The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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See TR ACK on page 2 See SECTIONAL on page 2 TITANS PLACE IN STATE FINALS By Andy Heuring South Gibson Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern had several ath- letes compete in the boys and girls state finals track meet on Friday and Saturday in Bloomington. Senior Sloan Cox placed 11th in the shot put where he had a throw of 56'9". He threw 56'01" on his first throw, had the 56'9' on his second throw and scratched on his final throw. He was just 1.25 inches short of making the finals in the shot put which would have gotten him three more throws. Sloan threw 58'9" in the Evansville Regional to qualify for the state fi- nals. Cox placed 14th in the discus with a throw of 154'6". His first two throws were fouls with his last throw count- ing. He threw 159'4.5" in the region- al. Titan Hank Kissel also compet- ed in the discus but all three of his throws were disqualified. Junior Ethan Spindler, in his first year competing in track, was 14th in the high jump where he cleared 6'2". He started at 6' clearing that height and then 6'2" both on his first jumps. But he couldn't clear 6'4". He had cleared 6'4 in the Evansville Re- gional to qualify for the state. Sophomore Lucian Wicker placed 25th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.20. Wicker ran a season best 41.71 in the regional to qualify for the state finals. Initially he had not qualified for the regional competition as he placed fourth in the sectional. But a qualified competitor scratched from the event, allowing him to compete. He made the most of it. Sophomore Michael Herron placed 19th in the 200. He ran a time of 22.46. Both the boys and girls 4x800 re- lay teams qualified for the state. The boys' all-sophomore team of Alex Spindler, Lucas Kissel, Cooper Maurer and Wyatt McElhiney ran an 8:18.79, which was .72 seconds off their season best, to place 25th in the event. They had been seeded 27th but moved up two places. The girls 4x800 relay team of Tay- lor Hart, Carmen Hasenour, Court- ney Heldt and Olivia Pennington ran a 10 :12.06 for 24th place. It is the sec- ond year in a row the Titan 4x800 re- lay team advanced to the state. "( We) didn't run the time we want- ed, but it was a little warm. All the kids who went to the state, they com- peted. They weren't just happy to be there. They went out and competed and gave their best effort," said track coach Jeremy Aydt of the Titans. Titans' season comes to an end at Sectional By Mike Sandifar South Gibson Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern entered the 2022 Indiana High School Athlet- ic Association (IHSA A) Class 3A Baseball Sectional at Princeton as the pre-tournament favorite in the six-team event. A fter all, the Titans drew a first- round bye and would face Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) oppo- nent Southridge in a semi-final round on Memorial Day, a team they had beaten 10 -0 in a five-in- ning, 10 -run rule encounter in reg- ular season play—and they had already beaten both teams in the other semi-final game during reg- ular season play (Pike Central and Vincennes Lincoln). And, Gibson Southern was good—very good, in fact, as they took an 18 -6 regular season re- cord into the sectional tourna- ment, while the other three re- maining teams all had losing re- cords on the year. Still, as everyone knows, things happen in post-season tournament play, and it did happen to the Ti- tans on Memorial Day at Prince- ton's Gil Hodges Field. Gibson Southern fell by a heart-breaking 2-1 score to the Raiders to end any hope of the Ti- tans advancing in the state tour- nament. With 13 seniors on the 18 -man roster, Gibson Southern had one of the best regular season records in recent history heading into the tournament, with the 18 -6 mark, and the team and coaching staff had high expectations for the post-season. Southridge put a crushing blow to those expectations with the 2-1 victory over Gibson Southern. Neither team scored in the first inning of the contest, but in the top of the second frame, senior Colton Okes blasted a home run to give the Titans a narrow 1-0 lead, their only run of the game. That lead did not last long, as the Raiders put a run across home plate to knot the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom of the third in- ning, Southridge pushed home a run, the last score of the game, to take a 2-1 advantage after three full innings of baseball—and those two runs were enough, as the two pitchers in the game did not allow another run over the final four in- nings. Okes, who banged out the home run for Gibson Southern in the sec- ond inning, was the pitcher for the Titans, and he allowed just six hits in the fray. He allowed just one earned run in the encounter. The usually potent Gibson Southern offense put just five runners on base in the seven-in- ning outing, with senior Brayden Malone getting the only other hit for the Titans, that hit being a dou- ble. Okes and classmate Levi Dick- erson earned free passes to first base with walks, and freshman Seth Parsons also drew a base on balls to account for the five Titan base runners in the well-played game. "It was a tough loss for us," said Gibson Southern Coach Chris May after the Memorial Day loss