The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, May 17, 2017 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 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Gibson Southern senior pitcher Jaime Nurren- bern came within one run of throwing a perfect game but had to settle for a no-hitter in a 9 -0 vic- tory over visiting Pike Central in high school soft- ball action on Saturday, May 13. Nurrenbern retired the first 18 batters she faced – including four on strikeouts – before La- dy Charger senior Madison Scott reached on a fielding error leading off the seventh inning. Senior left fielder Sydney Brooks then hit a sharp grounder at Gibson Southern senior sec- ond baseman Hannah Bryant, whose throw to se- nior shortstop Carlee Tenbarge for the force-out on Scott was too late, allowing Brooks to reach first base on the fielder's choice. However, after Nurrenbern struck out Pike Central junior second baseman Audra Stone for the first out of the inning, junior first baseman Demi Croak hit a fly ball that was caught by Lady Titans senior rightfielder Aricka Seaton, who then fired the ball to senior first baseman Cora Blume to double off Brooks for the game-ending out. For the game, Nurrenbern threw just 73 pitch- es, including 52 for strikes. She threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 22 batters she faced. "She can pinpoint most of her pitches," Pike Central head coach Rick Weisman said of Nur- renbern. "If you get ahead, then you can kind of fine-tune the corners. And then you can't take that borderline pitch, because you don't know what the blue's going to call." Gibson Southern, which improved to 15 -2 over- all and 5 -0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference, led 4-0 when the Lady Titans sent nine batters to the plate in the fifth inning and scored five runs to take a 9 -0 lead. However, with two outs and Blume standing on third base, Pike Central junior pitcher Peyton Sor- gius got sophomore catcher Lauren Lingafelter to ground out to junior third baseman Jalah Barnes to avoid being run-ruled by the Lady Titans. Still needing just one more run to finish off the Lady Chargers, Gibson Southern threatened again in the sixth inning, when Nurrenbern led off with a single and, one out later, senior third baseman Presley Johnson was hit by a pitch, put- ting runners at first and second. However, Sorgius retired senior centerfielder Kennedy Stoll on an infield fly that was caught by Scott, then got Seaton to ground out to end the inning. "There were a couple of innings when they had runners on first and second or second and third with one out and we got out of the inning," Weis- man said. "Those were a couple of positive innings there that we really worked out of. It could have been a lot worse. But we stuck our heads in there and went at it." "All in all, I was kind of pleased," Weisman added. "Even though the score doesn't reflect it, there were some situations that you can take home that's positive, and go from there." Sorgius went the distance for the Lady Char- gers, allowing nine runs – five of which were earned – on 12 hits while walking four. Pike Central, which fell to 13-5 overall and 5 - 2 in the PAC, will travel to Tell City on Wednes- day, May 17, before closing out the regular sea- son at home against Northeast Dubois at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 18. The Lady Chargers will then open the section- al tournament at Jasper with a first-round match- up against the host Lady Wildcats at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 22. "That's the way we want it," Weisman said. "If By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Junior Taylor Deffen- doll tied for fourth place in high jump as the Pike Cen- tral High School girls' track and field team finished ninth in the Pocket Athletic Con- ference Championships on Tuesday, May 9, at Tell City. Deffendoll cleared 4 feet, 8 inches, tying Tecum- seh sophomore Breanna Metzger for fourth place in the event. South Spencer sophomore Kelsey Bowlds won the high jump compe- tition with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches. In addition, sophomore Alyssa Jenkins placed fifth in discus with a throw of 94 feet, 2 inches, while sophomore Lillie Pancake matched her personal re- cord in pole vault with a leap of 7 feet, 6 inches, tying Her- itage Hills freshman Maddy Detzer for sixth place. Lady Chargers junior Halley Powers also cleared 7 feet, 6 inches – tying her own personal record – and placed eighth in the event. Forest Park senior Han- nah Gehlhausen won the pole vault competition with a leap of 9 feet, 6 inches, breaking the PAC meet re- cord of 9 feet, 4 inches set by Kandace Buechler of Heri- tage Hills in 2012. Also placing for Pike Cen- tral was senior Kaitlyn Fos- ter, who finished seventh in the 800 -meter run with a Junior Lincoln Vaughn fired a team-low 89 as the Pike Central High School boys' golf team placed fifth in the Pocket Ath- letic Conference Champi- onship on Saturday, May 13, at the Christmas Lake Golf Course. Sophomore Noah On- yett had an 18 -score of 95, sophomore Austin Holder shot a 95 and sophomore Hayden Kabrick had a 100, while freshman Jay- lon Mills had a 110. As a team, the Char- gers had a score of 382, trailing Heritage Hills (335 points), North Posey (356), Forest Park (361), Tell City (369) and Gibson Southern (371). South- ridge (394) was sixth, followed by South Spen- cer (441) and Tecumseh (490). Alex Gordon of Heri- tage Hills shot a tourna- ment-low 79. Also earning All-PAC honors were Ry- lan Cox (84), Josh Nelson (86) and Creek Talbott (86) of Heritage