Brownstown softball set to start season today at Jennings County

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The Brownstown Central softball team will begin its quest for a sectional title today as the Braves open their season on the road at Jennings County.

Brownstown had its first game of the season postponed on Tuesday at Hauser, and that game will look to be made up on Friday.

But the Braves are amped to take the field for the first time this spring.

“We, coaches and players, are very excited to get the season started,” head coach Darren Bryant said. “We are looking forward to being back in 2A for the postseason and for the first time ever, will get to host the sectionals this year. We feel that if we can stay healthy — we have a couple of players that are nursing some injuries right now — we have the talent to be very competitive in our conference and in the sectionals. We lost some very good players to graduation last year, but we have a lot of good players returning and some incoming freshman that will contribute.”

Of the returning players, there is one senior in Rylin Huddleston. Huddleston will be Brownstown’s No. 1 pitcher this year.

“We will be depending on her to pitch a lot of innings for us,” Bryant said. “She has looked good in practice, and I believe she be improved from last year.”

In addition to Huddleston, Bryant said Kelsey Schneider and Rylee May will also see consistent time in the circle, and he expects those two to be reliable as well.

With a small senior class, Bryant is expecting a lot from his juniors this season.

“Kelsey led us in hitting last season and will be at the top of the order again where her speed and ability to get on base should be threat to score every game,” he said. “The junior class will be depended on to carry us on offense and defense. Emily Dillman will do the majority of the catching, and she, along with Rylee May and Kyndle Huddleston, should be consistent hitters.

“Adelynn Anderson is our other junior and she has been very solid defensively at second base. Kinzee Dean played mostly outfield last year but she will be all over the field this season depending on who is pitching. She has a very strong arm and is a good enough athlete to play multiple positions.”

Last year was Bryant’s first year at the helm of the Braves’ program. The team went 15-12 and 5-3 in the Mid-Southern Conference. In the sectional, Brownstown had Silver Creek on the ropes but fell just short 5-3.

As Bryant mentioned, the Braves are moving to 2A this season instead of 3A. Last year, Brownstown didn’t lose any games to a 1A or 2A school.

“So, we hope to repeat that again but to also win our share of games against the bigger schools on our schedule,” Bryant said.

After the two road games to start the season at Jennings County and Hauser, Brownstown will open at home this Saturday for a round robin against North Decatur and Southwestern Hanover, starting at 10 a.m.

Bryant feels like as long as his team can avoid the injury bug, the Braves have a chance to do special things this spring.

“Our main goal is to win the sectional and if we can stay healthy I think we will have a great chance to do that,” he said. “We are low in numbers this season, so we can’t afford too many injuries and that may be the biggest key to our season.”

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