Bremen softball star taking talents to SEC after decorated high school career
BREMEN, Ind. (BVM) — Only one person sits at the top of the high school softball career home run list in the state of Indiana. That slugger is Erin Coffel, and it is just one of many accomplishments she achieved during an outstanding career at Bremen High School.
Coffel has been playing softball since she was 5 years old. In middle school, Coffel also played soccer which she enjoyed but had to give up to be able to play travel softball. However, she did continue her basketball career at Bremen High School, where she would score over 1,000 points in her career.
“I really enjoyed basketball and liked the fast pace of it,” Coffel said. “My best memory of playing in high school was winning sectionals this past season. But I also really enjoyed my coaches and teammates and couldn’t have scored 1,000 points without them. It was really big for the town of Bremen and an awesome achievement.”
But softball has always been Coffel’s best sport. She comes from a baseball and softball family through and through, which starts with her father, Rob, who played in high school, college and was even drafted by the New York Yankees. Each of her brothers played baseball in high school as well, and Coffel often found herself competing against her brothers in the backyard during her youth.
Coffel credits those games at home against her brothers for helping her to become more motivated and competitive. But her brothers and the rest of her family have always been her biggest support system whether it is in softball or any other facet of life.
The 18-year-old softball star grew up playing in rec league where she gained a deep love for the game. She also realized early on that she was a natural athlete and exceptional hitter, which continues to be the best part of her game today.
Arriving on the scene right away at Bremen, Coffel helped lead her team to IHSAA regionals as a freshman. After losing just one senior to graduation, the Lions were poised to make a run in Coffel’s sophomore season. However, the team would fall short of their ultimate goal, finishing as state runner-up in 2A.
But Coffel’s junior season in 2019 is when everything clicked – eventually.
“We had everyone back but I will be completely honest, the beginning of the year was a rocky start for us,” Coffel said. “We weren’t clicking very well and things were just off. But as we started to get closer things started to get better and we kept pushing ourselves.”
Motivated by the past season’s runner-up finish, the Lions took off after their rocky start and finished the season with an incredible 29-2 record. It would this time end in a state championship, the first for girls softball at Bremen.
A big part of the run was due to Coffel, who batted an impressive .663 to go along with 19 home runs and 52 RBIs. Although she put up elite personal stats, the run the Lions were able to make to bring a state title home to Bremen is what stands out most for the shortstop.
“I can’t even describe the feeling of winning that state championship,” Coffel said. “To do it for the town of Bremen, which is such a tight-knit and supportive community, made it the best moment of my softball career by far.”
After the season, Coffel was honored with the Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year award, recognizing her exceptional achievement on the field as well as her academic achievement and exemplary character off of it.
What Coffel and the rest of her teammates didn’t know after winning the state championship in 2019 is that it would be their final game together. With spring sports canceled this year due to COVID-19, the Lions never got the chance to repeat, and Coffel did not have the opportunity to finish off what was an elite high school career.
Heartbreaking for seniors across the country, Coffel took the news hard. While she acknowledges there was a lot of roster turnover after the state championship, she still thinks her team had a chance and would have loved to be able to take the field one last time.
“Obviously it wasn’t easy on any senior in a spring sport,” Coffel said. “I sat on it for a week or so, but you got to get up and keep going. We lost seven seniors so I never want to say it was a rebuilding year but we had a lot of new pieces. We were clicking in the first couple practices though and we could have gotten somewhere for sure. We missed out on that but the team is in good hands for next year with coach Mike Huppert.”
Thank you @BHSSoftball5 for the best 3 years of my life. The countless memories & lessons that were made will forever be apart of me. From getting yelled for talking to much to winning the state championship will always be something I cherish. Forever grateful for this town💚💚 pic.twitter.com/CtwEEFRx2Q
— Erin Coffel (@erincoffel5) April 3, 2020
Although disappointing, Coffel can at least take solace in knowing that in the last game she ever played for Bremen, she went out on top. She can also look back at her career and know she left a lasting impact on the softball program.
For her career, the shortstop batted .627 with 164 RBIs. Even more impressively, she holds the Indiana high school state record with 50 home runs – in just three seasons.
“The home run record is such a great honor. I never thought I was that close until we were playing at state last summer,” Coffel said.
As if those accomplishments were not impressive enough, the Bremen grad took home additional hardware this spring, again winning the Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year. A rare feat to win once let alone twice, Coffel was amazed by the honor.
“It’s such a prestigious award and I’m so honored to receive it. I couldn’t be more grateful for winning it both years,” Coffel said.
“Erin Coffel is the best girls softball player I’ve seen, coaching and watching softball for over 35 years,” coach Huppert said in a Gatorade press release. “She’s a joy to be around, works extremely hard to improve everyday, and her intensity is infectious to all, including her coaches.”
The No. 14-ranked prospect by Softball America in the 2020 class will now go on to play college softball for the University of Kentucky. Coffel committed to the Wildcats as a freshman after falling in love with the school.
“Kentucky was the first school that really laid eyes on me. That was the first campus visit I had ever been to and I was in complete awe of absolutely everything: the facilities, the coaches, the girls, and just the university itself,” Coffel said.
Coffel received interest from several Big Ten schools, including Michigan, Ohio State and Northwestern – who was the shortstop’s second choice. But ultimately Kentucky won out and the Bremen grad cannot wait to get started in Lexington.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment and I’m super excited for it,” Coffel said. “It’s going to bring a lot of new challenges, successes, and failures. But I am just going to be open-minded, listen to my coaches, and create friendships with my teammates. Every girl’s dream is to win the College World Series and I also want to win the SEC which is one of the best conferences in softball.”
The 18-year-old will study kinesiology and hopes to eventually become a physical therapist or physician’s assistant. She also has contemplated continuing to play softball after her time at Kentucky is done.
But for now, Coffel is focused on the present moment. She has continued to workout and train during her time off in the spring, and still has several tournaments scheduled for the summer with her traveling team, the Indiana Magic Gold.
In three years, Coffel had arguably one of the best high school softball careers the state of Indiana has ever seen. It will be fun to see how her game translates in the college ranks for the Wildcats, but if her time at Bremen told us anything, we should expect to hear Coffel’s name again before she graduates from Kentucky.
