The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/830613
B-2 Sports Wednesday, May 31, 2017 The Press-Dispatch White would start off the sixth inning by making a running catch of a foul pop- up by Boyle before the next batter – senior pitcher Bro- gan Reneer – singled. Rumple then hit a fly ball to centerfield that Chargers senior Colton O'Neal was unable to catch, allowing Reneer to take second base. Sophomore third base- man David Jones followed with a single, scoring Re- neer to cut Pike Central's lead to 3-1. The next batter, Hyneman, belted a double to deep right field, scoring Rumple while Jones stopped at third base. With runners on second and third, Wilkerson hit a grounder to Davis, who booted the ball for an error as both Jones and senior Da- vid Etolen – pinch-running for Hyneman – scored to give Princeton a 4-3 lead. White escaped the sixth inning without any further damage, retiring Watt on a fly ball to Colton O'Neal and striking out Bustos. The Tigers tacked on an- other run in the seventh in- ning, when Stough blasted a triple to deep centerfield, then scored on an infield grounder by Boyle. Pike Central tried to ral- ly in the bottom of the sev- enth, when White doubled with one out, stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield by Davis. However, Reneer retired Benton on a fly ball to Rum- ple – who had moved to cen- terfield after being relieved by junior Austin Schafer in the fifth inning – to end the game. White delivered at the plate as well as on the pitch- ing mound, going 3-for-4 with a double while scoring two runs. He also had one stolen base. "I thought we played re- ally well," McDonald said. "Two errors is about the best we've played behind ( White) this year, but the errors just happened to hap- pen at a bad time." "It's tough to get beat 5 -4," McDonald added. "You hope you hit the ball a little bet- ter than that – but we didn't strike out looking. We just hit it to them and they made plays. I thought (Stough) played really well today, and I know ( Jones) ... made all the plays he needed to make. Other than the two errors, I think we played a pretty decent game. You just can't make those errors whenev- er it's that close of a game." The loss marked the end of the high school careers of the Chargers' four seniors – Chase Davis, Jacob Marchi- no, Kane Osgatharp and Colton White. "I'm proud of my seniors, all of them, and I wish it would have ended better for them," McDonald said. "They battled for me." Princeton, which im- proved to 11-10 with the win, advanced to Monday night's championship game and were eliminated with a 5 -0 loss to No. 2 Jasper. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A two-run single by senior centerfielder Colton O'Neal with two outs in the eighth inning lifted the Pike Cen- tral High School baseball team to a 10 -9 victory over visiting Evansville Bosse in the second game of a double- header on Tuesday, May 23. The Chargers, who won the first game 7-3, rallied from a 9 -1 deficit in the sec- ond contest to end the reg- ular season with a won-loss record of 12-12. "One of our goals was over .500 on the year and in con- ference," Pike Central head coach Josh McDonald said. "Well, we didn't get the con- ference – we kind of strug- gled with injuries – but we made it to .500 in the regular season. So I am pretty hap- py with that." In the first game, the Chargers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when senior rightfielder Jacob Marchino was hit by a pitch with two outs and then scored on a double by sopho- more second baseman Race Britton. Pike Central would send 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning while plating six runs on five hits to ex- tend its lead to 7-0. Sophomore designated hitter Braxton Rice reached on an error leading off the inning and advanced to sec- ond on a single by sopho- more third baseman Joey Church. A fter a passed ball al- lowed Church and Rice to move up to second and third, respectively, Marchino drew a walk to load the bases for Britton, who delivered a two-run single. One out later, Colton O'Neal singled to drive in Marchino as Britton ad- vanced to third. A fter Colton O'Neal stole second base, sophomore leftfielder Troy Rickard belt- ed a single to right field, plat- ing both Britton and Colton O'Neal to give the Chargers a 6 -0 lead. Davis capped off the scor- ing with a double to left-cen- terfield that scored Rickard from first base. White, after pitching three scoreless innings – allowing just one hit while striking out three – to start the game, was relieved by Colton O'Neal at the begin- ning of the fourth inning. Colton O'Neal held the Bulldogs scoreless over the next two innings before serving up a home run to junior third baseman Zach Curtis at the start of the sixth inning. Evansville Bosse rallied in the seventh inning, scor- ing twice on run-scoring singles by senior catcher Nigel Buchanan and senior righthfielder Dakota Devine to close to within 7-3, be- fore Rice – relieving Colton O'Neal with one out the bas- es loaded – retired the final two batters. "I don't like to pull pitch- ers in the middle of an in- ning, but I could tell that Colton (O'Neal) was done," McDonald said. "Luckily, I had DH'ed Braxton, so I was able to get him down in the bullpen and he was able to come in pretty loose. So that was a bonus." Colton O'Neal picked up the win, allowing three runs – all earned – on seven hits while walking one and stroking out one. Rice got the save. Offensively, Colton O'Ne- al went 3-for-3, scored one run, drove in one and stole two bases. Britton, mean- while, went 2-for-3 with a double, scored one run and drove in three. The Chargers fifth through ninth batters went a combined 5 -for-15, scored five runs and drove in three. "I hope that continues," McDonald said. "We seem to be having better ap- proaches. I'm coaching a lot out there, because our ap- SPORTS BRIEFS Petersburg Little League announces closing day parade, ceremony After inclement weath- er forced the Petersburg Little League to cancel plans for an opening day ceremony on Saturday, May 6, league officials are now planning on hav- ing a closing day parade and ceremony on Satur- day, June 17. Lineup