The high school softball season is simultaneously heating up and winding down, as 18 central Ohio teams across all seven divisions prepare to compete in the regional tournament.
One of the mainstays of a program used to playing this deep into the season has added another award to an already lengthy resume.
Nineteen area players were featured in a poll to determine the central Ohio high school softball regular-season player of the year. All of the votes are in, and the winner is Lancaster catcher Kendall Brown.
Owner of a 55-game hitting streak spanning the 2025 season and most of this spring, Brown batted .623 in the regular season with 43 hits – including 12 home runs, 10 doubles and a triple – and 37 RBIs. The Miami University signee also walked 16 times.
Coming off their third consecutive Division I district championship and fifth in six seasons, the Golden Gales (21-7) face Lakewood (18-11) in a regional semifinal May 27 at Olentangy.
“Consistent is the perfect word to describe her, and she is also clutch and calm,” Lancaster coach Allison Kinniard said. “She wants to be at bat when the game is on the line. She gives 100% to this team and [does] whatever it needs her to do. …
“No one is going to outwork her, which is why she has had so much success. The most special thing about her is her selflessness.”
Brown received 32.93% of the vote, edging Granville sophomore Aubrey Lackey (29.07%).
They were followed by DeSales’ Chloe Conway (6.99%), Fairfield Union’s Ella Harmon (6.77%), Millersport’s Kendyl Bonkowski (4.41%), Gahanna Lincoln’s Bella Costa (4.29%) and Kira Bailey (0.15%), Liberty Union’s Suzie Shultz (3.66%) and Eden Wilson (0.14%), New Albany’s Zoe Oakleaf (3.15%), Jonathan Alder’s Logan Donaldson (2.9%), Hilliard Bradley’s Michaela Moody (1.89%), Canal Winchester’s Kendal McCrea (0.94%), Olentangy Berlin’s Paige Miles (0.78%), Centerburg’s Abby Herren (0.64%), Olentangy’s Addi Hulshof (0.52%), Newark Catholic’s Joanna Bailey (0.39%), Grove City Christian’s Kelsey Kennedy (0.3%) and Bloom-Carroll’s Madelyn Gates (0.08%).
All of these players are candidates to make our All-Metro softball team, which will be revealed as part of the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards. The live show is June 22 at Upper Arlington High School.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kendall Brown named Dispatch regular-season softball player of year