Correspondent and staff file photos. Some of the top-10 moments of 2024 include Fitch's second straight softball state championship, West Branch baseball's first-ever state title, YSU hiring a new men's basketball coach and Ursuline boys basketball's state final four run.

1. Valley softball dominance

The 2024 spring season was a banner year for softball in the Mahoning Valley.

Area teams swept the Northeast regional titles in all four divisions — Mathews won the regional title in Division IV, its first since 2012, South Range claimed its third Division III regional title in the last four years with a victory over Champion, while Austintown Fitch and Canfield each defended their regional titles in Division I and Division II, respectively.

Three teams then competed for state championships — Fitch, Canfield and South Range, as the Falcons and Cardinals each ended up going on to win state titles. For Fitch, it was its second straight state championship, while for Canfield it was the program’s first since 2008.

Led by a deep hitting lineup and an ace in the circle in Georgia Tech-signee Sydnie Watts, Fitch beat Watkins Memorial 4-0 in the state final. With a similarly stacked team and Buffalo-bound pitcher Malena Toth, Canfield blanked Bryan 4-0 in its final to capture the state championship.

2. West Branch wins first baseball state title

Until this past June, the West Branch baseball program had never won a state championship.

Led by head coach Rick Mulinix, though, the Warriors completed a miracle run through the Division II tournament by coming from behind to defeat Wintersville Indian Creek and Hamilton Badin in the state semifinals and final, respectively, to win the Division II state title.

West Branch had only made it to the state final four once before; in 1973, the Warriors advanced to the Class AA title game before losing to St. Paris Graham.

During their state title run, the ’24 Warriors, who went 28-6, eliminated defending champion Kenston on a walk-off hit in the regional final before similarly overcoming deficits against Indian Creek and Badin in Akron.

Following the state championship victory, Mulinix said he planned to step down as West Branch’s head baseball coach.

3. YSU men’s and women’s basketball each get new coaches

The Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball teams each saw new leadership take hold in 2024.

After seven seasons in Youngstown, men’s coach Jerrod Calhoun departed YSU to take the head coaching job at Utah State. Calhoun led the Penguins to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in the program’s Division I history. Calhoun’s former assistant coach Ethan Faulkner was then elevated to become the program’s 14th head coach in program history.

Women’s basketball coach John Barnes elected to take a leave of absence prior to the start of the 2023-2024 season to attend to a personal family matter. He then stepped down as head coach after 10 years in Youngstown in January. John Nicolais served as acting and interim head coach in Barnes’ absence throughout the season.

After the end of the season, Melissa Jackson was then hired as the program’s ninth head coach in March.

4. Ursuline boys state final four run

Led by a talented trio of freshmen, coupled with a pair of experienced seniors, Ursuline boys basketball had its best season since 1994 this year.

Back in March, the Irish sprinted through the Division II bracket, cruising past Cleveland Collinwood, Cleveland Lincoln West, Streetsboro, NDCL and Villa Angela-St. Joseph, before taking down Canfield in the regional final to advance to the state final four in Dayton. It was Ursuline’s first regional championship in 30 years.

The Irish then fell to eventual state champion Archbishop Alter in the state semifinal. Ursuline went 24-4 overall, which included winning another Steel Valley Conference title.

With five returners back this season, Ursuline is hoping to again return to the state final four.

5. Guardians win AL Central

Throughout the summer, the Cleveland Guardians were one of the top teams in not just the American League, but Major League Baseball.

Come September, Cleveland clinched the American League Central with a record of 92-59 and made their way to the postseason for the second time in three years.

It was a notable first year under rookie manager Stephen Vogt, who took over for longtime manager Terry Francona.

The Guardians started strong, posting a 19-9 record after an early series against the Atlanta Braves. They entered the All-Star break with a 58-37 record. There were some ups and downs in August, but the young manager got things figured out, and they clinched the division with a walk-off, 10-inning win over Minnesota on Sept. 19.

Cleveland pulled out a five-game series against division rival Detroit in the American League Division Series. The Guards advanced to the ALCS, where they fell to the New York Yankees in five games.

6. Garfield’s Keegan Sell captures 2nd wrestling state title

In March, Keegan Sell became the first-ever Garrettsville Garfield wrestler to win two state championships when he defended his 190-pound title in Columbus.

Sell repeated as the Division III champion at 190 pounds in dramatic fashion; after surrendering a match-tying takedown to Liberty Center’s Xander Myers with 11 seconds to go, Sell earned an escape and then took Myers down as he rushed in to cement his title victory.

As a junior, Sell defeated Wyat Ripke of Archbold 6-4 in the Division III 190-pound state final.

After the win against Myers in March, Keegan Sell embraced his father Ken, who later expressed sadness that Keegan’s wrestling career was over.

Keegan is currently a freshman at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where he plays football.

7. Local track and field athletes capture gold in Dayton

Dozens of area athletes came away from the OHSAA state track and field meet in Dayton with medals this past spring.

Of the state placers included champions Conner Hunt of Garrettsville Garfield, Caleigh Richards of Maplewood and Lowellville’s Michael Ballone, Matt Lucido, Drew Modelski and Josh Pazel.

Ballone won two Division III state titles in Dayton, as he earned an individual championship in the 300-meter hurdles and another first-place finish as part of the Rockets’ 4×400-meter relay team.

Richards completed her high school career with a sixth state title; she won the 3200-meter Division III state championship, her third in the event while at Maplewood.

Hunt, for the second consecutive year, swept the seated events at the state meet. After winning the 100, 400 and 800-meter races as a freshman, Hunt completed the trifecta again as a sophomore. Over the summer, Hunt won a national title and set a national record in the seated 100-meter dash at the Hartford Nationals.

8. Ohio State falls to Michigan for 4th straight season

Despite Michigan being unranked and former head coach Jim Harbaugh leaving for the NFL, No. 2 Ohio State lost to the archrival Wolverines 13-10 for the fourth consecutive season.

It was supposed to be a revenge season for the Buckeyes, who were favored by 21 points heading into the matchup, the widest point spread for this rivalry since 1978.

Michigan’s defense controlled the game and the Wolverines’ much-maligned offense did just enough to get the edge over the Buckeyes.

Still, despite the loss nixing Ohio State’s chance to win a Big Ten title, the Buckeyes still have a chance to win the national championship in the 12-team College Football Playoff. After dismantling Tennessee in the first round, the Buckeyes will get a rematch with No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals.

9. Coaching changes

Two major programs saw long-time head coaches step down, as new faces took over the programs.

Steve Arnold stepped aside from the Warren G. Harding football team after leading the program for over a decade. Archbishop Hoban offensive coordinator Matt Richardson, a graduate of Warren JFK and Youngstown State, was chosen to take the reins at Harding. In his first season, Richardson went 8-4 overall, which included winning a first-round playoff game.

Then, a year after leading Canfield to its first football state championship, Mike Pavlansky elected to step aside after 23 years leading the Cardinals’ program. Joe Ignazio, who had served as an assistant coach under Pavlansky and was the head coach at Boardman for eight years, was then named as Canfield’s new head coach. In his first season, Canfield missed out on the playoffs, as Ignazio guided the Cardinals to a 4-5 record.

10. Phantoms draftees

The Youngstown Phantoms saw three of their players selected during the 2024 NHL Draft this past year.

Each of the three played defense for the Phantoms. Luke Osburn highlighted the group, selected in the fourth round by the Buffalo Sabres.

Chase Pietila, who won a Clark Cup with the Phantoms, was also selected in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rounding out the trio was Tory Pitner, who was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the sixth round.