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Indianapolis Star
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Kiley Renick 'brings people with her.' When she has that command, she's 'a force to be reckoned with'
MOORESVILLE — Kiley Renick silently packed up her things and left the visitors' dugout. It was an unseasonably chilly, damp night in Mooresville and the mood on that side of the field was understandably somber, with the Franklin Central softball team still reeling from a heartbreaking 3-0 loss to Center Grove in the Class 3A Sectional 12 championship game. Before reuniting with her family, Renick walked down the third base line towards left field. There, she was met by coach Erica Glasener, who tearfully wrapped the junior pitcher in a hug, before talking with her one-on-one for a few minutes. "I know a loss like that is hard, especially on a pitcher," Glasener said. "So I was reminding her that she has one more year — and she's going to be a force to be reckoned with. She's doing amazing things in amazing ways, and just needs to keep that mentality of 'I'm a leader. I'm strong. I can fight through this and come back stronger.'" More: Sydney Herrmann has been 'killing it.' She delivered again to send Center Grove to regional If Renick progresses next spring like she did in 2025, she'll further solidify herself among the area's best — and within her class. After posting an ERA around 4.50 the past couple seasons, the Western Michigan commit posted a 3.95 ERA with a career-high 10 wins and 98 strikeouts. She walked a few more hitters and allowed a couple more home runs than last season, but Renick also worked 101 innings (career-high) and emerged as one of FC's most dependable hitters, batting .454 with 44 hits, 27 runs, 38 RBIs, three homers, 18 doubles and a triple. Franklin Central took care to preserve Renick's arm ahead of Wednesday's sectional finale, using her sparingly against Mooresville (92 pitches in 4.1 innings) and Southport (63 pitches in three innings). And though it very nearly backfired — Mooresville scored four in the seventh and led 10-8 in the eighth; Southport led 7-2 after four — the strategy ultimately paid off. Renick was sharp from the jump vs. CG, striking out two in the first, another in the second and recording the first two outs in the third before encountering turbulence. Lead-off hitter Mae Munson was hit by a pitch, Brynn Meyer notched CG's second hit of the game then senior Sydney Herrmann chased them in with a double to center. "I just didn't get the pitch outside enough and she barreled it up," lamented Renick, who finished her final appearance of the season with three runs allowed on five hits with zero walks and five strikeouts. "But you can't always get every pitch." Renick is the type of player who wants to do everything, Glasener observed, listing off her standout player's contributions at the plate, in the circle and on the basepaths. And perhaps most importantly, she wants to be a leader, a vocal presence in the dugout who gets everyone involved. It's a necessary role — and one Renick is well-suited for. "One of the things I just told her was she can bring people with her," Glasener said. "People are going to follow her lead, her command, on the field. And when she has that command, we are solid. That's a special thing for her to have." That command, Glasener continued, was not there at the beginning of the season. And as an entire team, they were "timid." This season was the first without Kathy Stricker leading the Franklin Central softball program. The 67-year old coach died in July following a five-year battle with cancer. She was remembered for being an advocate for girls' sports during her 45-year career as a teacher and coach at FC, and was literally the only head coach in the softball program's history. The Franklin Central coaches and players didn't know what they were coming into, Glasener said. "It was a changing program." "Nobody's been here besides Strick," she continued, pausing briefly to collect herself. "That's been a hard thing for us to overcome. … We carried (Stricker) with us (this season). She's been with us the entire time. And watching Kiley grow into that (leadership) role has been phenomenal to see." Glasener pointed to a mid-April game against New Palestine as the turning point in their season. They held a memorial for Stricker that night and were run-ruled, mustering just five runs in a 10-0 loss. It was rough because of the emotions involved, Renick said, "but that also made us realize what we were playing for." "It made us really think about what we were doing and lit a fire under our butts." Three days later, Franklin Central headed to the Lake Central tournament, where they took down out-of-state powers Lincoln-Way Central and Edwardsburg, and went to the wire with Lake Central and its ace, Maddie Such. The Flashes won 9-of-10 between the end of April through the start of May, and entered sectionals on a four-game win streak. "I couldn't be more proud of our girls," Glasener said. "We stepped up and did things people did not expect us to do. We were in games that people did not expect us to be in, and we should be proud. We did a phenomenal thing this year, and there's more to come."
