Cowan wins first Delaware County softball championship in program history

GASTON, Ind. — Tatum Rickert's final pitch yielded a soft grounder to first base, and after taking a brief pause to ensure the last out was secured, she turned to a jubilant McKenna Minton as the seniors embraced in the circle.

Cowan won its first Delaware County softball championship with a 10-1 win over host Wes-Del on Saturday, a breakthrough moment for a group that's led the best run in program history.

"I'm on cloud nine. This is something we've always aspired to do and it was truly two team wins today," Minton said. "Every single person pulled through and did their job ... We're just super excited. It's the first time and we're going down in the history books."

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The journey began with a 2-1 win over Delta — a game marred by bad weather that extended the contest from Tuesday into Wednesday — and then a semifinals rematch against powerhouse Yorktown, which had won four of the previous five county titles.

Yet Cowan upset the Tigers 6-3. It was an emotional triumph and one the Blackhawks wanted desperately.

Head coach Curtis Bynum had a feeling that this year would be different.

"We haven't been playing our best ball all year long ... (But) on my way home from Union City (on Thursday) — something was different about that bus ride," Bynum said. "Just watching the girls interact and joke around and rustle around and seeing them act foolish on the bus, I knew there was something brewing.

"As long as we're playing loose like that, we'll be all right."

A slew of players each found moments to shine throughout the tournament. Freshman Bryleigh Hiatt totaled a team team-high seven hits in the three games, she and Taylor Young each notched four RBI and Minton tallied eight stolen bases.

Rickert, though, put the Blackhawks on her back in the circle, pitching all 21 innings in the tournament, including the final two games in the same afternoon. She allowed just two earned runs with 27 strikeouts while adding four runs offensively.

"She's a person everybody wants in the circle," Bynum said. "You look at her eight home runs on the year, her RBIs and her strikeouts, and she's a good leader for the younger groups."

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But it wasn't effortless. Rickert admitted that she "struggled with Yorktown mentally," which resulted in tying her season high in walks (seven) while tallying a season-low two K's.

She credited her teammates for helping her battle through.

"I just kind of got in my own head," Rickert said. "That's a big game for us because we always try and beat Yorktown, and to get through it was just a struggle for me. But my team was right there behind me."

Upsetting the Tigers was so thrilling that it presented a challenge to quickly shift focus to Wes-Del with less than an hour between games.

A younger team might've let that adrenaline rush and the subsequent comedown hinder its follow-up performance. Bynum said it was the senior leadership that helped Cowan overcome that pitfall, with Minton pointing to the players' pre-game walk as the necessary "reset" to rebound so quickly.

Rickert and Minton, in particular, looked determined to get the job done as the former allowed just six hits to 12 strikeouts and the latter had three hits and a team-high three runs scored.

"I think it's just kind of having played for as long as I have," Rickert said. "I've learned how to dig deep, find a new level, push past the tired and just focus on what I'm doing and just make sure I do my job correctly."

Cowan (14-4, 4-2 MEC), however, has bigger aspirations that just a county trophy. The Blackhawks advanced to the semistate round of the postseason in each of the last two seasons, only to suffer heartbreaking defeats.

The hope is that 2023, after losing just one starter from a season ago, is the year the team gets over the hump. Cowan is ranked 10th in Class 1A, according to MaxPreps, and is on a nine-game winning streak.

The players and coaches agreed that this campaign feels like the one.

"I think we play more as a team. I think we're very strong individually, but we're willing to play for each other this year," Rickert said. "I think it comes with experience and we're kind of bringing the freshmen back into the fold, teaching them what we know so that they can kind of carry on after we leave next year."

These Blackhawks have been a special group for years. They may never have a single class as talented as these seniors, and everyone wants to make the most of it.

"It's a very close bond. We say, 'Family,' every time after every practice and in between innings in every game, and we truly are a family," Minton said. "We have each other's back and we all know our role in the team, and that's what makes us successful."

Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Cowan softball wins its first Delaware County championship