Prep roundup for Thursday, April 28
Apr. 28—Western freshman Kylie Miller fired a no-hitter Wednesday night, fueling the Panther softball squad's 4-0 victory over visiting Lewis Cass.
The win followed Western's 15-4 win at Cass Tuesday. The series sweep gave Western an 11-2 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Hoosier Conference East Division. That clinched the division for the Panthers, who take the East's spot in the upcoming Hoosier Conference championship game.
Miller didn't walk a batter and struck out seven while throwing all seven innings.
"She really had control, command of her pitches and hit spots," Western coach Jim Clouse said. "We had a couple of errors in the field but we were able to recover from those. I expected a different game from [Tuesday] night's game. I thought [Cass pitcher] Bayli Reed for them did a nice job, kept us off balance a little bit and we struck when we had a chance in those two innings, and that was the difference."
Western scored two runs in the third and two in the fifth. Miller and Chloe Linn had back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the third to stake the Panthers to a 2-0 lead. Then in the fifth, Madden Wells had an RBI double and Sienna Stone followed with a pinch-hit RBI single with two outs.
Miller and Chloe Hunt each had two singles and a double. Miller (3-0) has thrown two shutouts in a row.
"She's pitching great," Clouse said. "She does not walk people, which from a coach's standpoint, it makes the other teams earn everything they get. Our defense has been solid behind her so you have to string some hits together to score."
TAYLOR 16, TC 8
Taylor overcame an 8-0 deficit to overpower the Trojans and sweep a two-day set against Tri-Central. The Titans are now 2-6 overall and 2-2 in the Hoosier Heartland Conference.
"I was wondering if we were going to show, but we had a young lady, Kyra Kane, come in and give a key hit and we rallied behind that key hit," Taylor coach Robert McGuire said. "Jadyn Underwood pitched a great game and had some great hits. Kate Glaze had a home run and Jo Glaze, Mallory Saldana and MaKynzi Reed came in and gave some strong hits."
NW 6, HEIGHTS 3
Hamilton Heights scored three runs in the top of the third, but Northwestern countered with four runs in the bottom of the frame and winning pitcher Jaylyn Harrison kept the Huskies off the scoreboard the rest of the game.
Harrison threw all seven with seven hits, three walks, two earned runs and a strikeout. At the plate Harrison had a pair of RBI singles. Bailey Henry added an RBI double for the Tigers (6-5, 3-2 HC East).
"Jaylyn pitched well," NW coach Chris Walker said. "I thought we played better defense than we had been playing."
HSE 15, KOKOMO 9
Hamilton Southeastern scored two runs in the top of the first inning, Kokomo took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the second, but HSE took over from there. The Royals scored five in the third and got at least one run in every inning after that.
Karley Trine and Gwen Hand were each 2 for 4 for the Kats (6-8) and Taylor Reed drew three walks. Hand took the loss.
"The issue that we had was we issued 11 walks as a pitching staff between our three pitchers, and against a team that's already a good hitting team, that is not a good recipe for success," Kokomo coach Mike Susong said. "Five out of the seven innings we walked the leadoff batter. We need to cut down on free passes and I think we'll be fine."
BASEBALL
WESTERN 10, CASS 0, 6 INNINGS
Class 3A No. 2-ranked Western blasted Cass for the second straight night to complete a perfect 8-0 run through the Hoosier Conference's East Division. The Panthers (14-0 overall) will host the West Division winner in the HC title game on May 13.
"We set a goal to win our division and play for the conference championship and we've earned that right. I'm really proud of our guys," Western coach Ryan Berryman said.
Purdue recruit Parker Dean started and pitched 5.1 innings for the win. He held the Kings to four hits, struck out seven and walked none. Dylan Bryant recorded the final two outs.
"Parker is recovering from some hamstring tightness and didn't play [Tuesday] night," Berryman said. "We kept him out of the batting order [Wednesday], but he responded well on the mound. He wanted the ball and is a leader for us. It showed."
Like in Western's 11-0, five-inning victory over Cass on Tuesday, the Panthers scored early and often Wednesday. They had four runs in the first inning and three more in the third inning. They scored three times in the sixth to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Kyler Norman went 2 for 2 and drove in three runs. Cayden McClure had an RBI double and Mitchell Dean, Cade Epp and Zach Gilbert drove in runs with sacrifice flies.
"We've got some nagging injuries that will heal up the next few days, but I can't say enough about Christian Pownall, Cade Epp and Kyler Norman the last three nights. They all stepped up big in extended roles and delivered," Berryman said.
NW 9, HEIGHTS 5
Northwestern beat visiting Hamilton Heights for a split of their home-and-home HC East Division series. The Huskies beat the Tigers 1-0 Tuesday.
Coach Ryan Ward liked how the Tigers came out aggressive and focused Wednesday after a "casual and uninspired" effort the night before.
"You look at our offense: We had one hit [Tuesday], and then [Wednesday] we scored in every inning but one," he said. "I'm proud of the guys not just for the bounce-back win, but the way we came back and fixed some things from [Tuesday]."
Down 4-2 after two innings, the Tigers scored single runs in the third and fourth innings, three runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth.
Cole Wise went 2 for 4 for the Tigers (8-3, 3-3 HC East), A.J. Burkhalter was 1 for 2 with a double and two RBI and Tate Mullens had a triple.
Mullens pitched five innings for the win. He allowed five hits and four runs (three earned), struck out 11 and walked four. Koen Berry pitched the final two innings.
