The last time the Lloyd Memorial High School fast-pitch softball team put together a winning record, senior captains McKenzie Runion and Desia Hall were preschoolers, and seventh-grade role players Malyah Jones and Sophia Purnell weren’t even born.
The year was 2009. Barack Obama was president. Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas were dominating the pop music charts and Miley Cyrus was portraying wildly popular fictional television character Hannah Montana, a teenager living a double life as a pop star.
“That’s crazy. It’s such a long time ago,” Juggernauts first-year coach Chris Fogt said. “But we’re changing that losing mentality. I’m excited about the direction we’re going.”
The arrow at Lloyd is pointing decidedly up, hopefully leaving in the dust all those down years when the Juggernauts weren’t exactly living up to their mighty name after the demise of slow-pitch.
Entering Friday’s regular-season finale at home against non-regional opponent Paris, the much-improved Juggernauts have fashioned an improbable 13-13 record.
Last season, Lloyd finished with the second-fewest wins in the Ninth Region with a 3-19-1 overall record including a 2-15 regional mark and a record of 2-5 against the 34th District. Plating the second-fewest runs in the region, the Juggernauts were outscored 330-113, an average losing tally of 14-5. They barely hit .300 as a team.
Fast forward to this season. Lloyd has more than doubled its scoring, averaging nearly 11 runs per game. The Juggernauts led the Ninth Region with 279 runs scored entering Friday’s action.
“I only got to see them play once or twice last year, so I didn’t know what I was getting with this group,” Fogt said. “Once I saw them, I thought they would be a pretty good offensive team. We’ve got a wide array of hitters, girls with power and girls who can lay it down and beat out a bunt. We can play small ball or long ball, depending on the situation.”
The Juggernauts are hitting .367 as a unit this season, led by Runion’s .539. Six others are batting .345 or better including Hall (.355), Itzel Hernandez (.500), Madysen Godsey (.419), Layla Laudick (.383), Lorelei Tomlinson (.368) and Railynn Brown (.345). Lloyd’s on-base percentage is a whopping .533.
The Juggernauts have already clinched their first regular-season winning record against Ninth Region competition since 2019 with an 11-10 mark. They finished 4-2 against 34th District foes, earning the No. 3 seed in next week’s district tournament. Lloyd plays rival Villa Madonna in a Tuesday semifinal at Dixie Heights. The winner earns an automatic bid to the Ninth Region tournament and advances to the district championship game.
“Making the regional would be amazing,” said Runion, a left-handed hitting shortstop who also leads the team in at bats, runs scored, homers, hits and steals. “It’s taken a very long time.”
True to past form, it took a while for the Juggernauts to get going this season. Their record stood at 4-8 on April 15. They have gone 9-5 since.
Lloyd has beaten five teams this year it could not beat last year: Calvary Christian, Dayton, Holmes, St. Henry and Villa Madonna. The Juggernauts have avenged two in-season losses, taking care of Dayton and Villa Madonna on the rebound this season. They had not defeated Dayton since 2019. They beat Newport this season without benefit of a forfeit for the first time since 2018.
“And we learned something when we got beat by good teams like Highlands, Cooper and Dixie Heights,” said Fogt, whose wife, Freedom Fogt, formerly coached softball at St. Henry. “When you play good teams, you get to see what they do. How they carry themselves. How they handle situations.”
There remain areas that require improvement, namely pitching and fielding. The Juggernauts’ team ERA is 12.74. They have given up 76 unearned runs, about three per game.
“Their ERA last year was way worse (19.44),” Fogt said. “Even though it’s still too high this year, it’s a lot better. Our top pitcher (Laudick) has really improved. She’s throwing more strikes. She’s given up half the number of runs (19.43 ERA last season, 9.72 ERA this season).
The best thing about it for the coach: His team is really young. Behind seniors Runion and Hall, there are no juniors, five sophomores, four freshmen, four eighth-graders and the two seventh-graders.
“The future is bright. This is just the beginning,” Fogt said. “But we couldn’t have done it without Runion and Hall. Runion has been a great player here for a long time. She can hit and she can play anywhere, and she’s a great vocal leader. Hall has been very key to me getting to know the girls and them getting to know me, and she can play.”
The girls hope to end things on a high note.
“To have this kind of season has been really exciting,” Runion said. “We just want to keep it going.”