The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/668770
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, April 20, 2016 B- 3 more first baseman Demi Croak put runners at first and third, senior shortstop Alyx Abbott belted a base hit to right field, plating soph- omore Morgan Whann – courtesy running for Hal- brader – to pull Pike Cen- tral to within 3-2. Sophomore third base- man Audra Stone followed with a double, scoring both Croak and Abbott to give the Lady Chargers a 4-3 lead. Advancing to third base on a passed ball, Stone scored on a two-out infield single by freshman right fielder Emily Carnahan to cap off the five-run rally. In the second inning, Whann – courtesy running after a one-out double by Halbrader – scored on a sac- rifice fly by Abbott as the La- dy Chargers extended their lead to 6 -3. A fter Carnahan ground- ed out to sophomore catch- er Tessa Tapia-Aguilar and Pipes was retired on a line drive to North Knox junior pitcher Kendall Rogers lead- ing off the third inning, nine consecutive Lady Chargers would reach base as Pike Central scored an additional six runs to take a 12-3 lead. Junior catcher Madison Scott got things started, reaching on an infield sin- gle, stealing second base and scoring on a double by Brooks. A fter Brooks advanced to third on a wild pitch, Hal- brader drew a walk and Whann – courtesy running for Halbrader – stole sec- ond base. However, an er- rant throw by Rogers al- lowed Brooks to score – giving the Lady Chargers a 8 -3 lead – while Whann ad- vanced to third. Following an error by North Knox junior third baseman Alyssa Turner that allowed Croak to reach first and Whann to score, a two- base error by junior center- fielder Elyssa Moreland on a fly ball hit by Abbott al- lowed Croak – who had ad- vanced to second base on a wild pitch – to score. Abbott then came home on a single by Stone, ex- tending Pike Central's lead to 11-3. A fter a walk to sophomore second baseman Peyton Sor- gius and an infield hit by Carnahan loaded the bases, Pipes delivered a run-scor- ing single before Rogers re- tired Scott – the 12th Lady Chargers to bat in the inning – on a fly ball to Moreland. North Knox pulled to within 12-4 when Rogers doubled with two outs in the fifth inning and scored on a single by freshman short- stop Madison Carpenter. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Pipes reached on an infield single with one out and advanced to second base on an error by Car- penter that allowed Scott to reach first. A fter a wild pitch allowed both runners to move up a base, Pipes scored on a sac- rifice fly by Brooks to give the Lady Chargers a 13-4 lead. The contest appeared to be headed for a seventh in- ning when Croak ground- ed out to lead off the home half of the sixth inning and the next batter, Abbott sin- gled to left but was thrown out attempting to steal sec- ond base. However, back-to-back infield singles by Stone and Sorgius and a walk to Carna- han loaded the bases before Pipes drew a four-pitch walk to force Stone home with the game-ending run. For the game, Pike Cen- tral scored eight of its 14 runs with two outs. "It's kind of like we're making a point of getting two-out runs," said Weis- man. "That just really hurts whenever you do that, even if it is just one. They're sit- ting there with nobody on base and, all of a sudden, you look up on the score- board and you've put a run or two on there. That just starts mounting up and mounting up." Stone, who went 3-for-3 – including a solo home run – in the Lady Chargers' 3- 1 loss at Castle, continued her hot hitting, going 3-for-4 with a double while scoring three runs and driving in three runs. She was also hit by a pitch. Halbrader belted two dou- bles and one single in four at-bats and drove in one run while, in the pitching circle, allowing four runs – only one of which was earned – on five hits, walking one and striking out three. Also having multi-hit days were Brooks (2-for-4, one double, two runs scored and two runs batted in), Carna- han (2-for-4, one walk and one run batted in) and Pipes (2-for-3, two walks, one run scored and two runs batted in). Kixmiller paced North Knox with two hits in three at-bats with two runs bat- ted