Grace Swedarsky Wants To Show How Legit Softball In Indiana Is
It had been 14 years since the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Royals last hoisted the trophy as state champions of softball in Indiana. On that day, senior Taylor Rager, who remained in Indiana to play collegiately at Ball State University, threw a complete game and drove in the winning run for a 3-1 victory over Terre Haute North to capture the school’s second title.
Fast forward to 2024, and the Royals now have a third trophy to add to their display case. Under head coach Emily Pusti, HSE won a thriller, 2-1, over the New Palestine Dragons. Tied 1-1 going into the final frame, senior Alex Kiemeyer delivered a walk-off single, finishing her high school career on the highest note possible.
Coming into the game, the Dragons had outscored their opposition in the postseason by a whopping 65 runs, 72-7. Starting pitcher, junior Grace Swedarsky, shut them down, however, striking out 13 batters in the championship game and only allowing two hits. That performance was nothing new for Swedarsky, who is a Virginia Tech commit from Fishers, IN.
During the 2024 postseason, Swedarsky threw two perfect games, along with 106 strikeouts, and only allowed four earned runs in 49 innings pitched for a 0.57 ERA.
According to Swedarsky, it was a defeat in conference play that was the turning point for her team down the stretch. The group lost to Brownsburg 11-1 on May 3. The rest of the season they outscored their opponents 54-6.
“After that game, we started focusing on the fine details, which really paid dividends later in the season,” she said. “That was our final loss of the season. We won 11 straight.”
That attention to detail also led to Swedarsky earning numerous accolades. The 5’9” hurler already has 512 career strikeouts with the Royals and an ERA of 1.19, with two seasons remaining in her high school career.
This is Home 🦃🧡@VTechSBcoach @michaellew10 @jjpower19 @HuemulMata @IMG08BenGod pic.twitter.com/0XtIYqFdyR
— Grace Swedarsky (@GSwedarsky30) September 24, 2024
Her success in the circle can also be traced back to a few different things, she says: her hard work, mindset, and grit.
“My main goal is to just move the ball and spin the ball, every game,” she said. “And if I can do that successfully, then that would put me ahead of my competition. I never get rattled on the mound, and I always stay focused and locked in.”
If that happens to remind you of professional softball player and former Florida State Seminole Kathryn Sandercock, there’s a good reason for that. The celebrated pitcher is who Swedarsky tries to emulate when the game is on the line.
“I look up to her because you can see what she accomplished,” she said. “In the circle, she has a similar mindset to me. And seeing that at the next level, it’s like, ‘Cool, I can be myself too and be successful.’”
When she’s not pitching for the Royals, Swedarsky also plays for her club team, Indiana Magic Gold (IMG). Earlier this month at the IMG Alliance Qualifier, Swedarsky was near perfect in the circle, allowing no runs and striking out 26 batters in 11 innings pitched. It’s a busy year overall for the club, as the travel plan includes going to St. Louis twice, Gainesville, Clearwater, and Phoenix.
By representing the Hoosier state and playing quality competition day in and day out throughout the year, Swedarsky hopes to show the rest of the country all that softball in Indiana has to offer.
“We play all these teams from all over and we beat them too,” she said. “Indiana kids, we are just as good as teams from California, Texas, and the south.”
There are some obvious goals that she has for her time left in high school—win another title, lead the state in strikeouts (she ranked sixth overall this past season)—but she also has another personal mission to accomplish.
“I want to be a great leader and help everyone,” Swedarsky said, “especially the underclassmen, and connect our team as a family and grow better as a whole.”