BRAZIL —
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
Terre Haute South’s Marissa Stout delivered a three-run home run to right-center field in the fourth inning, adding a solo shot to left in the sixth and pitching a complete game for the Braves. South defeated Martinsville 7-2.
In the sectional opener, Taylor Carter posted a similar performance, with two homers, four RBIs and a complete-game pitching performance. “That’s just a great performance by two good ballplayers right there,” said South coach Steve Woerner, who was on hand to watch the opener before his team took the field.
Carter’s two-run homer in the sixth provided the best drama of the evening. It pulled Northview ahead for a 5-4 victory against Terre Haute North, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Patriots.
In a 2011 sectional meeting, the Patriots intentionally walked Carter with the game on the line, North holding on for a 4-3 win.
This time, North coach Jack Kirchner put Carter, who had hit her 8th home run of the season in the third, on intentionally in the fifth.
Faced with the same decision in the seventh with a 4-3 lead, Kirchner took his chances. After an Ashley Hughes single in the seventh inning, Carter came to the plate with one out. Walking Carter in this spot meant putting the tying run at second base with just one out so Kirchner directed pitcher Hillary Rittenberg to pitch to Carter with caution. The first two pitches were off the outside part of the plate, but the third came knee high down the middle, allowing Carter to whip the head of the bat for the game-winning home run.
Carter finished the game off with a strikeout, getting one in each inning and finishing with nine. She also pitched through four Northview errors, three coming in one inning as outfielders battled a wind blowing across the field toward the right-field pole. All four runs allowed were unearned, but Northview persevered.
“Those first four runs should have never scored,” Jones said. “You have to let that go because we had more ball to play.”
Carter’s heroics at the plate were nothing new to her teammates, but to come through in the postseason against a rival opponent was poignant.
“I was kind of expecting to get walked again, but I was really happy they didn’t,” Carter said. “I knew it was going to be low and outside because that’s the pitch I cannot hit. I just knew it was going there and I put a swing on it.”
As for her pitching, it was another day at the office. Carter’s riseball aided her solid outing in which she left five North runners stranded.
“They’re a great team, and I just went out there and threw my best,” Carter said. “We really wanted to win it for our seniors. We knew we had to give it our all.”
For South, Stout gave up two first-inning singles that Martinsville turned into a run, and the Braves’ offense was stymied for three innings against Martinsville’s hard-throwing Chandler Elliott.
The second time through the order, the Braves adjusted.
Mackenzie McGregor led off with a single, and Shelbie Scamihorn poked one through the infield. Stout took a pitch high over the fence in right-center field for her third home run of the season and a 3-1 Braves’ lead.
“We usually start a little rough, we usually pull through. That [homer] started the momentum but all the girls pulled through. It takes a lot of girls to get eight [runs],” Stout said.
“We thought we’d hit her,” Woerner said of Martinsville’s pitcher. “The low pitch, the drop ball was getting to us. Marissa’s homer picked up our energy a little bit.”
Stout added a shot right down the left-field line to start the sixth inning, and Jackie Swain hit a two-run homer three batters later.
Stout allowed eight hits, but none went for extra bases.
“Pitch calling, we had it mixing speeds and in and out, trying to keep them off-balance as much as I could,” Stout said.
Tonight, the two ace pitchers will face off against one another. South won the meeting earlier this season by a surprising 11-0 score.
Stout’s looking forward to it.
“I guess we both just had it today,” she said of the two-homer performances.
Terre Haute North 003 000 0 — 3 7 2
Northview 002 010 2 — 5 11 4
Rittenberg (L) and McBride; Carter (W, 16-5) and Hughes. HR — N: Carter 2 (9).
Highlights — For Northview, Taylor Carter went 2 for 3 with two home runs and 4 RBIs; Ashley Hughes went 4 for 4 with 2 runs; Alyssa Conrad had an RBI single; and Madison Nevins 2 for 3 with 2 doubles.
Martinsville 100 010 0 — 2 8 1
Terre Haute South 000 313 x — 7 11 1
Elliott (L) and Dailey; Stout (W) and Scamihorn. HR — THS: Stout 2 (4), Swain (1).
