Whiteland graduate Macy Cornelius is among Mount St. Joseph’s leading hitters this season.
Submitted photo
The glass-half-empty slant on Macy Cornelius’ timing is that it couldn’t have been worse.
Cornelius, a freshman for a Mount St. Joseph softball team off to a 18-5 start and ranked 24th in Division III going into Thursday’s doubleheader with Transylvania, prefers taking the opposite approach.
The glass has been full since she stepped on campus.
Never mind that the former Whiteland second baseman was being asked to move a few feet to the right to attempt to take the spot previously occupied by former Lions shortstop Alehia Tucker, who broke ground last season as the first all-American in school history.
“They started me the first game,” said Cornelius, referring to an 8-0 victory over Asbury in a game played in Birmingham, Alabama, in February. She batted third and produced an RBI double.
“It was definitely a lot different because college softball has a faster pace, and you have to cover more ground. But I like the challenge, and wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
Cornelius has, and then some.
Her .434 batting average entering Thursday’s games was second-best among Lions players. Cornelius leads the team in at-bats (76), runs (22) and hits (33), and has been successful in all three of her stolen base attempts.
She is one of three Johnson County players on the Mount St. Joseph roster, along with sophomore third baseman Kaci Finchum (Center Grove) and freshman first baseman Kiley Hankenhoff (Greenwood).
Mount St. Joseph is a school of approximately 1,900 students located in the southwest corner of Ohio. The Lions compete in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Beth Goderwis, now in her 21st season as the school’s softball coach, led her 2021 squad to an NCAA regional appearance and finished one win from qualifying for the College World Series.
The coach’s interest in recruiting Cornelius centered around her travel ball play for the Indiana Gators. More often than not, Cornelius was her team’s starting third baseman.
“We have followed Macy for a while in summer ball, so we knew the kind of kid we were getting,” Goderwis said. “We knew she had those type of capabilities. I think Macy maybe was a little nervous early on, but her getting to know Alehia over the summer took (Tucker) off that pedestal a little bit.
“Macy is just a baller. She wants to go out there and do her best. If she doesn’t do well in the field, she has that mentality that ‘I’m going to make it up at the plate.’”
That isn’t to imply Cornelius isn’t good with the glove. She’s made three errors in 21 starts but still has a 94% fielding average.
This weekend shapes up to be special for Mount St. Joseph’s trio of county players as they return home for a critical HCAC doubleheader at Franklin College (Sunday, 1 and 3 p.m.).
Cornelius, for one, can’t wait.
“I have a cousin (senior first baseman Samantha Cornelius) who plays for Franklin College,” she said. “Our family is very competitive, so I’m pretty excited about it.”
