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Indianapolis Star
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
He thought his error was a season-ender... Then he scored winning run to send team to state final
MOORESVILLE – Evansville North left fielder Tyler Land seized the opportunity to atone for what looked like a season-ending mistake late Saturday night during the Class 4A semistate championship game against Center Grove. Land dropped a seventh inning fly ball from Grady Grant, allowing the runner to advance to second base. Grant moved to third on a wild pitch, putting the winning run 90 feet from home. Reliever Conner Watson got the Huskies out of the jam, forcing extra innings, but Land's redemption arc was not complete. Land led off the ninth inning with a single. Jake Wilke's double moved him to third, and Land came home on a wild pitch, scoring the eventual winning run and sending the Huskies to a 2-1 victory over the Trojans. Evansville North (25-8) advances to face Valparaiso (25-5) in the Class 4A championship game Saturday at Victory Field. "I was down, my head was down coming into the dugout and coach (Jeremy) Jones told me to keep my head up," Land said after his late-game error. "All my teammates had my back. They just said, 'flush it'. It didn't hurt the team, nothing to hang my head about, it was in the past." Overcoming Land's error was just one of the heroic efforts Evansville North used to hold off Center Grove. A walk and an error put a runner on third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on the corners and one out, the Huskies moved their center fielder Mason Renfro to the infield, playing with just two outfielders to prevent anything on the ground from getting through. Reliever A.J. Baggett forced two fly ball outs, both to Land, ending the inning and setting up the Huskies' winning run in the ninth. "We talk a lot about culture and heart, and more than anything else — we don't kill the baseball, our defense is OK, pitching is pretty good, but more than anything else — we have heart," Jones said. "Ty made the mistake but we told him, 'That's OK.' For him to come up and hit that missile up the middle, I'm so proud of him." Land finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Daniel Cranick and Carson Conley added two hits each. Evansville North's ability to produce with runners in scoring position was something Center Grove failed to do all night. The Trojans left 12 runners on base and had just one hit with runners in scoring position. Carson Bush drove in Center Grove's lone run with an RBI single in the fifth. Evansville North starter Braden Perry, Watson and Baggett allowed just five hits and one earned run over nine innings. Kellen Thomson pitched five scoreless innings for Center Grove. Andrew Murphy took the loss, allowing one run and two hits over four innings, striking out five. "It's demoralizing," Center Grove coach Keith Hatfield said of the inability to score with runners in scoring position. "Six times we left two guys on, that's not normally what we do. ... To go through that and leave as many guys on base as we did, that's not characteristic." Heading to Victory Field puts Evansville North one win away from completing a Cinderella season. The Huskies started the season 2-2, pulled out three close wins before losing to Evansville Memorial 11-1. Evansville North went just 5-4 in the Southern Indiana Conference, but the Huskies caught fire when it mattered most and are heading to the championship game on a seven-game win streak. "It's never the same guy. It could be our 15th guy on the bench, it doesn't matter," Jones said. "These guys believe in each other, they love each other, they're truly a family. And I'm so proud of them."
Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Arm soreness couldn't keep North Central's Tristan Wilson from making one last start
MOORESVILLE – A recent MRI of North Central senior pitcher Tristan Wilson's arm revealed swelling and fluid in his elbow and a strain of the radial nerve in his shoulder. Every pitch sent shooting pain through his arm, but the right-handed starter took the mound for Saturday's Class 4A semistate semifinal against Evansville North anyway. Wilson fought through warmups, but after two pitches that failed to top 70 mph, coach Andy McClain pulled Wilson from the game. "You've known these guys for so long. You just want to give it your best and contribute somehow. I just felt like I owed it to them," Wilson said. "It meant everything," Wilson's brother, senior catcher Tanner added. "Obviously, we'd love for him to go. He's our guy. He's been a pitcher on this team for four years on varsity. I feel like when he's out there he gives us the best shot to win." Evansville North scored three runs off reliever Jack Carr in the first, providing more than enough run support for starter Conner Watson, sending the Huskies to a 6-0 win. Evansville North advances to face the winner of Franklin vs. Center Grove. Carson Conley hit a three-run home run. Mason Renfro and Aiden Vaught added RBI singles. "He has been fighting arm soreness all season," McClain said of Wilson. "He just goes out, guts it out and gives us as much as he can. ... Coach (Andrew) Dutkanych said his arm is really bothering him. We're going to go out and see what it feels like, but he just couldn't do it. "I feel bad for him because he's been a bulldog and gutted it out all year when his arm has been sore. ... He could've said, 'I'm going to play in college. I don't want to hurt my arm.' But the entire season he won some big games for us by gutting it out." Evansville North scored all six of its runs in the first three innings. Shortstop Jackson Dinnsen took the mound with two outs in the third. Dinnsen allowed an inherited runner to score before forcing a fly out to end the inning. Dinnsen used a lively slider to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard. The sophomore finished with six strikeouts over 4⅓ scoreless innings. Dinnsen's strong outing was only topped by Watson's. Watson faced the minimum through 6⅔ innings. The senior took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Watson finished with seven strikeouts over seven scoreless innings.
