IHSAA softball Fab 15: Mooresville moves up, Greenfield-Central moves in

We're nearing the end of the high school softball regular season (sectionals start May 22). Here's how the area's top teams stack up.

1. Roncalli (17-2-1)

Previous ranking: 1

The Royals used a six-run fourth inning to blow open what was a fairly close game against rival New Palestine on Wednesday, then coasted through the first three rounds of the Marion County tournament by a combined score of 32-1. County championship on Monday, then notable games later in the week against Shelbyville (Tuesday), Noblesville (Wednesday) and 20-5 Floyd Central (Saturday).

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2. Pendleton Heights (15-3)

PR: 3

Fun fact: The Arabians average nearly 10 runs per game, and registered double-digit run totals in five straight. They've won 11 in a row, the defense is rock solid and the pitching staff has a pair of dependable arms in senior Eliza Findlay and junior Shelby Messer. Pendleton Heights has a pair of tricky tests this week with Greenfield-Central on Tuesday and New Palestine on Thursday.

3. New Palestine (14-4)

PR: 2

The Dragons surrendered five home runs and let a late lead slip away in a 9-7 loss to Greenfield-Central on Thursday. Reese Rosenbaum and Allie Blum both had two hits, with a double and an RBI apiece. New Pal bounced back with wins over Franklin and a doubleheader sweep of Jennings County. Courtney Study did not allow a run in three innings against Franklin, then allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts and zero walks over seven innings in game one vs. the Panthers.

4. Center Grove (17-5)

PR: 4

The Trojans picked up a quality win over Westfield, collecting 10 hits and scoring six in the bottom of the fifth to end Thursday's festivities early. Freshman Riley Fuhr pitched five shutout innings, allowing just three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Noblesville scored on a passed ball to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the sixth, then Center Grove had runners caught stealing in both of the next two innings en route to its third loss in five games.

5. Tri-West (15-4)

PR: 5

The Bruins played conference foe Frankfort twice last week. They cleared 20 runs in both games and swept the series by a combined total of 42-1. Emma Frye, McKenzie Walters and Michelle Wildman all had three RBIs in game one; Audrey Lowry drove in four, and Walters and Kendall Williams both had three in game two. Big week ahead with No. 11 Danville for two, then Linton-Stockton and Corydon Central on Saturday.

6. Avon (18-6)

PR: 6

Madeline Herman and Madi Pappas staked the Orioles to an early 2-0 lead against Fishers, but the Tigers rallied with a run in the third, another in the sixth and two in the seventh to drop their conference foe. Avon bounced back with a 10-run win over McCutcheon, then scored runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth to pull away for a 7-0 win over Clay City. The Orioles have three games left: Zionsville and Plainfield this week, then Westfield next Tuesday.

7. Mooresville (18-2-1)

PR: 8

Seventeen straight wins — 17 — for Mooresville, which outlasted Shelbyville, 2-1, Saturday to finish the week 5-0. Zoey Kugelman was great in the circle, allowing just one run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts vs. the Golden Bears. She also secured the game's final outs with a nifty double play. For the week, Alex Cooper batted .692 with 13 RBIs and two homers and Madison Poulson batted .555 with nine runs scored, five RBIs and four stolen bases. This week may prove tougher than it appears with four games in five days: two against Plainfield, then vs. Center Grove and at Westfield.

8. Hamilton Southeastern (13-5)

PR: 7

Payton Fox homered twice and drove in five runs in a 13-0 rout of Noblesville (Reese Garland and Alex Kiemeyer also homered). Grace Swedarsky spun a two-hit, seven-inning shutout with 10 strikeouts against Noblesville, then pitched into the eighth inning of a scoreless game against Brownsburg, before surrendering the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth. Couple games of note for HSE: Westfield on Tuesday; South Bend Saint Joseph on Saturday in Fort Wayne.

