Two years removed from a state championship run, Center Grove softball coach Alyssa Coleman came into this spring with an inexperienced team and quite a few unanswered questions.
Alexis Rudd has been the answer to a lot of those.
The senior, who did well in a supporting role as a first baseman and No. 2 pitcher on that 2019 title squad, has blossomed into one of the state’s top all-around players. She’s provided power in the heart of the Trojans’ lineup, and perhaps more importantly, Rudd has asserted herself as an ace in the pitching circle for a team that badly needed to find one.
“She just took the reins, and it’s what we needed to see from someone,” Coleman said of Rudd. “She definitely took it and ran with it, and she’s instilled confidence within us that she can handle it.”
Rudd’s brilliance is a primary reason why Class 4A No. 8 Center Grove has been able to remain among the best teams in Indiana despite heavy personnel turnover. The Trojans, who clinched at least a share of the MIC championship this week with wins over Carmel and North Central, bring a 17-6 record into this weekend’s Johnson County tournament.
Center Grove will play either Indian Creek or Edinburgh in a Saturday morning semifinal game. Rudd is eager to see how her team stacks up with the postseason a little more than a week away.
“Whiteland and Franklin have really good pitchers,” Rudd said, “so it’ll be good for us to see where we are and what we need to work on to make sure we win in sectionals.”
Winning at least a sectional has long been the expectation at Center Grove, which has won more such titles (23) than any other school in the state. Rudd was a part of the last two Trojan teams to hoist that trophy, so she knows all about the expectations.
She also came into high school softball standing in the immense shadow of her older sister Jordyn, a 2018 Center Grove graduate who’s since gone on to become an All-Big Ten catcher at Northwestern.
It took Alexis some time to learn to deal with the constant comparisons, but she’s put them all to rest this spring by carving out her own lane and excelling in her own way.
“I had to figure out that we were different players and that we were both good — and we were good because we weren’t the same,” Rudd said.
“Obviously the Rudd name carries with it a big legacy that you want to uphold, and without a doubt, she absolutely has — especially this year,” Coleman added. “It’s been just a really fun time to watch her grow up and become a leader and own her own game — because her and Jordyn don’t play the same roles. It’s been fun to watch her attack it in her own fashion.”
A big part of that has meant stepping forward as a leader, both vocally and by example, for a Trojans team that has freshmen and sophomores filling out more than half of the regular lineup.
Though it’s been an uneven ride, especially at the plate — Center Grove has scored 151 runs in its 17 wins and just four in its six losses — Rudd is hopeful that she and her teammates will be ready to rise to the occasion when it matters most.
“We have really good games, and then we have games that we don’t do so well,” she said. “We’re still trying to find it, but I think we’re on the right track to get where we want to be for the tournament.”
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Johnson County tournament
Today
Greenwood at Franklin, 5:30 p.m.
Greenwood Christian at Whiteland, 5:30 p.m.
Indian Creek at Edinburgh, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
Greenwood-Franklin winner vs. GCA-Whiteland winner, 10 a.m.
Indian Creek-Edinburgh winner vs. Center Grove, 10 a.m.
Championship, 12:30 p.m.
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