Every great baseball and softball offense has an igniter, a table-setter at the top of the lineup. For the Sterling softball team, it’s Karlie Mellott.

Mellott made a splash as a freshman a year ago, playing in all 34 games for the Golden Warriors. She batted .411 and went 12-1 as a pitcher with a 1.23 ERA in 79 2/3 innings.

This season, she leads the team in batting average (.500), runs (50), hits (62), triples (5), slugging percentage (.645) and on-base percentage (.533). She’s hit safely in 31 of her 35 games, and 24 of the last 25. She’s also second on the team in RBIs (34).