Indianapolis Star
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Sydney Herrmann has been 'killing it.' She delivered again to send Center Grove to regionals
MOORESVILLE — Sydney Herrmann is killing it and she's been doing it all spring. That was Center Grove softball coach Alyssa Coleman's initial bit of analysis of the senior first baseman, and her assessment is easily quantified. Herrmann has already reset her career-highs for average (.443), runs (21), RBIs (32) and doubles (10), and is one-off last season's high-water mark for hits (35). The kid just doesn't go away, Coleman continued. "Sydney shows the maturity of (someone) who has been on the big stage before and knows what she's doing. She believes in herself and she helps us win whether she gets the hit or not." Herrmann was at the plate for the moment Wednesday night, stepping up with two on and two out in the third inning of a scoreless stalemate vs. Franklin Central. And as a single angry cloud began spitting raindrops from overhead, the Dartmouth signee delivered the hit, sending a line drive off the centerfield fence that cleared the bases and had Herrmann triumphantly screaming to her teammates in the dugout from second base. "She was throwing me a lot of changeups, so I was trying to look for a fastball," Herrmann said. "And once I got that one, I was attacking." Following a brief weather delay — that single angry cloud invited friends and they had themselves a monsoon — Center Grove set about closing out the win with Riley Fuhr and Kara Biever holding a potent Flashes lineup to zero runs on six hits, while the bats tacked on an insurance tally in the sixth. Final score: 3-0. Center Grove is onto regionals for the second consecutive season and seventh time since 2015. "We just keep reloading and we have people who are ready for the opportunity," Herrmann said. "That's just the team we are." "When I look at the lineup, there's no one who can't do the job," added catcher Madisyn Tharpe, who uncorked a perfect throw to end the top of the fourth with a caught stealing. "And if one person doesn't, the next one picks them up." Though they graduated a few key pieces from last year's semistate runner-up squad, including a pair of high-Division I commits, these Trojans are experienced and, in terms of talent, they are elite. CG is 23-3 with a 224-6 run differential. It's batting nearly .400 as a team with 297 hits and 185 RBIs, and brings a trio of pitchers headlining a staff that boasts a collective 2.15 ERA and 152 strikeouts (freshman Sarah Riley, who's currently injured, rounds out the top-three). "They're an interesting crew," Coleman said of her team. "They just keep doing their job and getting stronger throughout the year. Things don't really faze them. We found out pretty early they're a resilient group and — cool, I'm down. I'll never complain about that. They can take punches and punch right back." Center Grove used the Horseshoe Classic in mid-April as a launching point, going 3-1 with the loss against top-5 Lake Central in a down-to-the-wire heavyweight bout, then harnessed the frustrations of a one-run loss to New Palestine at the end of April to launch them into May and their current 13-game win streak. "The New Pal game put a sour taste in their mouth," Coleman said. "They've got a little of that piss and vinegar in them, I like that." Now the Trojans, led by their seven seniors, await the winner of Brownsburg-Avon in Tuesday's regional championship. They beat both teams by a run during the season, besting the Bulldogs, 7-6, on April 17 and the Orioles, 10-9, on May 12.
Indianapolis Star
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
She has no palm, just 2 fingers on right hand. 'She can do literally anything.' Like hitting over .400
CLAYTON — Brett Taber lights up when asked about Grace Parks. The third-year Cascade softball coach explains how the sophomore played sparingly for the Class 2A state champions last spring as he watches her grab her glove from the dugout and join her teammates along the third-base line in left field. Parks can't stand not playing and she's worked her way into the lineup, Taber continues, proudly pointing to her recent performance vs. Franklin Central (3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs). She hit her first career home run a few days later, highlighting a two-hit, three-RBI effort vs. Indian Creek, and entered the penultimate week of the regular season batting .421 with 24 hits (six doubles), 15 RBIs and nine runs scored. "Her swing, it just mesmerizes me," Taber says, estimating she has one of the fastest swings on the team. The way Taber analyzes Parks' game is how the outfielder/pitcher wants to be recognized. Grace Parks is a multi-sport athlete (volleyball and softball), who happens to have a limb difference. "I like how nobody treats me differently because of it. I'm like a normal player who can do everything that everyone else can do," said Parks, who was born without a palm and with only two fingers — a thumb and pinkie — on her right hand. "My high school teammates and coaches don't exclude me from things. If it's something complicated, like a timed transition drill or relays, I find a way to work around it or they'll work with me," she continued. "It's never: 'Oh we don't think you can do this.' It is: 'No, we believe in you.' … 'You can play, so we're going to play you.'" Sports are like the "great equalizer," her parents observed, an opportunity to stand on level footing with everyone else. "That's what's driven her." Most probably wouldn't expect softball to be Grace's sport of choice. Even her parents, Carly and Bryan Parks, discouraged the athletic youngster from it initially. It's such a hands-oriented sport, Bryan said. "I wasn't sure it would be good for her." 