Ottumwa -- A combined batting average of .434, a half-dozen All-State players and state tournament appearnces by four of their teams constituted a very good final season of high school softball for the seven incoming freshmen who will join the Indian Hills softball program at the end of August after capping their high school careers last month.

Topping the list of batting averages for the future Warriors was the .507 mark turned in by Taylor Dubois of Carlisle.  Dubois, a first-team class 4A all-stater who helped lead Carlisle to a 5th-place showing at the state tourney, scored 46 runs, had 42 RBIs and an .828 slugging percentage this summer.  Among her 68 hits were 11 doubles, seven triples and six home runs.

Katelyn Banning also enjoyed a standout senior season, named to the all-tournament team while leading Center Point-Urbana to a win in the 3rd place game at state.  The first-team all-state selection in class 3A led her team with a .455 batting average.  She slammed 22 doubles and seven triples and knocked in 31 runs while scoring 42.

Another outstanding senior campaign was supplied by Carlyn Stanley of Interstate 35.  Stanley's I-35 squad made it to the state tourney and came in 4th in class 2A and she was named to the all-tournament team.  A first-team all-stater Stanley hit .435 with a .581 on-base percentage and .804 slugging percentage.  Over half of her 40 hits went for extra bases -- 17 doubles, a triple and five homers, and she drove in 35 runs.

IHCC will need to replace the 28 homers that graduated sophomores Shyanne Dubois and Sierra Walton combined for in 2017 and Waverly Shell-Rock's Jaylie Reints looks like she could help fill the void.  Reints blasted 11 home runs for the Go-Hawks while batting a team-leading .398 with 43 runs and 39 RBIs.  She also had seven doubles and a .504 on-base percentage.

Vanessa Bakley, who played for former Warrior Lindsay Diehl at Clarke (Osceola), was a first-team all-state selection in class 3A, sporting a .392 batting average and scoring 36 runs.  Bakley produced 47 hits and 27 RBIs with 11 doubles, a triple and a homer.

Two players from Oskaloosa's class 4A 3rd-place team at state, Aubrey Miller and Alexis Westercamp, are also headed to IHCC.  Miller batted .393 with a .466 on-base percentage for the Indians and supplied 46 hits and 27 runs scored.  Included in her hit total were 20 doubles.  Westercamp was limited to only six games as a senior and was 7-for-12 with nine RBIs in those contests. 

Also signing with the Warriors as incoming freshman softball players are Helaina Johnson of Abingdon, Ill., Tia Kohl from Wichita, Kans., and Moravia's Autumn McDanel.

Indian Hills will bring back eight members of last season's region and district champion squad that played in the school's second consecutive NJCAA national tournament.  The returners are Kelsey Carder, Olivia Goodale, Taylor Jones, Erin Kuba, Lexi Smith, Abby Straight, Taylor Takushi and Alexis Vroegh.