The Press-Dispatch

b-1 Wednesday, May 7, 2014 the Press-Dispatch Lady Chargers take second in three-team meet at Washington Senior Selena Guzman, sophomore Becca Oak- man and freshmen Selena Carpenter and Abby Hill- yard teamed up to win the 3,200 -meter relay as the Pike Central High School girls' track and field team placed second in a three- team meet held at Washing- ton on Thursday, May 1. The winning time posted by the foursome, 11:23.08, beat their previous best time by eight seconds, according to Lady Charger head coach Chris Hadley. "Our 3,200 relay contin- ues to improve every meet," Chris Hadley said. "Last year, that time would have allowed the girls to advance to regionals in that event." In addition, Oakman and freshman Cassidy Brothers placed first and second, re- spectively, in the 800 -me- ter run. Oakman won with a time of 2:48, seven seconds ahead of Brothers. "Becca and Cassidy con- tinue to run solid times in the 800," Chris Hadley said. "I am looking forward to see- ing how much time they can cut before PAC's and section- als." Meanwhile, f reshman Peyton Ruppel and soph- omore Ivy Sullivan placed first and second, respective- ly, in the 300 -meter hurdles. Ruppel, who also finished fourth in long jump with a leap of 13 feet, 2 inches, won the 300 -meter hurdles with a time of 53.69 seconds. Sullivan, who also placed second in the 100 -meter hurdles with a time of 20.05 seconds, was second in the 300 -meter hurdles with a time of 56.66 seconds. Sophomore Cheyanna Padgett won first place in pole vault with a height of 6 feet, 6 inches, and was fourth in high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 4 inches. Sophomore Makaila Ma- son placed second in the 400 -meter dash with a time of 1:09, while Hillyard placed third in the 1,600 -meter run with a time of 6:19 and third in the 3,200 -meter run with a time of 13:20, junior Alli- son Sheffler placed third in high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 6 inches, and sopho- RAIDERS LIMIT CHARGERS TO TWO HITS IN 10-0 WIN Aldridge wins long jump as Chargers finish 6th in 11-team meet Pike central high school freshman caleb Miller swings at a pitch during game action against visiting southridge on thursday, May 1. Ed Cahill photo see seconD page b-4 Mason, Hillyard are top finishers in Azalea Blossom Run Chargers hold off Loogootee for 4-3 win by ed cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Luke Stetter used his arm and his bat to lead Southridge to a 10 -0 six-inning win over host Pike Central in a high school baseball game on Thursday, May 1. The junior left-hander allowed just two hits and struck out three while also going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in a pair of runs, including the Raiders' first run on a first-inning double. "He's a very good pitcher," said Pike Cen- tral head coach Chad Whitehead, whose team fell to 4-5 overall and 0 -3 in the Pocket Athlet- ic Conference. "He got into a rhythm and con- tinued all the way through the game. He got ahead in the count and did some nice things." Senior third baseman Bailey White, who sin- gled to left field with one out in the second in- ning, and freshman catcher Chase Davis, who singled to center with two outs in the fourth inning, were the only Chargers to reach base against Stetter, who allowed only five balls to be hit out of the infield. Stetter retired nine batters on fly balls while inducing six groundouts, four of which junior shortstop Connor Craig handled without a mis- cue. "When we did hit him hard, they made nice plays behind him," Whitehead said. "We hit it out into the outfield, into the gaps, that they chased down, and we hit a few balls to short- stop that he made some nice plays on. So (Stet- ter) had good defense behind him." Connor Craig led off the game with a bunt single and advanced to second base when fresh- man first baseman Kane Osgatharp missed the catch on a pickoff throw from freshman pitch- er Colton White. Stetter followed with a double to the right- centerfield gap, scoring Connor Craig to give Southridge (11-2 overall, 5 -0 in the PAC) a 1- 0 lead. A fter retiring junior first baseman Jacob Brewer on a fly ball to left field, Colton White hit sophomore designated hitter with a pitch, putting Raiders on first and second with one out. However, the next batter, sophomore second baseman Payton Mattingly, hit into a double play to end the inning. Junior right fielder Jeremiah Mundy led off the second inning with a single, then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by junior catcher Brett Nordoff. One out later, junior Neil Messmer singled to see stet ter page b-2 caleb toler crosses the finish line first in the azalea blossom run's two-mile run on saturday, May 3, with a time of 16:06, two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, a.j. hill (background, left). Ed Cahill photo by ed cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Petersburg's Tanner Mason was the top overall male finisher in the 2014 A za- lea Blossom Run's five-mile race on Sat- urday, May 3, but it was hardly a walk in the park. Mason, 20, completed the race with a time of 31 minutes, 21 seconds, a little over a minute ahead of second-place fin- isher, 11-year-old David Heinemann of Georgetown. "My plan was to go until mile three because of the hills and then slow down from mile three, and that's what I did," Mason said after ward. " T he second guy actually