The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, July 25, 2018 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 Williams throws no-hitter in 14U North American All Sanctioned World Series By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central Middle School rising eighth grader Chloe Williams hurled a five-inning no-hit shutout while helping lead the Illiana Kaos softball travel team to a ninth-place finish in the 14 & Under North American All Sanctioned World Series at Columbus, Ohio, this past weekend. Williams, the 14-year-old daughter of Chet and Angie Williams, of Petersburg, al- lowed no hits while walking two and strik- ing out none as the Illiana Kaos defeated the Ohio Wolfpack 10 -0 during the open- ing round of bracket play on Sunday, July 22. "She pitched phenomenal," said Jill Frey, who coaches the Vincennes-based travel team with Todd Drone. Frey noted that Williams saw action in six of the team's seven games, going 3-2. She allowed 12 runs – seven of which were earned – while walking five and striking out By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School volleyball team placed second in Summer Spike 2018 hosted by the Lady Chargers on Saturday, July 21, in the Pike Central Middle School gym. In its opening game against Owen Valley, Pike Central rallied from a first-set loss to defeat the Lady Patriots 22-25, 25 -23, 15 -8. Rising senior Kylie Dawson had a team- high three ace serves and four kills. Rising seniors Becca Crow and Taylor Lamey add- ed three kills each. Rising senior Kenzie Dunn and rising sophomore Kaila Lamey led the Lady Chargers in digs with six each while Dawson and Taylor Lamey had five each. Rising senior Alyssa Jenkins had two blocks. "I was pleased with how well we played against an opponent we knew absolutely nothing about," Pike Central head coach Brandi Chestnut said. "With the girls be- ing fresh to the court, they were able to play as one unit with limited errors. They were able to adjust to Owen Valley's senior mid- dle hitter. It was a great win for us to start the tourney." In its second match, however, the La- dy Chargers dropped a straight-set loss to Washington 25 -21, 25 -20. Crow and Taylor Lamey led Pike Cen- tral with three kills each. Taylor Lamey al- so dished out two ace serves while Crow, Dunn and rising junior Emma Russell all had one ace serve. Dunn also had a team- high six digs, followed by Dawson and Kaila Lamey with five and four, respectively. Jen- kins, who recorded one kill, had one block. "We started out pretty flat," Chestnut said. "It took them a few points to get start- ed, which was too many for Washington to get ahead by. There were a lot of coverage errors, like knowing their middle/setter was going to push the corner. Knowing what we know now, we will definitely be ready for that in the regular season." The Lady Chargers closed out the day with a straight-set victory over South Knox 25 -14, 25 -19. The Lady Chargers dished out a total of 10 ace serves – five by Crow, two by Dunn By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Last week's announcement that Wood Me- morial High School would not be fielding a football team this season due to low num- bers has left Pike Central – which was sched- uled to open the season on Friday, Aug. 17, at home against the Trojans – scrambling to pick up another Week One opponent. "We've got about four or five potential op- tions we're working on," said first-year Char- gers head coach Dave Stephens. "We're just trying to get back with people and stuff like that, and we are trying hard. Let me put it this way – anywhere from Indianapolis to Kentucky, we're looking." Pike Central athletic director Dustin Pow- ell said that Wood Memorial athletic direc- tor Steve Kilian informed him about the de- cision to cancel the 2018 season immediate- ly following a call-out meeting held on Mon- day, July 16, which only 13 players attended. "I got a phone call from Steve Kilian 9:30, 10 o'clock at night, Monday night," Powell said. "I was probably up until about 2 o'clock in the morning, and I kept going back and forth between everybody else that was los- ing a game and if there was any possible way to maneuver two schools' games to give us an opportunity Week One." "Every time that I thought I had it, when I put it on paper, I'd get to the last one and I'd be like, 'Darn, I forgot about their Week One,'" Powell continued. "And it just didn't work out." Trying to find an opponent to replace Wood Memorial on the schedule, Powell ad- mitted, will be a challenge. "Week One makes it that a little bit tough- er than it does with some of the others," Pow- ell said. "It would have to be, for lack of a better term, a perfect storm in order for it to work. So far, I haven't found that combi- nation yet." "There's a couple people that have some openings Week One, and then there's some other people that might be able to resched- ule things and play us Week One, if they're willing to do that," Stephens said. "It's hur- ry up and wait now. We're put our contacts and our feelers out." "Obviously, too, from a financial stand- point, we don't really want to lose a home game either, and the revenue that that brings in," Stephens added. "We're trying to find, number one, a game, and, number two, a game that we can host." Wood Memorial, which canceled its sea- son in 2016 following a bullying incident in which several students were suspended or expelled, played a partial season last year after starting with only 17 players. The Tro- jans – who last played Pike Central in 2007 – were winless in seven contests. "I know last year they were low in num- bers, but it's one thing to end the season with 12, 13 kids, but it's a whole other