'This is crazy.' Hendricks County softball sisters go head-to-head on the diamond But their daughter had been inspired by her older sister, Sidney Parks (now a senior pitcher at Plainfield) and was determined to follow in her footsteps. We'll see how it goes, her parents told her. Then during one of Sidney's Little League games, a 4-year-old Grace ran down a foul ball behind the backstop — and made the right-handed throw to her parents. "I think she can do it," Carly told her husband. "Grace can literally do anything." Grace was nothing if not eager and determined when she first started, willing to give anything a try as she and Bryan experimented with various approaches to hitting and fielding. The swing Taber raves about? That was step one in determining if Grace could play softball, Bryan said. They went through various bats, grips and swings as they tried to determine what worked with Grace's "tiny, tiny hand," she said, recalling the countless practice sessions at Swinford Park in Plainfield. She wasn't strong enough to support the bat with only her left hand yet, so Bryan had her rest it in the slot between her thumb and pinkie, and raise her right elbow to create a platform for it to rest on. The bat slid down from her shoulder, which kept it level as it came off her elbow, then she would essentially punch the bat with her right hand and whip it through the zone with her left. It was both brilliant and effective, inspired in part by Katelyn Pavey, a softball player in Lanesville who was born with half a left arm with two digits below the elbow. But as she got older, Grace wanted to look like everyone else, to have a normal swing. It was a point of contention initially, Bryan said, but she's now strong enough to support the bat with her left hand and has a more traditional stance. A "mesmerizing" swing, as Taber described it. "It's been a fun, creative challenge to try to help her succeed and she's always been very agreeable to doing what it takes to make it work," Bryan said. "She's a competitor." Hitting came relatively easy for Grace, as did throwing — at least through the first few years of her career when she was able to use her dominant hand. When she decided she not only wanted to continue playing beyond 8U (bigger softballs beginning at 10U), but also wanted to be a pitcher like Sidney, Grace had to learn to throw left-handed. So they continually practiced throwing lefty until she got it down. The biggest challenge was the glove exchange, which involved countless hours studying film and talking with Pavey, who met with the Parks after a game and showed them how she did it. But Pavey, not unlike everyone else they found online — including former Major League Baseball player Jim Abbott, who's written to Grace in the past — had either half an arm or no arm entirely. And in those scenarios, Bryan said, it's actually easier to make the transition than with only one hand. The solution? When Grace is pitching, she uses an 8U starter glove on her right hand that she's able to open and close with two fingers. In the outfield, she catches with her left hand, transitions the glove over and throws the ball with her left hand. Asked if there were sources of inspiration beyond her older sister, Grace recalled attending a camp with Pavey for athletes with limb difference. "It was really cool to see how everyone adjusted and made their own ways," she said. There was a baseball player with no arms, who held his glove in his mouth when he caught the ball, then flipped it up to himself. Another athlete, a woman with no arms, taught her how to do a back handspring. "Some were like me, some were missing a lot more, and they were doing sports just like normal," Grace smiled. "It was like, if they can do that, then I can, too." "She was so young when we started this (and) it's a good thing we tackled it then, because things got very difficult mentally for her in middle school. It gets hard because kids get mean. … Things got a little bumpy." Grace could sense it as she moved into the on-deck circle for her first at-bat a few weeks ago: A couple of fans were staring and pointing at her hand. Grace's physical therapist called her a superhero the first time they met, echoing a sentiment Carly and Bryan have tried impressing upon her over the years. They think she's an amazing inspiration, a superhero, Carly said. "But Grace has never asked for anyone to be inspired by her. She just wants to be thought of as an athlete first." Over the past two years, Carly continued, their daughter has begun embracing it and is learning to talk about her disability in a positive light rather than trying to hide it as she did through middle school. Bryan watched from across the way as his daughter simply stared back at the two fans marveling at her right hand, offering a polite "hey" before taking another practice swing. "I tell myself they think it's cool and that's why they're staring," Grace says, a sly smile forming across her face. "I've been more out with it," Grace continued. "I always thought, oh my gosh, people are gonna treat me differently. They're not gonna like it. … But now I'm just like, it's not really my problem." Following the brief exchange, Grace stepped to the plate and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt in her first at-bat, the prelude to a 2-for-2 performance that included an RBI and two runs scored — and initiated her current six-game hit streak. "Grace is an inspiration to me, how she does all that she does," Sidney said. "I'm so inspired by her. … (And) I'm excited to see her inspire so many young girls, the older she gets."
