Healthy, confident & hungry: Center Grove claims sectional title. 'They're going to go far'

GREENWOOD — Center Grove has been building this for years, a softball juggernaut with a deep stable of capable hitters, two bonafide aces and a talented defense to back it all up.

There have been glimpses of this team's potential over the past three seasons, but this week we saw the Trojans at their full capacity. They have all the pieces, they're healthy and they're confident, coach Alyssa Coleman said, and leading the way are the seniors: Kynadee Warner, Riley Henson, Hannah Haberstroh and Riley Janda.

"They're running the ship," Coleman said, "and you know when that's happening it's a powerful group."

Sectionals: Statewide scores, schedule, updated pairings

More: Avon team bus breaks down on way to softball sectional. 'I was freaking out a little bit.'

Center Grove nipped Bloomington South in Tuesday's Class 4A Sectional 13 semifinal, then took out two seasons worth of frustrations on rival Mooresville in the championship game Thursday, racking up 10 runs on 13 hits on its way to a 10-3 victory.

It's the Trojans' first sectional championship since 2021 and comes after suffering first-round losses to Mooresville in back-to-back seasons.

"We wanted it. We were hungry. We wanted to beat Mooresville," Haberstroh said.

"We couldn't lose to them again," Janda added.

The plan was to attack early, the Louisville commit continued, and she opened the scoring with two outs in the bottom of the first with a solo home run. The next batter, junior Sydney Herrmann, followed suit, sending one over the wall in left.

"We've been talking about this since the fall," she continued. "We refuse to lose."

It's evident from talking with those on the Center Grove side and in watching them play that this group has that championship mentality, a particular edge that elevates teams of their caliber come state tournament time. It's been sharpened over the course of the season, according to Coleman, who said the coaches have reminded their players throughout the season that achieving their lofty goals comes down to their desire and willingness to do what it takes in any given moment.

When the Trojans lost to fellow powerhouses Roncalli and New Palestine over a three-day stretch in mid-April, then navigated a series of closer-than-expected losses, the players used them as learning experiences.

"Those hiccups prepared us, made us hungrier to go out and show people what we actually have," Janda said. "Those games didn't define us."

They fixed some things and moved on, Haberstroh added. "We had to back up our defense with our offense. We knew they were going to score runs on us, but we had to back up our pitchers and push with the offense no matter what."

Run support wasn't an issue Thursday.

Haberstroh initiated a two-out, three-run rally in the second with a two-out infield single (Meyer and Janda drove in the other two runs), then after Mooresville scratched across a run in the fourth, CG retaliated with four runs over the next two innings.

Eight different Trojans had hits, led by Haberstroh and Janda with three apiece, and Madisyn Tharpe with two.

The run support has certainly been encouraging to see and with CG's top two pitchers fully healthy and available, it'll be difficult for opposing teams to generate runs themselves.

Henson, who spent this season easing her way back from a "more in-depth" form of Tommy John surgery, enjoyed her two longest appearances of the season this week. She was basically lights out vs. Mooresville, allowing only three runs on five hits with zero walks and eight strikeouts over six innings (season-high 81 pitches).

"She's amazing," Haberstroh said of Henson. "Her progression throughout the year, just seeing that pitch count rise and watching her become more confident, it's amazing. It's definitely one of our biggest assets."

More: After months of uncertainty, Riley Henson is back and 'a game changer' for Center Grove.

The senior Indiana State commit exited in the seventh, giving way to freshman Taylor Barrett, who casually struck out the side on 14 pitches in her 11th appearance of the season.

"She's phenomenal," Coleman said of Barrett. "She's got it. She's got every piece of it. She has the talent, the mentality and she's in a great place to succeed."

"Their confidence changed as they got their pitchers back — and ours would, too," added Mooresville coach Traci Ball. "Their hitters are amazing. And it's hard to compete against that sometimes. We gave it our best and they never played down. That's all I could ask for. … (Center Grove) was not going to be denied tonight. They're going to go far in the tournament and they deserve it."

Center Grove travels to East Central next Tuesday.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Center Grove softball beats Mooresville in sectional final