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Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Kaden Poppe's move to designated player lets her ‘focus on hitting.' Her bat lets Hanover Central win.
No matter how much Hanover Central junior Kaden Poppe invested, defense remained her greatest nemesis. Instead of having Poppe spend more time on a part of her game that wasn't clicking, Wildcats coach Sam Antkiewicz gave her a different option: forget about defense altogether and become the designated player. For Poppe, the move worked. 'It made me focus on hitting,' she said. 'That's all I had to do, just hit. I didn't have to worry about anything else. I just had to do this for the team because that's where they needed me.' Poppe delivered Tuesday night with a pair of hits, kick-starting Hanover Central's 5-1 victory against host Highland in a Class 3A regional championship game. Poppe and the Wildcats (15-12) will play Columbia City (19-5) in the Twin Lakes Semistate semifinal on Saturday after steadily pulling away from the Trojans (19-12) with runs that were not easy to come by, according to Antkiewicz. 'We knew we were going to get a game and we had to be firing on all cylinders,' he said. 'We were struggling for runs early, but we kept getting good pitching and were able to scratch some runs across.' That quality pitching came from freshman Jillian DeYoung, who allowed one unearned run, four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Batting sixth, Poppe got Hanover Central's offense going in the second inning, when she reached base with a single and scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by junior catcher Sienna Stilley, a Jacksonville State commit. Poppe also singled in the fifth before being replaced by a pinch runner, sophomore Jordan Varble, who scored to extend the lead to 3-0. Poppe's hits were the result of a simple approach at the plate. 'I was just thinking about getting a base hit,' she said. 'We just had to get base runners. We didn't need any big hits. It was a good team effort because everyone was putting the ball in play.' Putting the ball in play wasn't as easy for Poppe earlier this season, when she was trying to nail down a position at third base. 'I struggled with my glovework for a long time, and then I would carry my errors into my at-bats,' she said. 'I was even putting in work outside of practice, but I just wasn't getting it. Sometimes that happens.' A solution arrived midseason when sophomore Kendall LaReau was promoted from Hanover Central's junior varsity team and provided a reliable glove at third base. Poppe was moved to designated player to focus solely on hitting while LaReau handled third. Poppe had no issue with the new role. 'I knew that somebody I trusted and somebody who was able to do the job was going to take that spot,' Poppe said. LaReau also didn't have any reservations. 'We're a good duo,' she said. 'We both do our jobs very well.' Until the Wildcats scored a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, including Stilley's 15th homer, their lead was built by the bottom four spots in the batting order. 'Anyone on this team can hit,' Antkiewicz said. 'We're not just a one-player team.'
Indianapolis Star
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
These former Indiana high school softball players are in the NCAA softball Super Regionals
NCAA softball Super Regionals begin Friday with the winner of these best-of-three series advancing to the Women's College World Series. Meet the five former Indiana high school stars looking to help punch their team's ticket to Oklahoma City. The freshman from Hanover Central is batting .317 with 20 hits, 13 runs scored and six RBIs. She's swiped six bases and her collection of hits includes two doubles and a homer. Comia is also perfect thus far in the field, notching 14 putouts and 16 assists. Lowry, a 2024 Tri-West grad, is 6-0 in the circle with a 3.17 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 42 innings pitched. She played a crucial role in the Sooners' come-from-behind win over Arkansas in the SEC tournament, pitching three shutout innings with three strikeouts as OU rallied for an 8-6 win. A junior utility player from Carmel, Norris has appeared in 29 games as a pinch runner this season, logging seven steals and scoring 12 runs. Liberty, which upset No. 1-seed Texas A&M in the regional, plays at No. 16 Oregon this weekend. The former Roncalli star is 14-5 with a 3.45 ERA and 89 strikeouts through 111.2 innings pitched (24 appearances). She's thrown seven complete games (four shutouts) and is allowing a .257 batting average against. Rothrock's also logged a hit and two RBIs at the plate. No. 3 Florida hosts Georgia for its best-of-3. A South Bend St. Joseph graduate, Zache has appeared in nine games this season, collecting two hits in four at-bats. She's scored four runs and notched her first career RBI in the regional against Cal. No. 2 Oklahoma hosts No. 15 Alabama.
Chicago Tribune
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Henry Maurer finds ‘his voice as a leader.' Hanover Central finding success in postseason is no coincidence.
