Photos courtesy of Ohio State and Youngstown State Athletics TOP LEFT: Champion alum and YSU infielder Megan Turner tags out a Robert Morris runner during a game April 11. BOTTOM LEFT: Champion alum and YSU pitcher Sophie Howell readies to throw during the Penguins’ game against St. Bonaventure on March 29. RIGHT: Champion alum and Ohio State pitcher Allison Smith delivers a pitch during the Buckeyes’ game against Kent State on March 21.

Champion softball players, past and present, share a special bond.

That tends to happen when the program wins four state championships (2015, 2017-2019) in the span of five years.

“Honestly, those were the best years of my life,” said former Flashes star and current YSU infielder Megan Turner. “I had so much fun in high school softball. I love Coach (Cheryl) Weaver. I loved all my teammates. I remember everything. I actually think about it all the time. … It reminds me of loving the game of softball. Obviously I still love it now, but back in high school, it was just so much fun. I loved every second of it.”

At a program with the history and pedigree that Champion has, it takes a lot to leave a mark. But those players and those teams that were a part of that dynastic run, accomplished so much during their high school careers that they will always be enshrined in the annals of Flashes athletics.

However, their athletic pursuits didn’t end in high school. Countless players from those championship teams have gone on to continue their success at the next level.

Turner, who played at Champion from 2015-2018, is currently in her senior season at Youngstown State after initially beginning her career at Kent State. Sophie Howell was with the Flashes from 2017-2020 and is now teammates with Turner with the Penguins.

Allison Smith, who shattered school records and etched her name into the OHSAA record books in several categories and played for Champion during the same years Howell did, is in the midst of her junior campaign at Ohio State. Smith is in the OHSAA record books with the second-most career home runs in state history with 51, accomplishing that feat in just three years, while others on the list did it in four.

After playing for Champion from 2018-2021, Emma Gumont is finishing up her sophomore season at Notre Dame College.

Also, Cassidy Shaffer is currently a sophomore with the Ashland Eagles, Holley Moore is a sophomore at Hiram College and Lauren Fife is a sophomore at Lawrence Tech up in Michigan.

“The players from those teams, we all got along so well,” Howell said. “We hung out pretty much every weekend outside of softball. Obviously the success was great, but the connection with the girls is something that I’ll always remember.”

Even at the next level, still the accolades continue to roll in for the former Flashes.

Turner, who was just named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, has been a regular in the Penguins’ lineup for each of her two seasons in Youngstown and is currently leading the team in home runs and is second in RBIs. Meanwhile, Howell has been YSU’s ace this year, starting 22 games, and has a 2.88 ERA to go with her best W-L record during her time with the Penguins.

Smith has been a part of the Buckeyes’ pitching rotation since her freshman season, during which she led Ohio State in wins (12), strikeouts (134) and was second in innings pitched (132.2), while being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. This season, she’s compiled her best record as a pitcher, while also throwing her first career collegiate no hitter earlier this season.

Gumont just earned All-Mountain East Conference honors and leads the Falcons in almost every major offensive category, including batting average, total hits, RBIs and home runs. Also, Shaffer just earned Great Midwest Athletic Conference Second-Team honors for her performance this season.

“I think a lot of people, even at college, were like, your high school team was really good,” Smith said. “And it doesn’t end there. They’re also really good in college. They’re also good at all these different levels, which I think just truly shows their hard work and dedication to the sport. That was 100 percent a reason why we were as good as we were (at Champion).”

On those Flashes teams, friendships were created that will “last a lifetime.” For example, former Champion star Abby White drove to watch Smith play in a recent game in Columbus, also Smith said she’s going to be a bridesmaid in former Champion second baseman Carli Swipas’ wedding.

“It truly created friendships that went so much beyond the softball field,” Smith said. “Definitely a huge part of our success was the chemistry and urge to play for each other.”

Sometimes in college, their paths cross when their respective teams face each other. For example, Turner and Howell’s Penguins played Smith’s Buckeyes in the middle of April, while Gumont’s Falcons faced YSU back in the fall.

“Seeing Megan and Sophie for the first time in three years, it was like we picked up right like we were at high school softball practice again,” Smith said. “We were catching up with each other about all that is going on in school and in our lives.”

The players all credit Weaver for helping prepare them for what to expect at the college level.

“Coach always made sure our schedule was to a T, and we always played harder teams because she knew it would make us better,” Gumont said. “I think by doing that, because we were such a small school, it really gave us the opportunity to continue to get better every day. We weren’t playing schools that we knew we would win. We always took the extra step and played schools that were better than us so that we could prove to ourselves that we could do it.”

For Weaver, who has won six of Champion’s nine total state championships during her 24-year tenure leading the program, seeing so many of her former players going on and succeeding in college softball is one of the best parts of her job as a coach.

“I’m so proud of each one of those girls, and it was an honor for me just to have them because they were all great players and they had that competitiveness,” Weaver said. “They did not like to lose and that stuff becomes infectious and they passed it onto other girls.

“I’ll never forget one bus ride home. We won the game, but they were not happy with how they played. They said, ‘when we get home, go change and we’re going down to the fields.’ They’re the ones that set that up because they didn’t like how they played. That’s the difference between the different tiers of girls. I’m so proud of them, but they’re the ones that worked hard from the time they got here till the time they graduated. So hats off to them.”

With so much that bonds her former players, Weaver is trying to reunite all Champion softball alumni, young and old, for an alumni softball game in August to recognize players from all nine of the Flashes state championship teams.

“It’s going to be so cool to get everybody back together,” Turner said. “I think a bunch of girls are signing up for it. It’s going to be a fun time for sure. I’m really excited.”