Davis honored for softball win record

Apr. 22—PENDLETON — Since Pendleton Heights softball was founded in 1987, the program has known only three head coaches, and the first two — Pat Medler and Scott Hall — are in the Indiana Softball Hall of Fame.

The current caretaker is a lock to share that honor one day, but for now Rob Davis stands alone.

Pendleton Heights honored Davis on Monday after he passed Medler as the softball program's all-time winningest coach over the weekend. Medler guided the Arabians from the birth of the program through 2000.

After the ceremony, Katelin Goodwin homered twice, Morgan Humble pitched a complete game and the Arabians added to his total with an 11-2 win over Frankton.

Davis's 275th win came Saturday when the Arabians capped the Carmel Invitational with a 9-7 win over Brownsburg. PH also beat both of last year's state finalists — champion Penn and runner-up Roncalli — over the weekend.

"It's a milestone that, when I started here I had no idea I'd still be here 14 years later," Davis said. "It'll sink in eventually, when it's all said and done and I'm at home after I do decide to give it up. But to pass Pat Medler who started the program and had a very successful program, to take that and to get the record, it means something."

Frankton coach Jeremy Parker — his own program's winningest coach — expressed his admiration for what Davis accomplished.

"He passed Pat Medler and Scott Hall, a lot of good coaches have coached here so that's a pretty good honor to have the most wins," Parker said.

During the 14 seasons of the Davis era, the softball program has won seven sectional championships, four regional titles and has been in the IHSAA Final Four twice.

"Coach Davis will be the first to say you only win 275 games because you have had great players in your program," PH athletic director Chad Smith said in a press release. "However, the common denominator in all of the success over 275 wins is the coach. Watching Coach Davis work is a daily reminder as to why I got involved with education-based athletics in the first place. The level of care he has for his players is constantly on display and is never compromised. I can say with certainty that not one time did he put getting any of the 275 wins in front of caring for his players and doing what was right for them. Coach Davis deserves this honor and place in program history. He already is a hall of fame man, and he will soon be a hall of fame coach. I'm extremely proud that Coach Davis is an Arabian."

Goodwin agreed the care Davis has for his players is what sets him apart as a great coach.

"It's been a great responsibility and a great privilege to be a part of his team," she said. "I think his care for us. It really comes down to that. We truly know he wants the best for us, and we love playing for him."

It was an eventful day for Goodwin, both at the plate and in the field.

The Dayton commit took a day off from her usual position behind the plate and occupied the designated hitter position. After flying out in her first at-bat, she lined a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left-center for a two-run third-inning homer. That ignited a five-run rally as the Arabians jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

But Goodwin was just getting started.

One inning later, she legged out a one-out triple and scored on a single to left by Humble. In the sixth, after Ari Rector hit a two-run homer to left, Goodwin hit a long fly to deep center that hit the top of the fence and caromed back toward the infield. As she rounded second looking for her second triple, she ran through Davis' stop sign at third base and scored when Frankton could not complete the relay to the plate.

"I did not send her home. That was her running through the stop sign. I was saying 'No, no, no,' and she thought it was 'Go, go, go,'" Davis said. "I don't want to get her hurt for one thing. She was thrown out halfway up the baseline. That wasn't something I was trying to do. That was a miscommunication on our part.'

But for all her adventures at the plate, the senior was more excited for a play she made in the field during the fifth inning.

Aly Smith led off the inning for Frankton with a single to left and was still there after Humble's second strikeout. Paige Parker then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Skylar Baldwin, who flipped to Goodwin covering at second to start a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

"I have never seen that spot on the field in my whole entire life," Goodwin said. "I've done it before in practice, but it was weird in the game."

Humble scattered six hits in the circle, allowing just two runs on a fourth-inning home run by Claire Duncan, and was 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Alana Smith hit a pair of doubles with two RBI for the Arabians.

Frankton (7-3) will resume focus on the Central Indiana Conference as it travels to Oak Hill on Tuesday, while PH (11-4) will continue to test itself at Kokomo on Tuesday.

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.