thing to start a season with 12 or 13 kids," Powell said. "When you're ending a season with 12 or 13, obviously you had more than that, and you never know – with injuries and grades and all that stuff – how things are going to go." "You can't go into July 30 and start with 13, 14 kids, and hope that you get another 10, 12 kids when school starts because, by that time, it's too late for Week One anyway," Powell added. "They put it out there. I'm not exactly sure how everything went down, but my understanding was that they said, 'Hey, we need to have this meeting; if you plan CHARGERS SCRAMBLING TO SCHEDULE WEEK ONE FOE AFTER WOOD MEMORIAL CANCELS FOOTBALL SEASON Pike Central High School rising sophomore Kenzie Powell and rising junior Audrey Keepes go after the ball during the 2018 Summer Spike volleyball tournament on Saturday, July 21, in the Pike Central Mid- dle School gym. The Lady Chargers went 2-1 in the round-robin tourna- ment to place second. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central High School ris- ing sophomore Kaila Lamey prepares to serve the ball during the 2018 Sum- mer Spike volleyball tournament on Saturday, July 21, in the Pike Central Middle School gym. The Lady Char- gers went 2-1 in the round-robin tour- nament to place second. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School rising sophomore Mallory Hickey (left) and rising senior Hailey Marchino (right) battle for a loose ball during a varsi- ty girls' basketball scrimmage at Evansville Reitz on Wednesday, July 18. The host Lady Panthers won the contest 52-42. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School rising senior Kenzie Dunn reaches for the ball during the 2018 Summer Spike volleyball tournament on Saturday, July 21, in the Pike Central Mid- dle School gym. The Lady Chargers went 2-1 in the round-robin tourna- ment to place second. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Central High School rising senior Allesha Sisk receives a serve during the 2018 Summer Spike volleyball tournament on Sat- urday, July 21, in the Pike Central Middle School gym. The Lady Char- gers went 2-1 in the round-robin tournament to place second. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central Middle School rising eighth grader Chloe Williams deliv- ers a pitch while playing for the Illi- ana Kaos softball travel team during the 2018 14U All Sanctioned World Series this past weekend in Co- lumbus, Ohio. Williams won three games – including one with a no-hit- ter – as the Kaos placed ninth out of 156 teams. Submitted Photo "Daddy come here, I have something to show you." My eight-year-old daughter Eva watches me closely with her blue eyes to see how I respond to her request. I've just arrived home from work and I'm on a mission to cut the grass. I really want to tell her "not right know E," without even slowing down on my beeline path to the garage. But that little voice inside my head which makes me a better parent – if I listen to it, that is – says "STOP what you're doing, your daughter obviously has something important to show you, the universe won't implode if the grass cutting has to wait 15 minutes." "Okay," I say, "what is it? " Eva's eyes brighten and a smile creeps across her face as she steps off the porch into the front yard. I follow her through the un- cut grass and past the garden boxes that need weed-eating until she stops and points at the ground. "There," she says. I look close- ly at the ground but notice nothing. "Where? " I ask. She scans the grass carefully before pointing. "Right there. You see that? " I look where she points and see a small pile of intestines and pieces of other internal organs, dried and black- ened from the sun. "Oh yeah," I say. "What do you think they're from? " she asks. "Maybe a rab- bit," I reply. As I lean close to examine the guts for signs of rabbit fur, some- thing else draws my attention. The guts are alive with bugs. There are the expected black flies that buzz the pile continually. There are also large green blow flies with their shiny almost iridescent bodies that slowly crawl over every inch of the mess. "Look at those beetles," I tell Eva. "Yeah, they're really big," she says. I watch as several large beetles crawl in and around the pile. They are all black except for a small splotch of yellow on their heads. Their bodies are blocky, almost rectangular and are about ½ to 1 inch long. The beetles are carrion beetles, and if there is a gut pile in your neighborhood, they're sure to be a part of the party. The carrion beetle's life cycle begins when adults lay eggs near rotting meat. The eggs hatch and larvae feed until they are adults, which typically takes 10 -12 weeks. The new adults overwinter and emerge in early summer to breed and lay eggs. Thus there is only one generation of carrion beetles per year. In flight, carrion beetles resemble bumble bees, which perhaps is a form of mimicry designed to avoid predation. Thanks to scavenger bugs like carri- on beetles, the road kill opossum that nobody in your neighborhood wants to pick up will eventually go away. "Thanks for showing me this, Eva," I say after we watch the beetles for a while. She nods her head and smiles before running off into the yard to find her brother and sister. I walk over to the garage where I find my lawn mower patiently waiting. "See that wasn't so bad," the little voice says. "Yes your right, you're always right," I think as I start the mower and settle in- to my afternoon's work. PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather Death Beetles Girls Basketball Scrimage See the photos inside on page 3 See CANCEL on 2 See SPIKE on 2 See THROWS on 3 Lady Chargers take second in Summer Spike