Karena Burgess, Olyvia Fenton, Payton VanSickle form Loudonville's daunting hitting trio

You won't find many lineups top-to-bottom on the softball scene right now in the North Central Ohio area better than the Loudonville Redbirds (17-5 record).

A central reason you can chalk that up to is due to the senior hitting trio of centerfielder Olyvia Fenton, shortstop Karena Burgess and catcher Payton VanSickle. Fenton leads off, with Burgess tackling the third spot and VanSickle batting fourth.

All three have been familiar with each other since they were young.

More: Inside Mapleton softball's torrid start to the season

"We've been playing together ever since we started playing softball," Fenton said. "My mom (Loudonville head coach Serena Fenton) has been with us from the start. She even coached Payton and I in some travel ball."

"We've played together since youth," VanSickle said. "Karena played on the Black Widows. We've been playing travel ball together all the way up to our sophomore year. We have a good understanding of each other's ability. Hitting behind Karena in the lineup, I know if she flies out, she looks at me like she wants to kill someone and I want to get on base for her."

Owning your spot

A key component in why as a group all three thrive, lies in their specific places in the batting order. They embrace their batting position and it suits them to fullest.

As the first hitter in the lineup, Fenton likes to exhibit patience.

"Usually my approach when I hit is that I like to see as many pitches as I can so that my team can really see the pitcher before they bat," said Fenton, who is batting .465, has 33 hits, 13 RBIs and leads the team with 20 steals. "I can get a feel before they step in the box. Doesn't mean I'm less aggressive. I still take my cuts and just try to get on so my teammates can hit me in."

So, working the pitch count and tiring out the starting pitcher?

"Yes. Foul balls are really good when you're leading off as well," said Fenton, who, after a couple of games during her freshman year, has been leading off ever since. "I like the pressure, too."

For Burgess, she's been long-viewed as one of the top hitters in the Ashland/Wayne County area through her career. For her, being in that three-hole is all about owning the responsibility.

"It's a real big responsibility," said Burgess, who's batting .469, has 38 hits, a team-leading six home runs and 43 RBIs. "I really have to make sure if our first two batters get on base, I have to get them in. Putting that first run on the board is really important to us because it sets the tone for starting the game off really good. I like the pressure put on me. Just knowing I have to do something for my team."

After Burgess comes VanSickle in the cleanup spot, where she's batting a team-high .568, a team-leading 42 hits, two home runs and 36 RBIs.

"I think that just being here all four years, I've been really good in pressure situations," VanSickle said. "It's not like hitting bombs, triples and doubles. It's more like hitting a ground ball and forcing an error to score a run."

More than meets the eye

It'll be easy to look at the raw numbers and suggest that Loudonville is a precisely power-hitting lineup. In 11 games this season, the Redbirds have scored double-digit runs and, even more impressively, they've produced four 20-plus run games, including rolling 31 on Crestline last week. As a trio, they've made a habit of tallying 3-plus RBI games. On the season, Burgess has six, VanSickle five and Fenton two.

They're prone to light the scoreboard up at any moment. They may seem like a power-hitting lineup, and maybe they are, but they don't completely view themselves that way.

"Anyway to get on base is really good," said Fenton, Loudonville's all-time steals leader. "Usually, I do like those singles so that I can steal. I try to go for more contact than power. The reason I like to make contact is because I trust them to be able to hit me in."

"I just say we make the defense make plays," VanSickle said. "A team is not going to strike us out 1-2-3. We're going to make you work for the outs. You're gonna have to work consistently through our lineup."

For Burgess, many might see her as a masher of the ball, but she's more about putting the ball in play.

"I'm more of a contact hitter," said Burgess, who is Loudonville's all-time RBI leader. "Sometimes I get it out of the park but it just happens. When I get into the batters box, I'm just trying to make contact with the ball so I can move my baserunners."

That's even more apparent when you ask them what's a better feeling: Swatting one over the fence or knocking in a run off a base hit?

"I'd say a base hit," Burgess said. "Especially, if it's a tight game and we're down 3-2 and we need that tying run."

"I would say any way possible," VanSickle said. "Yeah, a home run feels cool and everything but I don't hit many home runs. It's just putting the ball in play. Carlee Young (Loudonville right fielder) can tell you. That girl can lay a bunt down in every situation. Arguably her bunt against Mapleton is what put us ahead. We had a suicide squeeze when I was at third and that girl laid down the perfect bunt to get us the lead."

See, even a bunt works for this lineup.

For this formidable hitting trio, the emphasis is all about getting the others around the bases and eventually home.

"We work well because we put the hits together with each other," Burgess said. "We just try to focus on getting each other around. Especially as seniors and leaders, we have to start the rallies. I feel once you start a rally, the rest of the team rallies with you."

"This year as seniors, we really want to win games and be successful come tournament time," Fenton said. "I think that's all three of our goals."

jsimpson@gannett.com

Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Diving into the minds of Loudonville softball's formidable trio