to the Raiders. "It was not so much as what we didn't do or get done, but what they were able to do on the other side." "We had a really good season, but we had very high expectations for ourselves this year." "It's been a long time since we have had so many seniors on a team, and five of these guys played as freshmen. We just thought we had a chance to make a deep tour- nament run, and this loss is very disappointing and will take some time to get over." "On the other hand, the seniors had quite a lot of success this year in football, basketball, and base- ball." "They are quality young men, and they will get over this, but it will take time." "We did not overlook South- ridge. On this day, they (South- ridge) were just the better team." "That does not make the loss any easier to take. A fter the game, I just did not know what to say to our team. We all just sat there for some time." It just hurts…" Gibson Southern ended the 2022 diamond campaign with an 18 -7 record, while the win gave Southridge a 10 -17 mark on the season after the victory. Titan Sloan Cox starts his spin during a throw at the Indiana track and field state finals on Saturday. Cox placed 14th in the discus with a throw of 154'6". He also placed 11th in the shot put with a throw of 56'9". Titan Golfers are Sectional Champions By Andy Heuring South Gibson Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern golf had a big week. Friday they won the Vin- cennes Sectional for only the second time in school history, and two days earlier, the Titans set two school re- cords winning the County Golf Meet at Oakland City. Gibson Southern had three of their four players break 80 with freshman Peyton Blackard winning medalist honors to lead the team to a score of 309 at Cypress Hills in Vin- cennes. They beat out second place Vincennes Lincoln by 13 shots. The Titans posted three of the four lowest scores in the sectional, as Blackard was medalist with a one over par 71. Senior Ryan Islam shot a five over 75; and sophomore Daw- son Maurer broke 80 for the fist time this season with a 77. Only Dusty Taylor of Vincennes Lincoln broke into that trio with a 72 on his home course. There were only four players oth- er than the three Titans to break 80. Blackard didn't get off to the start he wanted. He along with four of the five Titans bogied the first hole, a long par five. He made a rare double on the fifth hole, before birding the second par five on the front nine and a bogey on seven a tough par three. It left him three over on the front nine. He would drop another shot on the 11th hole to put him at four over. "He got off to a rough start for Pey- ton. He was four over after 11 holes, but he stayed focus and put it togeth- er and finished well. It is hard to do for anyone, especially for a 15 -year old," said Titan Coach Matt Rein- brecht. Turn it around he did. Over the last seven holes he was three under with no bogeys. He bird- ied the par 5, 12th. Drove the green on 14 and had 17 feet for eagle and made birdie. He would par 15, 16 and 17 then finished with a birdie on hole 18 for medalist honors. Mitchell Gilles watches an approach shot during the Vin- cennes Sectional. The Titans won the sectional with a team 309. By Andy Heuring South Gibson Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern's Brenna Blume is an Indiana Miss Softball candi- date. Blume has been named to the first team All State for softball. She was the top vote getter in District 5, which makes her eligible for Miss Softball. Titan Coach Gary May said the top vote getter in each district is a candi- date for Miss Softball and the coach- es will vote for Miss Softball at the Indiana All Star game. "Brenna is very deserving of her all state award and the possibility to be named Miss Softball for Indiana," said Coach May Blume hit .621 her senior year with 12 home runs and 52 runs batted in and scored 59 times while playing catcher, to lead the Titans to a 27- 5 record. They won 21 consecutive games before their loss in the sec- tional final game. In her junior year, Blume set the Gibson Southern school record with 17 home runs. "Without a doubt, Brenna Blume was the best-ever offensive player to come out of Gibson Southern. Con- sidering her defensive abilities, there is an argument that she may have been the best position player (pitch- ers not included) to also ever play at Gibson Southern! " Junior Sydney Long was named third team All-State by the Indiana Coaches Association. Long batted .421 for the season and stole a school record 40 bases as the lead-off batter for the Titans. She scored 46 runs, had 12 doubles, three home runs and 30 RBIs, while striking out only three times. "Sydney Long is the perfect lead- off player. She hit for an average, she could get the extra-base hit, she had multiple walks and even more im- pressive, she stole 40 bases (season record). Parlay that with the fact that she moved from center field to short- stop, a position she had not played before, makes her very deserving of her all state recognition," said May. Blume and Long named to all state teams B-1 Tuesday, June 7, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times Gibson Southern's Wyatt McElhiney hands off to Lucas Kissel in the 4x800 relay. They placed 25th at the state finals on Saturday. Brenna Blume Sydney Long