The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 5, 2019 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 Friday. South Knox, playing on their home course, won the sectional with a team 317. Washington was just one shot behind at 318. Wood Memo- rial was in third place with a 323. Pike Central's team score was 330. Pike Central recently beat South Knox by 28 strokes at the regional site Country Oaks. They also beat Wash- ington in the same meet. "It is just very hard to beat a good team playing on its own course," said Gideon. Onyett's 75 led the way for the Chargers. "I struck the ball well. I just couldn't make four footers. I shot 69 earlier, so I had high expectations. I just didn't meet them," said Onyett. He started strong with a birdie on the first hole, a par five. He reached the 491-yard hole in two and then two putt- ed from about 20 feet. A three- hole stretch on holes seven to nine kept him from being the medalist. He double bogeyed the par three seventh, then bogeyed the next two holes for a 38 on the front nine. "Noah had a real good year. I thought he would be one of the better golfers around and he was," said Gideon. Jaylon Mills fired an 83. Mills shot a four over 39 on the back nine. He shot a 37 on the back nine. He birdied hole 13, a par three, but had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch from holes 12 to 15, before parring the last three holes. Hayden Kabrick had an 84, despite three-putting the 18th green. Kabrick also started his round with a birdie on the first hole, but he had trouble finishing each nine. He shot a 41 on the front nine that in- cluded a triple bogey on hole nine. Austin Holder shot an 88 that consisted of a 43 on the front and 45 on the back nine. Cutter Reed had a 97. Onyett will compete in the Washington Regional at Country Oaks on Thursday, June 6. "They were pretty solid all year. A good group of seniors we will miss next year," said Gideon. At the first of the year, Gide- on said Onyett would be con- sistently under 40, and then if the other seniors could shoot low to mid-40s, they would be a strong team. "They did that," said Gide- on. He said Kabrick exceed- ed expectations, compiling an average of 41 strokes for nine holes. Holder was consis- tently in the low 40s and Mills came on in the last part of the season. "His back nine was the best he has ever played," said Gideon. "I told him that is something he can build on next year. He could be a re- al good player," said Gideon. "In dual and tri-meets, we only lost a couple. It was a good season. It is one of the most successful seasons we have had in a long time," said Gideon. By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central senior golf- er Noah Onyett qualified for the regional Friday as he shot a 75 at the Old Country Club of Vincennes. His 75 was the lowest score by an individual not on one of the three regional qualifying teams. Pike Central, howev- er, fell seven strokes short of qualifying for the Washing- ton regional as a team The Charger golfers put together a great season. "There were four strong golf teams in this section- al," said Charger coach Jar- rod Gideon. Pike Central had beaten all three teams that were ahead of them on Chargers fall to Vincennes Lincoln 6-2 Monday The club fell to Vin- cennes Lincoln on May 10 by a score of 5 -0 before meeting Lincoln again in the finals of the section- al. Vincennes recorded a 6 -2 win over the Chargers to advance to the finals where they mastered the Princeton Tigers 11-0 for the championship. A big second inning five- run spurt with a double by Blake Mincey, followed by a single and then an Isaac Lane double hurt the Charger cause early on. It wasn't until the fourth that the Chargers could retal- iate scoring one run on a homerun off the bat of Braxton Rice. Vincennes responded with one of their own and the game went in- to the seventh where Pike Central scored the final run. Braxton Rice, Brennon Benton and Draven Huff accounted for three hits and Rice and Huff each had an RBI. Connor O'Ne- al walked twice, and Joey Church and Eli Coleman one each. Rice went five innings with five hits, one earned run, six strikeouts and five walks. Britton stepped in for the last inning allowing one hit with two flyouts. Pike Central got the bye and Washington nipped Gibson Southern 3-2 in the lower bracket to advance. Princeton got by Washing- ton 3-1 before Lincoln had their way in the finals. Following the 6 -2 loss to Vincennes on Memori- al Day, Charger first year coach Joe Cummings com- mented, "If we could have eliminated just one inning, I truly believe we would be sectional champions right now. The boys have come so far it's hard to be- lieve it's already over. If we could just start again and do it again we could see a much bigger outcome. They are going to be suc- cessful young men with the 10 seniors that we're grad- uating." Coach was referring to seniors Troy Rickard (#1), Race Britton (#3), Eli Cole- man (#7), Brennon Benton (# 8), Joey Church (# 9), Draven Huff (#10), Chris- tian Benson (#11), Kyle Williams (#18), Austin Goodrid (#21) and Brax- ton Rice (#23). The Chargers finished the regular season 11-14 and 11-15 with the section- al loss. A rough start in- cluded five losses in a row followed by eight wins and just three loses prior to playing Gibson Southern. That started another string of five losses and then an 18 -8 win over Wood Memo- rial. Southridge claimed a win, and then South Spen- cer and Northeast Dubois fell to the Chargers before the sectional contest. Pike Central was 4-7 with teams in common with Vin- cennes who took them 11-1. Both teams handled South Knox, Princeton and North Daviess during the regu- lar season and both fell to Jasper. The Chargers fin- ished 11-15 with a 2-6 PAC record. Younger brother also on the diamond By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Major League Baseball (MLB) and big time high school softball have com- monality with two brothers from Pike County. Kevin Brown, of Pike Cen- tral, Texas, Toronto, Milwaukee and Boston fame, has an older brother in Keith Brown, who has also taken to the diamond. Keith is not on any of the star-studded rosters like his