VILLAGE OF NEW MIAMI — The New Miami High School softball team celebrated yet another lopsided postseason victory Monday night.
But Vikings coach Donnie Howard knows the biggest challenge of his team’s breakthrough still waits ahead.
New Miami rolled past Middletown Christian 20-0 in a Division VII district semifinal, extending the Vikings’ winning streak to eight games and sending the program to Wednesday’s district final against sixth-ranked Southeastern at West Carrollton.
Howard said the win represents another step forward for the Vikings, who are enjoying their best season in more than a decade.
New Miami improved to 18-5 overall and has won 13 of its last 15 games — outscoring its three postseason opponents 62-1 and marking the school’s most successful campaign since the 2010 Vikings went 15-6 before falling in a district semifinal.
“There’s been some ups and downs,” Howard said. “I just hope we come play good ball Wednesday. I want to play some more competitive games so our girls can get better and hopefully understand the game more, and then we can go deeper in the tournament.”
The Vikings showed little trouble Monday.
Mikaela Lema powered the offensive eruption, driving in seven runs on three hits. The sophomore blasted an inside-the-park home run in the first inning, added a two-run single later in the frame and ripped a three-run triple in the third.
Lema also dominated in the circle, striking out 13 while allowing just three hits over five shutout innings. Lema leads the Miami Valley Conference in strikeouts and wins.
New Miami erupted for 13 runs in the opening inning. Lily Ivy, Brooklynn York and Jalin Williams each delivered RBI hits during the outburst, while the Vikings also took advantage of 15 walks and aggressive baserunning to quickly put the game away.
Ivy and Mariah Powell each collected multiple hits, and Whitney Wilson and Ryleigh Fox each stole multiple bases as New Miami finished with 13 hits and six stolen bases.
Howard believes the foundation for the turnaround is being built by a young core that has bought into the program.
“It’s freshmen,” Howard said when asked what people may not know about the team. “They are buying into the program. … I hope I can get nine more freshmen coming in just like that next year.”
Howard said the program’s recent growth has created optimism for the future, especially with the Vikings returning much of their roster.
“We only have two seniors,” Howard said. “I’m hoping we can get some freshmen to come in and buy into the program.”
The postseason success has also stirred memories of New Miami’s last deep tournament push in 2010, when the Vikings advanced to a district semifinal before suffering a season-ending loss to Felicity-Franklin.
Howard pointed to last season’s tournament run by Felicity-Franklin — which went into the postseason winless — as another reminder that anything can happen in Division VII softball.
“That’s a case in point,” Howard said. “Any given day, any team can be beat.”
The Vikings will try to prove it on Wednesday against one of the state’s top-ranked teams. Howard said New Miami may adjust its approach against Southeastern, potentially mixing in more small ball and changing pitching speeds to keep hitters off balance.
“We’ll see what we can start out with,” Howard said. “We just want to go out there and compete.”
