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New Palestine softball fought, but it 'just couldn't pull through' in 3A final

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WEST LAFAYETTE — Ed Marcum wanted to be a father figure when he first started coaching softball at New Palestine in the early 2000s.

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The New Pal alum loved the game and he loved the girls, and for the past couple decades, he was viewed in a fatherly light.

Marcum found himself with a new nickname for his 23rd season.

Grandpa.

"I've coached so long that now I'm a grandfather figure," he said following the Dragons' 6-3 loss to Hanover Central in the Class 3A state championship game Friday. "This is the first team to call me 'G,' which is what my grandkids call me. So that's fun. … I think it's an honor to be called 'G' by my grandkids, so I take it as an honor to be called 'G' by them, as well."

The 2026 New Palestine Dragons (24-8) were unique for reasons beyond the nickname they ascribed to their beloved head coach.

The first Marcum-led team to finish with more than five losses, these Dragons rallied from the brink of elimination against Indian Creek in the sectional opener and used that dramatic triumph as a launching point for another deep postseason run.

"We all wanted it for each other," said senior pitcher Sadey Hughbanks. "Everyone wanted it for our seniors, us seniors wanted it for our coach and our coaches wanted it for the community. Everybody really brought it together for this postseason, our last ride."

"We're all so close and I say that all the time, but it's really the truth," added senior Saydie Miller, the 3A Mental Attitude Award recipient. "You can see that drive we have for each other, for our seniors, for everyone on the field that we're not going to play with again."

The Dragons who arrived at Purdue's Bittinger Stadium late Friday afternoon looked the part of an Ed Marcum softball team. They had cleaned things up both in the field and at the plate, while in the circle, Hughbanks was continuing to display the dogged determination that defined her multi-sport career.

New Palestine punched first against Hanover Central, capitalizing on a couple first-inning miscues to take a 2-0 lead.

But the Wildcats jabbed back with a run in the first … and they just kept jabbing.

It took two hits to score their first run, then a three-hit rally generated a couple more in the second. After stranding the bases loaded in the third — a massive moment with lead-off hitter Sienna Stilley on deck — Hanover Central went back to work in the fourth, scoring twice more off a walk and two hits.

"Honestly, I think they were just sticking their bats out sometimes and poking it somewhere that we weren't," said Hughbanks, who allowed six runs on 10 hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. "It took lots of pokes for them to score those runs."

"Yeah, they had some bloops," Marcum confirmed. "We got caught playing a little too deep, but they have so many good hitters with the wind blowing out, we didn't want to take any chances. … Sadey would make a good pitch and they would hit a little flare. But that's just the way this game is. They're very good."

On the other side, New Palestine had to simply tip its cap to Jillian DeYoung.

The sophomore was virtually untouchable, allowing just four runs (two earned) on seven hits — five of which came over the final two innings — with 11 strikeouts and only one walk.

The Dragons' loaded regular-season schedule and daunting road to state had exposed them to a variety of talented pitchers, but DeYoung was different from the rest.

She had consistent speed and worked inside a lot, Miller observed. She had a great rise ball and whenever a batter started locking in, she threw a "really, really low change." 

"(DeYoung's) changeup was devastating," Marcum observed.

"We couldn't do anything with it," he continued. "Her other pitches are good enough that we couldn't sit on her change and she was throwing it in all counts. We just didn't do a very good job reading it."

After stranding runners on the corners in the sixth and surrendering two more runs in the home half, the Dragons staged a desperate two-out rally in the seventh. The last stand was initiated with a Callie Cromwell single, then continued with an RBI double by Payton Dye and a two-strike single by Miller that brought the tying run to the plate. 

DeYoung clinched the championship with a three-pitch strikeout.

"We fought," Marcum smiled. "Two outs, nobody on base and we fought. I'm so proud of the girls for that, but we just couldn't pull through."

New Palestine's seniors — Hughbanks, Miller, Morgan Hutchinson, Lyndsay Goodin, Cailyn Hurst and Kenna Tweedy — finish their careers with 99 wins, two state runner-up finishes and last year's regional championship run.

"I always say we're blessed to be in this program, for sure," Miller said. "Honestly, for me, it's God's gift. I'm surrounded by athletes who are all faith-driven, like I am. We all want the same stuff. We all are talented. There's no way to describe it other than blessed."

Miller wins Mental Attitude Award

Miller became the seventh New Pal's seventh softball player to receive the Mental Attitude Award and its 11th athlete overall.

Miller, whose sister Alaina Miller also played for the Dragons, was surprised by the award.  "I thought it was going to Sadey, because she is so strong in the field. I'm blessed, again," she smiled.

Asked about her teammate's award, Hughbanks immediately began tearing up.

"She's so deserving of it," she began. "I've never met someone as driven and hard-working as Saydie. There's no one else I would have given it to."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA softball: New Palestine loses to Jillian DeYoung, Hanover Central

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