All-RTC4 softball: Caston’s tough, excellent Zimpleman is Player of Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC Softball Player of the Year Addison Zimpleman

Addison Zimpleman is as tough as she is good, and we already knew that she is very, very good.

Then she took a ferocious line drive off her right thigh while pitching against Westfield in a tournament game at Kokomo on April 19. The video is on social media, but one should be warned that it is somewhat disturbing to watch.

Approximately 18 hours later, she was back on the field against Class 4A state power South Bend St. Joe and then against Kokomo. In those two games, she went 4 for 6 with two doubles and a homer and two RBIs, and she also was back in the circle against Kokomo in a 10-9 Caston win.

She did this while wearing a football-style pad to protect her thigh.

It’s just a snapshot in the season for our RTC4 Player of the Year.

A Purdue Fort Wayne signee, she hit .581 with eight homers and 24 RBIs for the season. She also went 15-3 with a 1.58 ERA in the circle as she had to essentially double the amount of innings she pitched the previous season after the graduation of Kinzie Mollenkopf.

Leading Caston to their third straight undefeated Hoosier North title, she will be remembered for being one of the players that changed the way Caston softball – and for that matter, Caston girls sports – is perceived.

Zimpleman highlights our All-RTC4 team which follows. We would like to thank area coaches for sending us their stats and talking to us throughout the season.

There seemingly are more good teams and players than ever, and we put some good players at positions that might not be their primary position in order to recognize them. But to be clear, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.

First team

Pitchers

Addison Zimpleman (Caston) (RTC4 Player of the Year) – Zimpleman’s eight homers might be her lowest in four years, but homers throughout the state seemed down. And it’s also worth mentioning that she went from five homers allowed in the circle to two homers allowed in nearly twice as many innings.
Dalynne Bussard (Tippecanoe Valley) – Bussard is only a sophomore but carried herself like a veteran and continued to compete with a very young roster around her. You can ignore her 8-9 record. Instead, focus on her 215 strikeouts against only 16 walks in 114 ⅓ innings.
Bria Rensberger (Rochester) – Rensberger had one of the better pitching seasons in decades at Rochester, and she did it as a freshman, going 13-5 with a 1.35 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 114 innings. Speaking of toughness, we will not forget taking a liner off her knee against Lewis Cass in the sectional quarterfinals and staying in the game and finishing off a two-hitter and striking out 17.

Catchers

Kylee Logan (Caston) – Logan hit .385 with four homers and 29 RBIs, and she is also a solid catcher defensively as a game-caller. She and Zimpleman were the area’s best battery.
Corrin Combs (Winamac) – Combs hit .366 with four homers and 28 RBIs, and she just never has a bad game. She is always contributing offensively. Next year, Winamac’s opponents will circle her name and not let her try and beat them.
Casey Webb (Pioneer) – Webb hit .384 with four homers and 26 RBIs, and she did it somewhat quietly out of the No. 8 spot in the Pioneer order. She almost was the hero of the sectional final with her home run off Rensberger before Rochester came back.

Infielders

Isabel Scales (Caston) – The softer softballs that did not travel as far might have hindered Scales more than any other player in our area. So while we are surprised that she had only four homers, she still pounded line drive after line drive to the tune of a .514 batting average and a team-best 34 RBIs.
Lois Layer (Pioneer) – Yes, Layer was primarily a pitcher, but we are putting her on this team as an infielder as she was also a very good shortstop. She hit .474 with seven homers and 47 RBIs. At 5-2, she is a powder keg in the batters box, just blowtorching balls to the left-center field gap with regularity. Pioneer has a star for three more years.
Aubrey Wilson (Rochester) – Some freshmen take awhile to get acclimated or to get over the initial nerves; Wilson, on the other hand, tripled in her first at-bat and never stopped hitting. She finished with a .573 batting average and an OPS of over 2.200. Throw in 28 stolen bases, and she gave the Lady Zs pretty similar production to what Emma Howdeshell gave the team in 2023.
Maggie Smith (Winamac) – Every team would love to have a leadoff hitter with a .557 on-base percentage, and that’s what Smith gave Winamac. In addition, she moved to shortstop after playing center field earlier in her career and looked fluid at that spot.
Mackaylie Costello (Tippecanoe Valley) – Costello hit .385 with two homers and 16 RBIs, and she also covered a lot of ground at shortstop.
Macee Hinderlider (Caston) – Caston coach Jon Burks moved Hinderlider around the batting order before finally settling on the No. 9 spot again. She hit .394 with 23 RBIs, which was impressive because No. 9 batters typically do not have a lot of runners on base when they bat. Also, she was the best defensive third baseman in our area, and opponents could not get any kind of short game going against Caston often because of her.
Addison Kennell (Pioneer) – Kennell hit .370 with one homer and 27 RBIs, and she is the other freshman star on the Lady Panthers. She gave tough at-bats to even the best pitchers in the area.

Outfielders

Kylie Attinger (Pioneer) – If you would like to show somebody what a slap hitter looks like, Attinger would be the way to go. She has long strides and can punch a ball through the hole on either side of the diamond. She is just about impossible to defend.
Aubrey Miller (Rochester) – Her knee issues early in the season were cause for concern, but she started making better contact, and then she and Miller flip-flopped in the lineup, and she moved to the No. 2 spot, and all of a sudden, she was a menace and causing havoc on the bases. She finished with a .357 batting average.
Abigayle Zehner (Culver) – Zehner turned promise into production as a sophomore in center field for the Lady Cavs. She had four RBIs
Emma Sells (Pioneer) – We know that Sells played mostly first base this season and had been a second baseman prior to this year, but she did play some outfield early in the season, and we had to find a way to get her .620 on-base percentage on this team. She was pesky, striking out only seven times in 101 plate appearances.
Maggie Keller (Winamac) – Keller had an excellent freshman season, hitting .342 with 14 RBIs.
Adeline Cripe (Pioneer) – The versatile Cripe found a home in center field and hit .365 while covering the gaps and showing off a great throwing arm.
Alexa Finke (Caston) – Finke’s .292 batting average was a sign of huge progression as a hitter, and she was Caston’s best bunter, if not the area’s best bunter. She did it all while moving from right field to center field, filling a huge void after Bailey Harness graduated.