Rylee May said she is proud to have her name in the record books for home runs for the Brownstown Central softball team.

May, a junior, broke one school record and tied another with one swing of the bat against Columbus North on May 8.

She hit her 13th home run that night to break the old mark of 12 career homers by current assistant coach Katelyn Campbell. May’s sixth round tripper of the season tied Renee Smith’s record.

“It makes me think all my hard work went to use,” she said. “It makes me happy.”

May hit five home runs her sophomore season and two homers her freshman year.

May, who has been batting third in the order this spring, said, “For left-handed batters, most pitches tend to go toward the outside. It can be a screwball or a fastball outside. My favorite pitches are the ones inside.”

She said she enjoys playing home games. The Braves’ home field is located at Brownstown Elementary School.

“It just depends on where the wind is blowing. If the wind is blowing straight out, then yes, (the wind) is pretty good, the climate and everything to hit the ball out,” she said. “But sometimes, the wind will be going (toward left field) and the ball will drift and not go as far. It’s a good field to play on. I hit a lot out in practice. I think practice is really important. It is to get everything down to a T so we’re not making mistakes. And then hitting practice helps us a lot. It’s to get conditioned and everything.”

She said, “Sometimes, if you get a spin ball and get ahold of it, it can go really far. I would say the fastball is the easiest ball to hit out. I would say a rise ball is the hardest pitch to hit just because it’s rising and you can pop it straight up.”

May said she has to adjust her swing from one pitcher to the next.

“I think I swing slightly up just so I can get that elevation that I need because if I don’t, it usually doesn’t go high. Mine really don’t go that high up anyway,” she said.

When she steps into the batter’s box, she said she isn’t necessarily trying to hit a home run.

“If there are runners on, usually, I’m looking to try and get her in and get a good hit that way,” she said. “I enjoy hitting third. I think it just gives us a lot more opportunities for me to have more at-bats, and I like hitting people in. Kelsey Schneider always gets on base.”

May ranks second on the team in average (.468), second in runs (29) and second in RBI (28) and leads the team in doubles with 11.

May said when she is standing in the on-deck circle, she watches the pitches to see the movement of the ball.

“I get feedback from the first two batters if they don’t get on base. They tell me what she throws, and that helps me out. We all help each other out,” she said.

When she is in the on-deck circle, she said she doesn’t see any spin on the ball, but when she steps in to bat, she does.

“I would say one-third of the teams we play have pretty fast pitchers. Indian Creek had a really good pitcher. I thought she was pretty fast, and Columbus North was pretty good,” she said.

May does a lot of pitching for the Braves and also plays first base and outfield.

“My change-up has gotten pretty good (for getting strikeouts), but I wouldn’t say it is my best,” May said. “I would say my curveball or screwball are my best pitches.”

She enjoys her teammates at BCHS.

“I love the girls,” she said. “I have been playing with the girls for a while with travel ball and everything. A lot of us play on the same teams.”

She said she has played with a travel team based in the area.

“It’s the Indiana Gators. Jamie Dillman coaches it. I’m playing U18, so this will be my last year,” she said. “Every year, we’ve played in the nationals. I think our nationals this year are in Louisiana. We play in tournaments almost every weekend in the summer. We go out of state and everywhere. We’ve gone to Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Florida. “

May said she began playing softball at age 8 in Brownstown leagues and also travel ball.

The Braves are hosting a sectional this week. The tournament begins tonight with Milan playing Southwestern (Hanover). The Braves will face Brown County at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.