CHS softball, under its new head coach, Erin Cochran, has improved production at the plate dramatically over the season. The team was 1-5 as of April 17th, but has since gone 8-3. They sit a t fourth in the conference, behind state contender Lake Central, Crown Point, and Laporte.
Chesterton’s starting pitchers are junior Hannah Florian, sophomore Ava Vagner, and freshman Payton Cherep. The three complement each other quite well, with each having a different arsenal on the mound.
“Hannah Florian is doing really well. She comes in with a nice riseball and a good curveball. Payton Cherep has a drop ball and a good curveball and Ava Vagner has a killer changeup”, Cochran said.
Cochran would like for her pitchers to throw a complete game, but she will sometimes put in a different one part way through the game in order to give the other team a different look.
At the plate, Chesterton sophomore and starting catcher Olivia Milton leads the team in home runs with four. Hannah Florian leads the team in batting average (.405) and on base percentage (.510). Chesterton’s lineup took a big hit when junior Lila Miller broke her foot during preseason in a baserunning drill. However, Miller has gotten back into the swing of things and been able to be a big factor for the Trojans offensive production, despite her injury. She has ten runs batted in and one home run. Chesterton senior Alexia Franco will be sorely missed next season, because of her explosive bat and reliable glove.
“Alexia has been an amazing center fielder. She has that speed where she can hunt down every ball, she can throw someone out at home, and hitting wise, she can bunt for a hit and she can power it over the fence. She has been doing a great job.,” Cochran said.
Franco has a .393 batting average, leads the team in runs with 22, and has a perfect fielding percentage (according to MaxPreps.com).
Chesterton’s biggest achievement on the season: taking down Laporte in a revenge conference matchup. In early April, Laporte dealt Chesterton a hard 10-0 loss. On April 30th, Florian pitched a near flawless game, giving up one earned run. Chesterton showed dramatic growth at the plate, and won 9-2. Chesterton’s improvement under Coach Cochran has fans very optimistic about the team come postseason.
Chesterton has a short stretch of the regular season left, and begins their postseason journey during the Sectional round at Chesterton, playing a conference clash against Valpo first on May 28 at 5pm. On the other side of the bracket, Hobart faces the winner of Portage vs Merrillville. The sectional championship game is on May 30th at 5pm.
