle.

Prebis Schedule Set
(04.23.08) LAGRANGE: The Varsity's schedule for this weekend's Prebis Memorial Tournament in LaGrange has been set:
Friday, 4/25 4:00pm Canfield
Friday, 4/25 5:30pm North Canton Hoover
Saturday, 4/26 1:00pm Akron Hoban
Saturday, 4/26 4:00pm Poland Seminary

All games will be played at LaGrange Community Park: Map
Directions from Hudson via the Turnpike (1 hour 2 minutes)
Directions from Hudson via Route 303 (1 hour 5 minutes)

Varsity Survives Stow
(04.22.08) STOW: Despite spotting the Lady Bulldogs a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning, the Varsity responded by scoring three in the top half of the second inning. Stow (9-4) tied the ballgame at 3-3 in the bottom of fifth, but the Lady Explorers (5-3, 1-0) rallied to plate a runner in the top of the sixth. Hudson would hang on to beat the Bulldogs 4-3. Mindy Meredith (3-2) came on in relief of Jenny Reitz in the first inning and earned the win. Meredith also helped the offensive cause with two singles and two walks.

Thomas Worthington Tops Varsity
(04.19.08) ASHLAND: In final game of the Wendy's Classic, the Varsity fell to Thomas Worthington, 6-5. All of the scoring happened in the third and fourth innings. Hudson plated three in the top of the third and added one more in the top half of the fourth to go up 5-3. However, the Lady Cardinals scored three in the bottom of the fourth and the 6-5 score would hold for the remainder of the game. The Varsity is 4-3 on the season.

Hueytown Holds Down Varsity
(04.19.08) ASHLAND: The Hueytown (AL) Golden Gophers made the trek up to Ashland to compete in the prestigious Wendy's Classic and shut down the Lady Explorer offense. Both squads mustered just four hits and each team committed an error. The Gophers were able to plate three runs - two in the first and on in the third - while the Varsity was shut out. The Varsity drops to 4-2.

Varsity Bombs OPRF
(04.18.08) ASHLAND: Solo home runs by Hannah Price and Callie Drohan were all the Varsity needed as they kicked off their three-game Wendy's Classic set with a 2-0 win over Oak Park-River Forest (IL). Mindy Meredith held the Huskie offense to no runs on six hits. The Varsity improves to 4-1.

Click here for the full article.

Elyria Gets Revenge
(04.16.08) ELYRIA: It was a rematch reminiscent of last year's State Championship: same teams, but new faces, new setting (NOC Crossover) and on Elyria's home field (instead of neutral Brookside Park). This time the Pioneers and Sito got the best of the Lady Explorers,3-0. Sito struck out eleven on her way to a three-hit shutout. The three runs scored by Elyria in the 6th inning are the first tallies the Varsity has surrendered in 2008.

Varsity Smokes Coach's Old Squad
(04.14.08) HUDSON: Lead by a two-hit shutout from pitcher Jenny Reitz (2-0), the Varsity beat Twinsburg, 10-0 in NOC Crossover action on Monday. The Lady Tigers, whom Coach Caraballo coached last year, helped the Explorer cause by committing five errors in the game.

JV Game Postponed
(04.14.08) HUDSON: Monday's contest between the visiting Twinsburg Tigers and the host JV squad has been postponed until tomorrow (4/15).

Varsity Shuts-Out Strongsville
(04.09.08) HUDSON: Mindy Meredith was a one woman wrecking crew as the Varsity beat Strongsville, 4-0, in Wednesday's home opener for the Lady Explorers.

From the circle Meredith (1-0) held the Lady Mustangs to just two hits. Mindy also lead the way from the batter's box by cranking a two-run home run.

Varsity No-Hits Normandy
(04.07.08) PARMA: The Varsity picked up where it left off last season by opening the 2008 campaign with a no-hitter from Jenny Reitz (1-0) over host Parma Normandy.

Sophomore catcher Georgia Stokes lead the way on offense by going 3-5 with five RBI. The offense was also aided by 10 errors by the Invader defense.

Many Firsts As Ladies Hit Diamond
(04.07.08) PARMA: The Lady Explorers return to the softball diamond today for the first time since being crowned State Champion.

