The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 25, 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 When Carroll Edrington graduated from Winslow High School in 1955, going to college was the last thing that he wanted to do. "I didn't want to go to school," Edrington said. "Oh, no! I wanted to get out and make money. I wanted to buy a car. And that's what I did." "I learned," Edrington add- ed. "But I learned the hard way." For six months, Edrington drove – every day – from his home in Winslow to Worth- ington, where he worked as a member of a section gang for a railroad. When he returned home af- ter working all day, Edrington would play baseball in the eve- nings and on weekends. "When I got out of high school, I had a scout from the Washington Senators sign me to a tentative contract," Edrington recalled. "But they didn't have a place to put me, they said." Edrington subsequently moved to Indianapolis and went to work at Allison Trans- mission, then got a job at the Whirlpool plant. Nine months later, he was laid off. Unemployed and with- out any good prospects, Edrington decided that going to college may not be such a bad idea. "I got a chance to get on a scholarship at Oakland City, and that's where I went," Edrington said. Edrington – who moved from Spurgeon to Winslow following his sophomore year and helped lead the Eskimos to the sectional and regional titles in 1954 – attended Oak- land City College (now Uni- versity) on a half basketball/ half baseball scholarship, let- tering in both sports all four years for the Mighty Oaks be- fore graduating in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and biology. "I moved from Spurgeon to Winslow my last two years and, I tell you what, after we won sectional and regional, I thought, boy, that's a great bunch of boys – I'll never find any more boys like it," Edrington said. "But I was wrong, because I went to col- lege and I met all those guys I played in high school, and we were just a good bunch of boys." While at Oakland City College, Edrington was the third-leading scorer on the 1959 -60 basketball team that advanced to the NAIA Na- tional Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., and was co-captain for the Mighty Oaks cagers during the 1960 -61 season, af- ter which he was named Mr. Basketball and was award- ed the Kiwanis Mental Atti- tude Award – the first time in school history that one per- son received both honors. On the baseball diamond, Edrington was Oakland City's leading hitter both his junior and senior seasons, batting .426 and .407, respectively. In his last baseball game, against Hanover, Edrington went 5 -for-7, which includ- ed a 509 -foot home run that – according to OCU gradu- ate and 1988 Alumnus of the Year honoree Hugh Schaefer – is considered to be the lon- gest in Mighty Oaks' history. "There were track guys, and I almost hit one of those track guys," Edrington re- called with a laugh. "Men who saw him play say By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net University of Southern In- diana redshirt senior Cain Parker earned all-confer- ence honors for the second straight year by placing fifth overall out of 144 total run- ners during the Great Lake Valley Conference Champi- onships on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Kirksville, Mo. Parker, who graduat- ed from Pike Central High School in 2013, complet- ed the 8,000 -meter run with a personal best time of 24:50.5, besting his previous PR time of 25:11.9 – which he set during the GLVC Cham- pionships in 2016, when he placed ninth overall – by 21.4 seconds. "Cain capped his GLVC ca- reer with a great run on Sat- urday," Screaming Eagles head coach Mike Hillyard said. "His progression over the last two years has been great, and he looks poised to take a crack at All-Ameri- can honors when we host the NCA A II National Champi- onships in four weeks." USI sophomore Austin Nolan was named the GLVC Runner of the Year after placing first overall with a time of 24:28.7. Screaming Eagles who al- so received All-GLVC acco- lades were senior Bastian Grau, who finished second overall with a time of 24:35.7; junior Darin Lawrence, who placed sixth overall with a time of 24:53.4; senior James Cecil, who placed 11th over- all with a time of 25:14.0 ; and sophomore Nathan Hall, who placed 15th overall with a time of 25:25.3. Sophomore Javan Wind- ers rounded out USI's top seven by placing 19th over- all with a time of 25:40.1. In addition, Hillyard was named Coach of the Year. As a team, the Scream- ing Eagles won their 13th consecutive GLVC title, and 25th overall, with 24 points, 19 ahead of sec- ond-place Lewis Univer- sity's 43 points. Bellarm- By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School football team hoped to prove that it was better than what it showed during a 63- 6 loss to Gibson Southern three weeks earlier when the Chargers traveled to Fort Branch on Friday, Oct. 20, for a rematch with the No. 1-ranked Titans in the opening round of the sectional tournament. However, when the final horn sounded at Jack Jewell Memorial Field, Pike Central's season ended with a loss by the identical score – 63-6. "All week we talked about, 'hey, go show you're a bet- ter team than the last time,'" said first-year Chargers head coach Erik Mattingly, whose team ended its 2017 cam- paign 2-8. "As it turns