As we approach the final month of the Indiana high school softball regular season, let’s check out seven Central Indiana teams who’ve arguably exceeded expectations.
For our purposes, we’re excluding teams who were in last week’s Fab 15.
Carmel (9-7)
As noted in my Monday Insider, the Hounds’ four-game win streak entering last Saturday was their longest in five years. That’s another big step for a program that’s a win away from reaching 10 wins for the first time since 2021. Beating Tri-West on Thursday feels particularly important with Center Grove and Cathedral lined up next week.
Michigan commit Jayden Kleiner has maintained her standard of excellence thus far, and she’s paired wonderfully with sophomore Riley Petrites, who’s batting .521 with four doubles, a homer and 14 RBIs. Ellie Goddard (.488, 7 doubles, 23 RBIs) and Winni Owens (.395, 2 homers) have been steady at the plate, and I’ve been impressed the times I’ve seen freshman Chloe Junkersfield, who has a .362 average, five doubles and two homers through 14 games.
Another really encouraging performer from this group: pitcher Chelsea Bennett. She’s 5-3 with a 3.91 ERA and 25 strikeouts, and has a game log highlighted by a three-hit shutout of 3A powerhouse New Palestine on April 17.
Danville (9-3)
The Warriors’ game log is highlighted by a 5-3 win over defending Class 3A state champion Cathedral on April 13, but they also shutout 4A Plainfield last week. The pitching effort that night was spearheaded by Autumn Muncy, who did not allow a run on six hits with four strikeouts (the defense had just one error on 25 attempts).
The top five batters all boast averages of at least .350, led by junior Maddie Newman, who’s batting a robust .548 with six doubles, a dinger and 16 RBIs. Senior Allie Gunter has been a steady source of power (.444, 6 homers, 21 RBIs, 15 runs), as has sophomore Piper Whitson, whose .378 average includes three dingers and four doubles. Freshman Milli Shipley has been very good in year one, batting .447 with four homers and 14 RBIs. A couple other names to know at the plate: Junior Molly Anderson (.357, 15 runs) and senior Cassie Thompson (.227 17 runs).
Danville has maintained a .954 average with 13 errors on 281 chances, a critical statistic behind the Muncy-led pitching staff that averages fewer than seven strikeouts per game.
This week will provide some good tests for this group with two vs. McCutcheon, followed by Monrovia, Hamilton Heights and North Putnam.
Greenwood (11-2)
The Woodmen have not lost since dropping two of their first three — and they were competitive against both Indian Creek and Whiteland — a run initiated with an 8-5 triumph over Whiteland on April 8. They’ve since strung together victories over Lebanon, Pike, Lawrence Central (2), Martinsville (2), Shelbyville and Decatur Central (2), generating at least 10 runs in eight of those nine outings.
Senior Kinsley Clark leads the team with a .444 average that includes four doubles, two triples, four homers, 15 runs and 20 RBIs, but the underclassmen surrounding her have been exceptional. Ava Skinner and Sydni DeCastro are batting .413 and .373, respectively, with Skinner totaling 10 extra-base hits (five doubles, five home runs) and 23 RBIs, and DeCastro scoring 20 runs and logging five steals. The corps of sophomores is headlined by Jordyn Hudson (.375, 19 runs, six steals) and Tessa Hammons (.318, 7 doubles, 2 homers, 22 RBIs).
Greenwood has impressively committed only three errors on 62 chances in the field, and Sara Weasner has accounted for 50% of the team’s innings pitched, logging a 3.47 ERA and 33 strikeouts.
The Woodmen have a big test Thursday vs. Cascade, then the schedule should pick up over the second half of May with the Johnson County tournament, Tri-West, Triton Central and home-and-homes vs. Franklin and Plainfield.
Hamilton Heights (9-1)
The Huskies have a prove-it stretch upcoming with Danville, Westfield, Fishers and two against Logansport lined up to start the month of May. But for now, that’s a really nice win they picked up on April 14 over Michigan commit Lucy George and the Western Panthers, and the (primarily) two-girl pitching staff with Heather Crays and Lily Cash has been tremendous. They’ve combined for 50 strikeouts, with Cash maintaining a 0.61 ERA. Crays’ ERA is higher, but she held Western to one run on three hits over seven innings of work and leads the team with nine steals.
