North Montgomery softball by all accounts one its best seasons in a very long time. Yes the Chargers are still under .500 at 9-16 but those nine wins are the most since 2008. Charger coach Rob Earley has been patient with this team and the results are beginning to show themselves. North Montgomery will now look to carry the momentum they’ve built into the post-season on Monday when they open up the Class 3A Sectional 18 Tournament at Twin Lakes.
The Chargers got a real favorable draw and if things go their way could very well end up playing for a sectional title. They’ll take on host Twin Lakes in game on Monday at 5:30. The Indians hold a record of 6-19 the year. If the Chargers are able to get by in game one, they’ll take on a Frankfort team who they’ve already defeated twice this season in the semi-finals.
“Once I saw the sectional draw I was immediately excited for our team and the opportunity it could possibly present for our team and our program,” Earley said. “This team has improved tremendously from our first practice to our last. We must continue to strive to put a complete game together and that is our focus on improvement. The improvement that we have seen has helped our team for this season and for upcoming season.”
The Chargers bat .301 as a team and are led by do-it-all sophomore Piper Ramey. Ramey leads the Chargers with a .527 average and hit four home runs in the regular season to go along with 36 RBI’s. Freshman Ella McManomy bats .431 while senior Cascie Keller sits at .408. Ramey has also been the work horse on the mound throwing 1,750 pitches this season. In 84.1 innings she’s struck out 95 hitters.
Twin Lakes bats just .241 as a team. They’re a lot like the Chargers and have just two seniors as both teams feature a ton of youth. They’re led by junior Kaitlyn Whitaker who bats .394 on the season for the Indians. She leads the team with 26 hits and 15 RBI’s. Senior McKenna Wilson much like Ramey, is the Indians go to arm in the circle. Wilson has thrown 117.1 innings this season and struck out 134 batters to the tune of a very solid 3.94 ERA.
If the Chargers are able to pull out a sectional win, Earley knows the momentum that would build for the entire team.
“A sectional win would be a very good accomplishment for this group of girls,” he said. “For our upper class it would put an exclamation point on their high school career as they have seen the lowest of lows but would experience something special unlike they have known. As for the under class players, this would be a stepping stone in the direction to where we need this program to move forward along with the expectations of sectional success.”
The other half of the bracket features heavily favored 26-1 Western who will take on 3-22 Northwestern in the second game on Monday. The winner of that game will take on 17-6 West Lafayette in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
The Chargers aren’t content with their regular season success and will look for more come Monday.
