Decatur, Ill. — St. Mary-of-the-Woods coaches and players figured they might play Robert Morris-Springfield again after slipping past that team 2-1 Saturday night in the championship bracket of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association national softball tournament.
They’d entered that contest as the only unbeatens left in the double-elimination bracket that was narrowed down to four teams by pool play Friday and early Saturday at Borg Warner Sports Complex.
Then Robert Morris-Springfield bounced back to eliminate Spalding 8-2 in a game called in the fifth inning because of rain at about 11:25 p.m. EDT Saturday.
That set up a late-night rematch between The Woods and Robert Morris-Springfield.
But Mother Nature wouldn’t let it happen.
After a lengthy rain delay, tournament officials declared The Woods national champion because of its 2-0 record in the bracket. At that point, only the most hard-core fans were still there to witness a short trophy presentation conducted at about 1 a.m. Sunday under a shelter as steady showers made the complex’s fields unplayable for the rest of the weekend.
This was the Pomeroys’ second USCAA national title in a row and sixth in the last seven years.
“It was kinda different this time,” Woods second-year coach Gary Rodgers admitted.
“But we look at it as we were the champions determined by head-to-head competition. We’re happy with the decision that was made and we‘re satisfied that we’re national champions of the USCAA.”
”It was kinda bittersweet,” added SMWC senior Ashley Loomis, a former Riverton Parke High School standout. “Jessica Ketner [the team’s other senior] and I didn’t know that [2-1 triumph over Robert Morris-Springfield] would be the last game we played. We wanted one more chance to play. But we were happy to take home another national championship.”
For Loomis, this will end up being a memorable two-month stretch. She recently graduated from The Woods with a degree in elementary education and she’ll be marrying Michael Organ of Rosedale on June 28, plus she was named Most Valuable Player of the USCAA national tournament for the second straight year.
“Ashley was very deserving,” Rodgers said. “She definitely did her part, pitching and hitting us through this tournament. We got support for her, defensively and offensively. But Ashley is one of those players who we all look up to to lead us. It is going to be very tough next year realizing we won’t have Ashley Loomis on the diamond for our team, but it’s been a very enjoyable two years coaching Ashley Loomis and Jessica Ketner.”
“I feel like we all deserved it,” Loomis said of the MVP award. “We had a lot of people really step up. Our defense for the last five games was the best we’d had all season. So I think we all deserved it.”
Loomis and junior catcher Ashley Sankey split the six runs batted in during the Pomeroys’ two championship-bracket victories, both pitched by Loomis. Their other win was a 4-1 decision over Judson on Saturday afternoon.
Sankey, who played high school softball at Terre Haute South, delivered an RBI single against Judson and a two-out, two-run double on a 3-2 pitch in the fourth inning against Robert Morris-Springfield.
“My mindset was to focus on every at-bat and just try to make good contact,” said Sankey, who wrapped up her first season with The Woods after playing the previous two seasons at Lincoln Trail College. “The championship was pretty exciting… I wanted us to win it for our seniors and our family and friends who traveled to Decatur and battled that monsoon.”
Loomis, Sankey and Ketner were named to the all-tournament team.
“I would like to have played another game,” mentioned Ketner, another South graduate and a member of the Pomeroys’ championship team last season. “I would like to step on the field and say, ‘This is it.’ But I didn’t get that chance.
“I still think we were more than deserving [of the championship]. We never lost a game all weekend. We had beaten every team there [in the championship bracket]. And if we had kept playing, Robert Morris would have had to beat us two straight games and there’s no way they would have done that.”
Kea Silcock, a junior left fielder and lead-off batter from West Vigo, also enjoyed her consecutive national title with The Woods, despite the unique ending.
“There’s nothing more we could have done about it,” Silcock said. “We beat Robert Morris once. It would have been good to play another game. But with that weather, what could we do?
“It was different from last year because of the rain. But it was still a good experience getting to play. It’s not the way we wanted to win, but that’s why you have to come out and win all of your games at the beginning.”
Saturday
Championship bracket
Robert Morris-Springfield 3, Spalding 1
St. Mary-of-the-Woods 4, Judson 1
Spalding 3, Judson 2, Judson eliminated
St. Mary-of-the-Woods 2, Robert Morris-Springfield 1
Robert Morris-Springfield 8, Spalding 2 (called in fifth inning because of rain), Spalding eliminated
Rest of tournament canceled by rain; St. Mary-of-the-Woods declared champion.
Consolation bracket
Briarcliffe 9, Southern Virginia 4
Penn State-Beaver 5, Lyndon State 4
Southern Virginia 4, Lyndon State 3, seventh-place game
Penn State-Beaver vs. Briarcliffe (declared no contest because of serious player injury), fifth-place game
College
After lengthy rain delay, Woods declared national softball champion
- College
-
-
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
-
Metro Sports: Chalk up No. 5 for Liz Evans
Senior Liz Evans capped the top career in Rose-Hulman athletics history with her fifth national championship and eighth All-American award at Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday.