Indianapolis Star
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
He didn't want to hurdle. Now Rylan Hainje is a breakout star, running times with nation's best
He didn't want to hurdle. Now Rylan Hainje is a breakout star, running times with nation's best "13.7!" Franklin Central junior Rylan Hainje yelled the time when hurdles coach Melinda George first told him, hugging her and his teammates. He repeated it as he walked down the field at Lawrence Central, recovering from his personal-best 110 hurdles time of 13.78 — as though he was trying to convince himself it actually happened. "I couldn't believe I broke it at first," Rylan said. "I was confused." Disbelief turned to excitement as the accomplishment set in. Rylan, who began hurdling last season, had recorded Indiana's top time of 2025 and one of the country's top marks. His success in outdoor comes after a stellar indoor campaign, breaking Indiana's 60 hurdles record multiple times and finishing second at the Hoosier State Relays. You might recognize the name Rylan Hainje. Yes, this Hainje is the son of former Butler basketball standout Rylan Hainje — though playing basketball wasn't in the cards for the younger Hainje. He tried baseball and was good at basketball, but neither sport stuck. The older Hainje said Rylan and one of his brothers just wanted to play sports for fun growing up, so he didn't try to push them into anything. They figured out what they wanted themselves. Rylan didn't find his athletic groove until this indoor track season. He was interested in track as an eighth grader but held off on joining, citing a lack of confidence. Then he tore his knee as a freshman. By sophomore year, he was ready to try the sport. He was not ready to hurdle, however — though he wasn't given a choice. George often works with the team's third- or fourth-best sprinters, converting them to hurdlers. Rylan fit the bill. Hainje was terrified of hurdles initially, George said. They started him with small PVC pipe hurdles and focused on his eight steps to the first hurdle. Then they moved him up. The first practice was nerve-racking, Rylan said, because he didn't know anybody there and didn't want to hurdle. It was his only practice before his first race. He still won. "He was so distressed about it," George said. Rylan didn't like hurdles until sectionals last year, when he hit 15.04 and placed third. With that performance, he knew he could be good at it. His intuition was spot-on. Rylan came out of the gates fast during indoor season. He broke Franklin Central's school record early on. Then he set Indiana's 60 hurdles record with a time of 7.78, and again in 7.76 — among the nation's fastest times. Speed and athleticism have never been a problem for Rylan. Having the confidence needed to perform has been the difficult part of switching to hurdles, he said. His performances vary as he gets in his head, always thinking about parts of races he can change. Rylan barely slept the night before the Hoosier State Relays in March, knowing he would face stiff competition from Merrillville's John Peters. That got in his head, he said. "I was nervous," Hainje said. "When I got out, I knew John had me by the first hurdle." George and his friends have helped when they can. Rylan credited friends Zeke and Jett for pushing him through practices and meets, always telling him he's going to win. And George always tells him not to get in his head. George's goals for Rylan aren't concrete, saying she doesn't know all he's capable of. She just wants him to be comfortable on the track. "I want him to get confident," George said. "I want to see our 300 times drop and I want him to learn that he is strong enough to do multiple events. I want him to have that confidence." It's a work in progress, but the results keep coming. Hainje set a personal best of 13.98 at a tri-meet against Greenwood and Cathedral on April 10. That 13.78 mark at Lawrence Central was a major dip and a major step forward. On Friday at Mooresville, he dropped a 13.66 — one of the fastest times in the nation this year for non-seniors. He's performed well enough to talk with some colleges, including IU and Marian. Rylan's goals for the rest of the year: break the state record in the 110 hurdles and 36.5 seconds in the 300 hurdles, though he expects the latter to be difficult because it's not his best race. He also wants to break Fishers alum Tyler Tarter's hurdles marks at the state meet. Sub-par performances are just data points. Steps on the path toward improved confidence and new records. In fact, his dad's proudest moment was watching him lose at the Hoosier State Relays. It's given Rylan more drive, he said. "For him to lose and (to) see how he bounced back has been tremendous," he said. Vote for track athlete of the week: School records fall and an 8th-grader (!) shines Bouncing back is one of many lessons that can be learned from sports — a topic the older Hainje has thoughts on as a former college athlete. He said he's always told his kids sports have lots to teach them, whether it's dealing with a coach you disagree with or a situation you don't like. Just like having a job, he said, it's something you stick with. George, who has coached hurdles at several Indiana schools, said Hainje has already tied her fastest athlete who won the state meet in 2014. Rylan is a great kid, she said — consistently cheerful. "Rylan's always happy," George said. "He's so excited, like when he first broke the school record and then to break the state record — he's always smiling." That joy was palpable after he crossed the line at Lawrence Central's Kenny Randle Invitational, exhausted but with a new personal best in hand. There will certainly be more of that for Rylan as track and field heats up in May: big smiles, big wins, big hugs, big improvement. Sign up for our high school sports newsletter for all the latest Central Indiana preps latest.
