INDIANAPOLIS —
Although the weather Friday afternoon at Lawrence Central was more typical of the first day of high school tennis practice than the first day of June, the girls from Terre Haute South were not fooled.
Even though they lost 5-0 to unbeaten, second-ranked Carmel in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament, the Braves were fully aware and appreciative about how different the season was since practice began nearly three months ago.
And, their coach indicated, it was too bad it had to end.
“We’re playing really well right now,” Bill Blankenbaker said after the match.
State-finals appearances in girls tennis are nothing new for the Braves; Maddie Kesler, who finished her South career Friday, has been in three of them herself, and South was the 2001 state champion in its third consecutive trip to the championship match.
It’s pretty safe to say, however, that those previous teams didn’t have to come quite as far to reach the finals.
“It’s been like a roller coaster,” said Madison Manning, the other senior in the South lineup on Friday when asked about this season. “I’ve never experienced so many different [doubles] partners, or so many different kinds of matches. And I never knew we could make it this far.”
“Those last two teams [that reached the finals in 2009 and 2010] were teams that were good at the beginning and expected to be good,” Kesler added.
The 2012 Braves? Not really that good at the beginning, probably not expecting to be. Less than a month ago they were still below .500, and their regular-season loss to rival Terre Haute North was every bit as one-sided as the 4-1 score indicated.
The shuffling and reshuffling of the lineup finally found one that clicked, however. Manning’s pairing with freshman Shivani Purohit was quickly a solid one, sophomore Nicole Howe joined junior Miranda Camp to become an all-district doubles team at the No. 1 spot, and junior Tabitha Fagg and freshman Jordan Davis replaced Howe and Purohit in the singles spots.
In their last 11 matches, the Braves lost just twice — to top-ranked Evansville Memorial and then to Carmel on Friday. They avenged their loss to North in sectional play and weren’t stopped after that — until going to Lawrence North in the half of the eight-team finals field that included Carmel, Memorial and fourth-ranked Penn.
They were realistic about their chances Friday, but that doesn’t mean the Braves didn’t battle.
“It was cold, and windy, and that added a lot of struggles,” said Manning after her match. “We knew this would be one of our toughest matches all year … but our team held up pretty good today. [Purohit and I] grew as a doubles team, and today was a good end to that.”
“[Reaching the finals this season] really wasn’t on my radar,” said Kesler, who led Carmel’s Bailey Padgett — the 2011 state runner-up — most of the second set before dropping the last three games. “I was fortunate to get to come back [to the finals]; everything was a bonus from the sectional on.”
“I did not expect to be here,” even Blankenbaker admitted, “but now I believe we should be here … I was plesed with the way the girls played; they didn’t lay down and they competed well with [the Greyhounds].
“We’ve had a good year and we’ve beaten some good teams,” the coach added. “This will make us hungry for next year.”
“I know I’ll never forget these people,” Manning said. “This was a very good season, very enjoyable.”
“I’m just happy it could end this way,” added Kesler. “I was fun to stay [at school, after seniors were dismissed a week ago] for an extra week.”
Carmel 5, Terre Haute South 0
Singles — Bailey Padgett (C) def. Maddie Kesler 6-0, 6-4; Mikeala Carlson (C) def. Tabitha Fagg 6-0, 6-0; Molly Fletchall (C) def. Jordan Davis 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles — Alaina Finkelmeier-Hayley Wild (C) def. Miranda Camp-Nicole Howe 6-3, 6-2; Hannah Elliott-Michelle Li (C) def. Madison Manning-Shivani Purohit 6-1, 6-2.
Next — Carmel (17-0) plays top-ranked Evansville Memorial (23-0) in a 10 a.m. semifinal today at Indianapolis North Central. South finished 14-8 and fourth-ranked Penn, which lost Friday to Memorial, finished 19-2.
High School
South tennis bows out of state finals
Braves drop match to Carmel in quarterfinal
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Big group of Wabash Valley boys head to Evansville looking for state berths
The top four finishers in each event from last week’s Terre Haute North, Evansville Central, Jasper and Princeton boys high school track and field sectionals will converge on Evansville Central today for regional competition.
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
West Vigo got off to a good start but Brown County finished better in Class 3A high school softball sectional semifinal action Tuesday night at Edgewood.
The Eagles bested the Vikings 7-5 and will meet South Vermillion, a 12-7 winner over Owen Valley, for the sectional championship on Thursday starting at 6 p.m.
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Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals
When high school baseball sectionals begin around the Wabash Valley today, one complaint that’s not expected to be heard from any coach is that his team has had too much time off.
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Northview powers way past Terre Haute South in sectional semifinal
Northview unleashed power rarely seen in high school girls softball Tuesday night to eliminate Terre Haute South 8-1 in the Class 4A Sectional at Martinsville High School.
The Knights hit three home runs in an eight-run third inning to reach the championship game. -
Terre Haute North dominates field at regional
Keirra Porter took first place in two individual events and helped Terre Haute North win one of its relays as the Patriots captured the Evansville Central Regional team championship in girls high school track and field Tuesday night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: South tennis cruises into regional final
Terre Haute South didn’t lose a game en route to blanking Seeger 5-0 in girls high school tennis Tuesday to advance to today’s championship match against Crawfordsville in the Greencastle Regional.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
West Vigo softball holds off nemesis Edgewood in softball sectional
Ice cream was enough of a reward Monday night after the West Vigo Vikings beat eight-time defending champion Edgewood 6-2 in extra innings in the opening game of the Class 3A softball sectional at Edgewood High School. But that’s not what Vikings want.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Shakamak's Green hits two homers in win over West Vigo
Shakamak improved to 22-3 on the season behind a complete-game effort from Brett Yeryar, and Patrick Green hit two solo home runs in a high school baseball game Monday.
