State softball finalists share superstitions & traditions; we make predictions

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We're into the final days of the 2026 IHSAA softball season. State champions in 3A and 4A will be crowned later tonight (weather permitting), then the Class A and 2A finalists will bring us home Saturday. 

Before heading out to Purdue's Bittinger Stadium, let's empty the notebook with a collection of odds-and-ends — softball-related and otherwise. 

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And, since we're here, I guess I'll make some predictions, as well.

4A final poised to be one of the all-time best

I genuinely cannot wait for this year's 4A state championship game: Lake Central (30-2) vs. Terre Haute North (30-1).

They are the best teams in terms of record and have inarguably been the most consistent.

Lake Central, which was undefeated entering the final week of the regular season, is the state's most talented team, boasting a roster that looks more like that of a travel team with (at least) seven college recruits: seniors Tegan Tripp (Virginia Tech), MaKayla VanVossen (DePaul), Lexi Iwema (IU), Sophia Beals (Roosevelt) and Kaitlyn Streiler (Union Commonwealth), and juniors Maddie Such (Kentucky) and Madi Wainwright (IU).

If you'd have asked me last Friday for my thoughts on an LC-THN final, I likely would have said the Indians roll.

I no longer think that.

These Patriots are legit. They're loaded with upperclassmen — Kyanna Gardner (Lake-Sumter State), Marcia Parker (she had a couple clutch plays from behind the plate vs. Center Grove at semistate), record-setting outfielder Madi Strange, Kyleigh Walker, Kenzie Zigler — and a pitcher in senior Jaleigh Lindley, who has been especially dialed in this tournament, allowing a total of six earned runs through 32.2 innings.

Beyond being just ridiculously talented, chemistry is a common thread between these teams. Terre Haute North coach Chris Mundy described his team as a fun group of kids who enjoy being around each other, while at Lake Central, coach Yvette Tovar spent the offseason focused on building chemistry.

That certainly comes through. Both teams play with a lot of joy.

State appearance like a dream for senior-heavy Terre Haute North

The skies over Terre Haute were lit blue and red late Saturday night with "every cop in Terre Haute" eager to welcome the semistate champion softball team back to town.

"It's like a movie. You can't really put it into words because it's so shocking," Zigler said. "You don't understand what you're doing until after."

"This is the type of thing that you think about when you're a little kid," Gardner continued. "You watch it happen on the news and you're like, 'Wow, I really want to do that.' Now we're doing it. In real time."

The Patriots came close to reaching state last year, staging a four-run, sixth-inning rally to stun Whiteland and claim the program's first regional championship since 2010. But they were "satisfied" with simply making it that far, Zigler said, and saw their run conclude with an unceremonious (and unmemorable) 10-0 loss to Center Grove. 

"We were like, OK, we made it to semistate, whatever happens happens," she continued. "And we just had no motivation to play in semistate last year. This year, we left it all on the field. We had an end goal, and that was state, and we got there."

They have had a totally different mentality this year, Strange said, and have been very open about their state final aspirations from day one.

We're going to state. We're making it to Purdue.

"A lot of people just say that to say it," Strange said, "but we genuinely have that drive to get to Purdue and we're going to do anything in our power (to finish the job)." 

"If I was to write down the perfect senior season, I think this would all be on it," she later added. "This is the perfect way to go out."

Hear from Hanover Central

Unique dugout traditions

Alright, enough serious softball talk. Let's get to the more fun topics…

Seems like every softball team has its own fun and unique traditions in the dugout come state tournament time. Here's what to expect from a few teams Friday and Saturday.

New Palestine: Crazy hats

As was documented during sectionals (and in previous seasons), the Dragons bust out the funny/random hats once the tournament begins. This year's collection includes: A Davy Crockett hat (coach Ed Marcum), a couple Mountain Dew helmets, a moose, a banana, a chicken, Guy Fieri, a poop emoji and a vulture (among many others — really strong collection this year). 

There is also Cara Steele's groundhog, which has its own backstory. The coaches caught a groundhog in the New Pal barn. She thought they were going to just move it. ""No, they killed the thing. So I started crying," the junior said. "I brought him back to life. His name is Gary."

Hanover Central: Tattoo sleeves and glitter hair gel.

The hair gel is "so disgusting" and "really gross," according to Brooklyn Oostman and DeYoung, "but it adds a little bit of excitement to pregame."

For the record, the glitter thing was Oostman's idea; Stilley got the idea for tattoo sleeves on TikTok. "I was like, 'Guys, this is going to be so cool.'"

DeYoung wears a tattoo sleeve on her pitching arm, but may go with double sleeves next season. 