TAYLOR 14, TC 1, 5 INNINGS
Michael Pemberton went 3 for 3 with a two-run triple, Kovey Balentine belted a three-run triple and Taylor whipped visiting Tri-Central to compete a sweep of their Hoosier Heartland Conference series.
Also for Taylor (5-6, 2-4 HHC), Micah Irwin had a double, a single and two RBI. Irwin also was the winning pitcher. He started and worked three innings. He held TC to two hits and one run, struck out four and walked three.
Hunter Williams closed with two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and struck out two.
"The biggest thing is, once again we came out locked in and we didn't underestimate our opponent, which sometimes you have a letdown when you a 10-run rule a team the night before," Taylor coach Kris Dill said, referring to the Titans' 13-3, six-inning win in the series opener. "I thought we swung the bats much better than we did [Tuesday] night. Our approaches were excellent. And I loved seeing Micah Irwin, a freshman, get his first win on the mound.
"[The sweep] gives us a little momentum and a little confidence moving forward. We needed that with the stretch of games we have coming up."
EASTERN 11, ROSSVILLE 1, 5 INN.
The Class 2A No. 5-ranked Comets hammered the visiting Hornets early by scoring 11 runs over the first three innings of the Hoosier Heartland Conference game.
Corbin Snyder pitched a one-hitter. He struck out 11 and walked two. Rossville's run was unearned.
Snyder helped his own cause by driving in three runs. He belted a double for the game's only extra-base hit. Also for the Comets (12-0, 8-0 HHC), Trent Rawls and Reid Keisling had two RBI apiece, Levi Mavrick scored three runs and drove in a run, Cayden Calloway scored two runs and Bryson Russell had an RBI.
Eastern visits Peru on Friday.
McCUTCHEON 2, KOKOMO 1
Kokomo struck first with a run in the top of the first inning, but McCutcheon held the Wildkats off the scoreboard the rest of the way and took the game with two runs in the bottom of the third. The win gave the Mavs a split of the teams' two-game set.
Kokomo starter Jacob Walker lost despite an effective outing. He threw all six innings with just four hits, four walks, one earned run and four strikeouts.
Walker had two of Kokomo's four hits and the cleanup hitter drove in Kokomo's run in the first inning. The Kats (6-8) fell to 4-4 in the North Central Conference.
BOYS GOLF
NW 185, CARROLL 189, EASTERN 212
Northwestern edged Carroll by four shots for the win in three-team meet on Chippendale's front nine.
Sammy Shotwell led the Tigers with a 42, Will Baxter backed him with a 45, Logan Duncan shot a 46 and Brayden Applegate had a 52.
Carroll's Porter Dick was medalist with a 2-under 34.
MAC 168, CASS 175
Led by co-medalists Hayden Williamson and Mason Taylor, the Braves topped Cass at Green Acres G.C. Williamson and Taylor shot 39s.
Drake Guyer had Maconaquah's third score with a 44 and Lane Brehmer shot a 46 for his second consecutive personal-best score.
GIRLS TRACK
JEFF 70, KOKOMO 50
Omarea Daniels, Mia Castillo and Keihera Lang led Kokomo as double winners in the meet at Walter Cross Field.
Daniels won the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 16.4 seconds and led the 4×100 relay team with a season-best time of 52.1. Daniels also finished second in the long jump with a leap of 15-4. Castillo won the 200 dash with a personal-best time of :27.4 and Lang won the high jump with a leap of 4-7. Castillo, Lang and Makaela Drake joined Daniels on the 4x100 team.
Drake and Castillo finished 2-3 in the 100 dash with personal-best times of :13.1 and :13.4, respectively.
Also for the Kats, Abby Hansen won the 400 dash (1:08) and took second in the 200 dash (:29.2), Brielle Humphries won the shot put (30-6) and Aramaea Fivecoate had runner-up finishes in pole vault (6-6), 300 hurdles (1:01) and 100 hurdles (:19.6).
"Very excited to see our times come down as drastically as they did," coach John Malone said. "The ladies are getting stronger as the year progresses and it will be exciting to see what we can do in May."
GIRLS TENNIS
PERU 5, LOGAN 0
No. 1 singles player Mackey Hyde, No. 2 player Lauren Boyer, and the No. 1 doubles team of Cate Wolfe and Emma Eldridge were each 6-0, 6-0 winners. No. 3 singles player Kara Baker and the No. 2 doubles team of Libby Rogers and Casidy Bartel won in straight sets.
ROSSVILLE 3, EASTERN 2
The visiting Hornets edged the Comets in a clash at the the top of the Hoosier Heartland Conference standings. The Comets dropped to 2-1 in the league.
Eastern's points came from No. 1 singles player Maria Oliveira (6-2, 6-0) and the No. 1 doubles team of Kate Salkie and Molly Farkas (6-0, 6-4).
"We got two quick points, but couldn't quite bring home that third point. We went to three sets in all matches remaining and battled," Eastern coach Pat Rice said. "We have been dealing with a lot injuries this season, and I think it caught up to us [Wednesday].
"I have loved watching this team fight and step up when called upon and even in a loss we saw that [Wednesday] as Madi Guinn might have played her best match falling just short in a third set."
Eastern (8-1 overall) hosts Northwestern on Friday in a makeup match.
CASS 5, DELPHI 0
Erika Johnson served double bagels (6-0, 6-0) at No. 2 singles to highlight the Kings' road win.
Also for Cass, Erika Baber was a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, Emma Geisler was a 7-6 (3), 6-2 winner at No. 3 singles, Abbey Hileman and Dixie Wagoner took a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles and Clara Lickliter and Vega Cuenca-Pute won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
