EVANSVILLE — Covered my first Castle Invite this weekend.
Two days, 24 teams and a lot of really, really good games.
It was awesome.
We have a lot to get to, so we’re jumping right in with…
Opening thoughts
∎ That was a really professionally run event. I love the approach to scheduling, which rewards teams for winning, but also takes care of the second- and third-place finishers. The facility is state-of-the-art, too, perfectly suited for hosting the high-volume of fans and teams.
∎ Continuing with host Castle: Massive congratulations to coach Pat Lockyear on reaching 700 career wins. He is 702-267-2 overall and trails only Russ Milligan (Center Grove) on the state’s all-time list (741).
∎ The pitching prowess was probably what I was most excited for entering the weekend and it probably overdelivered. Those elite-level pitchers — Grace Swedarsky (Hamilton Southeastern), Audrey Seiler (Tecumseh), Brooklynn Hagerty (Logansport) and Paige Liezert (Crown Point) — take their game to another level when matched against another of the state’s top arms, and they all did so Friday and Saturday.
I wrote about Swedarsky vs. Seiler here, but how about Hagerty no-hitting Tecumseh on Saturday? Or Liezert settling in and finding her rhythm against Hamilton Southeastern less than 12 hours after a come-from-behind win over Floyd Central?
Then on the other side of the complex, you had Fishers showing off its arsenal of arms — but I’m saving that for further down the story.
∎ Spoiler: Crown Point will remain No. 1 in my forthcoming statewide rankings and the Bulldogs were the team I was most impressed with this weekend. There’s so much to like about that lineup and I firmly believe Liezert is ready to take off — they just need the dang weather to cooperate so they can actually play some games.
∎ Another team I was super impressed by? Tecumseh. Seiler is a big reason for that, obviously (she’ll be viewed as the state’s best pitcher before it’s all said and done), but don’t sleep on that lineup, which figures to be among the deepest in 2A. Credit to coach Gordon Wood for challenging his players and enlisting them in events like the Castle Invite. It’s invaluable experience for the (likely) soon-to-be 3A program.
∎ Don’t sleep on Carmel this season. The Hounds’ defense remains a work in progress (five errors proved costly vs. Penn), but they have some quality bats in that lineup beyond the Michigan-bound Jayden Kleiner (Chloe Junkersfield was really impressive in the innings I watched) and the pitching staff has limited seven of the first nine opponents to six runs or fewer.
The Hounds scored four runs on eight hits against Swedarsky earlier this season.
Fishers’ freshmen pitchers have Tigers off and running
The big question, at least for me, was how Fishers was going to replace Butler freshman Kate Murray in the circle. The answer has been with a four-player pitching staff anchored by senior Francesca Jackson — she threw a five-inning no-hitter Saturday vs. North Posey — and propelled by a trio of freshmen: Isabella Balbo, Joni Oliver and Caroline Smock.
“I think they’ve worked through their nerves pretty well,” coach Daren James said. “Their first couple starts you could tell they were nervous and worried about letting people down, but I think they’ve realized they belong where they are and are starting to loosen up, so that makes the ball move a little more and helps them relax even more. They’ve done a good job.”
Smock pitched 8.1 innings this weekend (Eastern Hancock and Boonville), allowing just two earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts; Balbo logged 5.2 innings against those same teams and did not allow a run on six hits with five strikeouts; and Oliver pitched a couple innings against Castle in relief of Jackson.
“We’ve been working really hard since November and it’s definitely shown a lot,” catcher Cate Summerfield said. “They’re able to hit their spots, which has really helped us a lot.”
The bats were pretty impressive, too, posting a collective average of .407, led by Summerfield (.750, 12 hits, seven runs), Jackson (.625) and Adrianne Cook (five RBIs).
“By the end of this weekend, we did a better job carrying our bats the entire game and not having just short bursts of good hits,” Jackson said. “And also having positive attitudes through the entire weekend was very beneficial and helpful.”
Fishers improved to 7-1 following this weekend’s 3-1 finish and will open conference play Tuesday against Noblesville. Its record is highlighted by a 5-1 win over Center Grove at the end of March.
“There’s not much more you can ask for at this point of the season,” Summerfield smiled.
