North Ridgeville softball: Ace Autumn Behlke wins Lorain County Ms. Softball

A dominant force inside the circle and at the plate, North Ridgeville’s Autumn Behlke did it all for the Rangers.

On June 7, during the festivities of the Lorain County Softball All-Star Game, the Rangers’ ace was named winner of the WOLB/WDLW Lorain County Ms. Softball award.

She was given the award on North Ridgeville’s home diamond, which she starred on during her career.

Her freshman season was stripped away by the COVID-19 pandemic. When sports returned, Behlke became a major contributor in North Ridgeville’s first Division I district championship. An elite eight appearance was followed by two more district championships as a junior and senior.

As one of two returning starting seniors with teammate Allie Chinchar for the 2023 season, the Rangers won a share of the Southwestern Conference championship with Berea-Midpark (Division I district champion) and completed a district championship three-peat.

Inside the circle, Behlke’s devastating fastball resulted in an earned runs average of 1.243 and 208 strikeouts.

She was also named Division I All-Ohioan honorable mention, second-team all-district, Lorain County Pitcher of the Year and Southwestern Conference Most Valuable Player.

Behlke will leave North Ridgeville with several records under her belt and a full ride to play college softball at Youngstown State University.

Behind the plate, she batted .640 with a team-high seven home runs. Behlke struck out three times and batted in 32 runs.

Keystone’s Delaney Peters and Avon catcher Emma Ody (first-team All-Ohioan) were named special mention. Honorable mentions included Adrianna Buchanan (Firelands), Elise Aniol (Columbia) and Jarimar Ruiz (Clearview).