9. Cascade (14-2)

PR: 11

Six straight wins for the Cadets, most recently over Lutheran (5-1) and Danville (14-1). The win over the Class A No. 8 Saints included three hits and an RBI by sophomore Ava Allen and three RBIs from freshman Macie Pugh, plus 16 strikeouts by Megan Walker; the five-inning win over Danville saw Grace Gray drive in six runs on two hits (one homer) and strike out 11 with only one earned run allowed. Cascade will try to take out a 4A team Monday at Plainfield.

10. Eastern Hancock (13-4)

PR: 9

The Royals added a game vs. Class 4A Pendleton Heights (lost by 10), then went extra innings at Frankton before Makena Alexander capped a big afternoon with a walk-off blast to lead off the eighth. That was the first 2A loss of the year for Eastern Hancock, which buffered its two Ls with wins over Union County and Lapel. Freshman Addisyn Trackwell went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in a six-inning win over Lapel; Emma Bolding homered thrice in a 10-8 win over Union County.

11. Shelbyville (13-5)

PR: 10

A narrow win over Mt. Vernon to start the week, a narrow loss to Mooresville to end it. Addison Stieneker was a single shy of hitting for the cycle vs. the Marauders, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored. Kylee Edwards homered vs. Mooresville, and the Golden Bears had the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh.

12. Fishers (12-4)

PR: 12

Back-to-back RBI singles by Hailey Trueblood and Brooke Johnson in the top of the seventh broke a 2-2 tie, then Kate Murray worked around a two-out triple to secure the win over Avon on Tuesday. The Tigers rallied with four runs in the fourth to beat Bishop Chatard, then secured significantly less stressful wins over Lebanon, Elwood and Greenfield-Central. Monday's trip to Carmel is followed by a tough three-game stretch: Franklin Central, New Pal and Brownsburg (next Tuesday).

13. Brownsburg (10-7)

PR: NR

Three games, three narrow wins for the Bulldogs. They scored three in the top of the seventh to beat Cathedral, 8-6 (Hailey Thompson and AG Pogue both had three RBIs); Kenzie Cress stole two bases then scored on a walk-off single by Macy Twomey in the seventh vs. Plainfield; then Izzy Neal scored from second on a base hit by Lexi Gordon in the bottom of the eighth vs. HSE. Brownsburg has now won five straight.

14. Greenfield-Central (12-5)

PR: NR

The Cougars had won four straight prior to the Fishers game, and launched five home runs in Thursday's win over New Palestine: two apiece by Camille Burelison and Savvanna Riall, and the other by Olivia Roberts. Fun fact: GC was 0-8 vs. New Pal, according to MaxPreps. Burelison and Josie White are both batting well above .500 (Burelison has 33 RBIs and nine homers), and Roberts (also with nine homers) and Kristen Wineinger are both batting above .430. Two games of note this week: vs. Pendleton Heights on Tuesday; vs. Frankton on Saturday.

15. Lawrence North (12-6)

PR: 13

After committing just two errors in their past four games, the Wildcats were charged with three, resulting in four unearned runs in an 11-1 loss to Franklin Central. They were limited to just one run on four hits and struck out five times in that game. Fun with numbers: LN has scored no fewer than seven runs in any of its 12 wins, and has scored 10-plus in eight of them. It has not scored more than four runs in any of its losses, and been limited to two runs or fewer in three of them. Does that mean anything? Beats me. But I thought it was interesting.

For your consideration…

Noblesville (10-8-1): The Millers were No. 16 this week after bouncing back from the run-rule loss to HSE with triumphs over Kokomo and Center Grove. They have not won more than two in-a-row this season, and have games upcoming against Yorktown, Brownsburg and Roncalli.

Franklin Central (12-9): The Flashes are above .500 and have won five straight entering Monday's county final. Kasey Hickle and Kalee Roberts drove in the winning runs vs. Beech Grove, then a six-run second inning sparked a win over LN. Mallory Stinson pitched six innings vs. the Wildcats, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school softball rankings: Greenfield-Central makes debut