PREVIEW: No.13 Softball set for three home games this week
By Keelen Barlow
No.13 Brownsburg (9-4, 2-0 in Hoosier Crossroads Conference) tackles a four-game slate this week including three home contests. The Bulldogs host No.24 Avon tonight at 6 p.m. for the B&O Trail Rotary Bell before Ben Davis pays the Bulldogs a visit Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Brownsburg travels to McCutcheon Friday and returns home Saturday morning to host No.20 Hamilton Southeastern at 11 a.m.
Last Week at a Glance
Brownsburg went 2-3 last week, defeating Zionsville 9-2 on the road and No.9 Castle 12-2 at the Carmel Invitational. The Bulldogs fell to No.4 Mooresville and dropped games against Noblesville and No.16 Pendleton Heights at Carmel.
The Bulldogs took down Zionsville Thursday for a ninth consecutive win in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play. Junior Kelsey Endress fanned 17 batters and hit a pair of home runs in the win over the Eagles. In the six-inning victory over the Castle Friday night, Endress struck out 13 more batters and hit a grand-slam to center field. Junior Grace Mendenhall also hit a home run in both wins.
Bulldog Bits
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Brownsburg slipped to No.13 in Monday's ICGSA 4A Poll
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Sophomore Addy Neal was 6-for-7 at the plate with 3 RBI and a home run in three games at the Carmel Invitational. Her slugging percentage at Carmel was 1.429.
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Endress is nine strikeouts shy of surpassing 200 for her Brownsburg career
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Brownsburg has six multi-homer games this season including four games with three home runs, which leads the HCC
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Endress hit a pair of grand slams last week, moving Brownsburg's season total to five over 13 games
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Neal leads HCC sophomores with four home runs this year (T-3rd in HCC)
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Endress struck out 30 batters across games against Zionsville and Castle last week, the most for an HCC pitcher in a two-game span this year
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Brownsburg goes for a third consecutive win over Avon Tuesday. The Bulldogs have outscored Avon 34-7 over the last two meetings
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The Bulldogs suffered consecutive losses last week for the first time in 727 days
About the Opponents
No.24 Avon (9-5, 2-1 in HCC) comes in off a pair of losses at the Carmel Invitational last weekend. Junior Hayden Batton (4th, 48 Ks) and freshman Hannah Sutton (3rd, 50 Ks) both rank among the top-five HCC pitchers this season in strikeouts. Batton has a 3.42 ERA (5th in HCC) across 45 innings this year in the circle.
Ben Davis (5-6, 2-1 in MIC) is led by junior Kansas Robinson who has a .731 batting average and 7 home runs this season.
Heather Johnson (T-6, 9 HRs) and Kennedy Peckinpaugh (T-8th, 8 HRs) are among the state's top home run hitters for McCutcheon (9-4, 1-1 in NCC). Isabella Butts is 1-2 with a 3.85 ERA (7th in HCC) for No.20 Hamilton Southeastern (6-8, 1-1 in HCC).
Up Next
Brownsburg heads to No.11 Franklin Central May 4 for an HCC battle with the Flashes.
