“Swing and a miss and for the first time in program history the Carroll Chargers are regional champions!” These were the words of former CSN announcer Landen Traylor as the Chargers knocked off a strong Huntington North to advance to the semi-state game last season. Fresh off the heels of a 15-14 season that led to Semi-State the Chargers are ready to start on the path to Purdue.
Last season’s team was very young with only 4 seniors and most younger players in key roles. This season is different as the squad has 6 seniors to lean on as the season gets going. Led by Saint Mary’s of the Woods commit Jaidyn Fuller the Chargers have a good core of hitting to build on this season. Last season Fuller batted above .400 out of the lead-off spot in the order.
This season Lineup is ready to hit and here is a breakdown of the projected lineup.
Senior Jaidyn Fuller, SS, led the team last season in AVG and hits and has started the season off strong thus far.
Junior Lauren Kirkpatrick, C, after recovering from an elbow injury before the start of last season started slow and bounced in and out of the lineup before dialing it in at the dish. An excellent defensive catcher bodes well for the Chargers.
Senior Jordyn Fuller who struggled last season has started on the right foot in 24 picking up a few hits to start the season.
Senior Abby Linder will get the majority of games in RF and has enough power and speed to make her presence felt at the dish.
Freshman Ella Craker has started the season in the top half of the lineup and has picked up at least one hit in each of her three games. Craker will take most of her reps in LF
Sophomore Kinsey Ponder has started slow this season but has plenty of power and a great arm so look for her to hold down the hot corner this season.
Senior Addi Hupe will be a more prominent fixture in the lineup this season playing first base, Addi has started the season off with 4 hits and 3 stolen bases
Sophomore Izzy Rapson is a real power threat at the dish with homerun distances that ranked among the best in the state at 212 feet. Rapson is starting the season at 2nd base, but look for her to pitch later this season
Sophomore Taylor Danley threw a no-hitter vs Garrett on 4/8 and will be a mainstay in the rotation this season. Danley also hits well, gathering 4 hits in the first 3 games.
Junior Emilia Garcia is the ace of the rotation after pitching the Chargers to Semi-State last year, she has started right where she left off with 2 wins in 10 innings only giving up 3 earned runs.
The Chargers are three games into the season with wins over Whitko, Garrett, and Homestead. The team plays Warsaw on 4/10 and Eastside the following day weather pending. With 24 games to go here is the schedule broken down into three levels: Should Roll, Even game, Hope for a rainout.
The first category Should Roll:
Warsaw, Snider, Luers, East Noble, Adams Central, Northridge. The Chargers won by 4 runs or more in every one of these games last season with the expectation of East Noble who was not played. Snider and East Noble don’t have much of a presence in softball sectionals. The Chargers should take all 6 of these.
Second category Even game:
Heritage, Northrop, Hunt. North, Bellmont, Norwell, Dekalb, Wawasee (2x), Homestead, Dwenger, Columbia City, Concordia. Most of these games will be close either way, the Chargers will most likely win 7-8 of these games with the hardest ones being Hunt. North, Homestead, Belmont, and Northrop. This is a good test for the sectional as Northrop is one of the early favorites to win.
Final category Hope for rainout:
Eastside, Leo, Woodlan, SBSJ, HSE. To be blunt these games are very tough to win. Eastside was 2A state champs, Leo won 26 games last year, and Woodlan was at the top of 3A. SBSJ and HSE are always tough outs as well. I’ll give the Chargers one of these games.
That brings the projected win total for the squad to 15-17 wins and an appearance in the sectional title game at the minimum. Look for another solid season from the Chargers.
