Wildcats, Eels return to softball semistates

Andy Amey, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·2 min read

Jun. 4—South Vermillion and Clay City are back in familiar territory Saturday for high school softball semistates.

The Wildcats play the second game at the Class 2A Forest Park Semistate, their third straight trip to the next-to-last round of tournament play, while the Eels return to the Elnora area as defending champions of the Class A North Daviess Semistate.

South Vermillion lost to eventual Class 2A state runner-up Tecumseh in the opening round of the 2019 semistate, then fell to Union County in the first round in a close game last season (there were no spring sports in 2020).

Clay City beat Hauser and Loogootee last spring to advance to the Class A state championship game, where the Eels fell to Northfield.

Both teams could face major roadblocks in their quest for state finals appearances, and even have one roadblock in common (more or less).

The Wildcats are the highest-ranked team among the four at Forest Park, sixth in the final regular-season coaches poll, and knocked off 12th-ranked Cascade in Tuesday's regional.

They'll be interested spectators for the 11 a.m. opening game featuring eighth-ranked North Posey, looking for clues about how to handle junior pitcher/slugger Erin Hoehn of the Vikings. Hoehn pitched a no-hitter to beat Linton in the regional game, and earlier this season had a 17-strikeout performance against defending state runner-up Sullivan.

Should the favorites prevail, North Posey and South Vermillion would meet at 7 p.m.

The roadblock for Clay City comes immediately, when the seventh-ranked Eels face Tecumseh in the second semifinal game at North Daviess.

As already noted, Tecumseh was Class 2A state runner-up in 2019 and has since fallen back to Class A. The Braves, who already have a Class A girls basketball state championship this school year, showed how serious they are back in early April when they won their pool at Terre Haute South's Braves Bash by laying waste to the host team, Hamilton Southeastern and Edgewood before losing to a strong Class 4A Bedford North Lawrence team.

The Hauser team that Clay City beat last year is also back, ranked second in the state and favored in the 10:30 a.m. opener against Trinity Lutheran.

"We are very excited for Saturday's semistate," said coach Jason Sinders of the Eels, who handled Bethesda Christian in Tuesday's regional game. "There are great teams and coaches involved. It's awesome to have another opportunity to compete and have fun."