After dropping the district championship game to Francis Howell last season, the Lady Indians have come back with a vengeance in 2016.

The Lady Indians cruised to a 4-0 start with dominating wins over Liberty, Fort Zumwalt North, Hannibal and St. Dominic before coming up short to Fort Zumwalt West in a hard-fought contest, 4-3, on Aug. 29. The squad, with Madison Kettler making her first start since suffering an injury vs. Hannibal on Aug. 24 while turning a double play, returned to their winning ways on August 31st when they defeated Fort Zumwalt South in thrilling fashion, 6-5, to move their overall record to 5-1 and conference record to 3-0.

With this red hot start and the success of past teams, it is no surprise that the Lady Indians sit atop the rankings in the St. Louis area. Because of this the pressure is squared solely on them, and Head Coach Joel Adam made sure his team knew this from day one. “We told the girls being ranked number one is great, but everybody’s out to get you,” Adam said. “You’ve got a target on your back.”

Adam points to the team’s stellar pitching as the key to their success up to this point. “Right now the key to our team is our pitching, no question about it,” he said. “Hopefully that can carry us, and hopefully we can continue riding our pitching. Cece [Peine] has been hurt, but hopefully she can rebound and get back to where she was at last year.” Through the first six games, the four-headed monster of Sydney Hansen, Lexi Jones, Peine and Bailee Zemianek, has posted a 0.55 ERA in 38 innings. Hansen and Jones have especially shined; the two have not given up an earned run in 32 combined innings thus far.

The Lady Indians are scheduled to play in the Suburban Showdown this Tuesday through Thursday at Kirkwood Athletic Association. They begin play on Tuesday when they face Ritenour and Webster Groves in a doubleheader. Scheduled start time is 4:15.