Candy, caffeine, Crown Point comebacks
The defending 4A champs’ first-and-only game Friday concluded around 10 p.m. Central. They had to be back less than 12 hours later for a 9 a.m. first pitch vs. Hamilton Southeastern. Unsurprisingly, the players were a bit flat during warm-ups. They looked sleepy, coach Angie Richwalski said, so she and her assistants had to “curate” some energy.
Also unsurprisingly, the players — led primarily by their underclassmen, specifically sophomore Emily Biesen — responded with a very loud, very energetic (and honestly, really entertaining) dugout as the team rallied for an 11-5 win over HSE.
“Our dugout and environment and everything that happens (in there) helps us keep our head straight,” senior pitcher Paige Liezert said. “It keeps us positive instead of looking at the scoreboard and saying shoot, we’re down.”
Following a quiet top of the first at the plate, Liezert, a Miami (Ohio) signee, took it upon herself to generate some momentum in the circle, and did so with a couple strikeouts and a caught stealing by catcher Evi Cuevas.
“We maintained (the energy) when we started hitting,” she said. “Then once we got halfway through the game, we started waking up with energy drinks and candy.”
“Yeah, the candy started kicking in,” laughed teammate Ashlyn Kita, who opened the floodgates to an eight-run seventh inning with a game-tying two-run single.
It was the second consecutive come-from-behind win for the Bulldogs, who stormed back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat Floyd Central by four upon their arrival Friday night.
CP had the tying run on base with no outs Saturday afternoon against Daviess County (Ky.), but were unable to get her across in a 6-5 loss.
“We’re really close and that really helped these first two games,” Kita said. “We just fought and got back to winning.”
“We have people who aren’t as loud, but when they get around Emily and the different people on the team, we all become different people,” Liezert added. “The personalities, the chemistry — no one’s selfish.”
Mother Nature willing, Crown Point (5-1) should start settling into the swing of things with three games this week and a conference showdown with sectional foe Lake Central set for April 20.
Royal analytics paying off at the plate
It’s early, but I’ve been really impressed by the Royals’ improvement at the plate.
They looked more confident at the plate and were making solid contact against a couple really talented pitchers in Seiler and Liezert.
The statistics bear that out, as well: HSE has a team average around .350 through seven games and is averaging nearly nine runs per game. That’s a sharp improvement from last season (.276, 4.9 runs per game).
Isolated to their four games this weekend, they generated 23 runs on 27 hits, including five runs on 10 hits against Leizert, whom they could face again at semistate, and two runs on four hits against Seiler.
Coach Emily Pusti said this group does an excellent job communicating and is bought into the analytics, logging the pitches they faced upon their return to the dugout. That allows players to drill down and identify how opposing pitchers are approaching teammates with similar strengths and weaknesses.
“This group has a very high softball IQ, and that works for them,” Pusti said. “They trust in that and they’re buying in.”
“They’re gaining confidence,” she continued. “And we’re instilling within them that if things don’t go right that first round, that first round’s done. We can’t do anything about it. Second round, come in, we have a little more grit, make some adjustments and this team seems to respond to that pretty well.”
HSE (5-2) has four games this week, highlighted by its conference opener at Zionsville on Tuesday followed by a trip to New Palestine on Thursday.
Floyd Central nearing full-strength
The Highlanders are fortunate to have depth on the infield, which has made it easier to replace Florida State-bound shortstop Addy Ware as she recovers from an ACL tear. Natalie Curtis has moved from third to second, while Elise Coleman has stepped in at short, where she played for a while as a freshman.
Replacing Ware’s bat atop the lineup, where she averaged .471 with 49 hits and 45 runs last season, has been more challenging.
“Yeah, we’re anxious to get that (bat) back,” coach Sean Payne said of Ware, who hopes to return in about three weeks.
Even with Ware on the mend, expectations remain sky-high for Floyd Central following last year’s semistate runner-up finish. Those expectations caused some nerves among a few players, Payne said, but “that’s what we want.”
“You have to fight those nerves now vs. when that potential comes up again, or even in the regional against teams like Castle,” he continued. “We hope to get back to that point and to be used to the expectations, so the moment doesn’t get too big for them. Last year was kind of eye-opening in the aspect that we can compete with these guys. We did it really well last night against Crown Point. But I think they’re doing a good job of settling in and rolling along.”
