Story from the Monday, November 12, 2007  Edition of the Chronicle Telegram

A CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY
State Softball Championships

Bob Daniels
The Chronicle-Telegram
Two Lorain County schools, Elyria and Keystone, have a shot at state softball championships in back-to-back games today in Ashland.
The first question in the minds of local fans since Thursday night has been, “Have two schools from the same county ever played for state softball championships in the same season?”
The answer is yes. Summit County — home of Akron Springfield with nine state championships and Tallmadge with seven — is far and away the leader. At least two Summit County schools have played in state finals in the same season 10 times.
And in 1990, three Summit County schools played in state title games on the same day. Akron Springfield won in Division I, Tallmadge lost in Division II and Akron Manchester won the Division III crown.
In addition to Lorain, Mahoning (Youngstown area) and Franklin (Columbus) counties have also had two schools in state finals at the same time, once each.
There’s a difference, of course. Our county is more rural than any of the others. The Keystone district — LaGrange, Penfield, parts of Carlisle Township — is entirely in rural southern Lorain County, which is to say it has a smaller population base from which to draw softball players.
But bag the demographics. The Pioneers and Wildcats have made a statement about the quality of Lorain County softball.

Today’s Games
DIVISION I: Elyria (28-5) vs. North Canton Hoover (31-2)
TIME: 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Brookside Park in Ashland
DIVISION II: Keystone (31-2) vs. Circleville (23-8)
TIME: 10 a.m.
WHERE: Brookside Park in Ashland