Delta softball takes down New Castle to win conference opener

MUNCIE — Delta softball opened up Hoosier Heritage Conference play with a win.

The Eagles (2-3, 1-0 HHC) defeated New Castle, 9-7, at home on Monday, April 13, in the HHC opener for both teams. After going down 3-0 in the top of the first inning, Delta rallied back with one of its best offensive performances of the young season.

"We haven't really hit the ball up to this point, so the girls being able to see the ball and hit the ball was tremendous," Delta coach Caitlyn Grim said. "Getting a conference win is always huge, but just the momentum of taking it into this next long stretch that we have is huge."

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New Castle (2-4, 0-1 HHC) struck first thanks to RBI singles from juniors Baylie Chesher and Allison Perdew, followed by Chesher stealing home. Delta responded in the bottom of the second with three runs of its own. Junior Caidyn Freiburger doubled into left field to bring Mynett home, then stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Senior Haley Loser then tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI double.

The game wasn't tied for long, as New Castle reclaimed the lead in the next frame. Junior Kyndra Sims reached second on an error and touched home after a triple by freshman Aubrey Armstrong, who scored herself after another Delta error at third base.

Still, the Eagles kept their composure, loading the bases in the bottom of the third before surrendering an out. Freiburger hit a sacrifice fly to cut New Castle's lead in half before a wild sequence gave Delta the lead for good. Sims attempted a throw to third base to catch Delta sophomore Destinee Drown off the bag, but her throw bounced off of Drown's helmet and away from the play. Drown turned around and made her way home, and freshman Jacquelyn Linn followed from second base to give Delta a 6-5 advantage.

Delta stretched its lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-RBI double by sophomore Jordyn Hughes. Chesher made it a one-run deficit again in the top of the fifth with a two-RBI single, but Delta responded in the bottom half with freshman Chloe Mynett scoring on a passed ball to create the final score.

Three different Delta players — Loser, Hughes and sophomore Everly Carter — recorded multiple hits, and the Eagles also took advantage of several wild pitches and passed balls. Delta's offense didn't just take extra bases when they were given those opportunities — they created their own opportunities and finished with five stolen bases while getting caught stealing just once.

"That's very, very important," Loser said. "We were down, and we got back up from stealing a bunch."

Two freshmen got it done for Delta inside the circle. Mynett drew the start and earned the win in her three innings of work. New Castle hit her early while rattling off their three early runs, but Mynett was able to put it behind her and only gave up one more hit over the next two innings. She finished with two strikeouts while surrendering five runs (three earned) on four hits and one walk.

Linn took over for Mynett in the fourth inning and didn't need nearly as much time to find her groove, striking out two batters in her first half inning of work. The Trojans did get two runs off of her in the fifth, but Linn held them off with a strong performance and finished with eight strikeouts.

"I think the coaches and seniors just have faith in us," Linn said. "I feel great out there, I just have to calm myself down when I'm getting worked up, and then I trust them behind me."

Delta softball freshman Jacquelyn Linn throws a pitch during the Eagles' 9-7 win over New Castle on Monday, April 13, 2026.

Despite their youth, both pitchers kept their composure and never got rattled even after going down early on. With last year's go-to arm Kaitlynn Burns out for the season, the freshmen have been thrust into the spotlight early in their high school careers, but they only needed five games to earn the confidence and trust of their teammates and coaches.

"It's super exciting for us, especially for me, having pitchers," Grim said. "Last year, I kind of really had one girl, and she was phenomenal, but being able to have that pitching rotation and being able to rely on those freshmen knowing they're going to throw strikes, they're going to get the ball in play when they need to, and we're going to get out of there and defense is going to have their back is huge."

Both teams are back in action Tuesday, April 14. Delta will go on the road to take on Northeastern (4-0) at 5:30 p.m., while New Castle will return home to host Shelbyville (4-5, 0-1 HHC) in another conference matchup.

Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@usatodayco.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Delta softball defeats New Castle in Hoosier Heritage Conference opener