SYRACUSE – More than 600 people watched Wawasee’s softball offseason motivation begin as Leo celebrated a regional title in Syracuse last June. Most of the Lady Warriors have been counting down to the season on social media and in offseason training ever since, especially when Leo won the Class 3-A softball state title.

“I don’t know how many times these kids have mentioned the last game from last year,” said Wawasee head coach Jared Knipper. “It was a tough one to swallow, especially with a team that we should have beat on paper. And they won a state championship. That didn’t sit well with us. We’ve moved past it, but none of these kids forgot about it.”

Knipper will have four capable pitchers on hand, with Amber Lemberg the most experienced at the high school level for the Lady Warriors. Lemberg had a 1.77 earned run average and 14 wins with more than 130 strikeouts while Meghan Fretz struck out 54 batters in just 44 innings while maintaining a 1.12 WHIP. Both are just sophomores.

Junior Danielle Gunkel was an All-NLC second baseman but can deal in the circle and sophomore Hannah Haines struck out more than 200 batters at the JV level and had 11 shutouts.

At the dish, Wawasee held a team .322 batting average and got on base at a .383 clip as a roster in its 31 games. Fretz and junior Kylee Rostochak each hit .392 and combined to score 50 runs and drive in 34. Gunkel led the team with four homers and 23 RBIs and had a slash line of .362/.380/.562.

Wawasee had speed in the outfield, returning junior Cristina DeLaFuente, sophomore Ale Brito and sophomore Madi Wilson, who combined to score 60 runs.

The lone senior, catcher Paige Hlutke, is a four-year starter behind the dish. Knipper also looks to junior Allissa Flores and sophomore Kayla White to contribute. Despite the tough finish at the regional, Wawasee established a team-record number of wins (20) and won its fifth sectional championship in program history.

The Lady Warriors are scheduled to begin the season Saturday at Westview.

Warsaw is looking to regroup after much of its offense and pitching graduated.
Warsaw will need to fill the huge void vacated by the graduation of Kaleigh Speicher, Ashley Ousley and Kara Dishman, who led the team in 2014.

First-year head coach Kevin Dishman will rally the troops with several returners with experience. Karly Jones returns for her senior season after posting a .346 batting average, 14 runs and 17 RBIs last season.

Senior Sidney Hernandez returns with the catcher’s equipment and brings a solid bat. Taylor Stiver played in 23 games as a junior and is one of two pitchers on the varsity, along with sophomore Abby Glass.

Triton will look to try to duplicate its dream 2014 season, where it made the semi-state and won a team-record 23 games. Much of the success returns, but a huge void was left by all-time strikeout holder Mallorie Jennings, who is now pitching for Manchester University.

Sister Hannah Jennings will buoy the outfield after a junior campaign that had her hit .456 with a .510 OBP with 41 hits and 29 runs scored. Seniors Halie Zimmerman and Lexee Lemler also return in the outfield, Zimmerman knocking in 23 runs and Lemler scoring 23 times.

Triton also have several key pieces coming back, including seniors Lauren Hostrawser, Brycelyn Garbison and Lillie Berger and junior Megan Berger. Garbison will likely hold down the pitching duties.

One key component to Triton’s season is whether star shortstop Krystal Sellers can recover from a basketball injury. Sellers led the team in RBIs (31) and runs (32) and had a .434/495/.596 slash line, second to only Mallorie Jennings’ stat totals. But Sellers left the basketball season still in a walking boot and has yet to get on the diamond fully healthy in offseason workouts.

Whitko showed better than its 8-16 record last season, and brings back several key players to the diamond this spring.

Seniors Aly Nicodemus and Maddie Gawthrop will lead the club. Nicodemus led the team in nearly every offensive category, including a .452 batting average and 18 RBIs in just 62 plate appearances. Gawthrop led the team in runs with 17.
Nicodemus and sophomore Hanna Yohe were the anchors in the circle, starting all but one of Whitko’s games.

Sophomore Kennedy Krull should also be a factor after a solid freshman campaign.

Tippecanoe Valley will begin the season under the direction of first-year head coach Daryl Shoemaker. Valley was hit hard by graduation, but returns its top two pitchers in senior Kassidy Shepherd (7-11, 38 Ks) and junior Katie Gunter (5-3, 39 Ks). The duo also combined for 36 RBIs and 36 runs scored on offense. Seniors Darian Dotson and Tenaya Shull combined to score 24 runs last season for the Vikings which finished 12-14 overall.