Both squads travel to Parma to play their first game in the new Northeast Ohio Conference. Today's tilt is against the Parma Normandy Invaders in a NOC crossover matchup. This will be the first time Hudson and Normandy have played in softball.

This will also be the first game without Coach Densevich in seven years. Gone are Beth Cinadr and Kelley Cash, but Frank Caraballo takes over a squad that features a state-championship-winning battery in sophomore pitcher Mindy Meredith and sophomore catcher Georgia Stokes.

With the championship and the coaching change, look for this website to continue, but with an upcoming facelift. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please send an email to

Hudson Hires Head Honcho
(02.25.08) HUDSON: It was announced today that the Hudson Board of Education has hired the successor to Amy Densevich. Francisco "Frank" Caraballo was recommended by Athletic Director Ray Ebersole to take over the defending state champion softball program.

With only a few months to find a replacement, Hudson looked within their conference and found their new head softball coach just to the north in Twinsburg. While Caraballo spent eight years on the bench as an assistant coach for his hometown Solon Comets, Frank spent last season as the head coach of the Twinsburg Tigers.

"We are very pleased to have Frank Caraballo join the Hudson staff as our new softball coach," Ebersole said. "Mr. Caraballo emerged subsequent to a very comprehensive search involving a number of outstanding candidates.

He added, "His successful experiences at Solon, Lakeland Community College and Twinsburg will bode well for the future of Hudson softball."

Kent State Calls On Coach Densivich
(01.01.08) KENT: Leading a team to the Ohio State Championship can open doors for a head coach. In Coach Densevich's case, here alma mater came calling.

Amy will take over as the Golden Flashes' pitching coach on January 14.

Densevich leaves the program in excellent shape, having gone 115-60 in seven years at the helm. She took a program from mediocre, to perennial league favorites, to defending state champions.

However, 2008 will not be a cakewalk for Amy's successor. In addition to the pressure of having a state title to defend, the championship squad also graduated seven, including two Division I players in Beth Cinadr and Kelley Cash. The team will have a lot of young players with state tournament experience, including the now-sophomore battery of Mindy Meredith and Georgia Stokes.

Middle school athletic director, as well last year's JV softball coach, Jeff Kurtz will handle the program until a replacement is found.

The Explorers Win It All!
(06.02.07) ASHLAND: The Varsity sucessfully completed its run to Hudson's first-ever softball state championship with a 4-0 win over Elyria on Saturday at Brookside Park in Ashland.

The ladies scored all four runs in the bottom of the first inning by wearing out the left-center gap off of starting pitcher Megan Bashak. Beth Cinadr started the rally off with a double to left-center. After a Kelley Cash strikeout, Lindsay Bartos short-hopped the fence in left-center and traded places with Cinadr.

Next, designated player Mandy Krutzler singled to right, scoring Bartos. Pitcher Mindy Meredith helped her own cause with the third double of the inning to left-center which moved Krutzler to third base. Catcher Elizabeth Stokes capped the rally with the fourth double to left-center, scoring both Krutzler and Meredith.

Following Stokes' double, the Pioneers replaced the lefty Bashak with third baseman Tess Sito. Sito held the Explorer offense in check for the rest of the game, allowing just two hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.

Though the Explorers were unable to add on to the lead, four runs proved to more than enough. Meredith tossed a five-hit shutout, walked none, and struck out seven Pioneers.

The number one ranked ladies from Elyria lone threat to score came in the third inning. Consecutive singles, a passed ball, and a stolen base, put Pioneers on second and third. Meredith was able to get out of it by inducing a popup to shortstop Cash and a fly ball to Chelsea Drohan in right.

The Explorer defense was solid behind Meredith. There were no errors committed and second baseman Kick Rakotci turned in the web gem of the day when she snagged a hot line drive off of Tess Sito in the sixth. That play stymied any thought of a late rally by Elyria.

The road to the state championship is always paved with excellence, and this year was no exception. The previously-unranked Varsity knocked off four of the top five ranked teams in Ohio: #1 Elyria, #2 North Canton Hoover, #3 Pickerington Central, and #5 Canfield. Cuyahoga Falls and Brunswick, both solid programs, were the other two casualties during the tournament.

There will be a celebration at Hudson High School on Monday at 6:30pm.