With the 2025 softball season about to get in full gear, let's take a look at the five squads in the Bloomington area and the big question each one has heading into the spring.
Also note the new sectional alignments — Class 4A at Terre Haute South: Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Martinsville, TH North, TH South; Class 3A at Edgewood: Cascade, Edgewood, Indianapolis George Washington, Northview, Owen Valley, Speedway; Class 2A at Linton: Eastern Greene, Linton, North Knox, South Knox, Sullivan, West Vigo.
How will Bloomington South's pitching sort itself out?
COACH — Meg Montgomery, 23rd season. LAST YEAR — 13-8, 3-2 CI.
RETURNING STARTERS — Carly Reed, Jr. 2B; Akasha Burton, Sr. CF; Larkyn Ivey, Jr. SS; Lindsey Blanton, Jr. C; Evie Carpenter, Sr. LF; Abby Purtlebaugh, So. 3B/C; Sloane Barrett, So. RF.
OUTLOOK — Panthers lose their top two pitchers to graduation but bring the bulk of its batting order back. There are only two seniors (Burton and Carpenter) so it's a young group with seven freshmen, but there's still plenty of varsity experience there.
Not so much for the pitching staff, which will be an all-freshman group save for Ivey, who will pick up some innings. Their growth will ultimately determine where the Panthers end up by the end of the year.
Pitching: Freshmen Rachel Johnson, Brilee McGlothlin, Shilo Rockhill, and Perry Murphy will get the call in the circle and how Montgomery will use them is up in the air. It's possible it could be a group effort each night but the goal will be to get them as many innings each as possible between varsity and JV games.
"They'll all see pitching time," Montgomery said. "They're all hitting their spots well. Yes, we have some young pitching, but they've been playing a long time, we've just got to help them adjust to high school softball. But they are coachable and work hard. They all have different looks, different pitches, and different speeds. But they need innings to build confidence, so early on, we'll be figuring out a few things there."
Batting order: The Panthers have a wealth of bats and speed, so they should be able to score in lots of ways whether by power or working station to station, and they should handle themselves well on defense. Scoring runs early will go a long way to help settle in the young staff.
The outfield is set behind Burton, a Huntington commit looking for a strong comeback after injury slowed her last year, in left, Carpenter in left, and sophomore Slone Barrett in right.
They'll cover a lot of ground and get the ball to the right places. On the infield, Reed is back at second with Ivey taking over at shot and All-Stater Purtlebaugh at third and at catcher, sharing the spot with Blanton, who will play a big role in guiding the young arms. Sophomore Taylor Crohn is the new first baseman and Aminah Saahir will fill a utility role. Freshmen Bella Simmons (1B), Savannah Huffman (SS/3B) and Addy Suhr will push for time.
