Hauser’s Lucie Asher, left, is greeted by teammate Hannah Taylor after scoring a run during a softball game against Triton Central at Hauser Jr./Sr. High School in Hope, Ind., Friday, April 22, 2022.
The Republic file photo
When Hauser and Indianapolis Lutheran met on the softball field back on April 23, the Jets came away with a decisive 10-0 victory in five innings.
But when the two teams meet again in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. regional at Hauser, Jets coach Andy Brunner is expecting a much-improved Saints team.
“We are not overlooking anybody at this point,” Brunner said. “One bad day, one bad game, one bad inning and we’re done. We talked about it quite a bit. Yes, we were able to beat this team convincingly in April, but it’s almost June. It’s been a month-and-a-half. We don’t know what to expect, but we will be ready to go.”
The Class A No. 2 Jets (22-4-1) advanced to the regional with three wins last week to capture the Rising Sun Sectional title. Following back-to-back shutouts, Hauser edged No. 3 Rising Sun 4-3 in Saturday’s title game.
“I thought the girls executed very well,” Brunner said. “We did not have one strikeout (Saturday). The ball is being put in play, and when you do that, you’re doing your job. Defensively, they hit a couple of gap shots that I don’t know if anybody in the state could have got those. Paige (McDaniel) is doing a good job.”
McDaniel, a sophomore, is 15-3 with a 2.11 ERA. Junior Kaydence Gates is 4-0 with an 0.15 ERA.
Offensively, the Jets are led by freshman center fielder Lucie Asher (.584, 22 RBIs, 36 runs scored), junior catcher Reagan Johnson (.583, 20 RBIs) and junior shortstop Hannah Taylor (.481, seven HR 35 RBIs). Other top hitters are junior utility player Kylie Mack (.457), freshman second baseman Izzy Brunner (.453, 29 RBIs), freshman first baseman Maley Jordan (.438, 22 RBIs), junior third baseman Kyra Meister (.435, 18 RBIs), freshman left fielder Haylin Campbell (.432, 11 RBIs), sophomore right fielder Kenze Bostic (.384, two HR, 24 RBIs) and McDaniel (375, 12 RBIs).
“Consistency is what we’ve talked about all year, and they’re finding it,” Andy Brunner said. “They’re living it. They’re playing it. It’s a good place to be right now.”
Meanwhile, Lutheran (11-14) squeaked past Edinburgh 9-8 and blanked Morristown 13-0 to win its sectional. The Saints have won four in a row following a six-game losing streak.
Sophomore Mystic Means (.474, 10 RBIs), junior Ellie DeChristopher (.353, 11 RBIs) and sophomore Kayla Burns (.319, 19 RBIs) lead the Lutheran offense. Freshman Brooklyn Barger has done the bulk of the pitching for the Saints.
“They had a very young team last year, but they have a very potent team,” Andy Brunner said. “The opportunity for them is there to strike back at any given time. I have a young team, as well. I don’t have a senior on this squad, so I don’t put a whole lot of stock on the age of the girls.”
Tuesday’s winner advances to Saturday’s North Daviess Semistate, where it will play in the 10:30 a.m. semifinal against the winner of Tuesday’s West Washington at Trinity Lutheran regional winner. Trinity (13-9) advanced to the regional with wins against Henryville and New Washington last week.
Junior shortstop Bailey Tabeling (.542) leads Trinity at the plate, along with freshman Madison Keith (.429, 14 RBIs), senior Kamzi Gross (.408, 13 RBIs), senior Ally Russell (.333), sophomore Olivia Cain (.317, 11 RBIs) and freshman Grace Lance (.313, 20 RBIs). Lance and Gross have shared the pitching duties.