Highlights — For Terre Haute South, Marissa Stout went 2 for 4 with two home runs and 4 RBIs; Shelbie Scamihorn 1 for 3 with an RBI; Mackenzie McGregor 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI; Jackie Swain hit a two-run home run; and Rebecca Latta had a double.
Next — Terre Haute South (21-8) plays Northview (23-6) today at 5:30 p.m. Martinsville finishes 12-13. Terre Haute North finishes its season 21-8.
High School
Braves, Knights open with wins
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Goatee, Bertoli ran away with Spring Athlete of the Year
When honoring athletes after a season of excellence, the phrase “what might have been” doesn’t usually come up.
But in the case of Terre Haute South’s Jackson Bertoli and Terre Haute North’s TaPring Goatee – the Tribune-Star’s Athletes of the Year for spring sports – there’s an air of unfinished business despite obvious recent successes.
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Post 346 opens tournament with two victories
Preston Tofaute got on base enough to score three runs, Cody Thornton smashed a two-run triple in the first inning and pitcher Pete Lannoo scattered four hits over a seven-inning complete game.
All of that helped Wayne Newton Post 346 down Lafayette Post 11 by a 7-2 score in the opener of the Terre Haute Inviatational tournament for American Legion baseball Thursday afternoon at Terre Haute North High School. -
North boys move up to 13th in golf state finals
Early Wednesday morning, Terre Haute North senior Ryan Baker and coach Abe Nasser headed out to the Legends of Indiana Golf Course for a range session.
Baker wasn’t happy with the 85 he shot in Tuesday’s first round of the IHSAA boys golf state finals.
“He was frustrated,” Nasser said.
Problem solved. Baker bounced back with a 2-over 74 Wednesday, helping the Patriots improve their team score by seven strokes.
The Patriots shot 304 as a team Wednesday, giving them a two-day score of 615, good for 13th place in the 15-team field. -
Big hill to climb for North golf
Terre Haute North boys golf is 21 strokes behind leaders at IHSAA boys golf tourney.
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Top of her game
There are a lot of surprising facts about blossoming volleyball prodigy Caitlyn Newton, including that shape-shifting thing she can apparently do, but maybe one of them stands out the most. She may only be scratching the surface.
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Camp, Howe win, then lose in state tennis tourney
Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe of Terre Haute South won their first match of high school tennis Friday at the state individual doubles finals, then won the first set against a powerful Park Tudor team before falling in three sets.
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Terre Haute North heading back to state finals in boys golf
Terre Haute North is going back to the state finals in boys high school golf for the first time in more than 10 years. The Patriots qualified for a trip to The Legends Course next week by tying for third in the Washington Regional at Country Oaks Golf Club and advancing with the better fifth score.
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North, South, Sullivan to compete at golf regional
Boys high school golf teams from the Wabash Valley will compete in the Washington Regional on Thursday, seeking a spot in the state finals to be played next week.
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Terre Haute North falls 6-1 to Brownsburg in opening game of Class 4A Regional
Terre Haute North coach Shawn Turner told the Patriots to raise their heads. He wanted to see their eyes at the close of their 24-7 high school baseball season.
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Terre Haute North girls shine on dreary day at track state finals
Led by a record setting 3,200-meter relay team and Keirra Porter’s long jump, Terre Haute North turned in its best finish ever in the 40th annual IHSAA Girls Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Indiana University in Bloomington.
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Valley teams will have to wait until Monday for baseball regionals
Rain and the threat of more rain caused postponements of high school baseball regionals involving Terre Haute North, West Vigo and Shakamak on Saturday.
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Rockville's season ends at Lafayette Central Catholic
Lafayette Central Catholic ended Rockville’s tourney run in high school baseball Saturday, defeating the Rox 8-0 in the first game of the LCC Class A Regional.
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IHSAA boys state track finals: Standing alone
It hadn’t been a particularly good day for Wabash Valley track and field Friday, and it wasn’t looking like a good one for Jackson Bertoli either.
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Terre Haute North, West Vigo return to baseball regionals
Terre Haute North’s baseball team hasn’t participated in an IHSAA regional since 2006. West Vigo’s wait hasn’t been as long, but it was 2010 when the Vikings last advanced from a sectional.
