May 24—High school baseball sectionals begin today and continue through Monday. Mother Nature has given her seal of approval in the form of a picture-perfect forecast of sunshine and blue skies.

All five Howard County are playing in sectionals within the county. Kokomo is hosting a Class 4A sectional at Municipal Stadium, Northwestern and Western are playing in a Class 3A sectional at Northwestern, and Eastern and Taylor are playing in a Class 2A sectional that Eastern is hosting at CFD Investments Stadium in Highland Park.

Tipton joins Eastern and Taylor in the sectional at Highland Park. Maconaquah and Peru are in a Class 3A sectional at Oak Hill. Carroll and Lewis Cass are in a Class 2A sectional at Delphi. And Tri-Central heads to Anderson Prep for a Class A sectional.

The following are looks at the sectionals.

KOKOMO SECTIONAL

In today's opening round, Kokomo (11-16) faces Logansport (21-9) in the 5:30 p.m. opener and Harrison (20-8) takes on Lafayette Jeff (17-12) at approximately 8 p.m. Harrison is the sectional's two-time defending champion.

Logansport swept Kokomo in North Central Conference play during the regular season. The Berries beat the Kats 6-2 on April 18 at Kokomo, and 11-8 on April 19 at Logan.

Kokomo is led by Indiana North All-Star selection John Curl. The Indiana State-bound slugger is batting .416 with 12 extra-base hits, 29 runs and 20 RBI. J.J. Gillespie is batting .400. The Kats' pitching options include Dameion Deis (2-4 record, 2.02 ERA), Ashton Sexton (2-3, 2.10), Isaac Flamino (1-2, 3.00) and Dalton Dixon (4-2, 3.33).

The semifinals are Saturday. Today's winners meet at 11 a.m. and McCutcheon (16-9) faces Marion (1-18) at approximately 2 p.m.

The championship is at 11 a.m. Monday

NW SECTIONAL

Western heads into the Class 3A Northwestern Sectional as the defending champion and the clear favorite. The Panthers are 22-4 and ranked No. 4 in the state.

In today's opening, the Panthers face North Montgomery (16-12) in the 5 p.m. opener and Twin Lakes (15-11) meets West Lafayette (13-11) at approximately 7 p.m.

In Thursday's semifinal round, today's winners meet at 5 p.m. and Northwestern (16-11) takes on Frankfort (16-12) at approximately 7 p.m. The championship is set for 11 a.m. Monday.

Western features the 1-2 pitching tandem of Indiana North All-Star selections Mitchell Dean and Christian Pownall. The Louisville-bound Dean has a 7-0 record and 0.68 ERA and the Ohio State-bound Pownall is 5-1 with a 1.16 ERA. Dean has 87 strikeouts in 41.1 innings.

Dean also is a dominant force at the plate. He is batting a county-best .512 and also tops the county in on-base percentage (.596), extra-base hits (21) and RBI (48). Zach Gilbert has 15 extra-base hits and 32 RBI.

Northwestern's top pitchers are A.J. Burkhalter (2-1 record, 1.50 ERA) and Koen Berry (4-2, 5.91). Lincoln Cardwell is the Tigers' leading hitter. He is batting .444 with 18 extra-base hits and 23 RBI.

EASTERN SECTIONAL

Eastern is the defending champion and the favorite in the Class 2A sectional the Comets are hosting at Highland Park. The Comets are 20-7.

In today's opening round, Taylor (7-14) faces Tipton (3-15) in the 5 p.m. opener. After that, Madison-Grant (15-12) faces Elwood (3-22) at approximately 7 p.m.

In Saturday's semifinal round, Eastern takes on Alexandria (11-16) at 1:30 p.m. and today's winners meet at 5 p.m. The championship is set for 1 p.m. Monday.

Eastern has a pair of solid pitching options in Corbin Snyder (6-2 record, 1.59 ERA) and Cayden Calloway (6-1, 0.95). Snyder has 86 strikeouts in 44 innings.

Reid Keisling leads the Comets at the plate with a .449 average, 11 extra-base hits, 39 runs and 27 RBI. Keisling also has 36 stolen bases.

Hunter Williams leads the Titans in batting with a .328 average and 18 RBI. Kien Sullivan is batting .322 and Catch Sullivan is batting .318. Williams leads the pitching staff with a 2-5 record.

AROUND THE AREA

In the Class 3A Oak Hill Sectional, there are two games today — Peru (13-12) vs. Oak Hill (13-11) at 5 p.m. and Mississinewa (13-12) vs. Norwell (19-7) at approximately 7 p.m. In Saturday's semifinal round, today's winners meet at noon followed by Maconaquah (11-15) vs. Bellmont (9-11) at approximately 2 p.m. The championship is set for 2 p.m. Monday.

In the Class 2A Delphi Sectional, there are two games today — Seeger (18-8) vs. defending champion Carroll (14-9) at 5 p.m. and Benton Central (11-13) vs. Lewis Cass (1-18) at approximately 8 p.m. The semifinal round is Thursday. Today's winners meet at 5 p.m. followed by Clinton Prairie (7-16) vs. Delphi (18-10) at 8 p.m. The championship is planned for 3 p.m. Monday.

In the Class A Anderson Prep Sectional, there are three opening-round games spread over three days. Southern Wells (5-17) faces Wes-Del (17-8) at 5:30 p.m. today. Tri-Central (8-12) takes on Liberty Christian (3-18) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. And Daleville (9-10) faces Anderson Prep (2-13) at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The semifinals and final are all Monday. Cowan (10-13) faces the SW-WD winner at 10 a.m. The TC-LC winner faces the Daleville-AP winner at 1 p.m. The championship is at 6 p.m.

Bryan Gaskins is the Tribune's sports editor. He may be reached at bryan.gaskins@kokomotribune.com or 765-454-8567.