With the softball season under way in Bureau County, here are five storylines to watch this spring.

Early start

The proposal to start the IHSA softball season a week earlier was passed this season seemed a bit of a head-scratcher with traditional unseasonable climates traditionally throwing a curve ball at games in early March.

Nonetheless, all four Bureau County teams got their season under way with one game this week. Bureau Valley and Hall found away around Mother Nature by moving up their season-opener one day to Monday to avoid the severe storm forecast on Tuesday.

Hall has postponed its Saturday game with Marquette due to the cold and more rescheduled games will follow next week.

Princeton coach Jessica Strauch was pleased with the earlier start regardless if the Tigresses got a game in or not because “it gives us an extra week of practice.”

Continued success ahead for St. Bede

The St. Bede Bruins have been the area’s top softball program with two state trophies, including a state championship in 2023 and a third-place finish in 2019, six regional and two sectional titles in the last seven seasons.

The Bruins have all the makings of continuing that success on the diamond with three seniors - Lily Bosnich, Ava Balestri and Emma Slingsby - in their fourth year on the varsity players and a pair of three-year varsity players in Lili McClain and Jillian Pinter.

St. Bede coach Jim Ruppert calls Bosnich, their leadoff hitter, a ”one of a kind" player, who can bunt, she can hit for average, she can hit for power.” Last season she batted .472 with six home runs, four triples, 31 runs and 17 RBIs.

New coach at Princeton

Jessica Strauch has taken over as the new head coach at Princeton, bringing in new enthusiasm to the program. She was an assistant coach at L-P, her alma mater, where she was a catcher, for eight years, and has extensive experience as a travel coach.

She inherits a PHS program that has 10 leading contributors from last year’s 15-12 team, implementing her own tweaks to make them better.

“We’re always going to change things, but for the better. And they’ve been adapting super well to the changes I’ve made,” Strauch said. “They’re like a bunch of sponges. They’re absorbing a lot of stuff.”

Storm, Red Devils coaches get a good look

Bureau Valley coach Dave Shepard and Hall coach Ellie Herrmann were able to get a good look at their respective teams in Monday’s opener to see what they will need to work on for the rest of the season. The Storm won 4-0.

“I thought the girls played really well. Before the game, we talked, let’s see what we need to work on because we have a full week now before our next game,” Shepard said.

Herrmann said the Red Devils would be drilling hard in practice to work out the “silly errors” they had, but knows “we can play better than that.”

The Hall coach got to see freshman pitcher Maddie Krewer under fire for the first time and liked what she saw.

“She’s where we want her to be right now, and is only going to keep getting better,” Herrmann said.

Player of Year candidates

There are several players in line as leading contenders for 2026 BCR Player of the Year honors, including:

Ava Balestri, St. Bede, sr. - A big bopper for the Bruins, Balestri batted .338 with six homers, nine doubles and 24 RBI.

Lily Bosnich, St. Bede, sr. - The Bruins leadoff hitter, who batted .472 last season, has speed (31 runs) and power (six home runs, four triples).

Izzy Gibson, Princeton, sr. - The fourth-year varsity player has plenty of pop, batting .447 with seven homers and 16 RBI. She had three hits in last year’s regional championship game.

Keely Lawson, Princeton, sr. - The senior infielder/outfielder is in her third season at PHS, batting .395 with four home runs and 15 RBI last season.

Avah Oertel, Princeton, jr. - The BCR reigning Player of the Year was the first Triple Crown winner in Bureau County since 2002, leading the area in average (.474) and RBIs (43) along with the 12 homers. She also went 4-4 with a 3.35 ERA in the circle.

Emily Wright, Bureau Valley, sr. - The Storm catcher in her fourth season, who will hit in the No. 3 hole in the BV lineup, batted .351 last year with 16 RBIs, nine doubles and a home run.