Garaway softball tops Sandy Valley 14-2 behind three home runs

Garaway answered a close loss with a loud one, blasting Sandy Valley 14-2 in Inter-Valley Conference softball on April 27 behind home runs from Annabelle King, True Tango and Kyleigh LaCroix.

The Pirates did not just win with power at the plate. King also controlled the game in the circle, striking out seven over five innings while allowing two earned runs on three hits. At the plate, she finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, giving Garaway a two-way performance that set the tone from start to finish.

The victory came three days after Garaway fell 6-3 in nine innings to Conotton Valley on April 24, a reminder that the Pirates were coming off a hard-fought extra-inning game before turning around and putting Sandy Valley away in decisive fashion. That response matters in a spring where Garaway has kept itself in the local conversation, starting the 2026 season 14-2 after last year’s historic state tournament run.

The numbers around the Sandy Valley win suggest this was more than a one-off surge. Garaway has already won 13 games by more than six runs this season, a sign that when the Pirates get rolling, the margin can grow quickly. Against Sandy Valley, the offense never let the Cardinals settle in, and the three home runs from King, Tango and LaCroix gave the scoreline the kind of punch that stands out in conference play.

The timing also fit a critical stretch in the Ohio High School Athletic Association calendar. Tournament participation verification deadlines fell that same week, including the late entry and withdrawal deadline on April 27, and the Division III through Division VII seed and draw meetings were set for May 3. For Garaway, a lopsided win in late April helped strengthen the program’s profile at exactly the point when postseason positioning and momentum start to matter.

In Holmes County, where Garaway softball has already built a reputation beyond one season, the latest result reinforced the same message: the Pirates are not simply winning games, they are doing it with power, depth and enough pitching control to look like a team worth tracking into tournament play.