PHOTO BY DAVE WILSON

The Massillon Perry softball team huddles after beating Holland Springfield in last year's Division I state semifinal at Firestone Stadium on the way to winning the state title.

AKRON, Ohio -- Certain sports thrive in certain regions, and in Northeast Ohio, one of those sports, in addition to football, wrestling and some others, has always been softball.

The six most successful schools in history when it comes to winning state softball championships are from Northeast Ohio, so it should not have come as any surprise when, last Saturday, Northeast Ohio made a clean sweep of all four titles handed out. This marks the first time that has happened since the tournament expanded to four divisions in 2001.

Championship Saturday began, appropriately so, with Warren Champion cruising to an 11-2 win over Baltimore Liberty Union in the Division III game, putting the finishing touches on the state’s lone perfect final record at 27-0. This is the Golden Flashes’ fourth state crown, but first since 1994.

That was followed up by pair of Northeast Ohio teams butting heads in Division II, with Poland Seminary shutting out LaGrange Keystone, 4-0. The Bulldogs claimed their first state crown after finishing second in their previous two trips to the tournament (2010, 2001), having lost 1-0 to Hebron Lakewood in last year’s title game.

The next two games – and winning teams – last Saturday had a lot of similarities. North Canton Hoover, which defeated 2009 state champion – and Northeast Ohio Conference member -- Elyria 9-5 in the semifinals, topped Gahanna Lincoln by two runs, 4-2, in Division I. It is the fifth state title overall for the Vikings after winning previously in 2008, 2006, 1999 and 1998. It also marks the fifth time in seven years dating back to 2005 that a Federal League school has captured the crown.

With Elyria’s championship two years ago and Hudson’s in 2007, a Northeast Ohio school has won the Division I state title in seven consecutive seasons.

And Hoover’s five state titles rank it sixth all-time in all divisions.

Then in the last game of the day, in Division IV, which was halted on three different occasions for lightning and rain for a combined total of over two hours, Strasburg-Franklin also outlasted Convoy Crestview by two runs in another low-scoring affair, 3-1.

It is the sixth state crown overall for the Tigers, who, like Hoover, wear the colors of orange and black. Their other championships were in 2009, 1991 and from 1987-89.

Strasburg-Franklin fell 5-0 to Pleasant Hill Newton Local in last year’s title game, which was also affected by weather, starting 5½ hours late.

The Tigers are among just three schools in any division to have captured six state crowns, joining two other Northeast Ohio programs in Archbishop Hoban (1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991 and 1992) and Jeromesville Hillsdale, which won the Division III championship last year.

Only two schools – again, from Northeast Ohio – have done better. Springfield is the all-time leader with nine state crowns (1978, 1988-90, 1992-95 and 2005), while Tallmadge is second with eight (1981, 1987-89, 1993, 1997 and 1998).

Northeast Ohio schools dominated the early years of the tournament, which began in 1978, and have never really lost that stranglehold. In that inaugural year, Springfield defeated another Northeast Ohio team, Middleburg Heights Midpark, 6-5 in the big-school (Class AAA) title game. Warren Champion ruled in Class AA (medium-sized schools) with a 3-1 win over Springfield Northwestern, and in Class A (smallest schools), Hillsdale made it to the title game but lost 1-0 to Casstown Miami East.

Three Northeast Ohio teams – Hillsdale in A, Manchester (AA) and St. Vincent-St. Mary (AAA) – won titles in 1979, giving the region five of the first six state crowns handed out in those opening two seasons.

That became seven of nine when Warren Champion (AA) and Cuyahoga Falls (AAA) won in 1980. Falls had been to the Final Four with St. Vincent-St. Mary in AAA in 1979, but lost in the semifinals.

Kinsman Badger (AA) and Tallmadge (AAA) were champions in 1981, making it nine of 12 titles for the region. The Blue Devils topped another set of Blue Devils, from Brunswick, in the semifinals.

It wasn’t until 1982 – the fifth year of the tournament -- that Northeast Ohio was limited to just one championship. But by 1984, the region was back in the saddle, winning two of three state titles with Hoban (AA) and St. Vincent-St. Mary (AAA).

There were two Northeast Ohio champs again in 1986 with Hoban (AA) and Brunswick (AAA), which defeated Massillon Jackson 3-2 in the title game.

And the following year, the region had its second sweep – and first since 1979 – with Strasburg-Franklin (A), Hoban (AA) and Tallmadge (AAA). In addition, two of the three beat Northeast Ohio teams in the title game, Strasburg-Franklin topping Mineral Ridge and Tallmadge getting past Canton GlenOak.

The same three teams from the region – Strasburg-Franklin (A), Tallmadge AA) and Springfield (AAA) – swept the championships in both 1988 and ’89.

Northeast Ohio had two of the three champions in 1990 as the tournament went to divisions with Springfield (Division I) and Manchester (III).

Following those first 13 years, Northeast Ohio has swept all the titles five more times in the succeeding 21 seasons, giving the region nine sweeps overall in the 34-year history of the tournament. Here are those last five times:

1994 – Springfield (I), Champion (II) and Hillsdale (III).

1996 – Ellet (I), Alliance Marlington (II) and Hillsdale (III).

1998 – Hoover (I), Tallmadge (II) and Southington Chalker (III).

