The REPORTER
(Editor’s note: Reporter sports correspondent Dwight Casler conducted an interview with Westfield graduate and current Indiana University softball player during the season, with Maelei Casler serving as interpreter.)
The hits kept on coming for Avery Parker during the Indiana University softball season in 2025.
Parker was one of the offensive stars for the Hoosiers, helping them to a 34-20 record and an appearance in the NCAA regional in Fayetteville, Ark. She was part of a team that went to back-to-back NCAA regionals and back-to-back Big Ten championship games.
“We’ve made a lot of history since I’ve been here and won more games than we were expected to win my last couple seasons,” said Parker.
The catcher Parker started in all 54 games. She finished the season with the third-highest batting average at .392 and totaled 65 hits, including 17 doubles and 11 home runs. Parker drove in 60 runs and scored 34. On defense, Parker led the team in put-outs with 215 and had a fielding percentage of .976.
“Freshman year was more of a struggle, but now that I’m an upperclassman, it just feels normal, the speed of the game was normal,” said Parker.
The Hoosiers played several games against ranked teams during the season. That included two games against No. 12 Texas Tech, three games No. 18 Ohio State (with Indiana winning the third game), No. 7 Oregon and two games against No. 22 Nebraska, where the Hoosiers won the second game, Parker called that “awesome.”
Parker said her experience with travel ball helped prepare her for college play.
“I played on a high-competitive travel team. We traveled the country and played other Division I commits,” said Parker. She also called playing at Westfield “a good experience.”
Parker is majoring in psychology with a minor in political science, and she wants to be a forensic psychologist.” Parker has received honors for her academic performance: she was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team her sophomore and junior years and was an Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete her freshman and sophomore years. On the field, Parker was named to the NFCA All-Region Second Team during her first two years.
Parker will play her senior season next year, and she has advice for young softball players, beginning with having fun, “because it honestly flies by.”
“But also work hard,” she said. “Even when people aren’t looking, work hard. Put the work in when you’re not at practice and when you’re not required to do it.”
(Dwight Casler)