The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 2, 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 PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather Pike Central girls' fourth, boys' 11th By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central's Xavery Weisman finished in first place at the Barr-Reeve Middle School Cross Coun- try Invite on Thursday, Sept. 26. The Chargers' girls' team placed fourth and the boys' were 11th out of 13 to- tal teams. Weisman won the girls' race with a time of 11 min- utes and 18 seconds. The Chargers' girls' other fin- ishers were Anna White- head at 12th in 12:18, Kylee Weathers at 23rd in 12:37, Eibhlin Teague at 37th in 13:23, Jessa Ridao at 52nd in 14:04, Kylie Meyer at 53rd in 14:08 and Emiley Riker at 64th in 14:29. Jasper won the girls' divi- sion. They were followed by Barr-Reeve, South Knox, Pike Central and Washing- "Bring the camera up here babe" I yell down river to Re- na who is wading ankle deep in the riffle below me. I move towards the snag that the fish pulled my line under. The wa- ter around my legs swirls like a thousand hot-tub jets turned on high. My feet feel weight- less against the river bottom but I go deeper. If I can keep good pressure on the fish and get up to the snag, I might be able to land it. The water creeps up to- wards my chest. I'm on the verge of being swept away and I know it. In my brain a battle between the urge to land the fish and the urge to not drown is being waged. Just when I think I can't go any further the bottom starts to shallow and I'm quickly within arm's reach of the snag. I reach down and grab the line with my hand and feel tension. He's still on! I back away from the snag, the line cutting into my hand from the pressure of the fish. Carefully I ease the fish out of the snag and into open water where I can use my pole to control him. It pulls in short bursts causing my drag to pulse out line. Now another battle brews in my mind. "You got this, just take your time" wrestles with "You're going to lose this fish no matter what you do! " As I reel the fish in I see him for the first time. His wide bronze body looks dark in the clear waters of the river. It's the biggest smallmouth bass I have every caught and like- ly will ever catch, if I can land him that is. By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net It was as if the Pike Central football team was in quick- sand during a 62-12 blowout loss to South Spencer (1- 5) at Weathers Field on Friday, Sept. 27. The more the team tried to escape, the deeper they sank. The defense struggled to make tackles and allowed big plays, the offense went cold for stretches and turned the ball over, and the Chargers didn't capitalize on op- portunities when they presented themselves. "A lot of credit goes to what South Spencer does," Pike Central head coach Dave Stephens said. "They put you in conflict with their ability to do some of that run-pass option stuff. Their coach had a really nice game play and I felt like they did a really good job." Defensively, the Chargers dealt with some of the same issues that have plagued them all year. "Miss tackles and then we don't set up the run the right way," Stephens said. "Or we bust an assignment. It's not just one thing, it's a little bit of everything." The Rebels scored first when Kobe Bartlet complet- ed a 45 -yard touchdown pass to Will Madison just one minute into the game. However, Pike Central answered with an eight-play, 66 -yard drive that was capped off by a 24-yard touch- down run by Wyatt Frasure. "I was very happy with our first drive," Stephens said. "We came out and executed, and it was nice to respond to their score early." South Spencer quickly countered by driving 67 yards in six plays to extend its advantage to 14-6 when Bren- den Moore plunged into the end zone on a four-yard run. That's when the wheels fell off the bus for Pike Cen- tral. Madison returned a Chargers' fumble 21 yards for a touchdown on the next drive. "We weren't securing with the ball," Stephens said. A fter that, the Pike Central players ran away from the ensuing kickoff, which allowed South Spencer to recover at the Chargers' 28 -yard line. Bartlett complet- ed a 28 -yard pass to Ashton Tindle for a touchdown on the following play to make the score 28 -6 with 3:40 left in the first quarter. Pike Central threw an interception on the third play of its next drive, and Moore increased the Rebels' lead to 35 -6 on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:16 to go in By Kenzie Rudolph To add to the free rides and the assortment of food booths, the Buffalo Trace Festival also included a slow pitch softball tournament to involve the community. The tournament consist- ed of eight teams and played Friday, Sept. 27 and Satur- day, Sept. 28, at the Peters- burg Little League