CARMEL — Before Adie Lorsung could leave the Cherry Tree Softball Complex on Saturday, memories had to be preserved.
With more than a dozen parents waiting patiently behind the dugout, the New Palestine graduate happily obliged as cameras clicked in near unison.
Posing alongside her current and a few more of her former travel ball teammates, the smiles were genuine and so were the friendships.
Each of the North-South All-Stars finished their high school careers — together.
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“Seven of the girls on her travel team (Indiana Shockwaves) are here,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said. “We’re all competitive on the field, and we want to win, but off the field softball is so much more than just a game to these players. That’s kind of how they have grown up.
“You have the opportunity to find out you have a lot in common through the game of softball. It’s a great family time.”
The 2015 Indiana All-Star Classic sponsored by the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association was the perfect setting to reminisce while also peering ahead toward the future.
Lorsung did both as a South All-Star.
Spending her down time engulfed in camaraderie as each team sent 22 batters to the plate, when the moment called her number she was ready.
In her first at-bat, Lorsung worked out of an 0-2 hole and accounted for one of the team’s nine hits in a 5-3 win during the opening game of the doubleheader showcase.
Held hitless in her lone plate appearance in the second game, the teams walked off the diamond in a scoreless tie after nine innings.
“I don’t see anything wrong with ending in a tie,” Lorsung remarked on the unorthodox conclusion. “Not in this kind of game because everyone is so good. It was amazing just being here with all my teammates. Being together that last time was fun.”
True to her word, Lorsung greeted every game situation with sandlot enthusiasm.
Starting the opening game at her customary shortstop position, she shifted to second base for a brief time and even roamed left field in the second game where she daringly tried to make a diving catch on a foul ball.
“I can play anywhere but pitcher and catcher,” said Lorsung, an incoming Indiana State recruit.
One constant for the four-year varsity standout, though, remains hitting, which she put on display while going 1-for-3 through both games.
As a senior, Lorsung finished with a team-leading 56 RBIs and 145 in her career. She nearly added two more with a pair well-hit pitches, but the North defense wouldn’t allow it.
In her second at-bat, Lorsung took a hard cut with no outs and a runner on first base. Lacing the ball that appeared destined to fall inside the right-field line, the ball was snared by Eastbrook’s Nicole Lawvere, one of her Indiana Shockwave teammates, at first base, who quickly turned a double play.
Lorsung shrugged, again in approval, during the second game as she looped a potential RBI-single into right field before it was tracked down at the last second on its decent.
“With runners on first and second, she pitched me an outside high, rise, and I took it to right field, hoping that it was going in the hole, and it didn’t,” Lorsung laughed. “(These games) sure met my expectations, especially in that second game because it was tied 0-0. With the pitchers that we had and the type of at-bats people had throughout, I knew from the start it was going to be good.”
The finale, however, was the best part for Lorsung.
Standing side-by-side with Lawvere (Indiana), Kaitlynn Moody (Harrison West Lafayette/IUPUI), Ally Compton (Noblesville/Western Illinois), Madi Maloof (Hamilton Southeastern/Dayton), Maggie Armstrong (HSE/IUPUI) and Mallory Baker (Center Grove/Purdue), the stars had aligned.
“We were always big rivals when we played each other, and It was always fun playing against each other,” said Baker (South All-Star), who was named co-Indiana Miss Softball with Portage’s Kiley Jones. “She would be sassy out there. I would be sassy, but when it was over we would hug and that was it. We’re all friends.”
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2015 Indiana All-Star Classic
at Cherry Tree Softball Complex, Carmel
Game 1
South;100;003;1;-5;9;1
North;000;003;0;-3;2;2
RBI — Z. Schaefer, M. Armstrong 2 (South); A. Novak 3 (North). 2B — A. Novak (North). WP — A. Compton.
Game 2
North;000;000;00;-0;2;2
South;000;000;00;-0;3;0
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