MaxPreps crowns Roncalli softball national champion, Keagan Rothrock Player of the Year

Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read

By any measure, Roncalli softball was historically good in 2022: A 32-0 run to the Class 4A state championship, a run differential of 322-22 and a number of records, both team and individual.

Its resume also includes a growing collection of national awards.

MaxPreps recognized the Royals as its 2022 National Champion as the top-ranked team in the nation and ranked them sixth among the all-time greatest softball teams earlier this month. On Wednesday, the site named juniors Lyla Blackwell, Abbey Hofmann and Keagan Rothrock to its All-American team, with Rothrock tabbed National Player of the Year — her second such award of the season (she was named Gatorade POY earlier this month).

More: Roncalli broke records, laughed a ton, shed tears and danced to another state title.

The Florida-bound Rothrock finished the season 28-0 with five perfect games, three additional no-hitters, a 0.70 ERA and 382 strikeouts over 170.1 innings. Among the top-ranked players in her class, she matched the state record for career perfect games (10) and batted .523 with 14 home runs, four triples and 55 RBIs.

Joining Rothrock on the All-American team were Blackwell, a Virginia Tech commit, and Hofmann, both of whom earned second-team honors.

Blackwell batted .523 and set school records for steals (33) and runs scored (53), while Hofmann matched Rothrock for the school record with 55 RBIs, plus a .521 batting average, 10 home runs and 35 runs scored.

The Roncalli trio was joined on the MaxPreps All-American team by Frankton junior Makena Alexander. The Butler-bound infielder cranked 10 home runs over her first seven games, and finished the spring batting .658 with 20 home runs, 56 RBIs and 47 runs scored.

More: Makena 'The Masher' Alexander having fun, crushing homers (& hitting cars)

Frankton High School junior Makena Alexander (17) at bat during an IHSAA softball game against Pendleton Heights High School, Monday, April 25, 2022, at Pendleton Heights High School.
Frankton High School junior Makena Alexander (17) at bat during an IHSAA softball game against Pendleton Heights High School, Monday, April 25, 2022, at Pendleton Heights High School.

As for their status among the greatest of all-time, the 2022 Royals set state team records for extra-base hits (134), total bases (686), slugging percentage (.713) and errorless games (24). They batted a combined .442, hit 58 home runs and were charged with only 14 errors (.980 fielding percentage).

Roncalli the second team in state history to win at least 40 consecutive games and enters next season one shy of Lake Central's all-time record (47).

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Softball: MaxPreps ranks Roncalli No. 1 nationally; Rothrock named POY