- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,147,949
- Reaction score
- 59
They were as loud in the top of the seventh inning as they'd been at the beginning of the high school softball game, and Terre Haute North's fans were still hopeful that the girls could pull out a victory. They'd done it 26 times in a row, after all.
But the Patriots had run up against their equal Friday night in the Class 4A state championship game at Purdue's Bittinger Stadium, and it was Lake Central taking a 9-2 win — despite that seventh-inning rally.
North got a two-out single in the top of the first from Kenzie Zigler, but that was all. And in the bottom of the inning, Lake Central's Makayla Von Vossen led off with a homer. The first punch wasn't the knockout blow, but it was effective.
"We weren't really disciplined," Zigler said after the game. "We were nervous, down from the start of the game . . . and from that first homer."
Jaleigh Lindley settled down for a while and pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the second, but she and her teammates weren't getting the momentum back with their own bats. And in the bottom of the third, a walk, a sharply hit ball that was ruled an error, an RBI single by Lake Central pitcher Maddie Such and a hit batter had a run in and the bases loaded — and then Indians right fielder Emma Wilkins launched a grand-slam homer.
"Being down 1-0 was tough, and we were nervous," coach Chris Mundy agreed after the game. "But the biggest back-breaker was that grand slam."
Lake Central didn't have a scoreless inning the rest of the way either, pecking away every inning and getting another homer, by Tegan Tripp.
But North's fans didn't give up, and the Patriots didn't either. Zigler and Lindley got two-out singles in the top of the sixth and Kyleigh Walker hit a hard line drive to left, but Lake Central's Cali Ramirez made a spectacular catch (with a lot of snowcone showing). And with one out in the seventh, North's Morgan Hoggatt found the left-center gap for a triple.
Kyanna Gardner's slap to the left side was fumbled to allow a run to score, and freshmen Gabby Racey and Kambry Sparks got hits to keep the rally going. Madi Strange, after a tough day at the plate, ripped a line drive to center for a sacrifice fly, but a baserunning mistake turned it into a game-ending double play.
About five minutes later, Strange was awarded the Mental Attitude Award for Class 4A softball, but she admitted it wasn't enough to make her happy at that moment.
"It just sucks," she said, after four years as a starter and team leader, "but I'm really proud of this team. I knew that was going to be the last at-bat of my high school career."
"We had a really good season," said Zigler. "We lost this game — we lost it pretty bad — but we put our name out there, and we showed that in coming back."
"I'm so blessed," sobbed Gardner, "and I'm so grateful to all of my teammates and all of my coaches."
"It was an amazing way to end my senior year, even though it wasn't the outcome we wanted," said Lindley.
"We met with the captains back in February," Mundy said, "and we all agreed we had a real good chance to do something. So our goal was to win the state . . . it was a fun season. I'm very proud of them, for sure."
North finished 30-2, setting records for both most wins and fewest losses in a season.
TERRE HAUTE NORTH (AB-R-H-RBI) — Sparks rf 3-0-1-0, Strange cf 3-0-0-1, Zigler ss 3-0-2-0, Lindley p-3b 3-0-1-0, Walker 3b-p 3-0-0-0, Parker c 2-0-0-0, Hoggatt 1b 3-1-1-0, Gardner 2b
3-1-0-0, Racey lf 3-0-1-0. Totals 26-2-6-1.
LAKE CENTRAL (AB-R-H-RBI) — Van Vossen 2b 3-1-1-1, Wainwright c 5-0-1-1, Iwema ss 3-1-0-0, Tripp 3b 4-2-3-1, Such p 4-1-1-1, Beals 1b 0-1-0-0, Musch pr 0-1-0-0, Wilkins rf 4-1-1-4, Streiler dp 3-0-0-0, Ramirez lf 0-0-0-0, Urbanski cf 3-1-2-1. Totals 29-9-9-9.
Terre Haute North 000 000 2 — 2
Lake Central 105 111 x — 9
E — Walker, Gardner, Racey, Iwema. DP — LC 1. LOB — THN 7, LC 11. 2B — Tripp. 3B — Hoggatt. HR — Van Vossen, Wilkins, Tripp. SF — Urbanski, Strange.
Terre Haute North IP H R ER BB SO
Lindley (L) 4 7 8 7 4 2
Walker 2 2 1 0 2 1
Lake Central IP H R ER BB SO
Such (W) 7 6 2 1 1 7
HBP — by Lindley (Beals), by Lindley (Beals), by Such (Parker). WP — Walker. T — 2:20.
