LYNNVILLE, Ind. — There's a case that Jenna Donohoo is one of the best athletes to come out of Tec*mseh High School.
The three-sport athlete played in six total IHSAA state championships, earning three blue medals along the way. She was a standout in volleyball, is a member of basketball's 1,000-point club and holds the softball program's all-time records in hits (194), home runs (39) and RBIs (209).
IHSAA softball: Tec*mseh offense quieted by Rossville in Class A state championship
Donohoo is even more stellar outside of athletics, from being involved with Special Olympics to graduating as the valedictorian of her class. She had another excellent season on the diamond as she hit 11 home runs and drove in 59 RBIs as an Indiana Miss Softball finalist.
There's a new honor to add to an already impressive list of accolades: this year's Courier & Press All-Southwestern Indiana Player of the Year, as voted on by the sports staff.
"Jenna, in my opinion, is one of two of the best three-sport athletes that's ever played for Tec*mseh," coach Gordon Wood said. "And Kaybree Oxley would be the other one. They're just amazing talents, (have) a lot of God-given talent. They're hard workers and want to get better all the time."
Donohoo comes from an athletic family as her parents were swimmers. She started playing travel softball when she was 6 years old and always knew she wanted to be a catcher. She wanted to touch the ball every pitch.
"I loved when the hitter would pop it up and I can go catch it," Donohoo said. "I played a little bit of infield when I was little, and then once I started getting into high school I played left field my freshman year. Most of the time, I was the catcher."
Donohoo admitted it was nerve-wracking when she first wore a Tec*mseh softball uniform. The Braves' streak of 17 consecutive sectional titles was snapped after a loss to Mater Dei in her freshman year. Donohoo still made an immediate impact, even homering in her first varsity game.
She continued to shine in three sports, appearing in two state championships in each of the next three seasons. She was a starter on Tec*mseh's first basketball title team as a sophom*ore, then broke softball's single-season home run (15) and RBI (73) records as a junior. For Donohoo, each trip to a state championship got better.
"It's so amazing that we get to do all of these things," Donohoo said. "And I'm so grateful for the talents that God has blessed me with to be able to be on these teams. The community really supports us in every single sport, and I cannot be more thankful for that. Without the community, we wouldn't have the backing that we would need to be able to win these things."
Donohoo is heading to the University of Evansville this fall for softball and is happy that home is only 30 miles away. She knows she will still receive support from her older brother Cale — her No. 1 fan — and added he's going to cheer for all her future teammates as soon as he learns their names.
"I'll miss her brother giving cheers in the stands," Wood said. "I'm going to miss the fun (from Donohoo and) that competitive drive. I can chew on her big-time and she'll take it and can handle it. She is a lot like a daughter."
Donohoo has enjoyed every minute of being at Tec*mseh, from the athletics to the academics. She wouldn't have gone anywhere else if she had the choice.
"I love her competitiveness. She craves the competition," said former volleyball coach Katie Johnson. "Watching her grow through the years, as a person and as an athlete, has been a privilege. She has been an impact player in three sports at Tec*mseh, which has some of the best girls sports teams around, and not very many people can say that."
Wood is the Courier & Press All-Southwestern Indiana Coach of the Year after leading Tec*mseh to its third-straight Class A state title appearance. The five-time champion has compiled a 404-128 record in his 18 seasons leading the Braves. Donohoo is grateful for the guidance she's received from one of Indiana's best coaches.
"Honestly, I don't know who else I would want to play for besides Gordon," Donohoo said. "To be able to put on that Tec*mseh jersey is just an amazing experience and opportunity. And I could never be more thankful for it."
2024Courier & Press All-SWIndiana Softball Team
Position, Name, School, Year, Avg.
C: Jenna Donohoo, Tec*mseh, Sr., .472
C: Hadley Leibering, Heritage Hills, Jr., .396
C: Sibyl Renshaw, North Posey, Sr., .505
1B: Callie Dickerson, Gibson Southern, Sr., .521
2B/SS: Taylor Ash, Tec*mseh, Sr., .486
2B/SS: Maddux Marshall, Southridge, Sr., .393
3B: Ally Malone, Gibson Southern, Sr., .396
INF: Grace Archer, Vincennes Lincoln, So., .514
INF: Raegan Etolen, Princeton, Sr., .412
INF: Kaitlyn Randle, Forest Park, Jr., .562
OF: Lauryn Adamson, Gibson Southern, Jr., .436
OF: Emme Hoesli, Tell City, Jr., .493
OF: Katelyn Marx, Tec*mseh, Jr., .393
OF: Laney Scherer, Gibson Southern, Fr., .466
Flex: Peyton Pryor, Boonville, Jr., .417
DH: Hannah West, Mount Vernon, Sr., .389
DH: Olivia Young, Jasper, Jr., .538
P: Natalie Feather, Tec*mseh, Sr., 17-6, 2.85 ERA
P: Addie Fullop, North Posey, Sr., 17-3, 1.97 ERA
P: Karlye Graber, Barr-Reeve, Sr., 10-4, 1.35 ERA
P: Carly Potts, Gibson Southern, So., 13-2, 1.87 ERA
Player of the Year: Jenna Donohoo, Tec*mseh
Coach of the Year:Gordon Wood, Tec*mseh
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA softball: 2024 Courier & Press All-SW Indiana team, MVP
