Where are they now? Emma Howdeshell

Former Rochester shortstop led St. Francis to NAIA national tourney

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Emma Howdeshell

Emma Howdeshell experienced it all during her high school athletic career, and she is blazing trails in college too.

Point guard on two sectional basketball championship teams? Check.

Most goals in a season in Rochester High School girls soccer history? Check.

A .616 batting average over a two-season span with 10 homers and 63 RBIs in softball? She did that too.

It is that last sport where she is still going. She is the starting shortstop on the University of St. Francis softball team that appeared in the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history.

It was a personal milestone for Howdeshell. The trip to Ashland, Ore., for the tournament marked the first time she had traveled by plane – which included a stop-off in Denver on the way there and a stop-off in Los Angeles on the way back – to play softball in college.

Howdeshell’s appearance has coincided with winning at St. Francis. They won 21 games the year before she joined the team in 2024. They won 29 games in 2025. This year, they won a school-record 37 games and won the Crossroads League Tournament for the first time ever before falling to Dordt College in the national tournament on May 12.

“That was a pretty great accomplishment in and of itself,” Howdeshell said of the team making nationals. “You know, just everyone’s reactions when we saw the brackets on selection night, that was just awesome. We found out we were going to Oregon. It was a really fun time, and I’m proud of everyone for what we did there.”

‘It’s been a few years’

Howdeshell graduated from Rochester in 2023, but she had not played on a regular basis since then. She originally signed with NCAA Division II Kalamazoo College but transferred to St. Francis following the 2023-24 school year.

Then she transferred to St. Francis, but she only had 57 at-bats in the 2025 season.

“It’s been a few years,” Howdeshell said. “I only played in a couple fall ball games at Kalamazoo, and since then, it’s been awhile. I feel like I’m still not where exactly I want to be, but I’m still proud of myself for pushing through. Also, my teammates, they’re amazing.”

Ryan Bolyn is the coach at St. Francis, and he urges his players to push the pace – to get in and out of the dugout fast and put pressure on the opponent. Off the field, Howdeshell said he is more than a coach.

“He’s just been there as a coach and as kind of like another father figure when you’re away at school,” Howdeshell said. “He’s always there for you, always pushing you to the best of your abilities. He’s a really great coach.”

Howdeshell lost her freshman softball season at Rochester in 2020 to the pandemic. David Musselman would have been her coach. Becky Lee coached her during her sophomore and junior seasons. Lee stepped down after the 2022 season to focus on motherhood, and Jim Coleman coached her during her senior season.

“I had a few different coaches at Rochester during my time there,” Howdeshell said. “I feel like all of them collectively focused more on the team aspect and not focus on a few players, and I think that’s what’s really helped me. Just overall as a player, focus more on the team. It’s not all about you. My teammates are great about that as well. Just the community that everybody brings. So I think that’s a big part of what I learned from Rochester softball.”

Howdeshell was part of a senior softball class at Rochester that included Kylie Coleman, Sydney Haughs, Maddi Heinzmann and Kallie Watson. Haughs, Heinzmann and Watson were also basketball teammates.

After a pair of 10-win seasons her sophomore and junior years, she got around to clobbering softballs as a senior. She started the year 11 for 12 in her first three games against Plymouth, Triton and Pioneer. She had a single, a double and a homer against Lewis Cass to give her 22 RBIs in the first nine games of the season.

She had 13 multi-hit games and 44 hits total and was listed among players with the best batting averages in the state in a season in which Rochester went 15-7.

She narrowed her college choices to Kalamazoo, Aurora University and St. Francis.

“I felt like I just wanted to be just a little bit closer to home maybe,” Howdeshell said when asked why she transferred from Kalamazoo. “Kalamazoo is also a lot more expensive than St. Francis. That was a big aspect too, and I’m really glad that I did it. I loved my time at Kalamazoo and my teammates there as well, but I feel like St. Francis is where I’m supposed to be definitely.”

Howdeshell was asked what she likes about St. Francis. It starts with Bolyn.