for the clos- ing day parade will start at 6:30 p.m., on Walnut Street in front of the Old Petersburg Gym, with the parade scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The parade will take South 9th Street to Main Street, then follow Main Street westward and turn left onto South 5th Street for the final leg toward the Petersburg Little League Park. A closing day ceremo- ny – during which tro- phies and awards will be presented – will immedi- ately following the end of the parade. Youth football sign-ups set for May 31 The Pike County Youth Football program will be having sign ups on Wednesday, May 31, at the Pike Central Middle School Office from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The sign up cost is $55 per player. For more information, contact Anthony McHar- gue, Youth Football Pres- ident, at (812) 403-0884. Pike Central Boys' Basketball Camp set for June 5-8 The 2017 Pike Central Boys' Basketball Camp – for boys who will be entering first through eighth grades this fall – will be held Monday, June 5, through Thursday, June 8, at the Pike Central Mid- dle School gymnasium. The cost of the camp is $25 per child. The cost for two campers from the same family is $40. Each camper will receive a Pike Central Basketball T-shirt. The camp, which will be conducted by Pike Central coaching staff and players, will feature five hours of instruction time. The camp is designed to assist and enhance bas- ketball fundamentals, fo- cusing on the fundamen- tals of dribbling, passing, shooting, ball handling, team strategies and de- fense. The camp will be split into two sessions. The ses- sion for campers enter- ing first through fourth grade will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. each day, while the session for campers entering fifth through eighth grade will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. each day. Registration forms, which are available at ar- ea school offices, can be mailed to Jason Roach, Pike Central High School, 1810 E. State Rd. 56, Pe- tersburg, IN 47567. Make sure to indicate the T- shirt size on the registra- tion form, as well as what grade the camper will be entering this coming fall, and be sure to make checks payable to "Pike Central Boys Basketball." For more information, call the Pike Central High School Athletic Of- fice at 812-354-8478, or e- mail Coach Jason Roach at jroach@pcsc.k12.in.us. Lady Charger Basketball Camp set for June 26-29 Girls who will be enter- ing third through eighth grades this fall will have a chance to improve their skills and learn more about basketball during the Lady Chargers Bas- ketball Camp, which will be held from Monday, June 26, through Thurs- day, June 29, at Peters- burg Elementary School. Pike Central High School head coach Kyle McCutchan and his staff will be conducting two separate camps. The first will be for incoming 3rd through 5th graders from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. The second will be for incoming 6th through 8th graders from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. The cost is $20 per play- er, or $35 for two players, and includes a camp t- shirt. Forms are available at each school's office. Completed registration forms, along with checks made payable to Kyle Mc- Cutchan, should be mailed to: Kyle McCutchan, 410 S. 8th St., Petersburg, IN 47567. Please be sure to note each player's incom- ing grade and their shirt size. Pike Central Chargers to host soccer camp June 23 The Pike Central Char- gers soccer coaching staff and players will be host- ing a one-day camp on Friday, June 23, for boys and girls age four through those who will be entering eighth grade this fall. The camp will be held at the Petersburg Elementary School soccer fields. Session 1 – from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. – will be for boys and girls ages four through fourth grade. Session 2 – from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. – will be for boys and girls fifth through eighth grade. The registration fee is $20 per player. A camp t- shirt will be provided to those who are pre-regis- tered. Registration will also be conducted the day of the camp, but no camp t-shirts will be provided. Registration forms and payments are due by Mon- day, June 5, in order to re- ceive a clinic t-shirt. Com- pleted registration forms, along with checks made payable to "PC Boys Soc- cer," should be mailed to Amanda Howald, 941 South State Road 61, Winslow, IN 47598. All players attending the clinic should arrive with shinguards and a wa- ter bottle, as well as their own soccer ball. For more information, or to obtain a registration form, call (812) 789-3312. SECTIONAL Continued from page 1 Petersburg Little League results 12U BOYS' BASEBALL May 25 South Knox 14, Petersburg Evans and Son 5 Evans and Son – Pitchers: Arie O'Neal, Parker Knust, Phillip Stafford. Catchers: Parker Knust, Ry- an Whann. South Knox 19, Petersburg Myers Towing 8 Myers Towing – Pitchers: Isaac Burdette, Barrett Cooper, Jackson Stuckey. Catchers: Barrett Cooper, Drew Dawson, Isaac Burdette. Extra base hits: 2B – Drew Dawson. HR – Isaac Burdette. Pike Central High School senior centerfielder Colton O'Neal (right) steals second base ahead of the tag of Evansville Bosse freshman shortstop Eli Burkhart (left) during game action on Tues- day, May 23. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore second baseman Race Britton (3) follows through after swinging at a pitch during game action against visiting Evansville Bosse on Tuesday, May 23. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Colton White (12) delivers a pitch during a 7-3 victory over vis- iting Evansville Bosse on Tuesday, May 23. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Cen- tral High School se- nior right fielder Ja- cob Marchino fields the ball during game action against visiting Evansville Bosse on Tuesday, May 23. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School freshman left fielder Connor O'Neal (2) attempts to lay down a sacri- fice bunt during game action against visiting Evansville Bosse on Tuesday, May 23. Ed Cahill photo Chargers rally from 9-1 deficit to complete doubleheader sweep See CHARGERS on 3