From pig yoga to farm animals: Get to know lighter side of IndyStar softball Super Team

High school softball season started Monday, so OF COURSE there's rain forecasted in Central Indiana for five of the next six days. In an effort to help you pass the time during any weather-related delays or postponements, here's a wrap-up from IndyStar media day, with some fun, mostly non-softball related, content.

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Pig yoga!

Though they've done some fun things during practice in years past, the Tri-West Bruins have never really done any team activities away from the diamond. The Class 3A runner-up decided to change that this season, and during the brainstorming phase, coach Mike Miller suggested going to the Purdue-IU game as a team. While a fine idea, ace pitcher Audrey Lowry had something else in mind: Pig yoga.

"(Purdue-IU) is a good idea, but I thought we should do something not softball-related just to relax and have fun," the Oklahoma-bound junior said. "Plus yoga is good for stretching and all that stuff. … We all kind of collaborated on it."

What is pig yoga? It's about what it sounds like.

"You're doing yoga and the pigs jump on you, jump on your back and walk around you," Lowry said. "It's going to be fun."

As luck would have it, the aunt of a Tri-West player owns a fitness place in nearby Pittsboro and offers pig yoga.

Blackwell and her farm

Lyla Blackwell has lived on a farm her entire life and animals have always been "a huge part" of her life. The future Virginia Tech Hokie — she plans to study to become a veterinarian — Blackwell has always wanted to continue learning about animals, and has loved helping the family's animals give birth (she watched a goat give birth for the first time last year). "That's always just been so cool to me," she said. "I've always had this special connection to animals."

Blackwell has been shadowing at a vet clinic by her house, an opportunity which arose after she spent three hours trying to get a neighbor's donkey back to his house.

"It's made me realize how much I want to be a vet and I can't see myself working any other job," Blackwell said. "I'm not an inside person. I've never been an inside person. I want to move around and I want to be around animals all the time."

In case you were wondering, Blackwell and her family have a goat — "Her name's Margot, she's a porch goat … she's trained just like a dog," the senior outfielder said — chickens, 4-H pigs (they're seasonal), three horses, "a bunch" of barn cats and two dogs.

The catch

Remember this absurd catch by Blackwell last season against Avon in the regional?

Well, we asked about it.

"That was hands down the coolest catch I've ever seen her make," Abbey Hofmann said. "You should have seen everybody's reaction. Not even just the players on the field, it was everyone in the entire place. … That was a game-changing play."

Blackwell knew her left fielder was playing back with a slap-hitter at the plate — they tend to have more success, relatively speaking, against Keagan Rothrock, and when someone barrels a Rothrock pitch, it goes far — so when the ball was hit and Blackwell saw her left fielder didn't get as good of a jump on the ball, she took off.

"I just booked it," Blackwell said. "I didn't think I was going to get to it at first because it was so shallow, but we back each other up so well in the outfield so there was nothing to lose. … I ran for my life and just tried to catch it. I had hope in myself, but it died fast."

Blackwell didn't think it was that big of a catch, initially. She knew it was a nice play, but didn't realize how much ground she covered until she saw IndyStar videographer Clark Wade's video of the play. "Hoo, I trucked it down that line," Blackwell laughed. "That was cool."

Oh, Canada

Zionsville senior Sydny Poeck had a unique opportunity over the summer, representing Team Canada at the 18U TC International Challenge in Colorado, an event created to give US-born players "a chance to play for their heritage and showcase their talents in hopes of being seen by National Olympic Teams."

A dual citizen (her mom's Canadian), Poeck batted .538 with three home runs during the first-year event, which also included teams representing the Dominican Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States, among others.

"It was a really cool experience," Poeck said. "We had a UC San Diego commit, Tennessee, Purdue — a lot of big schools. It was really cool. I met a lot of nice and energetic people, and I got to represent my nationality, which I've never done before. My grandparents were ecstatic."

Poeck, a Notre Dame commit, said she's unsure how competing on the international circuit would work during her college career, but hopes to play for Canada again.

To (catch) or not to (catch)…

New Palestine senior Aglaia Rudd has been playing catcher since she started playing softball as a 5-year-old with the NPYL. She recalls watching past catchers like the Dragons' current JV coach and her older sister growing up, and wanting to be where they were at.

"I like to lead and I like being the one to help someone else," Rudd said. "I like to pour out my leadership to people. I'm back there and see the whole field, and I can calm everybody down and help them relax."

Shelbyville senior Kylee Edwards also played catcher as a youngster, up until seventh grade, in fact. But she had, uh, a less-fun time behind the plate.

"I was like, 'I hate catching,'" recalled Edwards, now a shortstop. "I hated putting on all the gear before every inning, sweating (in said gear), sitting back there and getting beat up with all the balls — oh my gosh, it was awful. Credit to the catchers. I could never do it again."

Fun fact: Edwards' disdain for catching is also how she ended up with the No. 67, when a coach asked what number she wanted during a Select30 camp.

Well, I don't really want my old number because it reminds me of catching...

"Then I looked down at my nametag and it was 067. 'Yep, 67 is my number!'" Edwards laughed. "Everyone thinks there's this huge meaning behind it, but there really isn't."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school softball: Get to know Indy's best players better