in. Rogers, meanwhile, allowed 14 runs – seven of which were earned – on 17 hits while walking seven and striking out one. Weisman said afterward that he was a little concerned when the Lady Chargers fell behind 3-0 at the start. "You can't let good teams do that," Weisman said. "You've got to come out and shut them down. You've got to play your game." "You can't worry about what game they've got," Weisman added. "They've got to play theirs, and if they do get it, then they played a better game than you." In the junior varsity game, sophomore Cailey Furman tossed a two-hitter as Pike Central routed North Knox 20 -0. Sophomore Alexis Hal- brader went 4-for-4, scored twice and drive in two runs, freshman Hannah Carnah- an and sophomore Skylar Willis both went 3-for-4 with one double, scored three runs and drove in two, and freshman Alex Traylor went 3-for-4 with two doubles scored two runs and drove in two. In addition, sopho- more Jordan Montgomery went 3-for-3, scored three runs and drove in one, and Whann went 2-for-2 with one double, scored twice and drove in three runs. Pike Central, which played at Heritage Hills on Monday, April 18, and Princ- eton on Tuesday, April 19, will travel to Wood Memori- al on Thursday, April 21, to Boonville on Monday, April 25, and to Washington on Wednesday, April 27, be- fore returning home to host Southridge on Thursday, April 28, at 5:30 p.m. "As I told them earlier in the week, I said, 'I know you've got a lot on your mind and you've got the prom coming up'," Weisman said. "I said, 'I understand that. But,' I said, 'just for an hour and a half, we'll try to come out with a win and then we'll just go have fun and come back and regroup for Mon- day.' Hopefully, that's what we can do." SPORTS BRIEFS Otwell alumni basketball game set for April 23 A series of basketball games featuring Otwell alumni will be held on Sat- urday, April 23, starting at 7 p.m., at the Otwell Com- munity Center. The event, which is be- ing staged by Friends of Otwell Elementary, will feature three short games consisting of a Rookie Di- vision (14-19 years old), a Graduate Division (20 - 50 years old) and a Senior Division (51 years old and up). Approximately 50 for- mer players are expect- ed to participate. Sever- al members of Otwell's 1969 sectional champi- onship team will be pres- ent, including Rick Weis- man, Jim Demott, Mike Vaughn, Tim Garland, Neil Pauw and Steve Bar- rett. Admission will be $5. Children ages 10 and un- der will be admitted free of charge. In addition, the Jeffer- son Township Ruritan Club will be holding a chicken dinner at the Ot- well Community Center, starting at 5 p.m. Pike County 4-H Shooting Sports holding club registration Pike County 4-H Shoot- ing Sports will be hav- ing club registration on Thursday, April 21 at 6 p.m. at the 4-H building at Hornady Park in Pe- tersburg. Pike County 4-H Shoot- ing Sports is open to Pike County youth in grades three through 12. A man- datory safety meeting for club members and their parents/guardians will be held at this time. Club members who have not registered for Pike Coun- ty 4-H can do so at this meeting. Shooting Sports dues this year are $15 per child. Pike County 4-H dues are $20 per child with a cap af- ter three children. Shoot- ing Sports T-shirts will be offered this year – the cost will be announced later – and order forms will be available. PAST Continued from page 1 GOT SPORTS NEWS? Call us at 812-354-8500 or email sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School sophomore third baseman Audra Stone (21) tries to tag out North Knox sophomore Grace Page during game action on Friday, April 15. Stone went 2-for-4 with one double, scored three runs and drove in three runs as the Lady Chargers won 14-4. Ed Cahill photo Above: North Knox freshman shortstop Madi- son Carpenter (left) prepares to tag out Pike Cen- tral senior shortstop Alyx Abbott on a sixth-in- ning steal attempt during game action on Friday, April 15. Ed Cahill photo Lower Left: Pike Central High School senior pitcher Samantha Halbrader hits a double during game action on Friday, April 15. Halbrader went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in one run as the Lady Chargers won 