young- er brother, but coaches high school, where the bigger "ball" resides in col- or. Keith has been the Brownsburg La- dy Bulldogs head coach since 2014 and just made a run at the semi-state title, edging Gibson Southern (25 -1) in the first pairing at Bedford North Lawrence. His lady Bulldogs posted an extra inning 1-0 win over Pike Coun- ty's next door neighbor, but then suc- cumbed to Center Grove 6 -1 in the fi- nals this past Saturday night. Brown's Lady Bulldogs graduat- ed seven seniors, but retain a fresh- man starting pitcher in Kelsey En- dress. She took the win against Gib- son Southern in the semi-state Sat- urday. Keith's club sported a perfect Hoosier Crossroads conference re- cord and 20 -6 record going into the semi-state. They notched 11 wins in 12 of their last games, including four post-season wins in a row prior to Sat- urday's win over Gibson Southern. Connections between Keith and Kevin Brown abound, including trips to Port Charlotte, Toronto, Cincinna- ti "and all of those other places Kevin has played. It's a lot of fun," remarked the older Brown. The younger Brown presently has a hitting school, which Gibson South- ern players like catcher Brenna Blume avail themselves of in Mt. Vernon. Kevin is remembered most for his 52-game 1998 season with the Toron- to Blue Jays. Kevin's son, Logan, was drafted in 2018 by the Atlanta Braves and now Keith has a new destination in Georgia. Add their uncle, Harold Brown (brother to their father, Alvin Brown), to the list and it makes three professional sports figures in the fami- ly. Harold played pro basketball for the Detroit Falcons and then Kansas City Blues, following college ball at the Uni- versity of Evansville. Keith played football, basketball and baseball, and graduated from Pike Central in 1981. A pair of knee surger- ies from football the last two years lim- ited his time then, but allowed him a first year at Olney Central College with coach Dennis Conley. From that expe- rience with a coach still there after 39 years and a 1370 -692 record, Keith at- tended Marian College (University) in Indianapolis. Growing up in Pike County, he said, "Kevin is 10 years younger than me. He was always following me around and did everything I did, including baseball, wiffleball, hunting and fish- ing." Keith said that early on, "Dad coached little league and Mom ( Judy) kept score for the Chargers for many years." Brown can take you back to the years Tim Barrett played pro ball and does keep in touch through team play every year. Barrett played for the Mon- treal Expos in 1988 and five years with the Indianapolis Indians, compiling a 19 -6 record with 12 saves, a 3.45 ER A and three titles. His overall record was 52-27 with 16 saves, 3.37 ER A and 509 strikeouts. Keith said he spent his adult life out- side the county and retired from Eli Lilly and Company after 34 years, but coached travel softball for 20 years and volleyball for 15 prior to high school softball. Keith said, "I told them (Brownsburg) in 2014 that I'd go five years and from then, it would be a year at a time." He and his wife, Loraine, celebrated 31 years this past Tuesday and have expanded the sports venue and family with four daughters. Rachael, the oldest, played volley- ball at Carbondale and now has been the assistant coach at Brownsburg for five years. Addy is more into choir and theater, according to Brown, and "Number three daughter, Elissa, is a freshman at USI. Daughter number four is Olivia, and she announces soft- ball games and runs the scoreboard for Brownsburg." Brown's Lady Bulldogs feature four college-bound girls of whom he is es- pecially proud. They are junior Mak- enzie Bedrick, senior Anna Carroll, junior Marah Wood and senior So- phie Bosket. Bedrick will be heading to Bowling Green, Ohio, Bedrick and Carroll to USI, and Wood to Universi- ty of Evansville. Following the semi-state first round win against Gibson Southern, Brown viewed a video of the last play of that game at the plate. Blume made the catch from Adamson, and Sydney Ro- deghier had a jump on the hit at third and was called safe at the plate to se- cure the win at 1-0. Brown said he watched it over and over, and called it a dead heat. The win put the Lady Bull- dogs at 21-6 and into the finals with Center Grove, whom they had edged earlier in the season at 1-0. Onyett advances to the golf regional KEITH BROWN COACHING LADY BULLDOGS SINCE 2014 A chat on the mound was due when Brownsburg Lady Bulldog coach Keith Brown had Maddy Ed- wards sub on the mound for Kelsey Endress during late action at the Bedford semi-state on Saturday. Pike Central senior Noah Onyett watches his shot as he follows through with his approach on the 18th hole at the Country Club of Old Vin- cennes. Onyett shot a 75 to advance to the Re- gional at Country Oaks in Montgomery. Hayden Kabrick rolls a putt toward the hole during last Friday's golf sectional at Vincennes. Kabrick shot an 84. Pike Central placed fourth in the 13-team event. Kirby finishes 13th at state Pike Central's Tyler Kir- by placed 13th with a 13'6" effort at Indiana Universi- ty this past Friday. Four- teen feet would have been a top ten finish in the IHSA A State Track and Field cham- pionships, but Kirby missed in three attempts, after pass- ing at 12'6", and clearing 13' and 13'6" without fail. The junior pole vaulter was seeded sixth with his prior best of 14'4" and was among a dozen others from around the state in the 14' range. Nathan Stone, of Bed- ford North Lawrence, topped 16'6" to take the title, miss- ing his first attempt at that height and then missing all three at 17'7", which would have broken the state record of 17'6.25" set last year by Colton Crum, of Frankfort. Will Staggs, a competitor from South Knox, finished 16th at 13'6" and was the on- ly other SW Indiana vaulter out of 19 who qualified. SPORTS BRIEFS Pike County Youth Soccer sign-ups Pike County Youth Soccer sign-ups are scheduled for June 10 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Mikels Graphics in Pe - tersburg, and June 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the concession stand in Otwell. For more infor- mation or questions, call Megan Howard at 812- 766 -3716.