May 25—Kokomo’s softball team rolled past Lafayette Jeff 11-3 Monday in the opening game of the Class 4A Logansport Sectional.
Karley Trine and Brooke Hughes led Kokomo’s offense. Trine went 2 for 3 with a triple and Hughes finished 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI. Kennedy Huckeby also had a double and Sarah Stonebraker drove in two runs.
Bayli Reed earned the win. She pitched six innings and allowed only one earned run. She struck out four.
Kokomo (16-13) faces Logansport (16-12) at 7:30 p.m. today in a semifinal game. Harrison and McCutcheon are in the 5:30 semifinal.
Logan beat Kokomo 3-2 when the teams met in North Central Conference play on May 5.
NW 11, MAC 0, 5 INNINGS
No. 4-ranked Northwestern hammered Maconaquah in the Class 3A Twin Lakes Sectional’s opening game. The Tigers scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to end it early.
The Tigers (22-6) finished with 14 hits. Ellie Boyer went 4 for 4 with four singles, Jaci Elson had three singles, Jaylyn Harrison belted a double and single and Kate Graves, Bailey Henry and Morgan Walker each had double.
Harrison pitched all five innings and held the Braves to two hits. She struck out six and walked one.
Hayleigh Cole and Amaya Rader had Maconaquah’s hits. Phantazia DeBoard took the loss.
Northwestern advances to face Twin Lakes in Wednesday’s semifinal round. Maconaquah finished 14-13.
CASS 11, WABASH 1, 6 INNINGS
The Kings rolled to a win in the opening game of the Class 2A Wabash Sectional.
Madison Dormer and Paxtyn Hicks combined on the win. Dormer pitched three hitless innings with six strikeouts. Hicks worked the final three innings and allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Rylee Holt went 3 for 3 with a double, three RBI and two runs. Dormer had a double, single, RBI and run. Hannah Plauschin had two hits and two runs. Cana Jones had two hits and an RBI.
Cass (15-14), which swept Class A No. 3 North Miami on Saturday to conclude the regular season, plays Whitko (9-12) at 5 p.m. today in a semifinal. Whitko defeated Manchester 7-4 on Monday.
OAK HILL 4, TAYLOR 0
Taylor fell to Oak Hill in the Class 2A Tipton Sectional’s opening game.
“We came into the sectionals as a young team and we left the sectionals as a seasoned team. Maddie Uncapher pitched a great game and we had solid defense behind her,” Taylor coach Robert McGuire said. “I’m so proud of these ladies, they left it all on the field, and that’s all you can ask for.”
BASEBALL
NW 11, ROSSVILLE 10
The Tigers outlasted the visiting Hornets to close the regular season on a positive note.
Austin Robinson belted two triples to lead the Tigers’ 12-hit attack. Cole Van Natter went 3 for 3, Jeremy Bell was 2 for 3 with a triple, Cole Caldwell was 2 for 4 and Cole Wise and A.J. Burkhalter each had double. Robinson and Wise drove in two runs apiece and Van Natter, Bell, Caldwell and Burkhalter had one RBI apiece.
Tate Mullens pitched the final five innings for the win. He allowed four hits and four runs (two earned), struck out six and walked six.
Northwestern (11-13) has won four in a row.
“As a coach, all you can ask from your kids is, ‘Did we grow and did we get better and are we playing our best at the end of the season?’ And that’s the case for our kids so we’re excited,” Northwestern coach Ryan Ward said.
Northwestern is the host for Class 3A Sectional 20. The Tigers drew an opening-round bye and will face either co-No. 6 Western or No. 9 Peru in Saturday’s semifinal round.
“It will be a tough opponent either way — two very good teams, two highly ranked teams and two well-coached teams,” Ward said, “but we’re pretty good too and I think we’re a scary team right now because we’re hot, Cole Wise is a lockdown pitcher and our offense has really picked up.”
TAYLOR 11, ELWOOD 10
Elwood jumped to a quick 7-0 lead, but Taylor countered with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning and the Titans went on to beat the Panthers 11-10.
“We strung together some [good] at-bats, had a couple squeeze plays, a couple sac bunts — the next thing you know, the bats got hot and the kids gained some confidence,” Taylor coach Kris Dill said.
The Titans finished with 12 hits. Eli Harris went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Ashton McKay was 2 for 4 with three RBI, Michael Pemberton was 2 for 4 with a triple and RBI and Jaylen Harris had a two-run triple.
Eli Harris earned the win in relief and Jaylen Harris closed for the save. Eli Harris pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowed five hits and three runs and struck out three. Jaylen Harris pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings and struck out four of the five batters he faced.
Taylor (6-21) hosts Caston today to close the regular season. The Titans face Eastern in the Class 2A Eastern Sectional semifinal round at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
BOYS GOLF
NW WINS 3-WAY
Northwestern posted a score of 188 to beat Clinton Central (188) and Delphi (212) at Frankfort Commons.
Bodey Henry led the Tigers with 45. Addison Horner followed with a 47 and Sammy Shotwell and Jake Martin had 48s.