Floyd Central (9-5) has successfully navigated a daunting first leg of the season, compiling a 9-5 record that includes a tournament in Tennessee and this weekend’s Castle Invite, which matched it against Carmel (won, 4-3), Crown Point (lost, 7-3), Tecumseh (lost, 8-3) and Henderson County, which it beat on a walk-off base hit by Adeline Shultz.
Brownsburg’s trial-and-error approach
Cherise Hiss was not concerned with her team’s record coming out of the Castle Invite.
The Bulldogs had played only two games, so she used this weekend as an opportunity to get a better gauge on what she has, moving players around to different positions, shuffling around her lineup and, perhaps most importantly, forcing the younger players (freshmen pitchers Rylee Amt and Vivian Birkla, specifically) into challenging situations to see how they would respond.
Rather than start ace Etta Schroering against Henderson County (Ky.) in Friday’s opener, senior Mak Hill and Amt logged the first three-plus innings.
Schroering went five innings against Lincoln Way-East (Ill.) in game two, before giving way to Birkla and Hill, who closed out the 4-3 victory, then didn’t pitch at all Saturday morning against 4A powerhouse Penn (Birkla, Hill and Amt all logged innings).
“We put people in some really tough positions this weekend, especially those pitchers. And if we played better defensively (five errors vs. Penn), they honestly would have looked fantastic,” Hiss said. “It’s just learning that we have to play well for every single pitcher who’s in the circle, not just one or two of them.”
Analyzing her team overall, Hiss was pleased with how her team responded to both being challenged and difficult losses. The setbacks against Henderson County and Penn were both followed by wins, Friday over Lincoln Way-East and Saturday against Evansville Reitz.
“I learned a lot about some of the girls — they’re just tough as nails and I can put them in those hard positions,” Hiss said.
“They’re very good at swiping things clean and moving on,” she later added. “I wouldn’t say that (Reitz) was our best win, but they found a way to get it done.”
For what it’s worth, Brownsburg had the tying run at the plate with one out in the third against Penn, but was unable to cash in. It then escaped with a 3-1 win over Reitz, wherein left fielder Megan Ellis stifled a seventh-inning rally with an excellent throw to catch the runner advancing to third, then Schroering navigated a two-out double with a strikeout to seal the win.
The Bulldogs (3-3) begin conference play Tuesday against Westfield, then host Center Grove on Thursday.
‘Dirty birds’ sweep the weekend
Avon performed as expected through its first three games of the Castle Invite, beating Boonville, Bedford North Lawrence and Shelbyville by a combined score of 30-7. BNL scored five in the bottom of the second to tie its game Friday night; the Orioles responded with four runs in the fifth, another in the sixth and another in the seventh for a comfortable 11-6 victory.
Against Castle, the toughest team they faced this weekend, the Orioles out-hit their opponent 19-9 and capped their weekend with a 9-run fifth to clinch a 16-2 victory.
Lilly Heath, Regan Cooper, Chloe Stopperich, Kayla Pickering and Zoey Chavez all generated five-plus hits and Avon finished the weekend with a .405 average that included 51 hits, 11 doubles, a triple, a homer and 46 runs scored.
Pretty good.
“I’m very happy with this weekend,” coach Kiah Ferrell said. “It’s really early in the season and it’s a good opportunity to see what you’re working with and to get people playing time, as well, but what I like most about this group is that every person whose number I call, they step up and make my life a challenge trying to make a lineup. It’s been really fun coaching this group. I’m really looking forward to this season.”
The Orioles also have a fun new postgame tradition, wherein they players are selecting and recognizing their player of the game with a stuffed bird toy.
“We have this bird we got to pick up on the small wins each game and to highlight a player,” Heath explained. “And (the floor) of our bus is pretty dirty, so it got dirty and the yellow bird turned black, so we call it the dirty bird.”
“It’s clean now, though,” Stopperich clarified. “But we still call it our dirty bird.”
Avon (5-2) travels to Franklin Central and Plainfield this week, before hosting Cascade on Saturday.
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: Star hurlers, analytics, caffeine: What our Insider learned from Castle Invite
Reporting by Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
