GREENVILLE – Ohio Wave Fastpitch Softball 2021 tryouts for 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age groups will be held at Stebbins Field in Greenville, home of the Lady Wave this weekend.
“The Ohio Wave program started in 2003,” Greenville Hall of Fame coach Jerrod Newland. “Anyone in Darke County, Miami Valley, anyone that wants to play can tryout. It’s a select travel softball program open to anybody, any ages.”
Tryouts are scheduled for Saturday, August 8 and Sunday August 9, 2020 at 11 a.m. under the direction of Greenville Hall of Fame Coach Jerrod Newland. It is suggested to arrive early to sign in.
“These tryouts now are for next summer,” Newland said. “They will play this fall as soon as those teams get together, they play and get going and we will play fall league.”
“It’s not rec-ball, it’s not little all-stars, it’s kids that want to play the game 12 months a year,” Newland added. “That’s what makes me so proud because you get kids that have the same mindsets becoming better at their skill and our skill is softball.”
The Lady Wave 2020 season was scratched due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the numbers through 2019 prove the success of the Greenville softball program under Coach Newland.
The 2019 Lady Wave completed the 2019 season winning its 16th Sectional Championship out of the past 17 seasons, their 12th District Championship out of the past 13 years and once again made the Sweet Sixteen playing in the OHSAA D-II Regionals.
The Lady Wave softball program completed its 16 consecutive season of 25 or more wins in Newland’s 17 years at Greenville. In his first season, Newland won 20 games and since that first season, the team has never dropped below 25 wins.
“We get 12 kids together here in August and you are together for the next 12 months as a family to get better and improve your skills,” Newland said. “Next May, June and July you play on the field but we start here in the fall and we set our teams for the next 12 months.”
“What makes us special, we use all fall and all winter to train and better our skills whereas a lot of the summer programs say, ‘we’ll see you next April for practice.’ We practice every week all year to get ready for next summer and hit the ground running. That is why I am so proud of the Ohio Wave Softball Organization and the Academy.”
“This summer the 16U team went 36-6 and won five of their seven tournaments,” They were blessed to play in this year,” said Newland. “Cory Jenkinson and Justine Shilt ran the show this summer and to win that many tournaments and play that hard is awesome.”
Coach Newland keeps a watchful eye on each of the Ohio Wave Softball teams throughout the year.
“I pop in and bug everybody a little bit – I kind of step back,” he noted. “I oversee the whole thing. My big thing is to get the coaches November through March and they weekly practice at the Academy and get those kids hitting and pitching with pitching coaches and hitting coaches.”
“That is where those kids improve their skills and that is what makes me so happy because it’s a season within the season,” Newland concluded. “Everybody thinks the team plays next May, June and July – well a lot happens in those seven months where the kids can get better and that is what our program offers.”
Stebbins Field is located at 6816 OH-49 on the northwest side of Greenville.