Hills, Caleb Wassmer (81) and Mason Wassmer (85) of North Posey, Mason Stoll (81) of Gibson Southern and Evan Weyer (85) of Forest Park. "The PAC was really tough, not only for us – the scores were histori- cally high for everyone," Pike Central head coach Jarrod Gideon said. "They played the ball down, which made the course a real bear. The rough was pretty long, and with all the rain we've had it made it particularly tough. The course was in great shape, it was a beautiful day, and a good challenge for all of the players." On Thursday, May 11, Vaughn shot a team-best Chargers strand 12 on basepaths in 5-4 loss to Tell City Kirby places first in pole vault at PAC Championships LADY CHARGERS NO-HIT IN 9-0 LOSS TO GIBSON SOUTHERN Pike Central High School sophomore shortstop Race Brit- ton prepares to catch a throw at second base during game ac- tion against visiting Tell City on Friday, May 12. The Marksmen won the contest, 5-4. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Lin- coln Vaughn putts during a match against visiting North Posey at the Prides Creek Golf Course on Thursday, May 11. Vaughn shot a team- best 39, but the Vi- kings won the dual match 151-174. Jim Capozella photo Above: Pike Central High School junior Taylor Deffendoll competes in high jump at the Pock- et Athletic Conference Championships on Tues- day, May 9, at Tell City. Deffendoll tied for fourth place with a leap of 4 feet, 8 inches. Ed Cahill pho- to Left: Pike Central High School sophomore Ken- zie Dunn competes during preliminaries for long jump at the Pocket Athletic Conference Champi- onships on Tuesday, May 9, at Tell City. Dunn placed 16th with a leap of 11 feet, 6.5 inches. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior third baseman Jalah Barnes (right) prepares to throw the ball to first base as junior pitcher Peyton Sorgius (left) ducks out of her way during game action at Gibson Southern on Saturday, May 13. Ed Cahill photo See CHARGERS on page 2 PCHS girls' track team finishes 9th at PAC Meet By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Freshman Tyler Kirby placed first in pole vault with a personal record leap of 12 feet, 6 inches as the Pike Central High School boys' track and field team finished seventh in the Pocket Athletic Con- ference Championships on Thursday, May 12, at Tell City. Entering the meet tied for the fourth-highest seed in the event with Heritage Hills ju- nior Adam Redmond, Tyler Kirby beat his previous per- sonal record leap of 11 feet, 6 inches by one foot. Chargers junior Gavin Boyd, who placed fourth in pole vault in 2016, and South Spencer junior Luke Walker, who placed first in pole vault in both 2015 and 2016, both had leaps of 12 feet, but Boyd was awarded second based on missed attempts. Walker and Boyd entered the meet as the top two seeds in pole vault with leaps of 13 feet and 12 feet, 6 inches, re- spectively. "Tyler was extremely ex- cited, as was I, to get his per- sonal best and first place in pole vault," Pike Central head coach Chris Kramer said. "He has been working very hard and definitely has been im- proving over the past couple of weeks of the season." Tyler Kirby is the first Char- ger to place first in pole vault since Austin Bolin won the event in 2014. Meanwhile, senior Jar- ed McCord placed second in high jump with a leap of 6 feet, placed third in the 110 -meter hurdles with a time of 16.10 seconds, and placed third in the 300 -meter hurdles – an event that he won in both 2015 and 2016 – with a time of 42.43 seconds. McCord also teamed up with Boyd, Tyler Kirby and freshman Sam Theising to place fourth in the 400 -meter relay with a season-best time of 46.13 seconds. In addition, Boyd placed fifth in the 200 -meter dash – an event he won in 2016 as a sophomore – with a time of 24.11 seconds; sophomore Ad- am Kirby placed seventh in the 400 -meter dash with a time of 55.71 seconds; and freshman Nate Woolery placed sev- enth in the 3,200 -meter run with a personal record time of 10 :53.70, besting his previ- ous PR time of 11:10.60. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net There were plenty of ducks on the pond for the Pike Central High School baseball team when it hosted Tell City on Friday, May 12. Unfortunately, the Chargers were unable to capitalize on their good for- tune, leaving a total of 12 runners stranded on the basepaths – including six in scoring position – while dropping a 5 -4 loss to the Marksmen. "We left a lot of runners on base to- day," said Pike Central head coach Josh McDonald, whose team slipped to 8 - 10 overall and 1-5 in the Pocket Ath- letic Conference. "We just didn't hit. I don't really know how else to say it. We struggled on hitting." In nine plate appearances with run- ners in scoring position, the Chargers managed two hits – a run-scoring sin- gle by sophomore third baseman Joey Church with one out in the fifth inning and a two-run bases-loaded single by sophomore catcher Braxton Rice that cut Tell City's lead to 5 -4 with two outs in the sixth inning – while drawing two walks and striking out looking twice. The Marksmen, who improved to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in the PAC, left just four runners on base while go- ing 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, scoring four runs on a two- out run-scoring single by junior third baseman Whitaker Lyons in the first inning and another by junior catcher Nick Smith in the third inning followed by a two-run home run by Lyons with two outs in the fifth inning. See LOSS on 2 See PAC on 3 See FINISHES on 5 See GOLF on 2 PCHS boys' golf team places fifth in PAC meet