LEBANON — Tri-West Softball has been a powerhouse program not only in the Sagamore Conference but in the entire state for quite sometime. For a young Crawfordsville team the Bruins stood in the way of CHS in the Class 3A Sectional 25 semi-finals on Wednesday. Tri-West ended the regular season with a 23-6 record and ranked No. 4 in Class 3A. A 10-0 final would be how the Athenian softball season came to an end as the Bruins move on to Thursday’s championship game against Western Boone.
The score doesn’t reflect how well the Athenians played at times. Offensively the managed just two base runners all night on a hit by pitch and walk, but continued to hit the ball hard, just right at the Tri-West defense.
After scoring three runs in the first, second, and fourth innings, Tri-West (24-6) ended the game with a bang when Emma Charles cranked a solo home run over the left field wall.
Despite the loss and their season coming to an end, second-year Athenian coach Mackenzi Landrum saw plenty of things to be proud of not only in this game but in the entire season.
“Our focus the entire season was to compete with joy,” Landrum said. “I can honestly say we did that every single game. It didn’t matter what the scoreboard said, our girls stayed with the fight and competed all season long. We’ve faced so much adversity this season with being such a young team, battling a lot of injuries and having girls play positions they’ve never played before. All they did was take that in stride and used it as an opportunity to learn. They’ve all gotten so much more confident over the course of this season especially these last few weeks.”
Crawfordsville features eight freshman on its 2024 roster, most of whom saw plenty of action this season. Sabella Moore at shortstop, Madison Martin in left, Sidalee Cotton in right, and Angeli Martinez in the circle were all in the lineup for the final game against the Bruins. Cville ends the season at 4-20 but those four wins are a improvement from last season and even more importantly those four wins all came in the Sagamore Conference as CHS split with county rivals North Montgomery and Southmont while sweeping Frankfort.
The loss ended the career of one Athenian senior in Addie Hodges who has manned center field this season and been the leader for the Athenians. Surrounded by young players, Landrum noted how her senior took the leadership role in stride and complimented her on her Athenian career.
“Addie has stepped up in many more ways then we could’ve ever asked her to,” Landrum said of Hodges. “She leads our outfield and is constantly communicating even with our infielders. She’s been the person all of our young girls can look up to. We’re going to miss her but we know she’s going to go on to Indiana State and do big things.”
With a 2025 team that will feature those eight freshman becoming sophomores, and having Celeste Moore back in the fold for her senior season along with just another year of experience under the belts, Landrum looked toward the future.
“The future is bright,” she said. “We continue to learn and grow as a team and that’s going to pay off.”
