Greenville Star Ella Oswalt Opens Up After OHSAA Softball State Semifinal Loss to Bloom-Carroll

AKRON, Ohio – Just by the look on her face, you could tell that Greenville sophomore Ella Oswalt wanted to be anywhere but Firestone Stadium’s interview room after losing 2-1 to Bloom-Carroll in the OHSAA Division III state semifinals on Friday.

It didn’t have anything to do with the people in the room, or answering questions, however. Because the Green Wave starting pitcher did that.

She just hates the feeling of losing, something the Green Wave had only done once before Friday, and that defeat was way back in March in the first game of the season, a 9-7 setback to Tri-Village.

Oswalt entered Friday 24-0 in the circle with a 0.27 ERA and had struck out 233 batters in 127 1/3 innings, while walking just 10. She had 19 shutouts and the most runs she had allowed in a game was two in an 11-2 win over Covington on March 28.

Early Deficit, Strong Response

But Bloom-Carroll jumped out early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off Oswalt, as leadoff hitter Madelyn Gates tripled and scored on a triple by Emma Brandt two batters later. Brandt then scored on a sacrifice fly by Addison Brown and it was 2-0.

When asked about the start, the 6-foot-1 pitcher was matter of fact, showing no emotion.

“We knew they were gonna hit, we knew they were gonna hit it to outfield, so I wasn't really surprised when they hit those first two,” Oswalt said “First batter's hard to get out, but I just trusted my spin and trusted my defense was gonna make some plays.”

To her credit, Oswalt kept the Bulldogs right there, not allowing another run in the game while giving up six more hits and no walks, with six strikeouts in the game.

A Perfect Game on the Other Side

The problem for the Green Wave was that the pitcher in the other dugout was nearly perfect, and in fact, Bloom-Carroll’s Emma Brandt was just that through six innings, not allowing a single baserunner and striking out nine Greenville hitters through six.

Leah Force finally broke up the perfect game with a solo homer to lead off the seventh for Greenville, but Brandt settled back in and retired the next three in order to end the game, including Oswalt who grounded back to her counterpart.

When asked what Brandt did that to keep the Green Wave hitters off balance, Oswalt answered quickly and curtly.

“Well, it wasn't difficult, we just didn't do it. It wasn't difficult, we just didn't do it,” Oswalt said. “I mean, kudos to them, and she did a great job, but we just didn't make adjustments quick enough. And sometimes it happens.”

It was during the follow-up to that question where the sophomore started to show emotion.

“Did feel like you made a little bit of an adjustment there in the seventh, you got a hold of a couple on those foul balls, like in that seventh inning, was there something you did differently, or something that you kind of noticed that she was doing,” I asked.

As I was finishing the question, Oswalt started to answer.

One More Day

“This whole time we've been here, all I thought about was, yes, winning is fun, and winning the state championship would be fun, but all I wanted was one more day with all my girls, because I love them to death,” Oswalt said. “And now we have to wait to come back, and all I wanted was one more day. Just to have one more day would have been nice, but you know, failure is good. So, we'll be back.”

A couple of minutes later, Oswalt was asked how she would motivate herself and her teammates to get that extra day next season, meaning winning the state semifinals and playing in the state championship, this being the first trip back to Akron for the state tournament since 2023 for the Green Wave, who lost to Western Brown in the regional final last year.

'It Sucks'

“Just knowing that we're all going to come back, and we all know what this feels like, because it sucks,” Oswalt said. “It sucks.”

That’s when the 16-year-old gave one of the most honest answers you will hear about what it’s like to lose at this level.

Fuel for the Future

“Last year when with losing to Western Brown, I didn't sleep or eat for days, because it sucks,” Oswalt said. “And everyone has a taste of how this feels, and they'll know it sucks. And it won't be the wanting to win so bad, it will be not wanting to lose and not have to feel like this for four days.”

After watching Oswalt in the interview room for seven minutes after that loss, I sure wouldn’t want to be a hitter in the box next season trying to get in the way of her achieving her goals.

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