-
Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman have punched their tickets to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., with their Friday efforts in the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
-
Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
-
Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
-
Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.
-
ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury
When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.
-
ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. -
ISU track sending record 22 to postseason
On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
-
ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
-
Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
-
Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. -
Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
Indiana State women add five transfers, including experienced D-I point guard
Indiana State coach Teri Moren believes the addition of five more newcomers to the program — in addition to the five who had already joined the program earlier this calendar year — will provide her coaching staff the athleticism and depth it needs to play a successful, up-tempo brand of basketball next season.
-
Metro roundup: Woods softball takes seventh in national tournament
The St. Mary-of-the-Woods softball team finished seventh in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association softball tournament on Tuesday at Firestone Stadium.
-
Metro Roundup: Indiana State’s Shakir Bell on Performance Awards watch list
College Football Performance Awards has announced its watch list for the 2013 CFPA FCS Running Back Award, and Indiana State’s Shakir Bell earned a spot on the list.
-
ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
Johnson, Lyke win MVC titles for ISU
Indiana State’s Felisha Johnson and Maurice Lyke were both crowned Missouri Valley Conference champions on Saturday during the MVC Track and Field Championships at Drake University.
-
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
-
Metro roundup: RHIT’s Evans sets Div. III record in high jump
For the third time this season, Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans topped the NCAA Division III all-time national record in the outdoor high jump Friday night.
-
ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
Indiana State produced two champions during the opening day of action in the Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships Friday at Drake. Freshman John Mascari, a Terre Haute native, won the men’s 10,000-meter race and Nicole Hope won the women’s pole vault for the second time in three seasons.
-
ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
Pole vault is track and field for the adrenaline junkie, Indiana State senior Nicole Hope proclaimed during a recent practice at Marks Field.
To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Sycamores searching for answers after seventh loss in eight games
These are the bad times for the Indiana State baseball team.
The will is there for the Sycamores to pull out of their worst slump of the season, but the results are not. The suffering continued on Wednesday at Bob Warn Field as Eastern Illinois defeated ISU 5-3. -
METRO ROUNDUP: ISU men's track picked first in MVC Championships, women second
The Indiana State men’s track team has won the last two Missouri Valley Conference outdoor championships, but the women have not stood on the top podium since 1999.
That may change this year, but the Sycamores will face some stiff competition in their quest for the championships. -
North grad Welker helps Whitson earn first NCAA bid as coach
Eastern Kentucky girls golf coach Mike Whitson, an alumnus of his employer, enjoyed his stay in Terre Haute as coach of Indiana State, where he started the women’s golf program.
-
METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman wins HCAC all-sports trophy
Rose-Hulman has won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s all-sports trophy for the fifth time in the past six year, the league announced Monday.
Rose tallied 66.5 points for its finishes in 11 men’s sports, just ahead of Franklin with 66. Hanover was third with 53 points. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman tennis falls in HCAC semifinal
Rose-Hulman’s hot streak in men’s tennis came to an end Saturday in the semifinal round of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament at the West Indy Racquet Club.
-
Manaea fights off bad hip, wet weather to toss four innings
Mother Nature has been the bane of the Indiana State baseball team’s existence all season. Eight games wiped due to weather are a testament to that. So it was no surprise, though no less disappointing, when she didn’t deal Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea the greatest hand on Saturday as he tries to recover from a hip injury.
-
ISU track enjoys big night at IU's Billy Hayes Invitational
The Indiana State Sycamores either won or finished as the top collegian in 12 events, led by the record-breaking performance of senior Brandon Pounds at the 2013 Billy Hayes Invitational Friday at Indiana University.
Pounds broke his own school record to win the men’s hammer throw. - More College Headlines
-
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse
Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored
Suspect in Killing of Officer Found Dead in Cell
Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
Today in History May 25
High Wire Spectacle Thrills Crowd in Austria
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
Britain Braces for Possible Copycat Attacks
Bus Fire Kills 16 Children, Teacher in Pakistan
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
ShowBiz Minute: Shelton, King, Lopez
Raw: Gay Rights Activists March in Ukraine
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
Today in History May 24
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Raw: Apple 1 Computer Sells for More Than $650k
Young protestor goes viral on Youtube
Toronto Mayor says he's not a crack head
Maine island offers lighthouse getaway
Should We Prepare for Quakes?
Lynn Kindergarten Class Rescues Ducklings
Congressional gold medal awarded to civil rights heroes
Charles Ramsey visits Kentucky
Unique Display Greets Guests At Revel Casino
Cape Cod Train Service Worries Residents
BASE jumper rides snowmobile off cliff to honor dead friend
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
SHOCKING: School Guard Throws Girl Down Stairs
Star Wars X-Wing Star Fighter Made of Legos
Actress Amanda Bynes Arrested in New York
Singer Psy Has An Imposter
President Obama Heckled at National Security Speech
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