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Terre Haute North offense unable to get going in loss to Mooresville
Jack Kirchner chose to give credit Monday night to Mooresville pitcher Taylor Chitwood, not to the Greg Maddux-size strike zone she seemed to enjoy.
But if there were no excuses forthcoming from Kirchner and his Terre Haute North High School softball team, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a spectator or two to come up with extenuating circumstances about the Patriots’ 4-1 loss at the Class 4A Martinsville Sectional. -
Terre Haute North looking strong going into girls track regional
Terre Haute North might need an off night for anyone to catch them in the girls track regional at Evansville Central.
The Patriots are as well-rounded as they’ve ever been, and two relay teams are state contenders with times ranking No. 2 in Indiana among times recorded all spring.
Terre Haute South, Northview and Sullivan have athletes among the contenders in multiple events as well. -
South tennis ready for potential challenge in regional
Terre Haute South and Northview take respective records of 10-5 and 11-5 into the Greencastle Regional today.
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Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Terre Haute South, Northview vie for tennis regional title
Terre Haute South and Northview take respective records of 10-5 and 11-5 into the Greencastle Regional today.
Coach Bill Blankenbaker’s Braves will play Seeger at 4:30 p.m., while coach Emily Goff’s Knights will take on Crawfordsville about 6 p.m. -
Vikings win in extra innings at Rockville
West Vigo scored six runs in its first two innings Saturday, then needed a ninth-inning single by Lucas Fagg to escape with a 7-6 extra-inning win in nonconference high school baseball at Rockville.
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TH South beats Northview in Big Four makeup baseball game
Terre Haute South wrapped up a share of the MIC baseball title and finished up the Big Four Classic with an 8-1 victory over Northview in less than 24 hours on Saturday morning.
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Olds pitches South to share of MIC baseball title
Friday night, winning the second game 5-0 and earning a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title.
Damon Olds was dominant on the mound for the Braves, striking out 14 and walking just one while pitching a three-hit shutout. -
South wins first half of doubleheader against Lawrence North
Host Terre Haute South kept its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title hopes alive — and clinched no worse than second place in the process — by downing Lawrence North 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Friday night.
The second game, which started after Senior Night festivities between games, ended past the Tribune-Star deadline. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Calleja pitches West Vigo past South Vermillion
Brandon Calleja had 13 strikeouts to lead West Vigo to a 5-1 victory against South Vermillion in high school baseball Friday.
Brandon Behringer went 2 for 4 with two RBI for the Vikings, who secured second place in the Western Indiana Conference.
Kaden Lawson had double for South Vermillion (15-7), which finished 4-2 in the WIC. -
Seibert returns from injury to win three events as Braves win sectional crown
His baseball equivalent might be Rick Sutcliffe of the 1984 Chicago Cubs.
When Tyler Seibert returned to the Terre Haute South track and field lineup Thursday for sectional action at Terre Haute North, it was like the midseason trade the Cubs made for Sutcliffe that earned them a playoff spot. -
South switches up lineup to defeat North in tennis sectional
Terre Haute South coach Bill Blankenbaker said two weeks ago that he would change the Braves’ lineup after the 3-2 dual-meet loss to Terre Haute North.
The Patriots knew it was coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. -
PREP ROUNDUP: North slips past Northview in eight-inning baseball game
Colton Pittman drew a bases-loaded walk to score Zach Milam with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as host Terre Haute North edged Northview 8-7 in high school baseball Thursday at Jennings Field.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North and South to face off for tennis sectional title
The winner of the Terre Haute sectional for girls high school tennis will come down to Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South.
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Terre Haute North gets 10 event victories to claim 12th straight sectional crown
Terre Haute North won 10 events Tuesday night while winning the Indiana High School Athletic Association girls track and field section at South Putnam High School for the 12th straight year.
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North, South to meet in first round of baseball sectional
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced pairings for the baseball state tournament Tuesday and the draw offered up a Vigo County battle in the opening game.
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PREP ROUNDUP: West Vigo softball clinches share of WIC title
West Vigo clinched at least a share of the Western Indiana Conference softball title with a 6-4 victory over Edgewood on Tuesday.
Jacy McClain and Bailee Waters had RBI singles in the fourth inning to break the game open for the Vikings. -
Track sectional titles on the line
Expect one heck of a high school dual track meet Thursday night when Wabash Valley boys visit Terre Haute North for sectional action.
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Prep report: Patriots, Braves favored to advance from tennis sectional 1st round
Persons attending this week’s girls tennis sectional championship match at Terre Haute North might want to pack a lunch.
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Local ADs happy to see spring come to a close
Brian Mancuso is the most experienced of the high school athletic directors in Vigo County — and that’s a very relative term — but even he wasn’t quite ready for the headaches that have accompanied spring sports the last few weeks thanks to rain, rain and more rain.
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South baseball remains in first-place tie with Center Grove
Heading into Saturday’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball doubleheader against Center Grove, coach Kyle Kraemer of Terre Haute South wasn’t completely optimistic.
- More High School Headlines
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