WINONA LAKE, Ind.  – Grace's softball team added valuable playing experience during the nonleague portion of its 2013 season.

The youthful Lady Lancers finished 3-7 on their spring break trip to Clermont, Fla., while playing against all-NAIA opponents.

Grace's young roster under head coach Heather Johnson consistently fielded half of their starting lineup as underclassmen.

Sophomore Brooke Shell has headlined the Lady Lancer offense through the team's first 14 games. The outfielder leads Grace in batting average (.472), hits (25), runs (14), doubles (4) and triples (5).

Freshman Danielle Wellman has started all 14 games so far in her collegiate career. Wellman, the team's starting catcher, has a .386 batting average and leads the Lady Lancers with 17 runs driven in.

Jordan McKinley, a junior third baseman, has tallied a .409 batting average with 13 runs scored, and Olivia Winget has recorded an average of .386 to go along with two home runs.

Brittney Thacker has been a spark with a .333 average in five games played, and freshman outfielder Lacey Little has a team-high nine stolen bases.

Johnson has leaned primarily on junior Winget and freshman Alex Shipley from the mound. Winget has a team-low 3.73 ERA in seven games pitched, and Shipley has notched 22 strikeouts in 31.0 innings.

Individual highlights from Grace's nonleague schedule include Shell's 4-for-4 performance with four RBIs against Clarke on March 4, Wellman's four RBIs in a narrow defeat to Bellevue on March 6, and Tiffany Featherston's three stolen bases versus Lourdes on March 8.

Shipley also tossed five scoreless innings of two-hit ball against Clarke on March 4, and Winget struck out seven Lourdes' batters in seven innings on March 8.

Grace will have its 2013 debut at Miller Field on Monday against Purdue North Central at 3 p.m.