The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1467872
By Andy Heuring Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern softball had a huge week, winning four games including Jasper and probable sectional oppo- nent Pike Central. The four wins ran their streak to 17 straight since April 7. The Lady Titans started last Monday in dramatic fash- ion at Jasper. The two teams battled through the first sev- en innings to a scoreless tie. Then in the top of the eighth inning, Gibson Southern was down to its last out when Bren- na Blume came to bat. She hit a single to get on base and bring Olivia Money up. Mon- ey crushed a 3-1 pitch for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead. "Brenna is hitting 'lights out' for us. She is hitting about .650. I think Money is hitting about .450. In a clutch situa- tion there is no one I would rather have," said Titan Coach Gary May of his dynamic duo. Alexis Tucker then finished off Jasper by sitting them down one, two, three. She got their six, seven and eight batters to pop out to short- stop and then two grounders to shortstop that senior Syd- ney Long handled for all three outs. It completed an eight in- ning shutout for Tucker. She allowed two hits, struck out four and walked two for the win. It was a dominating per- formance in which she sat Jas- per down in order in every in- ning but the seventh, which she allowed a two-out double followed by a walk, but then struck out the last batter on four pitches to end the threat. TITANS CRUSH PRINCETON 18-1 Tuesday's game against ri- val Princeton was anything but dramatic. Gibson South- ern jumped on the Tigers im- mediately as Brenna Blume and Alexis Tucker both hit two home runs before the second inning ended. In the first inning, Blume bashed a three-run homer af- ter Sydney Long led off with a walk and Lauryn Adamson singled. Three batters later, Alexis Tucker ripped another home run after Ally Malone had singled to give the Titans a 5 -0 lead. They piled on six more runs in the second as Blume and Tucker both got their second home runs of the game and Gibson Southern pushed their lead to 11-0. The Titans would add four more in the third and three more for good measure in the fourth. They put up some impres- sive stats as Blume and Tuck- er were both 3 of 3 with two home runs and four RBIs. Al- ly Malone was 2 of 3 with two RBIs and Adamson was 2 of 4 and scored four runs in four innings. TITANS TAKE OUT TELL CITY, 18-0 It was similar Thursday as Gibson Southern travelled to Tell City for an 18 -0 shellack- ing of the Lady Marksmen. The first four batters for Gib- son Southern would score. Sydney Long opened with a single and stole second. Lau- ryn Adamson singled to drive in Long. Brenna Blume sin- gled to drive in Adamson and Olivia Money singled. She was then driven in by Alexis Tuck- er's sacrifice fly to center field. The Titans added a fifth run in the second inning when Ad- amson's sacrifice fly drove in Ryann Smith who had doubled with one out. In the third inning, the La- dy Titans again had their first four batters score. Money led off with a single, Malone fol- lowed with a single before Tucker pounded a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left center field for an 8 -0 lead. The on- slaught continued with Smith hitting a two-run shot over the fence in center, making it 10 -0. Gibson Southern would add three more in the fourth and five in the fifth for their 18 -run total. Callie Dickerson and Tuck- er combined for a shutout. Dickerson pitched four in- nings allowing only two hits, while striking out two and allowing no walks. Tucker pitched the fifth inning, al- lowing one hit and striking out one with no walks. TITANS JUMP ON PC EARLY FOR 9-0 WIN Gibson Southern got timely hits as they scored at least two runs in three of the first four innings to take an 8 -0 lead af- ter four, while Alexis Tucker was keeping the Pike Central bats in check. Tucker threw six shutout innings, allowing seven hits and striking out nine before M. Burgess came on to close out Pike Central in the seventh. Sydney Long started it off for the Titans with a sin- gle. Lauryn Adamson fol- lowed with another single be- fore Brenna Blume doubled to score Long and send Ad- amson to third. Ally Malone grounded out to the pitch- er, but it allowed Adamson to score for a 2-0 lead after one. Adamson started the third inning with a walk and Blume continued her season-long hit streak, pounding a 2-1 pitch over the center field fence for a 4-0 lead. Money and Malone followed with back-to-back singles, putting runners at first and second. A fter a long fly to center by Tucker, Em- maLee Higgs singled to left field, scoring Money for a 5 - 0 lead. The Titans scored three more in the fourth inning as Long led off with a single and then stole second. Adam- son hit a long fly to right field for the first out, but allowed Long to tag and move to third. Blume grounded out to short- stop, which allowed Long to score, giving the Lady Titans a 6 -0 lead. Money doubled and Malone drove her in with a sin- gle to left field. Tucker then hit a line shot on the left side to score Malone, making it 8 -0. Gibson Southern added their ninth run in the fifth when Burgess and Smith hit back-to-back singles. A hard grounder down the third base- line brought Burgess home for the 9 -0 lead. Pike Central threatened in the fifth and sixth innings with runners on second and third both innings, but couldn't push them across. "It was an interesting week. We went to South Spencer on Saturday, beat Jasper in eight innings at Jasper, then went to Princeton and all the way to Tell City, and then up to Pike Central. We were on the road and logged a lot of miles, but we still won all the games," said Coach May. "We are playing well right now, (and) that is probably a little bit of understatement," said Coach May. The Titans play Castle, Vin- cennes and Evansville Central this week. "If we can finish up on a pos- itive note, I think we are where we need to be," said Coach May about heading into sec- tional next week. Lady Titan Softball completes huge winning week Lauryn Adamson rips a shot to the left side for a single during the Titans' 9-0 win over Pike Central on Saturday. Above: Alexis Tucker reaches the top of her wind-up. She pitched six innings of shutout softball while striking out nine against the Chargers on Saturday Left: Olivia Money sprints to first base after ripping a shot to left field for a sin- gle. Below: Titan shortstop Sydney Long gets ready for a hot grounder to her during Gibson Southern's 9-0 win at Pike Central on Saturday. B-4 Sports Tuesday, May 17, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times