This sectional title means something to Hanover Central's Henry Maurer. The Wildcats' first such achievement in basketball since the 2019-20 season, which was abbreviated by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, is the culmination of a multiyear process for Maurer and five other seniors who lost in sectional finals in each of the previous two seasons. 'It's a great feeling,' Maurer said. 'I've never had it before. I mean, I did freshman year for football. But coming up short two years in basketball, to finally that senior year have that feeling of success in the playoffs, it's a great feeling, especially with these guys. 'Quite a few of us have been playing varsity for almost four years now, so it's the same group every year coming back, coming back, coming back. To finally get it that fourth year, it's a great feeling to have.' Maurer and the Wildcats (15-11) will try to add to that feeling when they play East Chicago Central (19-8) in the Class 3A Michigan City Regional on Saturday. Hanover Central will be seeking its first regional title after defeating River Forest 67-50 in the Kankakee Valley Sectional championship game on March 8. Maurer, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward, is averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds — standout senior forward/center Brad Rohde leads in both categories — and a team-high 2.8 assists on a team with five seniors in the starting lineup. Maurer is also in his second season as a captain, a responsibility he shares with Rohde and senior guard Max Wiancek. 'Henry is very good to play with and to lead a team with,' Rohde said. 'Over the past three years both starting, we've developed very good chemistry on and off the court, along with Max, who's been starting since sophomore year with us as well. 'Every game, he guards the other team's best player, which isn't an easy task, but he's always up for it. On offense, he's shooting the three great this year and has been very good around the rim as well.' Maurer started a handful of games as a freshman but was primarily the sixth man. He entered the lineup as a sophomore, averaging 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds, before posting 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 assists last season. 'I'm bigger and stronger, for sure,' Maurer said. 'But I've also grown mentally. Whenever I'm faced with difficulty or struggle or adversity, I handle it much better now than I have in previous years. 'I'm better at communicating, better with the ball in my hands, better off the ball. My overall skill in general has improved.' Hanover Central coach Brad Stangel has watched Maurer grow. 'What you see is what you get,' Stangel said of Maurer. 'He's a great kid. He's found his voice as a leader. He's always a hard worker. He's always led by example. 'We asked him to do some things as a freshman. We asked him to do a little more as a sophomore. Over the last three or fourth months, he's found his voice as a leader. That's important. This group, which is as close a team as any I've ever coached before, they like each other. They give each other a hard time once in a while. But the cohesiveness and camaraderie of this group has prepared them for success. Him finding his voice and not having to run into a wall all the time has helped us.' Stangel, who led Andrean to the Class 2A state title in 2019 and is in his fourth season at Hanover Central, believes this team has paid its dues to reach this point. 'It's one of those things you don't see very much anymore in sports,' he said. 'They stick together. They lose as sophomores, they lose as juniors, but they stick together. No one leaves, and they get over the hump. I just don't see that anymore. 'People are so quick to jump, so quick to go other places or complain about this, that or the other thing. These guys stuck together, and with some of the young guys, it was a really gratifying win for them on Saturday (in the sectional final against River Forest). That was great.' Maurer has taken his position in that group seriously. 'Being a captain of the team, I do like to take the leadership role,' he said. 'We all lead in our own ways — example, voice and some like to teach. I try to do my best to check every box of leadership on and off the court. It's important to lead not only the team but individuals too. Everyone works differently.' Maurer learned from his brothers Adam, a golfer who graduated in 2017, and Luke, a regional qualifier in the long jump who graduated in 2020. 'Having two older brothers to beat up on you when you were a little kid definitely makes me tougher now,' Maurer said with a laugh. 'Even some of the trash talk from the other teams, you just laugh it off because you're so used to it because of your brothers. They're a big reason why I'm the guy I am today.' Maurer started on Hanover Central's football team for three seasons, playing wide receiver on offense and linebacker and safety on defense. He said he enjoys both sports but considers himself more of a basketball player. Maurer could've had opportunities to play in college, but he intends to go to Purdue to study construction management technology. 'I want to build houses when I get out of college,' he said. 'I want to get an internship hopefully sophomore, junior year, and then hopefully it just takes off from there. I want to be the reason why families stay safe at night. I want to build a secure home for them. That would be pretty cool for me.' Maurer is prepared to play recreationally. 'I'm going to try to walk on,' Maurer said. 'I understand it may not be that realistic because they're DI, Big Ten and all that. I don't know if I'm that good. I have the talent to play at a DIII or an NAIA or possibly a DII level. But I've done a lot of thinking about it. I've done a lot of talking about it with my family. 'I'm going to miss playing with a team, playing for a crowd, playing for fans and something bigger than me. But I can enjoy basketball and what I can do alone and just being able to play on my own time.' Maurer hopes to extend his time with the Wildcats for as long as possible. 'It's the team morale,' he said. 'We've been doing a lot of things together on and off the court. This year, we've really made it a focus to become one, not to have our own little separate groups, just come together as a team. It really does help. 'Everyone talks about, 'Oh, hey, team bonding outside of school.' It's like a cheesy thing sometimes. But I really do think it's important for that aspect of the team to come through.'
