Although the Cougars didn't attain the success they anticipated, coach Mike North said his team never lacked desire.

Westland closed the season at 12-11 overall and 7-7 in the OCC-Central Division to finish tied with Thomas Worthington for third behind Upper Arlington (13-1) and Hilliard Darby (11-3) and ahead of Hilliard Davidson (6-8), Central Crossing (5-8), Dublin Coffman (5-9) and Kilbourne (1-12).

"There were no breakdowns in the season," North said. "They understand that every game they played that they had the opportunity to win or they put themselves in the opportunity to win, so that makes for a good season for the kids."

The Cougars lost to Watterson 4-3 in the first round of the Division I district tournament May 11; however, they closed the season by scoring two runs in the seventh inning to defeat Central Crossing 3-2 on May 15 in a rescheduled league game.

Westland will lose seniors Carly Beasy, Hailee Johnson, Kelsey Kincaide and Abby Scaff.

The four seniors will compete in a senior all-star game on Wednesday at Westerville North.

"Sometimes it's not how you play the game, but how you act during the game and our kids were the best at that," North said of the seniors.

Johnson led the team in hitting at .350 and added 13 runs, nine RBI, five doubles and two triples.

Kincaide batted .333 with eight runs, 16 RBI, two triples and a home run.

Beasy contributed 15 runs and two home runs.

"We had high expectations, and I think we reached them," said Beasy, who will play at Capital. "We lost three starters from last year's team, and this year all the younger girls came up and we played like a team. We could have played better. We should have won more games than what we did."

It was also a special season for North, as he earned his 100th win at Westland in a 9-4 victory against Worthington Kilbourne on April 27.

Junior pitcher Brandi Rees should provide a solid nucleus next season. She finished 11-9 with a 1.38 ERA and 174 strikeouts and was named first-team all-OCC and second-team all-district.

Beasy was second-team all-league and Johnson was honorable mention.

Also eligible to return next season are sophomores Brittany Clutter, Kate Chadwick, Bethany Emmons, Chrissy Emmons, Courtney Kimmel, Katie VanOrder and Sammy Porter; and freshman Brooke Harris.

"We have a great group coming back, and we have a good freshmen class coming in," North said. "There's a good chance that we're going to be better next year than we were this year."

At a glance

•Record: 12-11 overall, 7-7 in OCC-Central (tied for third)

•Seniors lost: Carly Beasy, Hailee Johnson, Kelsey Kincaide and Abby Scaff

•Key returnees: Brittany Clutter, Kate Chadwick, Brandi Rees and Kate VanOrder