Insider: What I'm watching as IHSAA softball sectionals begin

It's IHSAA softball sectionals time!

Here are some of the biggest storylines involving area teams for the 2022 state tournament. For an in-depth look at teams like Roncalli, Tri-West and New Palestine, check out this week's Fab 15.

Fab 15: Breaking down top Central Indiana teams entering sectionals

That Carmel-Hamilton Southeastern rematch

If it's a Sectional 8 game and Hamilton Southeastern is involved, chances are it's going to be entertaining. The best example of this: The Royals' late-March clash with Carmel, which featured 49 runs, 40 hits and ended with a 26-23 win for the Greyhounds.

There's a decent chance Monday's rematch will be equally prolific.

HSE has three batters hitting around .400 (Payton Fox, Lani Wyrick and Taylor Larson), plus a sophomore in Jenna Chase who is among the team leaders in homers and RBIs.

More local softball: 49 runs. 40 hits. And a trio of homering triplets. Carmel-HSE had it all.

Hope McDonald, Lily Sullivan, Elsa Morrison and Sophie Esposito have all driven in over 20 runs for Carmel (McDonald, Morrison and Esposito are also closing in on 10 home runs); Ella Ohrvall is batting over .400.

Morrison, a freshman catcher, has been very good in her debut season, batting around .480 with nine homers (she's homered in three straight games) and 28 RBIs. She's also proven to be a very dependable defensive presence behind the plate.

Sectional 8 (Fishers): Carmel vs. Hamilton Southeastern. Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Gabby Fowler's power surge

Noblesville sophomore Gabby Fowler is on some kind of heater. She has hit eight home runs in the past seven games, and carried a six-game homer streak into the regular season finale vs. North Central. She has 11 home runs on the season with 35 RBIs and a .479 batting average.

Fowler's 11 dingers rank second in the state and eighth nationally, according to MaxPreps.

The Millers' first-round opponent, Westfield, is led by IU-bound senior Avery Parker, who has already broken her own single-season record with 15 home runs.

Couple other notes from Sectional 8: Zionsville has been on the wrong end of some very close games this season, with its losses to HSE, Guerin Catholic, Westfield, Avon and Cathedral all coming by four runs or fewer.

Fishers has some very talented pieces on its roster, and played close games against Shelbyville (let lead slip away, lost in extra innings) and Pendleton Heights down the stretch.

Sectional 8 (Fishers): Noblesville vs. Westfield. Monday, 7 p.m.

Mt. Vernon eyes a three-peat

The senior-less Marauders have a good young pitcher in freshman Graci Hines, who has 10 wins — she helped her own cause Saturday with a go-ahead home run in the third vs. Elwood — an ERA around 1.40 and 110 strikeouts (ninth most among Indiana freshmen) over 90 innings pitched.

Hines is also batting over .300 with three homers and 13 RBIs, and is bolstered in the lineup by sophomores Easton Wampler and Shelby Rakosky.

The Marauders beat New Palestine and lost by a run to Yorktown in May, but securing a rematch with Pendleton Heights in the championship game will require avenging a 3-0 loss to Greenfield-Central on Monday. The Arabians beat Mt. Vernon 14-1, but Hines did not pitch that game.

Sectional 9 (Pendleton Heights): Mt. Vernon vs. Greenfield-Central. Monday, 7 p.m.

Can Brownsburg right the ship?

The Bulldogs lost five of seven in May to drop back to the .500 mark entering sectionals

That's the bad news. The good news: We caught a glimpse of what this team is capable of amidst its 8-4 start wherein the losses were to Center Grove in extra innings, Tri-West, Castle and Pendleton Heights, and the wins included Cathedral, Mooresville and Lake Central.

Kelsey Endress is a solid option in the circle, and the lineup brings talented pieces with Kaylee Larkin, Izzy Neal, Ashleigh Tranter, Hailey Thompson and Macy Twomey.

