Jun. 4—If you want to keep track of what’s going on with Wabash Valley high school teams advancing far in their state tournaments this weekend, don’t throw away this story.
Your memory, unless it’s exceptional, is unlikely to take in all of this information on one read.
In girls tennis, for example, Sullivan (25-0) will take on No. 6-ranked Homestead at noon Friday on Center Grove’s North Deck courts 8-12 in the state quarterfinals (final eight). At the same time, No. 1 Carmel vs. No. 3 Park Tudor will take place on Center Grove courts 1-5.
The ihsaa.com website lists Homestead’s record at 21-1. Homestead’s only loss was a 4-1 decision to South Bend St. Joseph on May 15. The Spartans, located in Fort Wayne, are coached by Michael Hower.
In case you’re wondering, coach Wes Kirk’s Golden Arrows were not rated in the Top 30 of the state’s final regular-season poll. Sullivan defeated Lawrenceburg 4-1 in the Center Grove Semistate last Saturday, while Homestead edged previously undefeated Northridge 3-2 as both of Homestead’s doubles duos emerged triumphant on their home courts.
The Arrows have been taken to 3-2 only once this season, May 10 at Terre Haute South, but they came back to blank the Braves 5-0 in the Terre Haute North Sectional semifinals nine days later.
“I am beyond thrilled to have made it to the state finals and am very proud of my team and all we have accomplished this year,” said Hanna Burkhart, a Sullivan sophomore who owns a 21-2 record at No. 1 singles. “Our community has been unbelievably supportive and made us feel so special. We really can’t thank them enough.
“Our team goals haven’t changed. We always go out on the courts to play our best and have fun doing just that. We are incredibly blessed to have such amazing friendships and memories with our team. This is a season and team I will never forget!”
“We play our first highly ranked team this season on Friday,” Kirk told the Tribune-Star. “Our opponent Homestead is ranked sixth based on the latest poll. We have had a good week of practice and we will approach this match like we have all the others. We are going to work hard with our feet, play smart and hope we can earn our 26th win of the season.”
Friday’s tickets cost $5 apiece and must be purchased online in advance at gofan.co/app/events/315779?schoolId=IHSAA.
The Sullivan-Homestead winner will square off against the Carmel-Park Tudor winner in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday at Indianapolis North Central. The state championship match is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday at Indy North Central.
In other words, three more victories and freakin’ Sullivan will be the state champion at 28-0. Who would have predicted that before this post-pandemic season started?
Indianapolis North Central won the last state title in girls tennis, contested in 2019, by slipping past Park Tudor 3-2 in the final match June 1. North Central is not in the final eight in 2021.
—-In softball semistates coming up Saturday at four different sites, Northview (24-5) will face No. 10-ranked Boonville (18-6) at 11 a.m. in Class 3A action at Brown County, No. 8 South Vermillion (22-1) will play No. 3 Union County (29-4) at 11 a.m. and No. 9 Sullivan (26-4) will take on South Ripley (15-6) at about 1 p.m. in Class 2A action at Forest Park, No. 7 Clay City (20-6) will battle Hauser (25-4) at about 1 p.m. in Class A action at North Daviess and North Vermillion (15-10) will tangle with Cowan (16-10) at 11 a.m. in Class A action at Frankfort.
Winners will advance to semistate championship games at the following times Saturday: 7 p.m. at Brown County, Forest Park and Frankfort and 8 p.m. at North Daviess. All team records were found on the maxpreps.com website.
Admission is $8 per session or $10 for the whole day.
Survivors will move on to the state finals June 11-12 at Center Grove.
In baseball regionals, also Saturday, Terre Haute North (16-11) will meet No. 7-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral (23-5-2) at about 1 p.m. in Class 4A action at Plainfield, Northview (17-4) will challenge Edgewood (19-8) in rematch of Western Indiana Conference foes at 11 a.m. in Class 3A action at Danville (Edgewood nipped the Knights 4-3 during the regular season), Parke Heritage (15-10) will duel with Knightstown (15-12) at 1 p.m. in Class 2A action at Cascade, Linton (12-7) will play North Posey (18-7) at about 1 p.m. in Class 2A action at Evansville Mater Dei (Bosse Field), No. 6 Riverton Parke (21-9) will face Clinton Central (16-11) in Class A action at Carroll (Flora) and No. 10 Shakamak (14-7) will match skills with No. 7 Southwestern (Southwestern) (22-4) at 10 a.m. in Class A action at Morristown.
Regional title contests are slated for the following times Saturday: 8 p.m. at Plainfield, Danville, Evansville Mater Dei and Carroll (Flora) and 7 p.m. at Cascade and Morristown. All team records — except for Terre Haute North and Northview — were found on maxpreps.com.
Again, admission is $8 per session or $10 for the whole day.
Survivors will move on to the semistate round June 12 at various sites.
Got all that? You’ll be quizzed in one hour.
And this rundown doesn’t even include all the Valley’s individual qualifiers and relay foursomes in the state finals for boys track and field Friday and girls track and field Saturday, both at Ben Davis in Indianapolis. Admission is $12 each day, with the first event starting at 3 p.m.