Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. Canfield senior Malena Toth pitches during the Cardinals’ season opener against Fitch on Monday.

CANFIELD — Canfield is coming off a special season — one that few expected.

Last year, the Cardinals opened the season on a tear, going 10-0 before dropping their first game at a spring break tournament in Myrtle Beach. By year’s end, Canfield was one of the best teams in the state, as the Cardinals then marched through the Division II postseason tournament all the way to the state championship game.

Even though Canfield came up short in the title game to Tallmadge, it finished as the state runner-up, completing a 24-3-2 overall record.

Despite graduating eight seniors from that squad, the standard was set in head coach Michael Kernan’s first season with the team, and the Cardinals are looking to continue to build on their success from last year.

“We did have an excellent season last year — I’m not sure what everybody expected,” Kernan said. “Now that we know what we’re capable of as a team and what we have coming back for this season, our expectations are high. We know it’s a tough feat that we accomplished last year and it’s a tough feat ahead. But the girls really worked hard in the offseason and they’re focused on that type of high goal.”

Canfield’s returnees are led by senior ace and University of Buffalo-signee Malena Toth, who has been a mainstay in the circle the last couple seasons for the Cardinals.

Toth has helped lead Canfield to back-to-back district titles and went 19-1 last season. She threw 275 strikeouts and maintained a 0.70 ERA, which included 10 shutouts and two no-hitters.

The connection she forged with then-freshman and now sophomore catcher Leah Figueroa behind the plate was the backbone of Canfield’s defense.

“She takes all the pressure off the younger players, all the maturing players,” Kernan said of Toth. “All the other players have matured tremendously, and I think that’s key. But she takes the pressure off them with the type of pitcher she is and the type of leader she is. They don’t feel the pressure maybe as much that they have to get the job done. So there’s a little more of a relaxed atmosphere this year.”

While the eight seniors from last year’s team are gone, six of the players from Canfield’s lineup in the state championship game are back this season.

“We’re never going to replace the senior group we had last year because they were tremendous,” Kernan said. “They laid this foundation like I never could have imagined.”

In addition to Toth and Figueroa, sophomore Jenna Triveri, senior Faith Morell, and juniors Marina Koenig and Sydney Lutz were all major parts of the Cardinals’ run last season.

“The younger group that took their turn last year — there’s a lot of kids that could have played varsity and a lot of kids in between — they accepted their role,” Kernan said before the Fitch game. “Coming into the season, today’s our first day to see who’s where. After this big series with Fitch, we’ll continue to mature and the kids will continue to compete and fight for those positions. It’s a good, younger, talented group that is going to bring a lot to the team to help us accomplish those high set goals.”

Each of them comprised the top of Canfield’s lineup in Monday’s season opener against Austintown Fitch, while senior Macey Kalina, sophomore Caylee Ortiz and junior Sami Economous rounded out the Cardinals’ lineup. Junior Alexa Ignazio also came in to pinch hit during the game, as well.

Triveri locked down center field, Lutz played second base, Morell was in right field and Koenig played shortstop. Then Kalina lined up at first base, Ortiz was the designated player and Economous played third base.

“They’re a very talented group. They’re skilled softball players and they’re good softball players,” Kernan said. “I think there’s a unity there that’s special throughout our team chemistry and that all feeds off of our four seniors. They’re a little different than what we had last year, but the four seniors this year are still doing a tremendous job. I think the team chemistry — it’s hard to say we’re better than what we had last year, but it’s more mature from last year and it’s going to be an exciting team to watch grow this year.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.