The lineup has feasted on the schedule thus far, batting .416 and averaging over 12 runs per game with eight batters who have at least 11 hits and 10 runs scored. Kamryn Rhoton has been terrific, as expected (.448, 4 doubles, 4 homers, 14 runs, 12 RBIs), as has Crays, whose .536 average leads the team. Cash (.433, 5 doubles), Hannah Dent (.448), Olivia Turner (.414), Taya Trosper (.423), Melanee Forrester (.423) and McKenzie Jackson (.452) have all been dependable bats, as well.
Plainfield (7-5)
The Quakers have shaken off a 1-4 start with wins in six of their past seven, a run highlighted by a sweep of conference foe Whiteland and an eight-run win over Tri-West.
They don’t hit for a ton of power (only seven home runs), but are menaces on the basepaths, having stolen 53 bases through 12 games, including nine last Saturday vs. McCutcheon, and have logged 19 doubles and six triples.
Kenzi Arnett (.489, 15 RBIs, 17 runs), Maci Hanlin (.487) and Kylie Fish (.395), lead the veteran lineup, which has also picked up steady contributions from Ayva Mayes (.349, 11 RBIs), Krista Haberkorn (.357, 12 RBIs), Cali Clemments (.350) and Bennett Sauri (.350). Belle Steele and Ava Broyles have combined for 23 RBIs and five doubles.
Plainfield has tests scattered throughout May with games against Brownsburg, Cascade, Roncalli and Noblesville ahead of a season-ending home-and-home vs. Greenwood.
Southport (9-4)
The Cardinals held their own in losses to Whiteland (7-6), Columbus North (10-9, 8 inn.) and Franklin (3-0), and have won six of their past eight entering Wednesday’s game at North Central (Monday at Greenwood was rained out, unfortunately).
Ady Stansbury is an innings-eater, accounting for 67.2 of Southport’s 83.2 innings thus far. She is 7-3 with a 3.72 ERA, 69 strikeouts, a .216 opponent batting average and only 29 walks allowed. Not bad. She’s a key hitter, as well, batting .425 with 17 hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs.
Hayli Phoenix has been really good at the plate, batting .452 with seven doubles, three homers and 24 RBIs. The same can be said for Rachael Pfeiffer, whose .500 average is tops on the team (20 runs scored). Malia Breedlove (.419, 5 doubles, 4 triples, a homer, 17 RBIs), Lindsey Vaught (.364) and Kayden Hernandez (.405) have all been steady bats, as well. Southport received a big boost at the beginning of April with the return of sophomore Natalie Vaeth. She hit .419 as a freshman and is at .500 (2 doubles, 3 triples) and 14 RBIs through her first nine games (26 at-bats).
Westfield (8-5-1)
The Rocks’ strength of schedule adds further shine to their winning record entering Tuesday’s conference clash with Noblesville. They’ve beaten Center Grove and Roncalli, hung with Penn, Brownsburg and New Palestine, rallied to tie Cathedral and blown out Fishers. That’s a really strong résumé and their performance thus far adds further intrigue to the always-difficult Sectional 8 tourney.
Olivia Sampia has been really good in her sophomore season, compiling a 2.28 ERA with 32 strikeouts and only eight walks. She is second in innings pitched, just behind Mackenzie Delph, who has fanned 25 and maintained a sub-4.00 ERA.
Sampia has been critical to the veteran lineup, as well. She walked off Saturday’s win over Roncalli and holds a .357 average with two homers and 11 RBIs. It’s the seniors who headline the Westfield lineup, though, with both MaKayla Watson (.518, 29 hits, 17 RBIs, 2 triples, 1 homer) and Sofia Easterhaus (.404) in the midst of career years. There’s depth beyond those players with freshmen Carlynne Schrock (team-leading 4 homers) and Bella Blakeley (.312, 2 homers), sophomore Cam Pulice (11 RBIs), junior Sydney Jordan (.517) and senior Reese Mahannah (.375).
I’m very excited to see how Westfield matches up against 3A No. 1 Yorktown (12-0) on Thursday.
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Surprise, surprise. Seven Central Indiana softball teams exceeding expectations
Reporting by Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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