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After a 10-year wait, Roncalli rode the arm of sophomore Keegan Rothrock and the bat of Ally Walesky to take a 4-1 win over Lake Central to claim the Class 4A state championship – the school’s first title since 2011 and fourth overall.

Rothrock struck out 16 Lake Central batters, while allowing just four hits and two walks. She finished the season with a 24-2 record and 364 strikeouts in 160.1 innings. Walesky, a junior catcher, provided all the offense Rothrock would need as she cranked a two-run home run in the second inning, then added a solo shot in the fifth.

The victory is historic for Roncalli and coach David Lauck as the Royals become the first school in IHSAA history to win a state title in three different classes. Roncalli won 2A in 1999 and 2001 and 3A in 2011.

The Royals (31-2) took control in the first inning as Chloe Parks led off with a triple and scored on a Rothrock groundout two batters later. In the second, Cate Lehner led off with a double before Walesky followed one out later with her first homer for a 3-0 lead.

The Indians (31-2) scored their only run in the fifth as Jolie Adams rapped a two-out, RBI-double to left field to cut the Roncalli lead to 3-1.

Walesky led off the bottom of the fifth with her second blast to close the scoring. Walesky matched her home run total for the season in the game.

Coach Jeff Sherman’s Indians were also seeking their fourth state title, with the last coming in 2004.

Lake Central’s Grace Renschen Wins Class 4A Mental Attitude Award
Members of the IHSAA Executive Committee announced Grace Renschen of Lake Central High School as the winner of this year’s Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A Softball.

The award is annually presented to a senior participant in the state finals who best demonstrates mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability and is nominated by her principal and coach.

Grace is a four-year varsity letterwinner for the Indians softball team, led the team in HR (7) and RBI (37) this season and earned the team’s Sportsmanship Award as voted on her coaches and teammates. She is an all-state and all-conference honoree and was selected for the North/South All-Star Team.

Away from the softball diamond, Renschen works with the school’s special needs program and is a beloved member of the group because of her personality, according to her teacher.

Grace is the daughter of Randy and Carrie Renschen of St. John, IN. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 4.2 GPA and plans to study Neuroscience at St. Mary’s College and continue to play softball. She aspires to work in the pediatric medical field in the future.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance presented a $1,000 scholarship to Lake Central High School in the name of Grace Renschen.