Zimpleman signs with PFW, joins list of outstanding Caston athletes
Nov. 11—Caston senior Addison Zimpleman signed with Purdue Fort Wayne to play softball Wednesday.
She said she found the perfect fit at PFW for her sports and academics.
"Purdue Fort Wayne felt like home and if I were to take softball out of the equation I could still see myself there," she said. "I love the coaches and I can't wait to meet more of the players. When I was there on my unofficial I just felt like I connected with the players overall.
"In the end softball isn't forever and if a school can benefit me as a person and when I get my degree, that's what I strive for."
Zimpleman joins teammate Isabel Scales as a scholarship athlete in the same class at Caston. Scales recently signed to play basketball at NAIA Bethel University.
"Isabel and I have had similar goals since we were 8 years old," Zimpleman said. "We both knew we wanted to go to college and continue our athletic careers at a young age. We have continued to push each other all the way until high school to achieve those goals."
Zimpleman and Scales' high school teammate, Kinzie Mollenkopf, now plays softball at Huntington University, where another former Comet athlete, Ady Harsh, also played.
It harkens back to some other glory days for Caston athletics. Some of the all-time greats, according to Debb Stevens, included 1982 grad Lisa Showley who went on to run track at Ball State. She placed fifth at the State Finals two years in a row in the 400-meter dash her final two years of high school. At Ball State her 800 time of 2:12.84 in 1986 set a school record and is still fourth all-time in school history. 1996 CHS grad Amanda Wentzel went on to play basketball at Division-II Missouri-St. Louis. 1991 grad Heidi Scales, Isabel's aunt, played at Vincennes and later had an offer to play at Ball State.
On the boys side there's been several standouts as well. Jason Herd noted that Matt Bingle, class of 1990, walked on to the Ball State track team and was a MAC champion in hurdles. He is now the director of men's and women's track and field at the University of Minnesota. He's been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year numerous times. Seth Zartman holds most of Bethel College baseball records and is currently the head baseball coach there. Andy Powlen, class of 2004, was the ACC shot put champion for Georgia Tech. His younger brother Bryan threw discus at Brown University and tried out for the Olympics. Eric Walsh, class of 2002, at one point was the all-time scoring and rebounding leader at Goshen College. Ryan Zimpleman, class of 1997 and Addison's uncle, was an All American at Butler in 1998. At one time he was the career touchdown leader for returns in NCAA history.
"There are also two former Caston student/athletes that passed away whose football numbers were retired," Herd said. "Danny Scales [Isabel's uncle] died in 1985 in a motorcycle accident. He is why the No. 84 is never worn. One of my best friends, Ryan Hubenthal, died in 1993 when he was a junior. His teammates and I formally retired No. 42."
Stevens noted that Larry Zartman, a 1970 grad, was a member of the Indiana Central University (now University of Indianapolis) basketball team before he died in a car crash at the age of 18.
Addison Zimpleman is the first Division-I athlete from Caston since Mitchell Rans, a 2019 grad who runs track and cross country at IUPUI. Rans and the Jaguars competed at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Friday at Wisconsin, where they placed eighth. The eighth-place finish matched the Jags' best finish in program history, also achieved back in 2015. Rans placed 70th among individuals with a time 31:18.9 in the 10K race.
Zimpleman, the daughter of Greg and Camile Zimpleman of Fulton, plans to major in business at PFW.
She'll most likely play second base for the Mastodons.
She still has her senior year of sports to complete at Caston. The Comets are defending state runner-up in softball and in basketball they are currently ranked fourth in Class A and are off to a 4-0 start. They have defeated their first three opponents, Argos, Rochester and Peru, by an average margin of 29 ppg. They avenged a sectional loss to North White Friday night by a 57-15 final score. Scales had 18 points, Zimpleman scored 14 and freshman Madi Douglass had 11.
"We have some great chemistry going on right now," Zimpleman said. "We're seeing the court really well, we're shooting well, defensively we're moving in sync. I think we've had a great start to the season. I just hope that leads into sectionals. We finally got over that hump in softball. But anything can happen in sectionals and I've witnessed it. So we'll just see where the season goes."