out, we're the exact same team we were three weeks ago. We lost 63-6 then and we lost 63-6 tonight, so, it turns out, we stayed the same." "As a coach, you always want to get better but, you know, at least we didn't get any worse," Mattingly added. "That's a positive there." Gibson Southern senior quarterback Isaac Sellers com- pleted six of eight passes – including five for touchdowns – for 134 yards as the Titans scored on its first seven pos- sessions while racing to a 49 -0 halftime lead. Two of Sellers' touchdown passes were to senior wide re- ceiver Wes Obermeier – for 13 and 34 yards, respectively – while senior running back Dylan Stefanich rushed for a team-high 85 yards and two scores on nine first-half car- ries as the Titans improved to 10 -0. Pike Central, meanwhile, struggled offensively, generat- ing just 24 yards in total offense – 21 yards rushing and 3 yards passing – before driving 75 yards on five plays during its final possession to end the shutout when senior wide receiver Clint Boger scored on a six-yard run with just un- der seven minutes left in the game. "It was great to see some of our guys still playing hard when the contest had been decided," Mattingly said. "It was great to see guys coming out of the locker room with their heads held high, refusing to be a victim of circum- stances." "In this day and age, it seems like everybody wants to be a victim," Mattingly added. "Something's wrong, right? They're a victim of something. It's somebody else's fault. We talk about not allowing people to make us a victim. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School senior Halley Pow- ers placed 80th individual- ly out of 176 total runners during the girls' cross country semi-state meet at Eagle Park in Brown Coun- ty on Saturday, Oct. 21. Powers, competing at the semi-state meet for the first time, completed the 3.1-mile course with a personal record time of 20 :32.3, besting her previ- ous PR time of 21:04.3 – set one week earlier during the regional meet at Prides Creek Park in Petersburg – by 32 seconds. "She ran great and stayed strong to her game plan," Pike Central head coach Josh Roach said. "I told her before the race that her only job was to go out and run to the best of her ability and she couldn't get caught up on where she stood in the race." Powers' performance was the best by a Lady Charger at the semi-state meet since 2010, when se- nior Sarah Yager placed 60th individually with a time of 20 :59.1. In 2007, when the semi- state meet was held at Bed- ford North Lawrence, Yag- er placed 33rd individually with a time of 20 :28.8. "I knew when she crossed that she had the fastest time in the last couple of years, but I did not know it went back 10 years," Roach said. "That's interesting, too, because, with just a four-second dif- ference, they finished 47 places apart." "That's why we preached to only focus on her im- provement," Roach added. "She can't control the oth- er runners and how fast the pack was at a whole – she could only control her effort. And that's exactly what she did." Roach said that Powers benefited from the fact that the boy's race – with two Chargers, junior Draven Huff and freshman Ijaa Chambers, participating – was held first. Huff placed 118th indi- vidually out of 179 total run- ners with a time of 17:29.7. However, because of issues with the chip timers used to electronically record each runner's place and time, no results for Chambers were immediately available. "Draven said after the race that he felt like he started out too hard," Roach said. "We had prac- ticed on the course over the summer and earli- er in the week, but run- ning it with that many run- ners is a completely differ- ent thing. He immediate- ly came to me and said he started too hard, thinking he wouldn't have as much room to pass in the woods as he did. This was helpful for Halley, as he was able to let her know right before her race. I was really glad the boys went first and got Senior Luke Vinnedge (55) carries a U.S. Flag while leading the Pike Central High School football team onto the field before taking on host Gibson Southern in the opening round of the sectional tourna- ment on Friday, Oct. 21. Also pictured, from left to right, are seniors Gavin Boyd (33), Tyler Vickers, Zach Pancake (45), Silas Goff (68) and Tyce Sorgius (62). Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Connor O'Neal (3) looks for running room after taking the handoff from senior quarterback Christian Al- vey (16) during sectional game action at Gibson Southern on Friday, Oct. 20. Andy Heuring photo Cain Parker Carroll Edrington, who graduated from Winslow High School in 1955 and Oakland City College in 1961, will be inducted into the Oakland City Uni- versity Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 11. Submitted photo Pike Central High School senior Halley Pow- ers placed 80th in the girls' cross country semi-state meet at Eagle Park in Brown Coun- ty on Saturday, Oct. 21. Powers completed the 3.1-mile race with a personal best time of 20:32.3. File photo Powers sets PR to place 80th at semi-state cross country meet See POWERS on 2 See CHARGERS on 3 CHARGERS END SEASON WITH 63-6 SECTIONAL LOSS AT GIBSON SOUTHERN Edrington to be inducted into OCU Athletic Hall of Fame Nov. 11 Parker earns All-GLVC honors with fifth-place finish See EDRINGTON on 2 See PARKER on 3