Prep roundup for Wednesday, April 19

Apr. 19—Western's baseball team used dominant pitching and a nine-run explosion in the opening inning to clobber visiting Northwestern 12-0 in five innings Tuesday in the opening game of a two-game, two-day Hoosier Conference set.

Western pitching ace Mitchell Dean was nearly untouchable. He threw all five innings with one hit, two walks and 10 strikeouts. On offense for the Class 3A No. 2-ranked Panthers, Mitchell Knepley had two singles, Deaglan Pleak doubled, Bret Echelbarger had a three-run double and Kyler Norman had an RBI double.

"It was great to see the offense break out," Western coach Ryan Berryman said. "Our guys are very capable hitters, but we just haven't clicked. The guys play all summer and work hard in the winter, but they've been pressing. We gave them the weekend off to rest and reset and mixed in some new drills. They had better swings and awareness [Tuesday] night.

"Mitchell Dean was solid once again. His slider had good depth early and he threw a couple of changeups that were next level. He's off to a good start this season."

Koen Berry took the loss for Northwestern. A.J. Burkhalter had the Tigers' only hit.

"All the credit goes to Western," NW coach Ryan Ward said. "They scored nine in the first inning, our star pitcher just went 1/3 of an inning and they earned everything. For a team that some might have said has been struggling offensively, they did not show it [Tuesday] night. They just hit everything hard. We didn't make any errors the first inning, they just came out swinging and were an offensive juggernaut.

Western (8-1, 5-0 HC) and Northwestern (7-2, 2-1) square off again today at 6 p.m. at Northwestern.

LOGAN 6, KOKOMO 2

Logansport went up 5-0 through five innings and topped the Kats in a North Central Conference game.

Larry Hamillton led Kokomo (2-8, 1-4 NCC) at the plate, going 2 for 2 with an RBI. Musashi Otsubo also had a hit and drove in a run. Starter Dameion Deis took the loss.

GIRLS TENNIS

EASTERN 4, TIPTON 1

The Comets swept the singles points to even their team record at 3-3.

Molly Farkas won the No. 1 singles match 6-3, 6-2. Emily Princell won the No. 2 match 6-1, 6-1. Morgan Kaiser won the No. 3 match 6-1, 6-2. And the team of Julia Salkie and Emma Budde won the No. 2 doubles match 6-2, 6-1.

"Good night and a solid win over a sectional opponent," Eastern coach Pat Rice said. "Felt like we started slow at some spots but hit our groove and were able to take control. Great to see Molly Farkas get a win after having her signing to play for IUK."

Tipton's team of Malia Gillam and Ashlee Schram won the No. 1 doubles point 6-2, 1-5, 10-3.

PERU 4, ROCHESTER 1

Peru swept the singles points in a win at Thrush Courts. Mackey Hyde won the No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-0, Lauren Boyer won the No. 2 match 6-0, 6-0, and Emma Eldridge won the No. 3 point 6-1, 6-1. And the No. 1 doubles team of Kara Baker and Esmeralda Flores won 6-2, 6-2.

BOYS GOLF

TIPTON 157, HEIGHTS 176

Maverick Conaway was medalist with a 1-over 36 at Tipton Municipal G.C. Gavin Hare shot 37, Calvin Condict 41 and Preston Lancaster 43.

"I think there are still a few things to smooth out in the swings and I know the boys aren't happy until they start shooting consistent rounds," Tipton coach Justin Palmer said. "They all have the ability and talent, it's just a matter of when it clicks and everything starts falling into place."

SOFTBALL

WESTERN 12, NW 0, 5 INN.

Kylie Miller threw all five innings to get the win for the unbeaten Panthers (10-0, 5-0 HC). She allowed two hits and a walk and recorded seven strikeouts.

At the plate, Kyndal Mellady was 2 for 3 with ah homer and two RBI. Chloe Linn homered and finished with three RBI. Maisy Harlow was 2 for 2 with a double, and Chloe Hunt was 2 for 3.

"We got off to a really fast start. We scored seven in the first and five in the second," Western coach Jim Clouse said. "We were able to get all of our players in, which is always helpful, and we play them back-to-back so we play them again [tonight] at Northwestern. We know they'll be ready."

EASTERN 9, CLINTON PRAIRIE 0

Eastern opened its Hoosier Heartland Conference slate with a comfortable win at home.

Macy Coan threw all seven frames with four hits, no walks and 13 strikeouts. At the plate, Maggie Johnson went 3 for 3, Macy Coan went 3 for 4, Marly Coan and Aubree Pearce each went 2 for 3. Marly and Macy Coan drove in two runs each.

CATHEDRAL 14, KOKOMO 11

The Irish came out on top of a wild game at Kokomo. The Wildkats led 8-2 after two innings and 9-3 after three, but Cathedral closed the gap to 11-9 after six innings then scored five unearned runs in the top of the fifth.

The loss spoiled a big game for Kokomo's Taylor Reed, who was 4 for 4 with a double and six RBI. Alyseea Thompson was 3 for 4 with a double. Gwen Hand was 2 for 4. Dani Tate was 2 for 5. And Kami Shoemaker, Kinley Martin and Amirah Marciniak each doubled. Hand took the loss, despite not allowing an earned run in her inning of work, the seventh.

"We knew Cathedral is a really good-hitting team and I told them when we got the lead we had to keep scoring runs," Kokomo coach Mike Susong said. "Unfortunately when it came down to the last inning, we didn't make the plays we needed to to get out of the inning and they overtook us, and we didn't have the answer."

GIRLS TRACK

HARRISON 122, NW 39, N. MONT. 6

Northwestern came in second in a triangular with Harrison and North Montgomery.

The Tigers won five events. Courtney Adams won the 1,600 (5:37), Hannah Moore won the 3,200 (11:24), Lexi Hale won high jump (5 feet, 2 inches), and Anna Perry won the 100 dash (:13.16). And Addy Robinson, Sally Freeman, Hannah Troyer and Moore teamed to win the 4x800 (11:26).

"We tried some new things at this meet," NW coach Josh Perry said. "We are recovering after a hard week and focusing on feeling good through a long season. We had a great night for distance with five personal bests. I saw lots of good efforts out of the team when they could have just phoned it in."

DELPHI 68, EASTERN 49, TC 27

The Comets finished in the middle of a triangular with Delphi and Tri-Central.

Taking first place for Eastern were Makenna Brooks (100 and long jump), Alesia Rummel (800 meters) and the 4x100 team of Allie Hueston, Maya Pickett, Hannah Morrisett and Brooklyn Brooks).

"We had some lineup changes," Eastern coach Anne Kantz said. "It was a good experience competing against two conference opponents."

BOYS TRACK

TIGERS 3rd

Northwestern finished third in a triangular meet with Harrison and North Montgomery. Team scores were not available.

The Tigers' best result was Colin Feazel's second-place finish in the 800 (2:01.54).

NW coach Alex Pier said the meet featured a "strong field. With coming off the Big Orange Saturday and having a bunch of PRs and [season-bests], a Tuesday night meet was going to be a big order. The boys came out and had more improvements all over the place to continue producing PRs and SBs. I am glad to continue heading in the forward direction."