Indianapolis Star
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Homers, gems and steals: Vote for IndyStar softball players of the week (May 5-10)
IndyStar will be recognizing the top softball players in Indiana with our players of the week poll, presented by YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. Scroll to the bottom of the article to vote. Voting is open until noon Friday. Congratulations to Evansville Memorial's Brianna Canaan on being voted Player of the Week for April 28-May 3! Canaan went 4-for-4 with a homer against Evansville Harrison and posted an RBI single in a win over Evansville North. She was brilliant in the circle, striking out 11 over five innings vs. Harrison, K'ing nine in a five-inning no-hitter at Princeton, collecting a three-inning save with five Ks vs. Evansville Mater Dei and striking out 14 over seven innings against Evansville North. Insider: Sadey Hughbanks 'owns the circle' as New Pal continues exceeding expectations — even its own Here were the top performers from the past week. Braun homered as part of a 3-for-3 performance vs. Southport on Tuesday, then collected an additional hit and two runs scored in a 12-inning win over Bethesda Christian. She also allowed just one earned run on three hits with 19 strikeouts in a complete game performance vs. the Patriots. She fanned nine in six innings vs. Living Water Homeschool. Caskey notched four hits, four runs scored and seven RBIs across four games last week. Her collection of hits included a home run and two doubles, and she also racked up 20 strikeouts over 18-plus innings. Collins went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and a couple steals during Saturday's county tournament. She went error-free in the field, too, playing first base in game one and catching the second. Feczko struck out 10 and allowed only two earned runs ion five hits in a 7-2 win over Roncalli, then struck out 10 and allowed only one earned run over five innings in a 13-3 win over Bishop Chatard in the City championship game. She also went 3-for-3, drew a walk and scored two runs against Carmel. The junior went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and four RBIs in a 9-2 win over Southmont. She also notched a couple hits, an RBI, a run scored and stole a base between the second game vs. Southmont and Cascade. Helton batted .429 with six hits (a game-winning home run vs. Western Boone and three doubles) and seven RBIs. She also pitched 14 innings, striking out 14 and allowing a pair of unearned runs. Leffler batted 13-for-21 with a couple homers and a triple. She had four hits and four RBIs in a win over Ben Davis, and notched two hits and two runs scored in a win over Speedway. Liezert pitched 12 shutout innings, allowing just four hits, issuing only one walk and totaling 27 strikeouts. Her week was highlighted by a two-hit, six-inning shutout of Chesterton which included 12 Ks and a walk. She also pitched two scoreless innings with five Ks vs. Penn. The senior racked up five hits (three homers), five runs and five RBIs over four games. Her week was highlighted by a 2-for-4 performance vs. Lawrence Central that featured a couple homers, three RBIs and two runs scored. In three games, Putnam went 7-for-13 with four doubles, a homer, seven RBIs and four runs scored. Her best performance of the week was against Decatur Central, which saw her finish 4-for-6 with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs. The Raiders hurler pitched a no-hitter against West Lafayette, striking out 12 of the 22 batters she faced with zero walks. Odom also struck out six in three innings vs. Illiana Christian. She hit a grand slam vs. Lafayette Jefferson on Tuesday. The Cadets sophomore went 4-for-7 across games vs. Danville and Indian Creek. She homered and drove in three RBIs in a 6-0 win over Indian Creek. Parks also swiped a couple bases. Peckinpaugh racked up 10 strikeouts in a 13-5 win over Winamac, then added a dozen more vs. North Newton on Saturday, leaving her with over 300 for her career. She also went 2-for-2 with a homer vs. North Newton and 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs vs. Kankakee Valley. The sophomore spun a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and zero walks in a 1-0 win over Hamilton Southeastern on Tuesday. Swank set three school records this week: Single-game strikeouts (19), season shutouts (4) and season home runs (5). The junior's record-setting week highlighted a 5-0 run that saw her total nine hits, seven runs, 11 RBIs, three doubles and two homers. IF POLL DOES NOT APPEAR, click here to vote.
