GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central softball enters the 2024 season with a new head coach, the departure of a strong graduating class and a roster with zero seniors on it.
New head coach Gary Roberts, who has found success in the Hoosier Heritage Conference before, still has high expectations for this season.
“We’re serious about trying to win the conference and trying to get out of the sectional, but that’s no easy task,” Roberts said. “This is probably the best softball conference and it has been for a long time. This conference has always been one of the best.”
Roberts was the head coach at Shelbyville from 2010-2016 and was named the HHC Coach of the Year in 2015. He has been an assistant coach at Greenfield-Central since 2021. The HHC has traditionally been a strong league with the likes of New Palestine, Mt. Vernon, Pendleton Heights, Yorktown and Shelbyville, all having recent postseason success.
“I’ve been a head coach before and I’ve known most of these girls for a couple of years now, so everything has been going smoothly,” Roberts said.
The former conference coach of the year will look to repeat that success with the Cougars who ended last season 18-9 and 3-4 in conference play. The season ended with a 5-2 loss to the eventual sectional champions, Pendleton Heights, in round one of the tournament.
To build off of last season and help try and bring conference and sectional titles to Greenfield, the 2024 Cougars will rely on veteran players.
With no seniors on the roster, the Cougars still return an array of varsity experience.
Juniors Josie White, Makenna Rankins, Madysen Herbert, Allison Hornaday, Alyssa Greenwalt and Leilani Forshey have all seen varsity action since their freshman seasons. The return of LeiLeanna Faitele who missed all of last season with an injury completes a strong junior class.
“That’s really important. They’ve made great strides. You can see it in practice how much they’ve grown over the last year,” Roberts said. “It’s great to have that experience and they’re all great at really helping the incoming freshman get better.”
White was the only sophomore to make last season’s All-Hancock County team and did so by leading the Cougars with a .530 batting average. The Cougars starting shortstop led the team with three triples, scored 27 runs and had five stolen bases in just 18 games played.
Rankins, Greenwalt and Hornaday are set to make up the Greenfield-Central outfield.
Rankins appeared in all 27 games for the Cougars last season and batted .309 with 17 runs scored and 19 RBI. Greenwalt and Hornaday appeared in 21 and 10 games, respectively.
Forshey, the team’s first baseman, hit .435 with 18 RBI and three home runs. Faitele, who missed all of last year, hit .323 her freshman season and will give the Cougars depth at catcher.
The final junior, Herbert, returns as the Cougars No. 1 pitcher. Last year she threw 111.1 innings and accumulated an 8-4 record. She struck out 150 batters and ended the season with a 4.02 earned run average.
Helping take the strain off of her in the circle will be freshmen Addi Heacox and Ailea Dowdy.
“They’re both going to help out so Madysen won’t have to carry the entire workload,” Roberts said. “We’re going to mix and match at the start of the season to see what works well. They all throw a little bit differently, so we should be able to keep some hitters off balance.”
It’s not just the junior class where the Cougars return experienced starters.
Sophomores Kristen Wineinger, Savanna Riall and Charlotte Riehle all started for the team last season.
Riehle, the team’s catcher, is recovering from arm surgery and Roberts said that her availability at the start of the year is still in question. Last season she hit .385.
The team’s third baseman, Riall, played in all 27 games last season, hitting .318 with 26 RBI and five home runs.
Wineinger returns to play second base where she appeared in all 27 games for the Cougars batting .410 with 24 runs scored and 24 RBI.
They will all look to make up for the graduation of Camille Burelison, Olivia Roberts and Faith Butler.
Burelison was second on the team with a .505 average, was first in hits (49), runs scored (40) and RBI (44). She was second on the team with 10 home runs.
Roberts led the Cougars with 11 home runs, scored 38 runs and drove in 32.
Butler was the team’s No. 2 pitcher, throwing 49.1 innings. At the plate, she hit .423 with a pair of home runs.
“That’s pretty tough to do because that’s 23 home runs right there,” Roberts said about replacing those three. “We do have a mix of speed and power this year, so we’ll try to be a bit more aggressive on the bases, but we still have some girls that hit the ball a long way too.”
Greenfield-Central will get its first crack at the regular season on Saturday against Zionsville. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Zionsville.
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2024 Greenfield-Central Softball Schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
March 23;at Zionsville;11 a.m.
March 25;at Lapel;5:30 p.m.
March 26;at Hamilton Southeastern;6 p.m.
March 28;vs. Noblesville;7 p.m.
April 1;vs. Triton Central;5:30 p.m.
April 2;at Scecina;5:30 p.m.
April 3;at Danville;5:30 p.m.
April 5;at Madison-Grant;5:30 p.m.
April 10;vs. Westfield;7:30 p.m.
April 12;at Franklin;6 p.m.
April 18;vs. Rushville;5:30 p.m.
April 19;at Lutheran;5:30 p.m.
April 20;vs. Indian Creek;6 p.m.
April 23;at Delta;6 p.m.
April 24;at Yorktown;6 p.m.
April 26;vs. Mt. Vernon;6 p.m.
April 29;vs. New Castle; 6 p.m.
May 1;vs. Shenandoah;7 p.m.
May 2;vs. New Palestine 6 p.m.
May 7;at Pendleton Heights;6 p.m.
May 9;vs. Lawrence Central;5:30 p.m.
May 11;Cougar Classic Tournament;9 a.m.
May 13;at Shelbyville;6 p.m.
May 16;at Carmel;5:30 p.m.
May 17;vs. Lawrence North;7 p.m.
May 18;vs. East Central;11:30 a.m.