Field. The King Pins, led by Bo Daves, won the double-elim- ination tournament. Daves also won the Buffalo Trace Softball tournament with a different team in 2018. The King Pins consisted of Daves, of Otwell; Matt Phil- lips, of Princeton; Travis Mc- Clarney, of Evansville; Dara Scraper, of Jasper; Torrey and Bri Chavis, of Evans- ville; Jayln Nelson, of Sten- dal; Colton White, of Peters- burg; Ronnie Skinner, of Ar- thur; and Zach Skinner, of Winslow. The King Pens had tough competition from Brew Crew, led by Chris Collins, of Petersburg, but finished the tournament undefeated. The score of the champi- onship game, which start- ed at 5:30 p.m., ended with a nail-biting King Pins victory. King Pins went into the top of the seventh leading 17-14, Brew Crew then answered with a two-run shot by Mitch Harder to bring them within one. With one out, it looked like Brew Crew was going to tie the game with another blast, however, Colton White, in left field, leapt above the fence to rob Brew Crew of their last saving grace. With two outs, a Brew Crew member grounded out to Daves at shortstop to se- cure the 17-16 championship final. Brew Crew is always a tough team to beat, as they took home the gold at River Harbin's benefit tournament in July in Winslow. Joey O'Brien, president of Petersburg Little League, presented the King Pins with their trophy on the stage at the festival on Saturday night By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central cross country teams hosted their home invitational on Satur- day, Sept. 28 at Prides Creek Golf Course. The Chargers varsity boys' team fin- ished 10th, while the girls' were eighth. "In what ended up being a hot day for the races, I felt like our kids battled through- out the day," Pike Central coach Josh Roach said. "We had a lot of positive results. Both boys and girls won some battles that they've been trying to win all year. This is huge as the year winds down to the end. We are striving to get to our best when it mat- ters most and this was a great race to show that. We look forward to going into these next few weeks and competing every day." Castle won the boys' division with a team score of 84. They were followed by South Knox (95), Vincennes Lincoln (112), Evansville Memorial (130), Gibson South- ern (131), Forest Park (151), Barr-Reeve (155), Washington (198), Evansville Ma- ter Dei (225), Pike Central (261), Prince- ton (265), Mount Vernon (292), Evansville Harrison (297), Tecumseh (370), Evans- ville Christian School (454), Signature School (467) and North Knox (490). Forest Park's Spenser Wolf won the race with a time of 16:42.96. Pike Central's top finisher was Nate Woolery at 15th in 18:04.89. Other Char- ger finishers were Peyton Chanley at 36th in 18:55.79, Trent Zimmerman at 72nd in 20 :21.37, Ethan Gorby at 73rd in 20 :22.85, A J Hill at 78th in 20 :55.50 and Dallas Reu- tepohler at 93rd in 21:42.13. Forest Park won the girls' division with a team score of 63. They were followed by South Knox (87), Barr-Reeve (115), Gib- son Southern (159), Evansville Memori- al (160), Mount Vernon (164), Princeton (166), Pike Central (173), Tecumseh (232), Owensboro Apollo (255), Signature School (267), Castle (267), North Knox (275), Evansville Harrison (378) and Vincennes Lincoln (413). Barr-Reeve's Makenna Pruett won the girls' race in 20 :04.09. Pike Central's top finisher was Libby Stone at 31st in 22:59.59, Quinlan Teague at 32nd in 22:59.82 and Kennedy Willis at 34th in 23:26.25. The Chargers other runners were Laney Johnson at 40th in 23:44.37, Jenna Meyer at 41st in 23:47.11 and Charlotte Dudenhoeffer at 71st in Chargers' Weisman continues to impress with win at Barr-Reeve Invite King Pins rule at Buffalo Trace Festival softball tourney Pike Central boys' 10th, girls' 8th at home invitational One for the Memory Bank SOUTH SPENCER REBELS MAKE STATEMENT AGAINST PIKE CENTRAL Pike Central's Xav- ery Weisman stands for a photo with her first place medal af- ter winning the Barr- Reeve Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 26. Chargers' senior captain Connor O'Neal attempts to escape the reach of a South Spencer de- fender. The King Pins stand for a photo after winning the Buffalo Trace Festival Softball Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 28. The team consists of Bo Daves, of Otwell; Matt Phillips, of Princeton; Travis McClarney, of Evansville; Da- ra Scraper, of Jasper; Torrey and Bri Chavis, of Evansville; Jayln Nelson, of Stendal; Colton White, of Petersburg; Ronnie Skinner, of Arthur; Zach Skinner of Winslow; and Kenzie Rudolph, of Winslow. Pike Central's Ethan Gorby com- petes during the Pike Central Invi- tational at Prides Creek on Satur- day, Sept. 28. WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN See WEISMAN on 2 See STATEMENT on 6 See MEMORY on 3 See RULE on 3 See INVITE on 5