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Patriots girls take aim at state track title
Terre Haute North’s girls have several potential state champions today at Indiana University.
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South, North track athletes looking for big performances at state finals
Terre Haute South’s distance trio of Jackson Bertoli, Logan Hambrock and Riley Stohler appear to be the favorites to crack all-state status among Wabash Valley competitors today in the IHSAA boys track and field state finals at Indiana University.
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Internet site keeps area prep teams on airwaves
- PREP ROUNDUP: Locals to take part in Hoosiers All-Star Game
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South Vermillion softball can't overcome errors, Tri-West
Uncharacteristic errors led to eight unearned runs and hard-luck hitting made that impossible to overcome for South Vermillion, which fell 8-0 to Tri-West in Class 3A regional play.
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Clay City softball comes up short against Lutheran
Clay City closed its high school softball season Tuesday night with the best record ever for the program at 21-9.
The Eels wanted to add another win, the school’s first regional title, but they came up short.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rockville wins baseball sectional
Rockville won its own Class A sectional in high school baseball Tuesday, defeating Covington 10-4 in the rain-delayed championship game.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional:The wait is over
Three minutes into an interview with various media members, Terre Haute North baseball coach Shawn Turner couldn’t react fast enough to avoid a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head from behind by his giddy players. The soaking-wet Turner could shake it off with a smile, however, because his Patriots had just won the IHSAA Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional championship with a 13-3 six-inning triumph over Plainfield on Monday evening.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional: TH North, Plainfield win squeakers
The high school baseball teams of Terre Haute North and Plainfield proved Monday that what a batter does early in the game is not necessarily indicative of what he will do in the late innings.
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Class 2A Linton Sectional: Eastern rains on Sullivan parade
Mother Nature put Sullivan’s quest for a high school baseball sectional championship on hold Monday night at Linton-Stockton High School. Sullivan (14-15) and Eastern Greene (16-7) will resume play in the Class 2A Sectional 47 championship game at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Linton’s Roy Herndon Field.
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Opening Day: Terre Haute Rex host Quincy
In his first season at the helm, first-year Terre Haute Rex manager Ronnie Prettyman is going to be surrounded by men he knows and trusts.
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Class A Shakamak Sectional: Stout pitching leads Union, Shakamak to final
Trey Bedwell and Patrick Green made sure their respective high school baseball teams would meet for the championship of the Class A Shakamak Sectional by pitching shutouts in semifinal contests Monday afternoon.
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Class A Rockville Sectional: Covington, Rockville title game postponed
Rockville and Covington won semifinal high school baseball games Monday to advance to the championship game of the Rockville Class A Sectional. Due to rain, the championship game was postponed. A decision was expected this morning whether the game will be played today or Wednesday.
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South Vermillion, Linton, Clay City look to stay alive in softball
There might have been as many reasons to think they wouldn’t be winning sectionals this spring as evidence to show they would, but high school softball teams from South Vermillion, Linton and Clay City will be playing one-game regionals Tuesday with the chance to keep defying the odds.
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West Vigo back on top of Class 3A baseball sectional
West Vigo won its sectional with a 6-4 victory over South Vermillion on a rainy night at Dick Ballinger Field.
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South runs into ‘buzzsaw’ at girls tennis semistate
Postmatch interviews don’t often begin with a coach and a reporter ready to blurt out the same word, but that was the case for Bill Blankenbaker and his interviewer Saturday morning after the Center Grove Semistate for girls high school tennis.
Unfortunately for Blankenbaker’s Terre Haute South team, that word was “buzzsaw.”
Greenwood’s Kawamoto twins made quick work of the top of the Braves’ singles lineup, so despite stellar efforts by both South doubles teams the Woodmen’s 3-2 victory didn’t seem all that close.
Greenwood moves on to Fishers, where it plays Floyd Central or Jasper on Friday in the state quarterfinals.
Also playing Friday, but at Park Tudor, will be South’s Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe, who reached the individual doubles finals for the second straight season by virtue of their 6-4, 6-2 win over the Greenwood team of Taylor Hudnall and Brittany Toney.
“It’s really exciting,” said Howe of the prospect of a second straight finals trip, “but I wish our team could’ve gone with us.”
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