For most players, the softball season doesn’t end when the final out is recorded during the high school season.
Once the final frame has reached completion, it doesn’t take long for the travel season to kick in.
One of the top teams in the area, Indiana Dreams Foster, an 18U program that draws players from Bartholomew, Jackson, Johnson and Scott counties, recently competed in the Premier Girls Fastpitch Southeast Regional Championships.
Thanks to the help from some local talent, the Dreams were able to walk away as co-champions of the tourney last month in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Seven of the Republic-area’s top players from the spring were represented on the team — Columbus East’s Mady Foster, Jordan Johnston and Brooke Valles; Columbus North’s Sierra Norman; Jennings County’s Kylee Matern, Edinburgh’s Sidney Beier and Trinity Lutheran’s Savannah Harweger. However, with the team entering the tournament late, Johnston wasn’t able to make the trip to Nashville that weekend due to a prior commitment.
Valles, Matern, Harweger and Beier graduated in May. Foster, Johnston and Norman have begun their senior year.
After pool play, the Dreams, coached by Jeremy Foster, were seeded. The team lost its opening game in bracket play to Atlanta Premier, but bounced back.
“We played two games on Friday and then had to play five games on Saturday,” Jeremy Foster said. “We basically started at 9 a.m., and the final was at 7 p.m. The heat was unbelievable, and we were down to 10 players. We had a limited team in that heat, including two pitchers and two catchers. We made due with what we had, and they just decided they weren’t going to lay down.
The seven-inning games were 100 minutes long.
“That’s not normal for travel ball," Jeremy Foster said. "It’s typically 75 to 90. They battled and made it all the way back to the championship and beat a lot of good teams along the way.”
Three of the games the Dreams played were in a row on the last day.
In the finals against Minneapolis-based TC Blitz, the Dreams held a 2-0 lead before there was a tornado warning. The game would be called early due to incoming rain, with the teams splitting the title honors.
The Dreams outscored opponents 77-27 in the tournament.
Foster has coached travel softball for years in the surrounding area.
“I started a lot of local kids here under Red Alert. We started local, and then as we got older and better, kids came and went,” he said. “We kept the core kids together since the time they were 10. There were five girls I was coaching since they were 9-year-olds. We switched organizations when they got to high school to more regional organizations so we could get into more showcase-type tournaments.
“We did that for a year, and then the Indiana Dreams organization contacted us about bringing our team to their organization, which got us into more national-type tournaments.”
This was the second full year as the Indiana Dreams, which is based out of Lebanon. The Dreams went 22-6-2 overall this summer, playing in showcases inside and outside the state when weather cooperated.
"We typically played a lot of the best teams around the Midwest, and the competition level is always very high," said Norman, who has played under coach Foster since she was 10. "It’s good knowing that especially going into college and the next year, we’re playing against other college kids that are going to have a future in softball, too."
With playing a lot of tough competition comes a lot of college coaches and scouts watching the tournaments.
"We play in high-level stuff all the time just to keep our skills up because most of us are going to play college softball," Mady Foster said. "We always try to keep our skills sharpened, and that tournament was nothing but great teams all over the area.
Foster, Johnston, Valles, Norman, Harweger, Matern and Beier all made The Republic’s All-Area team this spring. They will take different routes this upcoming year.
Valles and Beier are headed to Lake Land College, a top-notch junior college, in Mattoon, Illinois. Harweger will be playing at Marian University, and Matern at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio.
Mady Foster, Johnston and Norman will continue playing for their respective schools in the spring. Norman and Mady Foster will be future teammates of Harweger, with both having committed to play at Marian following high school.
Growing up, Mady Foster says there’s always that little bit of added pressure having her father as a coach, but she credits her father for molding her into the softball player she is today.
"My dad is definitely the hardest on me just because I’m his daughter, but throughout time, everybody became his daughter since we were with each other for so long," she said. "The pressure got divided up because he was just as hard on everybody.
"I’m not saying this because he’s my dad, but everybody can agree that without him and this team, I don’t think any of us would be playing college softball. He works extremely hard at getting us recruited, getting a good relationship with coaches, and he doesn’t let us slack off. We always worked hard — he always stressed that, and he stressed attitude and effort are the things you can control no matter what happens — always give attitude and effort. He worked really hard at getting us where we are, and I don’t think we would be where we are without him."
Harweger will join a Marian program that finished 54-3 in 2019, setting a program record for wins and best overall record and posting the first undefeated 50-0 start in school history. Marian’s season came to a close in the NAIA World Series in May.
Harweger was committed to Austin Peay as a junior but decommitted after a coaching change. She said she has enjoyed her time playing travel softball and has built relationships that will last a lifetime.
”Jeremy has helped make me the player I am today,” Harweger said. “Any time I need personal work done to improve my game, he always finds time to help me. He does everything he can for us girls to make it to the next level and to succeed. I couldn’t have asked for a better coach to play for over the years.
”Along with coach Foster and the rest of the team, they have become like family to me. To me personally, travel ball means an opportunity to get better and to enjoy playing the game I love with some of my best friends. This travel team has given me so many opportunities, friendships and memories.”
Norman agrees with Harweger that coach Foster has been a major influence in her softball career.
"He’s always pushed me to do my best and keep working at softball all the time, and he’s been there for me for more than softball," Norman said. "He’s been an important figure that’s helped me grow up and learn a bunch of things not only about softball, but also about life."
This spring, Norman led the Bull Dogs with a .439 average and 25 runs scored and had six home runs and 22 RBIs. Foster led the Olympians with a .487 average and 17 runs and had 11 RBIs. Johnston batted .378 and went 5-10 with a 5.61 ERA. Valles batted .387 and led the Olympians with two home runs and 15 RBIs.
Beier led the Lancers with a .690 average, 14 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 45 RBIs and 42 runs. Matern led the Panthers with a .430 average, four home runs, 21 RBIs and 39 runs. Harweger led the Cougars with a .583 average, three triples and 23 runs and had two home runs.
Ten of the 13 kids on the Dreams are or were committed to collegiate programs going into the summer schedule.
"They’ve come a long way to put themselves in position," Jeremy Foster said. "They’ve worked hard. We’ve done a pretty good job of guiding them in the right direction to put themselves in position should they choose to play softball in college that they had the opportunity to do so."
