IHSAA Softball Fab 15: Cathedral, Westfield make moves as season gets into full swing

The high school softball season is officially underway and as the calendar turns to April (and we get this party started properly), I thought it a good time to revisit our Central Indiana power rankings.

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1. Roncalli (0-0)

Previous ranking: 1

The Royals have games Tuesday (at Columbus North) and Wednesday (at Bishop Chatard), followed by a weekend tournament.

2. Cathedral (5-0)

PR: 4

The Irish are off to a rip-roaring start with blowout wins over Lafayette Central Catholic, Chatard and Portage bookended by narrower wins over Terre Haute South (3-2) and Silver Creek (4-1). Anna Moore and Mary Hughes both have nine hits (four triples for Moore); Angie Valentine and Maddie Liter lead the team with 10 and nine RBIs, respectively.

3. Center Grove

PR: 3 

That Trojans lineup is scary when everyone’s dialed in and there’s something to be said for the resiliency this group developed when ace pitcher Riley Henson went down with injury last season (as demonstrated during last week’s come-from-behind win over Pendleton Heights). Speaking of Henson, she looked really sharp in her first multi-inning appearance of the season, logging five strikeouts and allowing just one hit across two shutout innings. She picked up the win. A potential rematch looms this weekend at the Horseshoe Classic.

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4. Fishers (2-1)

PR: 2

The Tigers opened the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Tri-West on March 19. They’ve since rolled by Warren Central and dropped a 6-3 decision to Center Grove (trailed by a run entering the bottom of the fifth). Kate Murray has 17 Ks through 13 innings pitched, Hailey Trueblood and Brooke Clayton have both swiped four bases, and Trueblood and Brooke Johnson are both .400 or better. The question: Who will be the first to homer for Fishers this season?

5. Mooresville (2-0)

PR: 6

A four-run fifth and three dingers on the night lifted the Pios to a season-opening win over Center Grove on March 19, and they followed that win with a 10-1 rout of Terre Haute South. They return to action Tuesday for the first of two against Martinsville, then travel to the Castle Invite for games against Tecumseh, Penn and Fishers. 

6. Westfield (5-0)

PR: 10

Couldn’t ask for a much better start to the year for the Shamrocks: Rallied to beat a tough Kokomo team, fended off Carmel and North Central, then stormed back to beat Pendleton Heights and a sneaky tough Franklin Central outfit on back-to-back nights. The sectional champs’ schedule has exactly zero chill with Brownsburg, Greenfield-Central, New Palestine, Cathedral and Fishers lined up before a tournament on April 19-20.

7. Pendleton Heights (0-2)

PR: 5

Tough couple losses to start the year for the Arabians, who lost by four at Westfield (hence the Rocks’ big jump), then in walk-off fashion at Center Grove. They should be able to “get right” record-wise ahead of this weekend’s Horseshoe Classic with games against Shenandoah and Delta. This team’s got a really potent lineup with Skylar Baldwin and Katelin Goodwin in the middle, plus a variety of bats surrounding them. They also made some excellent defensive plays against Center Grove.

8. Hamilton Southeastern (3-0)

PR: 8

Carmel, North Central and Greenfield-Central, oh my! (Sorry.) Addy Justice is 7-for-11, Jenna Chase is 6-for-9 with six RBIs, Reese Garland, Lani Wyrick and Alex Kiemeyer have all homered — that’s a brilliant senior core for the lineup and sophomore ace Grace Swedarsky has already racked up 21 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Competition begins ramping up this weekend in Terre Haute with games against Beech Grove and Edgewood, among others.

9. Lawrence North (1-0)

PR: 7

LN’s only played one game so far, hence a few teams moving ahead. The Wildcats shook off a relatively quiet start to win their lone game thus far, hanging 11 runs in the fourth en route to a 14-1 win over Richmond. Anna Mauck had two hits, scored three times and drove in two runs; Sydney Moss drove in five runs and struck out six batters across three scoreless innings; Ginger Strelow swiped three bases.

10. Tri-West (0-1)

PR: 9

The Bruins have not played since a 1-0 loss to Fishers. But they’re in action this weekend at Castle with games scheduled against Floyd Central, Davis County, Gibson Southern and a TBD foe.

11. New Palestine (0-0)

PR: 11

The season opener was postponed, so the Dragons will get their season underway Thursday at Avon.

12. Avon (4-1)

PR: 12

A blowout loss preceded four blowout wins for the Orioles, who enter April coming off a 13-0 win over Bedford North Lawrence. Hannah Sutton drove in four runs and was one of five players with two hits (Regan Cooper, Olivia Yary, Lylah DeArmond and Karly Anderson). Madeline Herman tossed a two-hit shutout with five Ks and two walks.

13. Brownsburg (1-0)

PR: 13

The Bulldogs have not played since a 14-7 win over Eastern Hancock, and will have another tune-up Tuesday vs. Western Boone before heading to Castle for games against Castle and Evansville North, among others.

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14. Zionsville (4-0)

PR: NR

The Eagles made major waves Wednesday, beating Center Grove to improve to 4-0 for the first time in over a decade. Sophomore Leah Helton has been excellent in the circle — she stranded the tying run on third in the sixth, then struck out the side in the seventh against CG — while the lineup has displayed an impressive level of balance. Zionsville is off until April 9.

t-15. Eastern Hancock (0-1)

PR: 15

A seven-run second inning doomed the Royals in their opener against Brownsburg on March 19. They have not played since and will not play again until April 9 (at Monroe Central).

t-15. Cascade (0-0)

PR: 15

By the time you read this, Cascade will have opened its season at North Putnam (game is Monday, this was written on Sunday). The Cadets will participate in the Lady Braves Bash this weekend.

t-15. Lapel (4-2)

PR: NR

The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Hamilton Heights, then held on to topple 4A foe Greenfield-Central. Those are a couple of really nice wins, with the setbacks coming to Zionsville (14-5) and Frankton (8-7). Lylah Gore is off to a rip-roaring start at the plate: 13-for-22, three doubles, three homers, 13 RBIs and five runs scored; Krystin Davis has stolen six bases; and Karlie Jennings (14), Addison Bodenhorn (10) and Ava Zdanowski (9) have combined for 33 strikeouts.

Others receiving votes: Shelbyville (2-0), Hamilton Heights (1-1), Beech Grove (3-0)

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Updated IHSAA softball power rankings for Central Indiana teams