could have beaten me if I wouldn't have led like that. That was the plan." Mason said that his goal was to finish the race – which began on Illinois Ave- nue at Tri-Cap and wound through down- town Petersburg to Hornady Park before returning to the starting point – in less than 30 minutes. "It's not quite what I wanted," Mason said of his winning time. "I felt sick at the end." Meanwhile, Pike Central High School freshman Abby Hillyard was the top fe- male finish in the five-mile race with a see aZalea page b-2 by ed cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School baseball team scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to snap a 2-2 tie and held on for a 4-3 victory over host Loogootee on Friday, May 2. Following back-to-back singles by freshman catcher Chase Davis and senior pitcher Bailey White to open the seventh, junior left fielder Clint Craig grounded in- to a forceout at second, putting runners at first and third with one out. Davis scored the go-ahead run when the next batter, designated hitter Caleb Miller, despite striking out, reached first base when the third strike got past junior catcher Hayden Bell for a passed ball. With Craig having advanced to third base, freshman Eli Eck, pinch-running for Miller, stole second base. However, Bell's throw sailed into center field, allowing Craig to score to give the Chargers a 4-2 lead. Davis, brought in to pitch the bottom of the seventh, retired the first two batters before surrendering three consecutive singles to senior first baseman Trevor Re- sler, senior pitcher Casey Miller and junior third base- man Ben Blackwell to load the bases. The next batter, sophomore shortstop Jake Blackwell, struck out but reached first base when the third strike got past freshman catcher Colton White, allowing Re- sler to score to pull the Lions to within 4-3. However, Davis snuffed out the rally by striking out junior left fielder Gabe Nolley to end the game. Bailey White picked up the win for Pike Central, allow- ing two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out three in six innings. Davis allowed one run on three hits while striking out two in one inning to get the save. Miller, who belted a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to drive in Loogootee's first run, allowed four runs, two of which were earned, on four hits while walk- ing two and striking out nine in seven innings. "I am proud of how we responded to a tough loss to Southridge," said Pike Central head coach Chad White- head, whose team improved to 5 -4 with the win. "We have been talking about the importance of doing the little things well and finding ways to be more success- ful in different situations. It was a quality win against a strong Loogootee pitcher." "Bailey pitched six solid innings, keeping them off bal- ance and giving us an opportunity to win a game in the seventh inning," Whitehead added. "Chase did a nice job of pitching the final inning under pressure. This win was a group effort that gives us something we can build on in a positive way." by ed cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Senior Kegan A ldridge placed first in long jump a nd was four th in the 100 -meter dash as the Pike Central High School boys' track team finished sixth in the Princeton Invitational on Tuesday, April 29. A ldridge won the long jump competition with a leap of 20 feet and three- quarters of an inch. Mount Vernon's Austin Guthrie was second with a leap of 19 feet, 8.75 inches. A fter placing fifth overall in the preliminaries for the 100 -meter dash with a time of 11.85 seconds, Aldridge took fourth place in the fi- nals with a time of 11.99 seconds, just one-hundreth of a second behind the time of 11.98 seconds posted by the third-place finisher, Vincennes Lincoln's Car- son Sandy. Evansville Mater Dei's Julian Weidner, the top qualifier in the 100 -meter dash with a time of 11.59 seconds, won with a time of 11.75 seconds. S enior Aust in Bol in, meanwhile, placed second in pole vault with a height of 12 feet, and was third in the 400 -meter dash with a time of 53.19 seconds. Sophomore Dalton R i- ley was third in long jump with a personal-best leap of 19 feet, 3 inches, freshman Jared McCord was fourth in the 110 -meter hurdles with a time of 17.21 seconds and seventh in the 300 -me- ter hurdles with a time of 45.21 seconds, and junior K ire Woolery was fifth in the 300 -meter hurdles with a time of 44.54 seconds. In addition, senior Dame- on Fulcher was 11th in the 800 -meter run with a time of 2 :25.81, and freshman Chaney McK inney was 12th in the 800 -meter run with a time of 2:28.59. Meanwhile, the team of Aldridge, Bolin, freshman Jaylon Owens and Dalton Riley finished fourth in the 400 -meter relay with a time of 46.78 seconds, the team of Bolin, McCord, McK in- ney and sophomore Tyler Toopes finished seventh in the 1,600 -meter relay with a time of 3:46.90, and the team of Fulcher, McK inney, Toopes and sophomore Earl Townsend was eighth in the 3,200 -meter relay with a time of 10 : 02.29. Freshman Cole Leighty posted personal bests in both shot put (33 feet, 3.5 inches) and discus (93 feet, Pike central high school freshman jared Mccord competes in the 300-me- ter hurdles during the Princeton invitational on Wednesday, april 30. Mc- cord placed seventh in the event with a time of 45.21 seconds. Ed Cahill photo see alDriDGe on b-3

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