The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, May 9, 2018 B- 7 Left: Pike Central High School senior first base- man Demi Croak follows the batted ball after belt- ing a single during varsity softball game action at Heritage Hills on Friday, May 4. Croak went 2-for-3 with one walk and scored one run in a 5-3 loss to the Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo Below: Pike Central High School sophomore right fielder Lauren Young (20) steals second base ahead of the tag by Heritage Hills fresh- man shortstop Mallory Garrison (7) during varsi- ty softball game action on Friday, May 4. Vaughn went 1-for-3 and scored one run in a 5-3 loss to the Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Central High School senior short- stop Audra Stone (left) prepares to catch a pop-up as junior second baseman Emily Carnahan (right) looks on during varsity softball game action at Heri- tage Hills on Friday, May 4. Stone went 2-for-3 with one walk and scored one run in a 5-3 loss to the La- dy Patriots. Ed Cahill photo RIght: Pike Central High School junior second baseman Emily Carnahan (12) prepares to catch a fly ball during varsity softball game action at Heri- tage Hills on Friday, May 4. Ed Cahill photo Griffin Boyd placed sec- ond in the seventh grade 400 -meter relay with a time of 54.53 seconds; and the team of Conder, Frasure, Herrera and McCrary placed second in the eighth grade 400 -meter relay with a time of 54.25 seconds. As a team, Pike Central scored 82 points. South Spencer was second with 66 points, while Wood Me- morial finished third with 16 points. "This was a tough meet for us," Pike Central head coach Jeremy Howald said. "I told the teams that South Spencer would be tough, and they were. I really had figured that they had us about halfway through the meet, but we held our own in the throwing and run- ning events. It was a close meet, but we held on." "The coaches are very proud of this group this year," he added. "We lost a lot of talent last year, but we were able to reload and get it done again this year." PCMS Continued from page 6 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Heritage Hills scored two runs in the fifth inning to snap a 3-3 tie while post- ing a 5 -3 victory over visit- ing Pike Central in varsity high school softball action on Friday, May 4. The Lady Chargers, who fell to 8 -5 overall and 2-2 in the Pocket Athletic Confer- ence, pounded out eight hits but left eight base run- ners stranded on the base- paths, including five in scoring position. "We didn't show up," Pike Central head coach Rick Weisman said. "We had chances. We had base runners. But we were tak- ing third strike calls, never putting the ball in play. You can't do that. You have got to put the bat on the ball." Lady Chargers senior shortstop Audra Stone drew a walk leading off the first inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Jordan Montgomery and – after taking third on a base hit by senior first baseman Demi Croak – scored on a single by senior third base- man Jalah Barnes. With Croak perched at third base, Barnes stole second base to put two run- ners in scoring position for senior pitcher Peyton Sor- gius. Sorgius subsequently hit a drive that hit the right centerfield fence on the fly, bringing Croak home to give Pike Central a 2-0 lead. Barnes, however, unsure whether Heritage Hills se- nior centerfielder Maddie Fuller was going to make the catch, advanced only as far as third base. When the next batter, freshman catcher Addie Johnson, hit a line drive to Fuller, Barnes – who had wandered off of third base – was unable to get back to the bag in order to tag up. She was subsequently left stranded there with sophomore right fielder Lauren Vaughn was re - tired on a comebacker to Lady Patriots sophomore pitcher Emma Eubank. "We should have gotten three runs the first inning," Weisman said. "We had a girl at third, the ball leaves the infield, and we take off halfway down the line. It's a rule of thumb – when the ball leaves the infield, you just tag up." "That's just mental stuff," Weisman added. "We can't do that this late in the season. We cannot do that." Heritage Hills – which improved to 11-7-1 overall and 4-0 in the PAC – would rally to score three runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. Freshman left fielder Ky- la Peter led off with a dou- ble and advanced to third on a bunt single by junior right fielder Xiana Scott. A fter Scott stole second base, sophomore third baseman Brianna Quinn drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Junior first baseman Lauren Caswell followed with a double, plating Pe- ter and Scott, as the Lady Patriots pulled even at 2-2. The next batter, soph- omore designated play- er Haley Waninger, hit a grounder to Barnes, who threw Waninger out at first base as Quinn raced home to give Heritage Hills a 3- 2 lead. Pike Central pulled even at 3-3 in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Scott that scored Vaughn, who had led off with a single and stole second base. The Lady Patriots, how- ever, would stage a two-out rally, scoring twice in the fifth inning. Three straight two- out singles by Caswell, Waninger and Fuller gave Heritage Hills a 4-3 lead. An error by Stone on a grounder hit by the next batter, junior catcher Ali Wade, allowed Waninger to score from second base, extending the Lady Patri- ots' lead to 5 -3. Pike Central, after be- ing retired in order in the sixth inning, staged a rally in the seventh inning when Croak drew a walk and ad- vanced to second when Barnes reached on an er- ror by freshman shortstop Mallory Garrison. However, Scott – pitch- ing in relief of Eubank – got Sorgius to hit a grounder to Quinn, who stepped on third base for the force-out on Croak, then threw Sor- gius out at first base for a game-ending double play. Barnes, Croak and Stone collected two hits each for Pike Central. Sorgius, meanwhile, took the loss for the Lady Chargers, al- lowing five runs – two of which were earned – on eight hits while walking one and striking out one in seven innings. Caswell and Waninger had two hits each for Heri- tage Hills. Eubank picked up the win for the Lady Patriots, allowing three runs – all three of which were earned – on eight hits while walk- ing one and striking out five in 5 -2/3 innings. Scott pitched 1-1/3 innings, al- lowing no runs while walk- ing one. The junior varsity game was suspended in the mid- dle of the second inning be- cause of rain with Heritage Hills leading 2-1. Lady Chargers lose their victory against Heritage Hills net edition pressdispatch.net/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet Streamline the Headline! The Press Dispatch PIKE COUNTY'S NEWS NETWORK