Records — Lake Central won its fourth state championship and finished 31-2, while North was state runner-up a second time and finished 30-2.
Continue reading...
But the Patriots had run up against their equal Friday night in the Class 4A state championship game at Purdue's Bittinger Stadium, and it was Lake Central taking a 9-2 win — despite that seventh-inning rally.
North got a two-out single in the top of the first from Kenzie Zigler, but that was all. And in the bottom of the inning, Lake Central's Makayla Von Vossen led off with a homer. The first punch wasn't the knockout blow, but it was effective.
"We weren't really disciplined," Zigler said after the game. "We were nervous, down from the start of the game . . . and from that first homer."
Jaleigh Lindley settled down for a while and pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the second, but she and her teammates weren't getting the momentum back with their own bats. And in the bottom of the third, a walk, a sharply hit ball that was ruled an error, an RBI single by Lake Central pitcher Maddie Such and a hit batter had a run in and the bases loaded — and then Indians right fielder Emma Wilkins launched a grand-slam homer.
"Being down 1-0 was tough, and we were nervous," coach Chris Mundy agreed after the game. "But the biggest back-breaker was that grand slam."
Lake Central didn't have a scoreless inning the rest of the way either, pecking away every inning and getting another homer, by Tegan Tripp.
But North's fans didn't give up, and the Patriots didn't either. Zigler and Lindley got two-out singles in the top of the sixth and Kyleigh Walker hit a hard line drive to left, but Lake Central's Cali Ramirez made a spectacular catch (with a lot of snowcone showing). And with one out in the seventh, North's Morgan Hoggatt found the left-center gap for a triple.
Kyanna Gardner's slap to the left side was fumbled to allow a run to score, and freshmen Gabby Racey and Kambry Sparks got hits to keep the rally going. Madi Strange, after a tough day at the plate, ripped a line drive to center for a sacrifice fly, but a baserunning mistake turned it into a game-ending double play.
About five minutes later, Strange was awarded the Mental Attitude Award for Class 4A softball, but she admitted it wasn't enough to make her happy at that moment.
"It just sucks," she said, after four years as a starter and team leader, "but I'm really proud of this team. I knew that was going to be the last at-bat of my high school career."
"We had a really good season," said Zigler. "We lost this game — we lost it pretty bad — but we put our name out there, and we showed that in coming back."
"I'm so blessed," sobbed Gardner, "and I'm so grateful to all of my teammates and all of my coaches."
"It was an amazing way to end my senior year, even though it wasn't the outcome we wanted," said Lindley.
"We met with the captains back in February," Mundy said, "and we all agreed we had a real good chance to do something. So our goal was to win the state . . . it was a fun season. I'm very proud of them, for sure."
North finished 30-2, setting records for both most wins and fewest losses in a season.
TERRE HAUTE NORTH (AB-R-H-RBI) — Sparks rf 3-0-1-0, Strange cf 3-0-0-1, Zigler ss 3-0-2-0, Lindley p-3b 3-0-1-0, Walker 3b-p 3-0-0-0, Parker c 2-0-0-0, Hoggatt 1b 3-1-1-0, Gardner 2b
3-1-0-0, Racey lf 3-0-1-0. Totals 26-2-6-1.
LAKE CENTRAL (AB-R-H-RBI) — Van Vossen 2b 3-1-1-1, Wainwright c 5-0-1-1, Iwema ss 3-1-0-0, Tripp 3b 4-2-3-1, Such p 4-1-1-1, Beals 1b 0-1-0-0, Musch pr 0-1-0-0, Wilkins rf 4-1-1-4, Streiler dp 3-0-0-0, Ramirez lf 0-0-0-0, Urbanski cf 3-1-2-1. Totals 29-9-9-9.
Terre Haute North 000 000 2 — 2
Lake Central 105 111 x — 9
E — Walker, Gardner, Racey, Iwema. DP — LC 1. LOB — THN 7, LC 11. 2B — Tripp. 3B — Hoggatt. HR — Van Vossen, Wilkins, Tripp. SF — Urbanski, Strange.
Terre Haute North IP H R ER BB SO
Lindley (L) 4 7 8 7 4 2
Walker 2 2 1 0 2 1
Lake Central IP H R ER BB SO
Such (W) 7 6 2 1 1 7
HBP — by Lindley (Beals), by Lindley (Beals), by Such (Parker). WP — Walker. T — 2:20.
Records — Lake Central won its fourth state championship and finished 31-2, while North was state runner-up a second time and finished 30-2.
Continue reading...