“He’s a big part of it too,” Howdeshell said. “He’s always on campus. You see him in the dining hall. Even the professors there are amazing. Also, the city of Fort Wayne, I love it. I would love to live there even after college. It’s a great city.”

Howdeshell played for the Indiana Gators travel ball team, and Bolyn and assistant coach Doug Gower traveled to a tournament in Ohio to see her play.

“They saw me there, and it’s kind of funny,” Howdeshell said. “Coach Gower locked his keys in his car that day, so that’s just a funny story we have between each other.”

Howdeshell was not the only transfer that Bolyn brought in. The more impactful transfer was third baseman Abby Robakowski, who transferred in from Indiana State. Robakowski, a South Bend native and a New Prairie High School grad, hit .488 with 26 homers and 70 RBIs and a 1.662 OPS in 2026.

But asked about Robakowski, the first thing Howdeshell mentions is not her hitting.

“It’s amazing,” Howdeshell said. “Just her leadership abilities on and off the field, she’s a real leader with her voice and her abilities. It’s awesome to see and awesome to have that kind of character on our team.”

It is just one of many bonds that Howdeshell has made with her teammates. The bonds a college athlete makes are forged through long bus rides on road trips.

“Compared to high school, you grew up with those girls, and it’s sort of a different kind of a bond that you’ll never get again,” Howdeshell said. “But also, you kinda find your people in college, and again, the sense of community and having each other’s backs on and off the field, it’s just a great feeling, and I love all of them.”

Getting serious about softball

Howdeshell played volleyball and basketball as a freshman before the pandemic. She played volleyball, basketball and softball as a sophomore. She played soccer, basketball and softball as a junior.

“I feel like I was always playing every sport growing up, so it kind of felt normal to me,” Howdeshell said. “Honestly, when I went to college, that first summer going into college, it felt kind of weird not having team practices or anything. We were doing basketball, getting ready for volleyball every summer going into the new year for high school. I feel like the pace has slowed down a little bit without playing that many sports. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. It’s nice to focus on one sport and your craft with that.”

She was an athlete for all seasons.

In her one year as a soccer player, her quickness, footwork and balance made her a natural. She scored 23 goals as Rochester went 5-0 in the TRC. She scored as many goals as Macie Nelson, Lilith Eaton and Kendyll Bradley – the girls who were second, third and fourth on the team – did combined.

“I feel like it’s between basketball and soccer actually,” Howdeshell said when asked what her favorite sport was. “I really enjoyed soccer, but I played my junior year, and then I decided I wasn’t going to play a fall sport my senior year to play travel (softball) and get a little bit more exposure. But I miss basketball. I think about basketball a lot.”

After sectional titles as a freshman and a sophomore, she tore her ACL in a basketball game at Caston on Nov. 6, 2021. Not only was she back by the start of softball season five months later, but she was better than ever.

“That softball season right after that happened, I didn’t sit it out,” Howdeshell said. “I felt completely back to normal. At first, it was a little wobbly, but nothing hurt. It was kinda scary putting pressure on that again. Because it was tough that basketball season. Like we just talked about, playing non-stop all the time, and that slowed it down a lot. But it was awesome to see that kind of aspect too – just being there for your teammates off the court.”

As for softball, she played with the Purple Crush travel team growing up – Jim Coleman was her coach – along with the group of girls that would be her eventual high school teammates. Future Tippecanoe Valley players Molly Moriarty, Corinna Stiles and Kaydence Mellott were also her teammates. Then came a travel team called the Sluggers.

But asked when she got serious about softball, she said going into her junior year at Rochester when she joined the Gators, based out of Franklin. She said she was starting to think about playing somewhere collegiately, though she also said that she was thinking about playing college basketball.

And instead of coming back to play soccer the fall of her senior year, she played travel softball instead with hopes to get more exposure from colleges.

“I’m really happy with my decisions, and I feel like God placed me where I needed to be at each stage of my life, and it’s worked out awesome for me,” Howdeshell said.

