Team Picture courtesy of Max Islein

In 2025, the Mustangs were ahead of schedule.

Propelled by its young core, Salina Central softball broke through with a state tournament appearance and now aims to make that level of success the norm. After going 21-8 last season, expectations are high, and many of the players who helped set that standard are back.

Of the 12 players returning, eight had over 70 at-bats for a team that averaged eight runs per game with a batting average of .366. Experience varies across the roster but the core is still young.

Sophia Johnson will lead this year’s pitching staff after posting a 2.30 ERA in 91 innings as a freshman, earning her All-League honors.

“She’s coming back stronger,” said Brain Guyett who follows Alyssa Waldron as head coach of the Mustangs.

“She’ll be ready to go this season, she’s added a couple more pitches and we’re excited to see how it looks this season.” Guyett added.

Rounding out the pitching staff, Katy Wagner is expected to take on a bigger role after throwing  just 8.1 innings as a sophomore. Central will also give more opportunities to Bailey Bruce who threw four innings last season.

Offensively, the identity of the Mustangs will remain mostly the same. Central will put the ball in play and manufacture runs with speed and high level bat control. As a team, the Mustangs struck out on just 12 percent of their at-bats last season, and with more growth expected that number could find itself being even lower this year.

Central’s coaching staff quickly identified the strength’s of their players and tailored the offensive approach to showcase those abilities.

“We decided early on that we were going to focus our offensive days around understanding how to hit, understanding what to do with runners on base and how to get those runs across” Guyett said.

Central returns seven of its eight leading hitters from last season, all of which had over 20 hits and an average of over .300.

While the lineup is not set for opening day, it will likely be some combination of Charlotte Gordon, Joely Guyett, Paityn Berndt, Hannah Peckham, Katy Wagner, Bailey Bruce, Harper Turpin along with lone returning seniors Brooke Banninger and Ellie Riekhof.

The Mustangs won’t just keep the line moving at the plate, they plan to cause chaos on the base paths and use their collective speed to manufacture runs.

“We’re a fairly quick team,” Guyett said. “The base running IQ of our team, especially with all our returners will help us to push the pace more on the bases and take the extra bag.”

Katy Wagner led the way stealing 20 of 81 bases for the Mustangs who could have a handful of players approaching double figures in stolen bags.

Central is determined to build on an already excellent 2025 season, and with a core group intent on returning to state, the Mustangs could be in for another special year.