The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, April 20, 2016 B-1 SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Chargers place fourth in Pike-Dubois Invitational By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Sophomore Gavin Boyd placed first in the 200 -me- ter dash as the Pike Central High School boys' track and field team finished fourth in the Dubois-Pike Invitational hosted by Jasper on Thurs- day, April 14. Boyd won the 200 -me- ter dash with a season-best time of 23.30 seconds, less than half of a second off the school record of 22.88 sec- onds set by Tyler Jochim in 2007. Boyd also teamed up with senior Dalton Riley and sophomores Adam Wilkison and Baron Early to place first in the 400 -me- ter relay with a season-best time of 45.78 seconds – just one-hundredth of a second ahead of second-place Jas- per. In addition, freshmen Austin Dixon, Adam Kir- by, Christian Benson and Colton Carpenter teamed up to win the frosh 400 -me- ter relay with a time of 49.41 seconds. Junior Jared McCord, meanwhile, placed second in the high jump competition with a personal-best leap of 6 feet. McCord also placed fourth in the 110 -meter high hurdles with a time of 16.99 seconds and was fourth in the 300 -meter intermediate Lady Chargers place fifth in Dubois-Pike Invitational By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Sophomore Erika Hen- drixson placed first in long jump and sophomore Hal- ley Powers placed first in the 300 -meter intermediate hurdles as the Pike Central High School girls' track and field team finished fifth in the Dubois-Pike Invitational hosted by Jasper on Thurs- day, April 14. Hendrixson won the long jump competition with a leap of 15 feet, 11.5 inch- es. Shel also placed fifth in the 100 -meter dash with a time of 14.16 and fifth in the 200 -meter dash with a time of 29.5 seconds. Powers, meanwhile, won See LADY on page 2 Pike Central High School freshman Ad- am Kirby goes air- borne while com- peting in the boys' long jump competi- tion during the Du- bois-Pike Invitation- al hosted by Jasper on Thursday, April 14. Ed Cahill photo By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School soft- ball team spotted visiting North Knox three first-inning runs before rallying for a 14-4 victory over the Lady War- riors on Friday, April 15. The game was stopped because of the 10 -run rule when Lady Chargers sophomore centerfielder Shelbi Pipes drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the win, Pike Central improved to 4-3. North Knox, meanwhile, fell to 3-3. "This is the first time we've had three games in a week," said Lady Chargers head coach Rick Weisman, whose team defeated visiting Tecumseh 2-1 on Tuesday, April 12, and dropped a 3- 1 loss at Castle on Thursday, April 14. "We might have been a little tired. Still, though, you've got to play the game. Three runs is enough to get you beat." "I think they finally realized that," Weisman continued. "I think they kind of refocused everything and kind of got things back in perspective." A pair of Pike Central errors helped North Knox take a 3-0 first-inning lead – on a run-scoring single by sophomore catcher Tessa Tapia-Aguilar and a two- run double by freshman left fielder Ka- tie Kixmiller – before the Lady Char- gers sent 10 batters to the plate in the home half of the frame to plate five runs on six hits. With one out, junior left fielder Syd- ney Brooks singled, then scored on a double by senior pitcher Samantha Halbrader. A fter a single by sopho- An elite group of the state's 2015 -2016 seniors – including Pike Central High School's Tyler Toopes – will participate in the 28th annu- al North/South Indiana All- Star Classic. The girls' and boys' dou- bleheader will be played at Vincennes University on Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m. (girls) and 4 p.m. (boys). The North/South Indiana All-Star Classic is sponsored by Hoosier Basketball Maga- zine and Pacesetter Sports of Terre Haute. Twenty-four girls will compete in the first half of the doubleheader highlight- ed by five 2016 Indiana All- Stars. Notre Dame signee Jackie Young, of Princeton, the 2016 National Naismith Prep Player of the Year, is an honorary player for the Clas- sic. Young was selected but is unable to participate. The North Girls will be coached by Muncie Central's Lisa Blalock. This squad boasts the state's top senior scorer in Butler signee Kris- ten Spolyar (35.6 ppg), of Lebanon, and Dayton signee Judy Scaife, of Muncie Cen- tral – both are 2016 Indiana All-Stars. Other Division I-bound players on the North team include Kaylan Coffman, of Benton Central (Evansville), and a pair of Florida Atlan- tic recruits from Noblesville – Katelyn O'Reilly and Alex- is Shannon. Princeton coach Charlie By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School head baseball coach Josh McDonald hoped for the best but expected the worst when the Chargers hosted Jasper on Wednes- day, April 13. A fter using his top two pitchers – juniors Chase Davis and Colton White – in a 4-3 win at North Da- viess the previous day, McDonald started fresh- man Brennon Benton against the Wildcats, who entered the game 4-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 3A. Jasper sent 11 batters to the plate in the first in- ning and 10 more in the second inning – plating seven and five runs, respectively – before Benton was relieved by fellow freshman Race Britton with two outs. Benton, however, deserved a better fate as the Chargers committed three first-inning errors – leading to five unearned runs – enroute to an 18 - 1 defeat. "I thought Brennon did okay," said McDonald, whose team fell to 2-3. "We didn't field the ball for him the first inning. They probably only score two or three in that inning if we field it." Jasper centerfielder Grant Thiel led off the game with a single to left-center field, stole second and scored on a base hit by shortstop Craig Shepherd to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. A fter Shepherd stole second base, designated hitter Cal Krueger hit a grounder that White field- ed cleanly at shortstop. However, his throw to junior first baseman Kane Osgatharp sailed out of Osgath- arp's reach, allowing Shepherd to score. The next batter, right fielder Evan Aders, belt- ed the ball over the head of Chargers' junior cen- terfielder Colton O'Neal, scoring Krueger from first base. Aders, however, was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple, with Davis ap- plying the tag. With one out and the bases empty, Jasper third baseman Brandon Bayer drew a walk and stole sec- ond. A fter the next batter, second baseman Reece Kleinhelter, struck out swinging, an error by White on a grounder by first baseman Logan Mathies al- lowed Bayer to score, giving the Wildcats a 4-0 lead. Mathies subsequently advanced to third on a base hit by catcher Adam Hedinger. Then, after Hedinger stole second base, a single up the mid- dle by left fielder Jared Sermersheim plated them both, extending Jasper's lead to 6 -0. Sermersheim, who advanced to second on the throw home by O'Neal, scored on a base hit by Theil – giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead – before Ben- ton retired Shepherd on a grounder to White to end the inning. Pike Central scored its lone run in the bottom of the first inning when White beat out a ground- See TOOPES on page 2 Pike Central's Toopes to play in North/ South Indiana All-Star Classic at VU Sunday Lady Chargers rout North Knox, 14-4 See JASPER on page 2 See PAST on page 3 TOP-RANKED JASPER ROLLS PAST CHARGERS, 18-1 Pike Central High School junior third baseman Chase Davis (left) tags out Jasper right fielder Evan Aders as he tries to take an extra base after belting a run-scoring double dur- ing the first inning of the Wildcats' 18-1 win over the host Chargers on Wednesday, April 13. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School freshman Brennon Benton (8) delivers a pitch to the plate during game action against vis- iting Jasper on Wednesday, April 13. Ben- ton gave up 12 runs – seven of which were earned – on 12 hits, walked two, struck out one and hit one batter in one-and-two- thirds innings during the Chargers' 18-1 loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior shortstop Alyx Abbott throws the ball to first base af- ter getting the force out at sec- ond during game action on Fri- day, April 15. Abbott went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in two runs as the Lady Char- gers won 14-4. Ed Cahill photo Tyler Toopes See CHARGERS on page 3