Fun fact: Avon is the only sectional opponent Brownsburg has played this season, dropping an 8-7 decision on April 26.

Sectional 12 (Plainfield): Brownsburg vs. Terre Haute North/Plainfield. Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Trojans vs. Pioneers

This is the one I'm most fired up for.

Center Grove graduated its entire pitching staff from last season, but sophomore pitcher Riley Henson has been magnificent in her first full varsity season, and the lineup has been strong against a stacked schedule, with two upperclassmen (Lex Warner and Ashlynn Wolff) and a pair of sophomores (Hannah Haberstroh and Riley Janda) doing most of the damage.

The Trojans are the defending champs, but Mooresville has the pieces for a deep run as it tries to advance to regionals for the first time since 2007. It starts with IU-bound junior Alex Cooper, the team's ace and most formidable threat at the plate. She's backed up in the circle by fellow junior Josi Hair, and flanked in the lineup by Madison Poulson, Kendall Grover, Zoey Kugelman and Kendall Lowry, all of whom are batting over .400. Maddie Gainey has also been very good offensively.

CG topped Mooresville, 5-1, in last year's sectional championship game.

Sectional 13 (Mooresville): Center Grove vs. Mooresville. Monday, 6 p.m.

Sectional 24 grudge match

Another Guerin-Yorktown championship game would sure be fun, if for no other reason than the opportunity to watch Izzy Kemp, Guerin's Dayton-bound ace, square off against Alanah Jones, Yorktown's Purdue Fort Wayne-bound ace.

Kemp, who carries a 0.73 ERA and 199 strikeouts (averages about two per inning), threw a no-hitter vs. North Central, and has contained the likes of Westfield, Carmel, Roncalli and Pendleton Heights.

Jones, who leads a veteran Tigers bunch, has collected wins over Shelbyville, Fishers, Noblesville and most recently Pendleton Heights, against whom she threw a one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts to secure Yorktown a share of the HHC title. She has a 0.57 ERA with 162 strikeouts and a .104 batting average against.

Sectional 24 (Delta): Championship. Saturday, 11 a.m.

Sectional 43 ripe for chaos

Cascade holds the best record with a resume that includes wins of North Central, Danville, Tri-West (twice) Mooresville and Plainfield, and a very talented roster, headlined by pitchers Megan Walker and Gracelynn Gray. Freshman Tara Gruca, sophomore Kylie Sturm, junior Ruby Gray and senior Ella Cochenour have all been dependable both at the plate and in the field.

The one Class 2A team to play Cascade close this season? That would be Monrovia, which picked up a strong performance from freshman Kaitlyn Mattocks (one earned run on five hits, five strikeouts) in a 3-0 loss.

The Bulldogs are situated on the opposite side of the bracket, but their path to a potential rematch is tricky.

Covenant Christian capitalized on five Monrovia errors, scoring three unearned runs in a 10-5 loss. Of note: Freshman standout Ariannah Jones did not play vs. Monrovia. Other names to know: Morgan Yeater, Emma Groves and Alivia Tucker.

Speedway lurks in the semifinals. The Sparkplugs beat Monrovia, 5-1, in late April. Sophomore Erica Ray allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk, while Malinda Bryant, Rainee Gordon and Maggie Endres all drove in runs.

Sectional 43 (Cascade): Championship. Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Edinburgh looks to defend title

The defending sectional champion Lancers are .500 on the season, but their dance card includes teams like Whiteland and Center Grove. They went unbeaten against sectional foes, and wrapped up the regular season with a 1-0 victory over potential semifinal opponent Waldron.

A Lancer to know: Gracie Crawhorn. The junior is batting .667 with a .733 on base percentage, 33 RBIs and 41 runs scored. She has also 16 homers and logged an extra base hit in 10 straight games.

Sectional 59 (Lutheran): Edinburgh vs. Lutheran. Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school softball playoffs: Sectionals preview, storylines