In the history of NECC softball, no team has come close to the domination that Eastside softball has brought to this conference. Only a handful of programs in the 58-year history of the conference has ever seen this type of championship caliber success to the levels of this program. Located in Butler, IN, in DeKalb County, softball has become a popular sport to fans, players, alumni, and coaches across the Eastside community. The term “Blazer Way” as they say has a variety of different meanings, but it resembles a team full of high integrity and consistency.
After a couple down years between 2017 and 2019, the excitement of Eastside softball was rejuvenated in 2021, followed by the hire of Brennan Kitchen as head coach prior to the 2022 season and instant regular season and postseason success. In his run as Head Coach, Eastside has posted a record of 27-0 in NECC play, 2 NECC championships (with a very strong possibility of pulling off a 3-peat), 2 NECC Tournament championships, and an overall record of 77-8.
Eastside won their 2nd ever state championship in 2022 in West Lafayette and went to the Semistate championship game last season. This season, however, has seen new challenges with this program that has built them to becoming a dangerous team to never overlook in the playoffs. Despite graduation from the 2023 season, Eastside remains very much in play of a deep playoff run. Kitchen said this team has grown a lot since the season started in late March.
“I’m proud of our girls and the way we’ve handled some adversity so far this season,” said Kitchen. “Our program’s mantra has been “earn it” the past 3 years, and this group is doing a good job of adding to our culture by working hard each day to do the little things we have to do to improve as a team. The one thing we’ve always stressed is that we will win as a team, and lose as a team, but as long as we stick together then we’ll grow and get through whatever we face.”
While Eastside has seen plenty of dominant wins, there have been a few times this season where Eastside lost a close game that they were right there to the very end. Eastside is 2-3 in games decided by less than 3 runs. A early season 8-7 loss @ Concordia, a 3-2 NECC tournament loss to Central Noble in the semifinals, and a 3-2 8-inning loss at Leo are the main losses that this 18-4 team has dealt with so far.
However, like every team, it doesn’t surprised Kitchen that this team is dealing with the ups and downs of the regular season. Kitchen said he is happy with the team’s progression up to this point, and sees more potential out of this team in the days to come.
Today, it is a rematch with the same Central Noble team that ended Eastside’s 2-year run of NECC tournament title defense in the semifinal round. Kitchen sees that loss as a great learning lesson for the program.
“Central Noble played a great game (that day), and Grace Swank kept us off balance all night in the circle. She pitched a great game against us,” said Kitchen. “Games like that can only help us. Every time we see great pitching, (it) helps us as we move towards the post season. We struck out too many times and we’re hoping we have more quality at bats the next time we face them (or other good pitchers) and find ways to put the ball in play with 2 strikes.
“The intensity of the game was also great for our girls. Games like that are why they play softball. The game had a post season type of feel to it that will only help both teams.”
This team has had plenty of experience in big games. 4 girls remain on the 2022 2A state championship roster. Senior Jayci Kitchen (Taylor signee) has become one of the most dominant hitters and base stealers to ever represent the NECC batting an exceptional .637 with 25 RBI’s and a whopping 31 stolen bases (nearly as many stolen bases as singles (35)). Jayci has already set numerous records with the program. Having to fill the loss of Natalie Lower from graduation after last season, Junior Moyra McAtee has become Eastside’s top starter on the mound recording a 14-3 mark with a 1.40 ERA and averaging over 9 strikeouts per game. Catcher Timmery Hunter is hitting .368 with 21 RBI’s and a .987 fielding percentage. Junior Lilli Cline is batting .408 with 24 RBI’s and 9 stolen bases.
3 additional girls played on last season’s Semistate championship game including Senior Victoria Roose who is batting .328 with 14 RBI’s. Freshman and a new member on the varsity team Lucy Kitchen is batting .531 with a homer, 12 RBI’s and 8 stolen bases. As a team, they are hitting .375, slugging .492, reaching a .443 on base percentage, driving in 165 runs, only striking out 19 times, 18 sac flies, and stealing 59 bags.
Sure, it’s not quite the dominant team from the last 2 seasons, but it is sure close to that. After a slow start, they are starting to play their best ball towards the playoffs where their expectations still remain to try to get back to Purdue’s Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette for another shot at State.
“Those experiences are invaluable when it comes to understanding what to expect and how to deal with intense and pressure situations,” said Kitchen. “We lean on our senior leaders a lot, and we have six great seniors this season (Jayci, Moyra, Timmery, Victoria Roose, Kennedy Smyth, and Leah Ranger). All 6 of them were in the dugout as sophomores when we won a state championship, so they know what it takes. I’ve been very proud of these six girls this year with their attitude and effort.
“Our team motto this year is ‘be unbreakable’ and that has everything to do with our mental toughness when we face adversity. We know there will be mistakes during a softball game, but how we respond to those mistakes is what will determine how successful we’ll be.”
Looking ahead to today’s game with CN and beyond, Eastside knows how to reach base and get into scoring position, but many times this season they have failed to bring runners home consistently against elite defenses. Take note to the Leo game just last Friday. Eastside had two runners in scoring position with 1 out in the top of the 7th. Eastside couldn’t mustard another play past Mackenzie Arroyo and the Leo defense, to which Leo later capitalized on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th with the bases loaded to win the game 3-2.
“We have left too many runners on base in our three losses,” said Kitchen. “We have to find ways to move runners and punch in runs with two outs. We’ve had a lot of success playing small ball and doing the little things over the past 3 years to win ball games. We’ve struggled with those areas in our 4 losses this year. Defensively, we have to continue to improve, as well. We are starting a couple of freshman and a sophomore, so we hope the experience they’re getting now pays off eventually.”
After today, Eastside will embark on 3 games in 3 days between Thursday and Saturday. Eastside will host senior night against Westview on Thursday, followed by road trips to West Noble on Friday (5:30pm), and Northrop on Saturday (11am).
Next week begins sectional play where Eastside will compete in 2A Sectional 35 at Central Noble where the field also consists of Central Noble, Churubusco, Prairie Heights, and Westview. Eastside and CN will meet one more time exactly one week from today in sectionals.
Kitchen’s team is focused on a “next pitch mentality” to not look too far ahead and continue to find success heading into the postseason.
“We want our girls to have an ‘attitude of gratitude’ and cherish every game, and moment, we have because we’re playing a game that we love in front of our family and community,” said Kitchen. “As long as we keep working hard, learning from every opportunity we get, and remain great teammates, then I know we’ll reach our full potential and play our best softball when it counts.”
Around the NorthEast Corner 