Kayla Craft, now the softball coach at Franklin Community High School, was her travel ball coach with the Gators.

“I still love her to this day,” Howdeshell said. “She was one of my favorite coaches. I really miss her. She’s awesome.”

Coaching changes

Brian Jennings replaced Lisa Pflueger as Rochester girls basketball coach following the 2017-18 season, and with a reconstructed roster, Rochester went 8-14 in Jennings’ first season in 2018-19 when Howdeshell was an eighth-grader.

The following year, sparked by senior leaders like Maci Brown, Kensey McKee and Genni Isbell and junior sharpshooter Kaitlin Rogers and invigorated by sophomores like Kami Burkett, Emily Hughes and Lexy Thomas and freshmen like Howdeshell, Watson, Kennedy Jackson and Millie Scorsone, the team jumped up to 18 wins and tied with Northfield for the TRC title.

They then beat Delphi by 20 and pulled through nailbiters against Carroll (Flora) and Manchester to win the sectional.

“Maci Brown was a big part of that as well,” Howdeshell said. “She was a great leader for me at that time. For sure. … That was a great time. It was awesome. I feel like I didn’t realize how big of a moment it was. I don’t know why. Looking back, I’m like, wow, we were young, and we really put it all out there. I miss it. It was awesome.”

The following season included a three-week COVID-related break, and Rochester carried just a 9-8 record going into the sectional, but they beat Wabash, Delphi and Manchester to win another sectional.

“I feel like we all stuck together,” Howdeshell said. “Practices, we worked hard, and that was our goal, and we did it. I feel like that honestly helped us and pushed us.”

Rily Holloway transferred in from Tippecanoe Valley and joined the junior group of Howdeshell, Watson, Haughs, Jackson and Heinzmann for the 2021-22 season. 

That team started 2-3 before a win at Maconaquah sparked a six-game winning streak. They went 7-1 over their final eight games before a loss to Pioneer and future Indiana All-Star and current Northern Illinois player Ashlynn Brooke in the sectional quarterfinal ended a 16-win season.

After the season, Jennings stepped down, and Joel Burrus replaced him.

Rochester went 11-13 during Howdeshell’s senior season. The season ended with a loss to Bremen in a Class 3A sectional quarterfinal.

“It was a little bit of a difference,” Howdeshell said. “I love both of them. They were great coaches. I really enjoyed my time with both of them. I guess their views of the game of basketball are just a little different, so I guess that’s the only difference – just the game play part of it.”

Meanwhile, the softball program was also going through a coaching change. Howdeshell said she enjoyed Lee, who gave the perspective of a former Division I player during her days at Indiana State. She said Robakowski brought a similar perspective to St. Francis.

But Coleman had been her travel ball coach years previously.

“It was great to have them both as coaches,” Howdeshell said. “Jim, growing up playing for him and finally having him our senior year, it was awesome.”

Howdeshell’s high school athletic career ended with a loss to Winamac in the sectional at Fansler Field.

Bonds that are still there

She said she remains close with Kylie Coleman, Haughs, Heinzmann and Watson as well as former basketball teammate Elizabeth Weaver.

“Our bond is still there,” Howdeshell said. “We were at the regional softball game (against Western Boone) a few months ago. … It’s just been awesome to grow up with them and to have them through all the sports that I’ve played. You grow amazing bonds with people when you go through sports together.”

You might see Howdeshell this summer working at Dick’s Drive-In.

Though she graduated from high school three years ago, she said still has three years of eligibility remaining. She is an elementary education major. Long term, she wants to be a teacher.

She said her second grade teacher Joanna Johnson was a particularly inspiring teacher who brought out her love for language arts and writing.

“I just hope to be a safe place for kids,” Howdeshell said. “And I really enjoy being around kids, and I really enjoy the kindergarten-through-second-graders. They’re awesome, and I love being in the classrooms at St. Francis. For our classes, we go to elementary schools in Fort Wayne, and that’s really a great experience, and I loved every second of it.”