WHEELERSBURG — The Wheelersburg High School softball squad knows little to nothing about losing.
So much so, it’s much much closer to nothing than a little —as these perfect Pirates for 2023, after Division III state champions for 2022, went once again undefeated through the Southern Ohio Conference Division II.
In fact, for those into counting, that’s now a whopping — with Wheelersburg’s 16-1 win over Northwest on Monday —yet a confirmed 136 consecutive victories for the Pirates in SOC II play.
Within the past week, Wheelersburg won all three of its remaining division games — a 12-3 triumph at Valley last Wednesday, a 20-0 shutout at Minford for Friday, and the 15-run route of the Mohawks on Monday.
That’s a second straight SOC II slate of 16-0 for the Pirates, as they played 15 league games —and won them all —the year before.
Teresa Ruby’s first season as the Pirates’ head coach was a decade ago (2014)—as Wheelersburg has not lost a single SOC II contest in her tenure.
That’s 14 wins a year from 2014 thru 2019, proceeding a streak of five league wins to end the 2013 campaign.
Throw in 15 league wins two years back, and back-to-back 16-win seasons, that’s 136 wins in the past nine-plus years.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association canceled the 2020 spring sports season, because of the coronavirus threat.
Eastern, originally, was set to play in the SOC II that spring —but didn’t until the next year.
Ruby’s record in the SOC II is now 131-0, with nine consecutive conference championships.
To date this year, Wheelersburg is now 25-0 —as Northwest narrowly missed knocking off the Pirates on April 10, losing at Gene Bennett Park in Wheelersburg by a count of 7-6.
They proceeded to sweep runner-up West 5-1 (April 20) and 10-4 (April 26) within a week of each other —and all the other league games were not within seven runs.
Wheelersburg —with four seniors in three-year starters Macee Eaton (first base) and Kiera Kennard (center field), along with Jaelin Thomas and Kierra Rafalowski — will open defense of its Division III postseason tournament championship on Thursday, hosting either Alexander or Chesapeake in a sectional final.
Game time is set for 5 p.m. at Gene Bennett Park.
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