By Chris Parker
Warsaw softball is 27-6 with a district title in two spring seasons. The Lady Wildcats finished 13-2 last year.
Seven players with varsity innings return for Warsaw looking to take the next step and qualify for a final four.
“Since moving to the spring, we have experienced a lot of success,” Warsaw head coach Megan Daleske said. “Last year we were upset during districts due in large part to untimely defensive mistakes. Throughout the season, our then freshman pitcher Brylee Brewster, took care of a lot of the outs with 156 strikeouts in the season. This year we need to produce a solid defense behind Brewster and find a way to generate more runs from the top to bottom of the lineup.”
Brewster returns for her sophomore season after earning second-team all-state honors as a freshman. She struck out those 156 batters in just 80 innings posting a 0.79 ERA. At the plate, Brewster hit .565 with a .636 on-base percentage. Her OPS sat at 1.354.
“Brylee puts in work all year long. She plays for the KC Peppers – Wallace 18’s throughout the summer and continues individual work with pitching lessons and a workout regimen in the winter. If there are off-season open fields or hitting opportunities, she is there to be a leader and set a standard for her teammates on intensity and effort. By the time season starts, Brylee has set herself up to be in peak performance condition which is rare to find in a high school athlete,” Daleske said. “Brylee’s best asset as a pitcher is her ability to control multiple pitches. She moves the ball around very well and constantly keeps batters guessing.”
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Brewster will handle most of the pitching, but she could be relieved from time to time by freshman Hailey Ferguson.
Catcher Taylor Howe graduated from last year’s team and is now playing collegiately at Evansville. She will be replaced by her younger sister, freshman Tanna Howe.
The infield may see some different looks early in the season. Sophomore Haylee Cobb and junior Olivia Strange return after starting in the middle infield last season.
Cobb hit .370 with a .442 on-base percentage scoring 17 runs and driving in 18.
Carly Price (sophomore) filled in the varsity lineup several times. Senior move-in Janie Kilgore will help on the infield. There will also be freshmen fighting for varsity spots.
Senior Faith Tharaldson and junior Jaylen McCullick return to the outfield. Junior Autumn Walton and freshman Addison Sherill will also likely see time in the outfield. Young players are also in the mix.
“As we have gotten a chance to start some preseason work, we are seeing the young players step into some leadership roles,” Daleske said. “Last year, we were heavy on senior leadership and our team will be fairly young this year with only two seniors. Our two starting freshmen from last year, Brylee Brewster and Haylee Cobb, have made showing up and putting in work a priority and the improvements in their leadership skills has been really showing this off season.”
All five returning starters have been setting strong examples for the rest of the roster.
“The returning five starters from last year’s varsity roster have been working hard and setting a standard for our large incoming freshman class,” Daleske said. “Our defense with a dominating pitcher will be a major strength this year. We do not envision very many runs being scored against us so we will have to really focus on producing runs at the plate.”
Warsaw opens the season Mar. 17-18 at the Harrison Ozark Classic.
“This season we have picked up more games and will be facing new, and tougher competition than in our schedule last season,” Daleske said. “We expect to see another winning record but are hoping that the tougher competition will help prepare us for a postseason run.”
