Mapleton’s Aubree Hess cheers on her team after scoring a run against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kelsi Clark throws a ball to first base for the out. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kelsi Clark warms up between innings against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kelsi Clark slings a pitch against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Addison Hess watches a low pitch sail past. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kelsi Clark talks to Kendall Ramey and the rest of her infield during a timeout against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Aubree Hess watches the pitcher from third base. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kendall Ramey tries to lay down a bunt against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Mattie Bates waits on third base. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Audrey Hellickson puts a ball in play against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Addison Hess blasts a ball into play against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
Mapleton’s Kenzie Hellickson high fives Kelsi Clark as the two swap places with Hellickson entering as a courtesy runner against Monroeville. The Eagles handed the Mounties their first loss in Firelands Conference play on May 11, 2026.
MONROEVILLE – After clinching at least a share of the Firelands Conference title on Saturday with a win over Western Reserve and Monroeville’s shocking loss to Crestview, Mapleton aimed to run the table and secure the program’s first outright league championship in two decades.
The Mounties had a golden opportunity on Monday night to take a major step toward that goal, but instead saw their undefeated Firelands Conference season slip away in a 6-4 loss to the Eagles.
“Hopefully it’s a good learning experience and they learn that we can’t wait until the fifth inning to start hitting,” Mapleton coach Mike Leibolt said. “We’ll see how they bounce back … I think that’s going to be a good thing for us.”
For only the second time this season, the Mounties were shut out through the first four innings, thanks largely to Monroeville pitcher Payton Weilnau, who struck out 14 batters on the night.
“She has good movement,” Leibolt said. “Once we started to hit her, we hit it really well. We just came up a little short, they played better than us today.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Mapleton finally pushed a run across in the fifth inning, when Kendall Ramey (1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB) drove in Aubree Hess (1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB). But Monroeville immediately answered in the bottom half, pushing the lead back to five.
The Mountie bats came alive in the sixth, nearly batting through the order. After opening with back-to-back singles, they scored three runs on a fielding error in centerfield and added a fourth on a hard-hit Hess single through the second baseman’s legs. Mapleton left runners on second and third to end the inning, then stranded Audrey Hellickson (1-4, 1 SB) on second base to close the game in the seventh.
“We almost gave it away with errors,” Monroeville coach Pat Scheid said. “We knew they’re a good team … they’ve been hot all year and we’ve been up and down. We’re a good team, too, we’ve just had a couple games where our youth showed — like tonight in the sixth inning — but we battled back and got done what we needed to do.”
While Monroeville can technically still share the league title with Mapleton, Scheid didn’t entertain that possibility much, considering the Mounties finish with a rescheduled game against a South Central team they defeated 12-0 last week. But the Eagles did the one thing they could control: spoiling Mapleton’s perfect Firelands Conference record.
“We’ve been in their shoes before and we’ve been on both ends of it,” he said. “We’ve won, and we’ve crapped down our leg before. It’s tough to be dominating like they’ve been dominating all year and sustain it, especially coming here against a good team. But they have a good coaching staff, they’ll be focused and ready to go tomorrow.”
Tuesday offers the Mounties a chance to clinch the Firelands Conference outright in the return leg of the Monroeville series, before closing out at South Central on Friday. A Division VI sectional championship against Wellington is sandwiched in between on Wednesday.
“Our conference is always tough, there’s always good teams in it, so you can never go wrong knowing you’ve clinched the conference,” Leibolt said. “But obviously that wasn’t our goal … we’re looking to tomorrow.”