COLUMBUS – If Hailey Lang wasn’t born to be a hitter, she would have stopped doing it by now.
Judging by her numbers this spring as the starting catcher at Ohio State, there might be no end in sight.
“I’ve worked forever for this,” said Lang, a 2023 Ashland High School graduate. “Ever since I got on a high-level travel team, I kind of realized that I could play at a big school if I kept working hard.”
Now a junior for the Buckeyes, Lang spent her time as an Arrow terrorizing opponents in the Ohio Cardinal Conference for three seasons.
The 5-foot-9 slugger was a two-time OCC Player of the Year, setting Ashland career records for hits (131), batting average (.560) and slugging percentage (1.056) – all while missing her entire freshman season in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
At Ohio State, Lang’s wizardry in the batter’s box has bloomed yet again this spring.
After getting five starts as a catcher a year ago for the nation’s top scoring offense (495 runs) – gathering a pair of home runs and seven RBIs in just 20 at-bats – she’s seized more offensive momentum in 2026.
Part of a powerhouse Buckeye lineup that had 100 home runs through 42 games as of Wednesday, Lang ranks fifth on the squad in extra-base hits (8 doubles, 7 home runs, 1 triple) while batting .313 with an on-base percentage of .426.
Doing all that while performing as the team’s field general from the catching position has been something she’s been able to take in stride.
“It definitely made me nervous (at the start of this season),” Lang said of being the starter behind the plate. “But at the end of last year I did get the opportunity to play, so I kind of got those jitters out and hit the ground running this year.”
“It’s cool to see her come into her own and be able to step up,” second-year Ohio State head coach Kirin Kumar said. “Even when she wasn’t playing last year, she did a great job of handling everything that needed to be done in the dugout. It has translated onto the field.”
Former Ashland coach Mindy Baker isn’t surprised to see Lang thriving at the next level.
Baker led the AHS program from 2018 through Lang’s senior year in 2023, and also was a member of Ashland’s 1997 state runner-up team.
She’s seen the kind of talent it takes to be among the best Arrows of all-time.
“Hailey was one of a few very exceptional athletes to play for Ashland (since the 1997 team),” Baker said. “She was driven and focused, even with all the distractions of her times.
“Teams we faced definitely didn’t try to pitch her anything that she could hit and she walked often. However, Hailey still had the ability to (hit home runs) even when they weren’t the best pitches to hit.”
Lang’s senior year in 2023 was one for the ages – not only for Ashland, but for any player in the OCC.
She collected single-season school records in home runs (13), RBIs (42), batting average (.595) and slugging (1.324).
More than half of her hits went for extra bases (26), and Lang didn’t strike out out once in her 89 plate appearances.
“Honestly, I don’t get too worked up about the stats and things like that,” she said. “I just remember all the good memories I had with my teammates, and just having the opportunity to play for my hometown was the best thing about it.
“My parents (J.J. and Lisa Lang) always allowed me to be on the highest level of (travel) teams, so I think that definitely played a huge role in it and got me to where I am today.”
Also a former Arrow, J.J. Lang was the Ashland Times-Gazette Player of the Year and the AHS team MVP in 1993.
During Hailey’s time at Ashland, the Arrows carried a 52-20 record, winning the OCC crown with a perfect 12-0 league mark her junior season.
It was their only league title since 2014 and much of the success in 2022 was guided by the battery of Lang and record-setting pitcher Brandilyn Reymer (currently starring in the circle at NCAA Division II Eckerd College).
One year earlier, the Arrows were 20-6 – their most wins in a season since the 1997 state runner-up team went 22-5.
Lang, just a sophomore that year, batted .568 with 46 hits, 33 RBIs and 24 runs scored.
Had she been able to play as a freshman, Baker felt Lang could have finished with some of the best career numbers in Ohio high school softball history.
“One thing that definitely made Hailey unique was her pure love for this sport and her eagerness to share her love with others,” Baker said. “She was one of the best at helping our younger girl athletes at clinics, even as a freshman.
“I think what made her unique from the players of my time,” the coach added, “was her ability to play for such an elite travel team that gave her such a great softball experience with the best softball players from all over the country.”