1999 – Hoover (I), Keystone (II) and Hillsdale (III).

2011 – Hoover (I), Poland (II), Champion (III) and Strasburg-Franklin (IV).

In addition to the six times already mentioned through 1990, Northeast Ohio has captured all but one of the championships available on five other occasions, giving the region an overall total of 11.

Here are those five:

1991 – Hoban (II) and Strasburg-Franklin (III).

1992 – Springfield (I) and Hoban (II).

1993 – Springfield (I) and Tallmadge (II).

2000 – Conneaut (II) and Hillsdale (III).

2006 (four divisions) – Hoover (I), Keystone (II) and Dalton (IV).

 In seven years, the region got just one champion:

1982 – Kinsman Badger (AA).

1983 – Hoban (AA).

1985 – Mineral Ridge (A).

1995 – Springfield (I).

1997 – Tallmadge (II).

2003 – Crestwood (II).

2004 – Walsh Jesuit (II).

There’s never been a season in which Northeast Ohio has failed to win a championship.

When you add it all up, of the 113 state titles awarded in the history of the tournament, 72, or just under two-thirds, 63.7 percent, have been captured by Northeast Ohio teams.

Now that’s dominance.

And get this, 32, or 44.4 percent, of those Northeast Ohio titles have come from Summit County teams.

That’s dominance with distinction.

The next-winningest county is Stark with eight crowns. Trumbull has seven and Tuscarawas six, all by Strasburg-Franklin. Portage and Medina have one each.

GOOD, BUT MAYBE NOT THAT GOOD:Coach Bud Weisbarger is a walking, talking history book of Strasburg-Franklin softball, having just completed his 27th season. He’s been there for 600 wins and all six of the Tigers’ state titles. His teams won three state championships, all in Class A, from 1987-89, and the string of consecutive crowns would have reached four if the Tigers had not lost 2-1 to Manchester in the 1990 Class AA state semifinals. The Tigers have captured two of the last three Division IV titles, in 2009 and this year. Had they not lost the 2010 state championship game to Pleasant Hill Newton, they would have three state titles in a row again. So are the teams from this current run as good as the ones from over 20 years ago? “I don’t know,” he said, laughing. “Those teams from back in the ’80s were pretty good.” In a word then, no, the current teams may not be quite up to the level of those earlier squads – which is no slight at all to the present-day group.

SHUT OUT OF ANOTHER SHUTOUT:When Convoy Crestview, which had not been blanked since losing 1-0 to Sherwood Fairview in the season opener, scored in the seventh inning of its 3-1 loss to Strasburg-Franklin, it pulled off quite a feat, though it probably didn’t seem like it at the time, especially with the disappointment of the defeat. But Strasburg-Franklin entered the game having posted three straight shutouts, and 10 in its previous 11 games. Overall on the year, the Tigers had 17 shutouts among their 26 victories.

THE BEST IN AT LEAST ONE CATEGORY:With its five state titles, Hoover is another school where the championship teams are often compared to one another. Coach Jerry Goodpasture, who just completed his seventh year, wouldn’t get into all that, but he did say that this season’s team was the most athletic he’s ever had. .... Several Hoover players said that when league rival Massillon Perry won the Division I state title last year, it made them bound and determined to capture the crown this year and not let the Panthers get a leg up on them, so to speak. 

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED:Gahanna Lincoln, which lost 4-2 to Hoover in the Division I title contest, didn’t wow anyone with its 19-10 record entering the state tournament, including losses in its last six regular-season games. But four of those defeats were by just one run, and another by two. “We were playing some very good teams,” Lions coach Jim Campolo explained. So if you get hot at the right time – tournament time – none of what happened during the regular season really matters. The Lions won three straight one-run games in the tournament, and two in a row by the same 7-6 score, including one over Copley in the regional semifinals that probably still has the Indians shaking their heads.

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED II:While Lincoln struggled to win at the end of the regular season, Convoy Crestview struggled to win at the start. The Knights were just 3-4 after seven games, but again, two of the losses were by just one run. But instead of packing it in, the Knights turned it around big-time, winning 18 games in a row before falling in the title game to Strasburg-Franklin. So for all teams that stagger coming out of the gate, never give up. Things can change quickly.

TWO TIMES TWO:LaGrange Keystone lost just two games all year in 34 tries, one by two runs, 7-5 to Canfield about two-thirds of the way through the regular season, and 4-0 to Poland in the Division II state title contest. The Wildcats this year had one of the most impressive offensive performances you’ll ever see. They scored 10 runs or more in 23 games, their high-water mark coming in a 22-0 Patriot Athletic Conference win over Sheffield Brookside. Black River was one of the teams giving up double-digits runs to the Wildcats in a 13-4 loss early in the season, but in the return match late in the year, the Pirates lost just 3-0. Keystone also had beaten Poland 4-3 during the regular season.

PERFECTION, AND NEAR-PERFECTION:The two teams in the championship games from the Mahoning Valley, Poland Seminary and Warren Champion, were pretty similar. Both won state titles, Champion’s coming in Division III, and while the Bulldogs finished with a perfect mark at 27-0, Poland nearly did it as well. The Bulldogs lost just two games all year, by one run, 4-3, to Keystone during the regular season and by two runs, 7-5, to Columbus St. Francis DeSales, which eventually lost 5-3 to Keystone in the state semifinals.