ROUNDUP: Eels take softball sectional with 13-hit explosion

The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·3 min read

May 26—Clay City used a 13-hit offensive attack to blank visiting Cloverdale 16-0 in five innings Thursday to win the Class A Clay City high school girls softball sectional title.

A 4-for-5 plate performance by Lizzy Sinders fueled the Eels' offense, while her eight-strikeout and one-walk outing as pitcher keyed the Clay City defense. Sinders doubled and tripled, Lulu Koehler and Karlee Smith doubled, and Hannah Harris had five RBI and a homer for the Eels.

Also for Clay City, Lexi Thompson, Faith Mitchell and Koehler all had two RBI.

Clay City will play host to Bethesda Christian at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Class A regional.

In other prep softball:

—North Putnam 7, South Vermillion 6 — At New Market, North Putnam's Brylie Schmitz got the game-winning hit with an RBI single in the seventh inning to end South Vermillion's season in the Class 2A sectional Wednesday.

North Putnam took a lead in the sixth inning on Kyndal Brewer's grand slam, before the Wildcats rallied to retake the lead in the top of the seventh. That set the stage for Schmitz's walk-off hit.

Boys tennis

—Tigers duo falls — At Vernon Hills High School, Paris' doubles team Marcus Mitchell and Robert Wells dropped a pair of matches to foes from Glenbard South and Salem on Thursday in the Illinois High School Association state tournament Thursday.

Mitchell and Wells lost 6-1, 6-0 to Erik Zeikus and Jordan Abbott of Glenbard South, then fell 6-2, 6-3 to Logan Bandy and Andrew Tate of Salem, concluding the Paris pair's strong postseason run.

Boys golf

—Sullivan 176, North Knox 180 — Hunter Pirtle shot a 41 to take medalist honors leading the Golden Arrows to a high school win Thursday.

Individual scores — Sullivan: Hunter Pirtle 41, Rowdy Adams 42, Eli Van Ness 45, Cash Murdock 48, Koby Wood 48. North Knox: Blake Goodwin 45.

Prep baseball

—Wildcats fall — At Spencer, Indian Creek scored seven fifth-inning runs to secure a 14-4 victory over South Vermillion in Thursday's late Class 3A Owen Valley Sectional.

As a result, Indian Creek (now 11-9) will play West Vigo in Monday's sectional championship game at noon.

College track

—Sycamore finishes top 30 — Indiana State pole-vaulter Selene Weaver closed her season with a strong showing Thursday night at the NCAA East Preliminary Round, earning a top-30 finish in less-than-ideal jumping conditions.

Dealing with changing wind conditions throughout the evening, Weaver cleared marks of 12 feet, 6.25 inches and 13-0.25 to place 29th overall. Entering the meet, the junior was seeded 48th in the 48-person field. Weaver only found out Saturday morning that she was in the field after a late scratch moved her up to 48th.

Weaver's finish also was an improvement from the 2022 NCAA East Preliminary Round, where she cleared 12-11.75 and finished 36th. Thursday's showing capped a season where she earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors both indoors and outdoors.