Indianapolis Star
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Homers, gems and steals: Vote for IndyStar softball players of the week (April 28-May 3)
IndyStar will be recognizing the top softball players in Indiana with our players of the week poll, presented by YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. Scroll to the bottom of the article to vote. Voting is open until noon Friday. Congratulations to Indian Creek's Kristen Soots on being voted Player of the Week for April 21-26! Soots finished an explosive week at the plate with a 3-for-4 showing in a 5-4 win over Greenfield-Central that included a triple and three runs scored. She was 3-for-3 with three runs, two RBIs, a double and a triple against Cloverdale and 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored against Brown County. Soots also stole four bases. Here were the top performers from the past week. Abbey Booher, Yorktown The senior recorded her 100th career hit Thursday. That milestone highlighted a seven-hit, four-RBI, two-run week at the dish for Booher, who helped the Tigers secure wins over Hamilton Heights, Greenfield-Central and Westfield. She also swiped a base and recorded 10 assists and five putouts in the field. Hadley Bray, Zionsville The sophomore helped the Eagles secure an extra-innings blowout of Fishers, going 4-for-5 with a homer, a double, three RBIs and three runs scored. She also went 2-for-3 with a couple doubles and a run scored in a 2-0 win over West Lafayette Harrison. Brianna Canaan, Evansville Memorial Canaan went 4-for-4 with a homer against Evansville Harrison and posted an RBI single in a win over Evansville North. She was brilliant in the circle, striking out 11 over five innings vs. Harrison, K'ing nine in a five-inning no-hitter at Princeton, collecting a three-inning save with five Ks vs. Evansville Mater Dei and striking out 14 over seven innings against Evansville North. Addison Corn, Beech Grove What a week at the dish for the freshman, who collected nine hits, eight runs scored and three runs scored across four games. Her collection of hits included two doubles, a triple and a homer, and her week was highlighted by a 4-for-5 showing with four runs scored against Centerville. Lexi D'Angelo, Mt. Vernon D'Angelo went 6-for-10 with six RBIs, four runs scored and a couple dingers for the Marauders. She hit both homers and accounted for five of those RBIs as part of a 3-for-3 performance vs. Delta to start the week. Arian Day, Jennings County Day went 3-for-8 with five RBIs at the plate and did not allow any runs across 11 innings pitched with just five hits allowed and a quartet of strikeouts. She was victorious in both appearances. Ava Geyer, New Prairie Geyer collected six hits, two runs scored, three doubles and a homer across three New Prairie victories. She was the winning pitcher in all three outings, allowing just two earned runs over 20 innings with 41 strikeouts. Geyer, who crossed 1,000 career Ks, pitched 10 innings against South Bend Riley, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with zero walks and 20 Ks. Grace Gray, Cascade The senior hit her first home run of the season in a 5-4 loss to Center Grove, and finished the week with 11 hits, seven runs, two RBIs and two doubles. She also shined in the circle, pitching a scoreless frame vs. Center Grove (two strikeouts) and striking out all six batters faced vs. Greenwood. She went the distance against Hamilton Heights, allowing two runs on six hits with a couple walks and 12 Ks. Tatum Hunt, Brownsburg The junior had herself a day against McCutcheon, driving in six runs with a couple homers as part of a 4-for-4 showing at the plate. Hunt also collected a three-run homer vs. Ben Davis and doubled against Avon. She swiped a base and registered four assists and seven putouts in the field. Delaney Jones, Indian Creek Jones struck out 19 hitters across 14 innings pitched in wins over West Vigo and Brownstown Central. She did not allow an earned run (one total) on just four hits in the two wins. Grace Jordan, Homestead The sophomore helped win a wild game over East Noble, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a run, five RBIs and a homer. She also collected two hits and two RBIs against DeKalb, doubled against Tippecanoe Valley and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in an 8-7 win over Columbia City. Jayden Kleiner, Carmel Kleiner led the Hounds to a pair of wins, going 8-for-8 with two homers, three doubles, four RBIs and seven runs scored. She was a triple away from the cycle in both outings. Chloe Smith, Hamilton Southeastern The senior outfielder went 3-for-3 against rival Fishers with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Her efforts helped HSE secure a 6-0 victory. Josie White, Greenfield-Central White went 3-for-3 with two walks and a run scored in an extra-innings loss to Yorktown, then went 6-for-6 with three runs scored in a nine-run win over Mt. Vernon.