Lang, also a two-time Source Media Player of the Year across three counties, competed all over the country while developing her talents with the Bandits, a squad based out of Illinois but featuring mostly Ohio players.
She received interest from Ohio University, adding that she wanted to play somewhat close to home so her family would have the chance to see her compete.
But when Ohio State came calling before her junior season in high school had even arrived, she jumped at the chance to commit.
“Obviously, Ohio State kind of outweighs everything,” she said with a laugh.
And while it’s one thing to make a roster for an athletic program at the Big Ten powerhouse in Columbus, it’s quite another to make the lineup – particularly one filled out by Kumar.
Before her first season leading the Buckeyes last spring, she spent four years turning Miami University into a Mid-American Conference juggernaut.
Kumar was a two-time MAC Coach of the Year, leading the Redhawks to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Her time there was capped by a school-record 49 wins in 2024 that landed Miami in the national rankings for the first time in program history.
Other than the new locale, not much changed for the coach in her first year at Ohio State in 2025, when she headed Softball America’s National Coaching Staff of the Year.
The Buckeyes’ 45-14-1 record (16-6 in the Big Ten) gave them their most wins in a season since 2009.
They set school and Big Ten records for single-season home runs (147) and established additional new OSU standards in doubles (102), runs per game (8.25) and slugging (.701), becoming the first team in NCAA history to have four players with at least 20 homers in the same season.
That’s just some of what has led to Kumar becoming known as a power-hitting guru.
“We tweak a lot of stuff, regardless if they were hitters or not before they got here,” said the coach, who made the NCAA Tournament in all four of her seasons as a player at Georgia Tech, competing in 251 games. “We have them own their own swing, so we really take the time to teach them what their swing is like so they can make their adjustments in the box without needing a coach there.
“We want to lead the country in doubles, so whatever happens beyond that is what happens. We don’t really talk about (a focus on home runs).”
It’s a power approach that fits Lang’s strengths. The junior has shown a knack for piling up extra-base hits throughout her career and is one of of just two Buckeyes this spring with at least seven homers and seven doubles so far.
She said the team was excited to learn from Kumar when she took over the program.
“We knew if we put our heads down and just started grinding that we could go places and it paid off at the end of the year last year,” said Lang, who was Ohio State’s starting catcher against Purdue in last season’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
“There was a little pressure (entering this season), just from all the preseason social media-type stuff,” she added, “but we just tried to stay on our own path and tried to trust the process.”
Lang is one of just four players for the Buckeyes who came from an Ohio high school. The other three – Dover’s Jenna Molk, Norwayne’s Kennedy Kay and Triway’s Carter Wachtel – are all pitchers, leaving Lang as the lone hitter among the group.
Molk graduated early from Dover to compete this spring for Ohio State and has become the team’s ace as a freshman (15-12, 3.23 ERA). She led the Tornadoes to a Division III state title last spring as a junior.
Interestingly, her parents – Mark and Rachael Molk – both were athletes at Ashland University.
“Jenna and I talk about (being players from Ohio) because she has been our main pitcher this year,” Lang said, “so it’s awesome to see two people from Ohio at their dream school.”
Lang did get a scare last weekend when a ball hit her mitt awkwardly in a game against Michigan, causing one of her fingers to go numb.
An MRI this week came back showing no tear in her tendon, so Lang said she should be able to hit and get back behind the plate soon.
Including a three-game home series against Penn State that started Friday, Ohio State (22-21, 9-7 Big Ten) has 10 regular-season games left before the Big Ten Tournament begins May 6 in Maryland.
Six of those come against two of the best teams in the conference in Washington (34-9, 15-0 through Thursday) and Oregon (32-9, 13-2).
Kumar said having Lang as a leader for the Buckeyes down the home stretch will be an important piece of the puzzle if OSU is to finish strong again.
“She’s somebody that can hold people accountable and does the right things on and off the field,” the coach said, “so those are the kind of people you want helping lead.”
“Just seeing that hard work pay off is such a blessing,” Lang said. “Continuing that and getting the opportunity at the place that I love and I want to be at is definitely a dream come true.”
