PIQUA — Edison State Community College’s baseball and softball teams returned to the field this past weekend. The first softball matches took place on Friday, March 1, while the baseball season kicked off on Saturday, March 2.

Tyler Koch returns as Head Coach for his sixth season with the Charger baseball program, with a 69-67 overall record and a 40-29 conference record.

During Koch’s first season in 2019, the Chargers set a school win record with 25 overall wins and 15 conference wins. They finished second in the conference, earning a bid to the Sub-Regional Tournament, the highest finish in school history.

In 2022, the Chargers finished fourth in the conference, qualifying and winning the Sub-Regional Championship, defeating Bryant & Stratton and Ivy Tech-Northeast. The team reached the NJCAA Region XII District Tournament for the first time in school history. Koch’s Chargers advanced to the NJCAA Region XII Final Four after dominating Clark State in Round 1 of the NJCAA Region XII District Tournament.

Koch has sent over 25 student-athletes to four-year institutions to continue their education and athletic careers.

“Edison State baseball has one of the toughest schedules in Division II, Region XII,” said Koch. “The Chargers open the 2024 season with 20 straight home games. We’ll host several Michigan teams, including nationally ranked Kellogg Community College, Grand Rapids Community College, Mott Community College, Macomb Community College, Schoolcraft Community College, and St. Clair County Community College. Then we have the challenging OCCAC gauntlet.”

The Chargers return to the field with 11 sophomores and 17 freshmen.

“Our returning sophomores all had solid action as freshmen and look to lead the Chargers during the 2024 season,” Koch said.

The Chargers also have a strong incoming freshman class with a few transfers, including Erik Witherspoon from Frontier Community College, Landon Clark from Oakland University, and Damian Lopez from Amarillo College.

The Chargers kicked their season off on Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, when they won three out of four matches against St. Clair Community College on their home field. They opened conference play on Wednesday, March 6, when they host Terra State.

Greg Cox, Nate Fasnacht, and Layne Riley join Koch in leading the baseball team this season as assistant coaches.

Cox is returning to Edison State’s baseball program for the sixth year and has coached for the New Bremen ACME team, New Bremen High School, Wright State University–Lake Campus, and Indiana University South Bend. He also competed nationally and internationally in men’s fastpitch softball as part of the International Softball Conference for 15 years.

Fasnacht and Riley enter their first season as assistant coaches with the Chargers. Fasnacht finished his playing career with the Edison State baseball team in 2023.

Miranda Huddle is entering her second year with the Edison State softball program and her first year as head coach. Prior to Edison State, she coached for three years as an assistant softball coach at Miami East High School, picking up a Three Rivers Conference Co-Champions title and a state final four appearance in the 2022 season. She also has five years of experience coaching travel ball, two as a head coach and three as an assistant coach.

Huddle was a four-year member of the Ohio Northern University softball team, where they were Ohio Athletic Conference Champions and NCAA Regional Runners-Up in her final season in 2018.

“The Lady Chargers have worked hard preparing for the 2024 spring season,” Huddle said. “After finishing the 2023 season with a school record of 29 wins and making it to the Division II Great Lakes District tournament for the second consecutive season, the Lady Chargers bring back a talented sophomore class ready to make the 2024 season better than the last.”

The Lady Chargers return to the field with four sophomores and 13 freshmen.

“Anna Quinn is the sole pitcher to return after posting a 5-1 record last season with 31 innings pitched and 13 strikeouts,” said Huddle. “Incoming freshmen Allison Davis, Erika Gostomsky, and Kaycie Albers will join Quinn in the circle.”

Catcher Audrey Fyffe returns for a second season after finishing 10th on the NJCAA Division II leaderboard with a 0.540 batting average and 18th on the NJCAA Division II leaderboard with a 0.570 on base percentage. Newcomers Kyra Vermillion, Shay Swick, and Ashlyn Chatterton join Fyffe behind the plate.

“Kaela May also returns for a second season after playing every inning of the 2023 season at third base. Finishing out the returning sophomore class is Alison Cox, who contributed to the Charger defense both in the infield and outfield this past season,” Huddle continued.

Additional freshmen looking to make an impact on the 2024 season are Maliyah Simpson, Elise McCann, Jaycee Taylor, Gracee Cassidy, Autumn Franks, and Kayla Day.

“We’ve positioned ourselves for a competitive schedule to prepare to compete in the OCCAC,” said Huddle.

The softball team will play 49 regular season games in 2024, with 23 scheduled on their home field. They played their first games at home on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, winning all three matches against St. Clair Community College. The Lady Chargers will host Owens Community College in their first conference matches of the season on Friday, March 15.

Assistant coaches Brad Huddle and Kaitlin Poeppelman join Head Coach Miranda Huddle in leading the softball team. Both enter their first season with the Lady Chargers, bringing numerous years of coaching experience to the program.

Edison State’s baseball, softball, basketball, and volleyball teams compete in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) and are Division II members of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). For the latest news, upcoming games, and complete rosters, visit athletics.edisonohio.edu.