14-4. Ed Cahill photo Below: Pike Central High School sophomore second baseman Peyton Sorgius prepares to throw the ball to first base during game action on Friday, April 15. Ed Cahill photo Lady Chargers edge Tecumseh, 2-1 Senior pitcher Saman- tha Halbrader tossed a three-hitter as the Pike Central High School soft- ball team edged visiting Tecumseh 2-1 on Tuesday, April 12. Halbrader walked two and struck out four as the Lady Chargers – ranked No. 24 in Class 3A – im- proved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. Pike Central took a 1-0 lead when sophomore first baseman Demi Croak sin- gled to lead off the second inning, advanced to sec- ond on a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop Alyx Ab- bott, and scored on a two- out double by junior left fielder Sydney Brooks. The Lady Chargers upped its lead to 2-0 in the fifth inning when ju- nior catcher Madison Scott reached on an error with one out, advanced to second on a ground-out by sophomore rightfield- er Peyton Sorgius and – af- ter Halbrader drew a walk and Croak reached on an error to load the bases – scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Abbott. Tecumseh rallied in the seventh inning when cen- terfielder Madison Rup- pel and left fielder Kaitlyn Flowers led off with back- to-back doubles to pull to within 2-1. A fter an error allowed Lady Braves shortstop Alicia Webb to reach first base while Flowers held at second, Pike Central sophomore third base- man Jalah Barnes fielded a bunt by Tecumseh first baseman Amberlyn Pride and threw the ball to Ab- bott to force out Flowers at third. The Lady Braves – ranked fourth in Class 1A – would load the bas- es when catcher Hannah Patterson drew a two-out walk on four pitches be- fore Halbrader got the game-ending out on a line drive to Barnes. Sophomore centerfield Shelbi Pipes went 2-for-3 for the Lady Chargers. Brooks went 1-for-3 with a double and one run bat- ted in while Croak went 1-for-2 and a walk with one run scored. In the junior varsi- ty contest, sophomore pitcher Cailey Furman allowed two runs – only one of which was earned – on four hits while walk- ing one and striking out one as Pike Central won 3-2. The Lady Chargers – trailing 1-0 after three in- nings – scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman Hannah Carnahan went 2-for-3 and drove in one run. Castle holds off Lady Chargers, 3-1 Sophomore second baseman Audra Stone belted a solo home run to plate the Pike Cen- tral High School softball team's only run in a 3-1 loss at Castle on Thursday, April 14. With the Lady Chargers trailing 1-0 with one out in the top of the fourth inning, Stone hammered a three-ball, two-strike offering from Castle sophomore pitcher Sydney Wilson over the left field fence to knot the score at 1-1. The Lady Knights, who took advantage of three first-inning errors by Pike Central to plate their first run, reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior desig- nated player Miranda Wagner belted a leadoff single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior first baseman Sara Hofmann, and scored on a two-out base hit by senior right- fielder Madison Miles. A fter Pike Central sophomore pitcher Pey- ton Sorgius struck out and senior first base- man Samantha Halbrader grounded out to start the top of the fifth inning, the Lady Char- gers loaded the bases on a double by sopho- more right fielder Demi Croak, a walk by se- nior shortstop Alyx Abbott and a base hit by Stone before junior left fielder Sydney Brooks was retired on a fly ball to Miles. Castle, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, upped its lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning when a one-out single by senior second baseman Paiten Brad- ford scored senior left fielder Aleyah Shaw. Wilson went the distance for the Lady Knights (7-0), allowing one run on eight hits while walking three and striking out six in seven innings. Sorgius took the loss for Pike Central (3- 3), allowing three runs – two of which were earned – on seven hits while walking none and striking out one in six innings. Stone went 3-for-3 while Brooks, Croak, Hal- brader, Scott and sophomore third baseman Jalah Barnes had one hit each.