Mark Hensley sees a semistate opponent that looks similar to his 2021 Shelbyville Golden Bears.
Good pitching and a powerful offense has brought Class 4A, No. 5 Bedford North Lawrence to its second straight semistate appearance.
The Stars will host the star-studded, four-team semistate Saturday with semifinal games at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The semistate championship game is set for 7 p.m.
The first semifinal pits top-ranked and defending Class 4A state champion Roncalli (30-0), who is ranked No. 1 nationally, against No. 7 Pendleton Heights (25-6).
Shelbyville (23-5) will follow against Bedford North Lawrence (28-2).
The semistate appearance is a first for Shelbyville in the 36-year history of the program.
The Stars have a strong pitcher in junior Annie Waggoner (20-2, 1.17 ERA), who is committed to Indiana State University, and an even stronger offense that is solid top to bottom, according to the Shelbyville head coach.
“They are 28-2 so obviously they are a very good team … and they hit a lot of home runs,” said Hensley. “They are very similar to us last year.”
The Stars are hitting .359 as a team with 298 total hits, 50 doubles, seven triples and 54 home runs. For comparison, Shelbyville hit .384 in 2021 with 313 hits, 64 doubles, nine triples and 67 home runs.
Even with all that power, the Golden Bears could not get by Columbus North in their sectional opener and were left with a long offseason to think about what could have been.
One year later, Shelbyville is battle-tested and steely strong. All five losses this season came to state-ranked opponents. In fact, the Golden Bears have played 12 games against top-15 ranked programs in 2022 and have eliminated No. 14 Bloomington South, No. 6 Columbus North and No. 2 Whiteland to reach the Elite Eight in Class 4A.
Shelbyville is led by a dangerous 1-2 punch at the top of the order. Senior Karissa Hamilton, a Kentucky recruit, is hitting .543 with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 38 RBIs this season. She is followed by junior Kylee Edwards, a Mississippi State recruit, who is hitting .556 with 17 doubles, four home runs and 39 RBIs.
“I think everybody knows that,” said Hensley of his Southeastern Conference bound pairing. “(Bedford North Lawrence) will try to keep them off the bases when possible. When we get them on, good things happen. With their speed, singles turn into doubles. They can steal any base they want to.
“If they get on, I like our chances.”
Freshman Addie Stieneker, junior Hailey Pogue and senior Kiley McIver have a combined 82 RBIs batting behind the dynamic duo.
Bedford North Lawrence (photo) has its own quintet hitting better than .370.
Freshman catcher Ava Ratliff leads the team in batting average (.538), hits (50), RBIs (53) and home runs (21).
Junior Braxton McCauley, who has a full-ride offer from Purdue University, is hitting .447 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.
Waggoner is hitting .404 while sophomore Aliza Jewell (.374, seven home runs) and senior Carsyn Alvey (.372, six home runs) follow closely behind.
Ratliff smashed the 21st home run of her young career in the first inning of the regional championship game against Castle Tuesday then was intentionally walked in her next two at bats.
“We have to try to keep the ball in the park,” said Hensley. “And we have to try and find a weakness in that lineup and expose it. I’m not sure there is one, though. Obviously, we have to try and keep them from hitting balls out of the park.”
That job will fall to sophomore pitcher Cheyenne Eads (14-4, 1.77 ERA). She has locked down both Columbus North and Whiteland in Shelbyville’s last two games that ended with a trophy presentation.
Success in shutting down the Stars will keep the home field advantage from becoming a factor. Saturday is graduation day at Shelbyville which adds to the travel intrigue.
The school is exploring the interest in a “fan bus” to Bedford to help those wanting to travel to the game. Follow Shelbyville softball social media for more information.
Hensley is taking the Golden Bears down to Bedford early to watch fellow Hoosier Heritage Conference member Pendleton Heights, a team Shelbyville has defeated twice this season, take on Roncalli and Florida recruit Keagan Rothrock, who is the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2023.
Rothrock is 25-0 this season with a 0.75 ERA and 346 strikeouts in 149.1 innings.
“There is a reason she is the No. 1 ranked player in the country,” said Hensley. “She is the best player I’ve ever seen and I don’t think a lot of people can argue with that.”
Shelbyville and Roncalli were slated to meet in the regular season but the rain-altered Marion County Tournament forced the Royals to cancel their trip to Shelbyville and a replacement date could not be found, according to Hensley.
All four state championship games will be played June 10 and June 11 at Bittinger Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette. Game dates and times are not yet determined.
