SOFTBALL: Sectional preview

Beau Wicker Sports Editor, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·4 min read

May 22—Sectional time is near for area softball teams.

Pioneer enters the tournament as the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A.

The Panthers (28-2) are competing at the Winamac Sectional in their first appearance in the Class 2A tournament in softball. They open play at 7:45 p.m. Monday against Rensselaer (7-9). The winner advances to a 6 p.m. game Wednesday against Tuesday's winner between No. 9 Boone Grove (19-5) and North Newton (6-11).

No. 6 Winamac (20-7) opens play at 6 p.m. Monday against No. 11 Hebron (17-8). The winner plays North Judson (10-10) at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday. The final is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Pioneer is the favorite in a field that consists of four ranked teams. The Panthers made two consecutive trips to the state finals in Class A, winning the title in 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2019 to put them in Class 2A.

Hailey Cripe is hitting .606 with 20 home runs and 55 RBIs. Hailey Gotshall is hitting .604 with 15 home runs and 61 RBIs. Mackenzie Walker is hitting .528 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. Kylie Farris is hitting .505 with a home run and 40 runs scored.

Gotshall is 14-2 with a 1.20 ERA. She has 180 strikeouts in 98 innings pitched. Cripe is 13-0 with a 0.09 ERA. She has 167 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched.

Ella Gearhart is hitting .485 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs for Winamac. Aubrey Gearhart is hitting .408 with 11 home runs, 36 RBIs and 43 runs scored. Alexis Sheets is hitting .495 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs.

Aubrey Gearhart is 18-3 with a 3.95 ERA. She has 116 strikeouts in 99 innings pitched.

CLASS 4A LOGANSPORT SECTIONAL

The host Berries drew a bye at their sectional.

Kokomo (15-13) plays Lafayette Jeff (12-13) at 5:30 p.m. Monday to get the sectional underway. Harrison (19-7) plays McCutcheon (15-6) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Kokomo-Jeff winner plays Logansport (16-12) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The final is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Logan recently finished runner-up to Harrison at the NCC Tournament with a 7-6 loss in the championship game. Logan has a 6-4 loss to Jeff and a 3-2 win over Kokomo this season.

Pailei Cripe is hitting .490 with a home run and 16 runs scored for the Berries. Abby Henderson is hitting .385 with three home runs and 20 RBIs. Kendra Sutton is hitting .312 with 17 RBIs. Justyce Rohrabaugh is hitting .308 with a home run and 17 runs scored. Claire Kitchel is hitting .269 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

Kitchel has a 2.80 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched. Kinzie Byrd has a 2.71 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.

CLASS 2A WABASH SECTIONAL

Lewis Cass (12-14) opens against host Wabash (1-12) at 5 p.m. Monday.

Whitko (8-10) plays Manchester (13-10) at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The winner squares off with the Cass-Wabash winner at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Rochester (8-13) plays Tippecanoe Valley (12-14) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The final is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.

Madison Dormer is hitting .415 with 12 RBIs and 26 runs scored for the Kings. Rylee Holt is hitting .398 with two home runs, 31 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Kaylie Williams is hitting .397 with 17 RBIs and 25 runs scored. Paxtyn Hicks is hitting .381 with three home runs, 20 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Cana Jones is hitting .414 with 11 runs scored. Hannah Plauschin is hitting .385 with 10 RBIs.

CLASS A NORTH MIAMI SECTIONAL

No. 2 Caston (21-3) opens play at 6:30 p.m. Monday against North White (10-10).

The Comets are competing in a field with three top 5 ranked teams.

No. 3 North Miami (22-4) plays Northfield (13-8) at 5 p.m. Monday. The winner squares off with the Caston-NW winner at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

No. 5 West Central (20-6) plays Southwood (4-18) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The final is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Addison Zimpleman is hitting .568 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs for the Comets. Isabel Scales is hitting .542 with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs. Kinzie Mollenkopf is hitting .440 with 31 RBIs. Maddi Smith is hitting .434 with two home runs and 38 runs scored. Eillie Deming is hitting .435 with a home run and 25 RBIs. Macee Hinderlider is hitting .400 with 26 runs scored. Layne Oliver is hitting .345 with four home runs and 16 RBIs.