Howard County Softball Preview, Part 2: Western High School
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Western High School
Hoosier Conference
Reigning IHSAA Class 3A State Champions
Head Coach: Bart Miller
Class: 3A
The Western Lady Panthers only graduated three seniors from last year’s IHSAA Class 3A State Championship team, putting them in the best position, locally, to make another deep run in the tournament. Head coach Bart Miller has a battery of seniors who are no strangers to high stakes games, and he believes they will continue their leadership roles in the dugout and on the field.
“We’ve got Brynley Erb, who leads the state in several categories. She’s the first one at practice and the last to leave. She’s a hard worker and a great role model, he said.” We also have Kylie Miller, who does a great job mentoring the younger players, and Kamryn Garber who understands the game.”
They also return sophomore pitcher, Lucy George, who pitched the shutout against Tri-West in the state final last spring. George, Miller and Emma Roe will share mound time, with three other underclassmen pitchers (Rhys Rayl, Makalya Minns, and Olivia Oyler) Miller believes will be solid on the rubber in the future.
From the plate, Miller said that while he has girls capable of hitting the long ball, home runs are not the goal. The three seniors who graduated with the class of 2024 contributed a lot to the offense.
“We’ll look to fill that. I don’t think we can replicate them with just three girls in the line up, so we may be subbing in girls in certain situations,” he said.
The season schedule kicked off quickly for the Panthers, jumping into conference play against quality opponents in Tipton and Hamilton Heights. Logansport is new to the Hoosier Conference, and a team that Miller expects will put up a fight.
The Lady Panthers will also have junior Jocelyn Jeffers back to full health, who contributed in the DP position last year.
While the Panthers are loaded with talent, Miller is cautious to lay high expectations on his team, rather setting realistic goals for the talent in his dugout.
“The expectation is to continue to grow as people and players and I think they’ve done a great job with that,” said Miller. “They’re hungry and they understand what it takes to have the success that we had last year and they’re hungry for some more.”
See additional photos of the Western varsity girls’ softball team, taken from their April 15, 2025, double-header against Hamilton Heights, courtesy of Adam Hartsough, on the Lantern’s Facebook page or group.