Terre Haute North: Hobby donkey and a blow-up duck

Zigler explains: "Someone hit a home run and we have this podcast guy, and on the podcast he said it was a 'swamp donkey.' Then we stopped at a gas station on our way to Evansville for a tournament and found this donkey. We got it and ever since then, it's been our home run celebration and we dress it up."

I can confirm the dressing up of the donkey. It went from no props at the beginning of last Saturday's Pendleton Heights game, to being fully decked out with a cowboy hat, feather boa and sunglasses. It was great.

There's an inflatable pool floatie, too. It's a duck with an American flag on top of it. His name is "Patty The Patriot." He's been with them since last season.

Lake Central: Maddie Such on aux, a flag featuring Beals, who's one of their "funniest teammates," and stuffed mice

Such received a 10/10 as team DJ from Tripp and Iwema — though she does play a lot of Disney music. "Sometimes it's not very hype," Iwema joked. "But normally she's decent." 

As for the stuffed mice, that was a gift from the coaches, inspired by the team's bus ride to the Horseshoe Classic in Pendleton earlier this season. Unbeknownst to most of the players, there was a mouse scurrying around on the drive down. It made an appearance on the ride back, running underneath everyone's feet. 

"Our coaches thought it was really funny," Such said. "So now we all have little stuffed mice we keep in the dugout." 

Iwema's really lengthy list of elaborate routines (superstitions, if you will)

Lake Central is a very superstitious team to begin with.

Everyone has to wear the same thing, the same hair ties and they've retired one of their uniform combos (blue top, white pants) after going 0-2 while wearing it.

And then there's Iwema, aka the most superstitious member of the team.

"They make fun of me, it's kind of bad," she said, Such and Tripp laughing beside her. 

The IU commit has to wear the same TIY hair ties, sliding shorts and jewelry for every game and has a process ahead of each AB (elbow guard, left batting glove, right batting glove, helmet and then a very specific way of grabbing her bat).

There's also the route Iwema takes to Lake Central High on game day, what she eats before said game and handing the bat to Tripp. Iwema tossed it to her during the Valparaiso game a few weeks ago and LC lost, so that one tracks.

Such and Tripp also have their particulars — like always wearing sunglasses when hitting during warm-ups and keeping the same hairstyle — but those are more "routines" than anything else.

PREDICTIONS!

Class A: Barr-Reeve's pitching has been exceptional this season, with Haley Huff and Charley Paurazas combining for a 31-1 record with a 1.19 ERA and 190 strikeouts.They were roughed up a bit by Lutheran in the semistate semifinals, but came back with a 6-2 win over West Washington. Containing a South Central lineup that's batting .388 and has a 71-9 run differential in the tournament will be a tall task, but the Vikings are battle-tested. PICK: Barr-Reeve 6, South Central 2

Class 2A: Western Boone is an awesome story. The Stars were down to nine players and at risk of forfeiting games earlier this season. Now they're playing for the first state championship in program history. The tandem of Ally Lewis and Mickey Burns gives WeBo a unique dynamic in the circle, and the contrasting styles could keep the Tecumseh batters off-balance. But the Braves are one of the state's best teams regardless of class and boast maybe the best pitcher in the entire state (Audrey Seiler). I'm hopeful this one winds up closer than most are expecting (Braves pull away late), but I can't pick against Tecumseh. Next stop for them: 3A. PICK: Tecumseh 7, Western Boone 1

Class 3A: I'm just really excited to see DeYoung and Stilley play in-person again. DeYoung had the near perfect game at semistate vs. Logansport; Stilley homered in this game last year (no small feat for a high schooler). New Palestine is a really interesting team. Not everyone's contributions translate statistically, but they've really shored up their fundamentals in recent weeks, both in the field and at the plate, where they're forcing opposing pitchers into longer ABs. Also, the ultra-competitive Hughbanks has been darn-near lights out after the first inning. There's value in experience this time of year, but the Dragons' schedule was built in anticipation of this game. They rally late (again) and win an absolute thriller. PICK: New Palestine 3, Hanover Central 2

Class 4A: This feels kinda foolish after watching the Patriots shut down Pendleton Heights and Center Grove in that semistate doubleheader, but the Lake Central lineup is another beast entirely. And even if North manages to get to Such, freshmen Addy Mikolanis and Colbie Tressel aren't entirely unfamiliar with the big stage, having stepped in for the sectional championship game and shutting down Crown Point. I don't expect it to come down to that, though. This game is close up until the final couple innings when LC finally manages to pull away. PICK: Lake Central 6, Terre Haute North 2

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA softball: Predictions, what to know about state championships

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