Prep roundup for Friday, May 20

May 20—Western and Northwestern each won opening round matches of the Kokomo Girls Tennis Sectional by 5-0 scorelines Thursday and advanced to today's semifinals.

Western beat Tipton 5-0 with Eliza Lutgen winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Chloe Schmidt winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, and Hannah Cooper winning 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3. In doubles play Sydney Jansen and Sophia Moreno rallied to win the No. 1 match 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6), and the team of Natalie Nutt and Chioma Ozoigbo won the No. 2 match 6-0, 6-2.

Western (12-4) moves on to face Kokomo (13-7) in today's semis. Kokomo beat Western 4-1 during the regular season in a match that saw Kokomo win three-setters at Nos. 1 and 3 singles.

Northwestern beat Taylor 5-0, winning each of the four contested matches 6-0, 6-0. McKenna Layden won the No. 1 singles match, Kat Grube won at No. 2, and Lauren Lesko won the No. 3 match. In doubles, Emily Goltz and Anna Grube won the No. 1 match. There was no No. 2 doubles match.

The Tigers (15-1) face Eastern (14-3) in today's semifinals. Northwestern beat Eastern 4-1 in the regular season.

LOGAN SECTIONAL

Cass defeated Delphi 4-1 in the first match of the Logansport Sectional.

Erika Baber won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Erika Johnson won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Emma Geisler won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. And Dixie Wagoner and Abbey Hileman won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.

Today's 4:45 p.m. semifinal matches will be Cass versus Logansport and Twin Lakes versus Carroll. The championship match will follow later tonight.

SOFTBALL

NW 10, CASS 2

Cass scored a pair of runs in the first inning but Northwestern pitcher Jaylyn Harrison and the Purple Tiger defense kept the Kings shut down after that in a non-conference matchup between Hoosier Conference rivals. Harrison threw all seven innings for the win with six hits, no walks, two earned runs and four strikeouts.

"Jaylyn pitched well again, and defense is getting a little better," NW coach Chris Walker said.

Morgan Walker led the Tigers (12-7) at the plate with a 3-run homer and a single. Ady Altman had a solo homer and a single. Kate Graves doubled and singled. Jaci Elson and Harrison each had two singles and Bailey Henry doubled.

Cana Jones had two hits and two RBIs for the Kings (9-11). Madison Dormer had a single and run scored.

EASTERN 10, OLE MISS 0, 5 INN.

Eastern scored in every frame as eight different Comets collected hits in the team's home finale.

"The team had 13 hits in the game. The entire team did well offensively," Eastern coach Carly Shively said.

Maggie Johnson and Marina Lee were each 2 for 3, and Marly Coan, Macy Coan, Kendall Wilson and Cassidy Keene were each 2 for 4. Marly Coan doubled and homered, Macy Coan hit a homer, and Keene and Lee each doubled. Marly Coan, Bernice Mendoza and Keene each had two RBIs.

Macy Coan threw all five innings for the win with two hits, no walks and nine strikeouts.

TIPTON 6, ALEX 5

The Blue Devils scored six runs in the first two innings and got a strong relief outing from Emerson Merrell in a victory over visiting Alexandria.

Alex scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Tipton (6-15) countered with two in the bottom of the frame and turned to Merrell to pitch in the second inning. She threw the rest of the game, finishing with eight hits, three runs (one earned run), no walks and a strikeout in six innings.

Rylea Wetz hit a two-run double for one of Tipton's three hits. Merrill didn't have a hit but drove in two runs.

CC 11, TAYLOR 6

The Titans (4-13) fell to 3-4 in the Hoosier Heartland Conference with a loss to Clinton Central.

"Got started off a little rough, seeing a lot of bunting and quick baserunning," Taylor coach Robert McGuire said, "but we settled down and started figuring out what we need to do on every play."

HARRISON 10, WESTERN 1

Western scored in the top of the first inning, but Class 4A No. 8 Harrison took over with a five-run second and a five-run fourth. Western finishes the regular season 20-5.

"They were the best team we've played all year," Western coach Jim Clouse said. "They ended up with 15 hits ... found every hole in our defense. Not a bad experience for our kids going into the sectional to play a team that good and know we still have some work to do. Still very proud of them for a 20-win season, and now everything starts over for us [in the postseason]."

Maisy Harlow doubled for the Panthers. Kylie Miller started and threw two innings, taking the loss. Reliever Jacey Leisure finished the fourth inning and threw three complete frames with no runs.

BASEBALL

KOKOMO 7, M-G 6

The Wildkats built a 7-4 lead through four innings and held on as Madison-Grant rallied for single runs in the sixth and seventh. John Curl led Kokomo's offense, going 3 for 3 with a double, an RBI, two runs and was hit by a pitch. Chad Washburn also doubled and drew two walks.

CASS 19, MARION 3, 5 INNINGS

Cass (6-12) recorded a blowout win at Marion (2-17).

Adam Bandelier had a home run, single and two RBIs for the Kings. Haden McClain had a double, single and four RBIs. Ethan Johnson had two hits, an RBI and three runs scored. Wyatt Orpurt had two hits, Luke Davis had a double, and Tyson Good had a single and two RBIs.

Good and Emmons combined on a four-hitter. Good allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, striking out seven in four innings. Emmons allowed one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout in one inning.

Cass hosts Peru tonight and Frankfort Monday to conclude the regular season.

McCUTCHEON 2, NW 1

The Mavericks won with a walk-off, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh. Cole Wise took the loss for the Purple Tigers (14-7), throwing all seven innings with four hits, four walks, one earned run and 10 strikeouts.

Wise went 2 for 4 at the plate for the Tigers and Lincoln Cardwell was 1 for 4 with an RBI.

Northwestern coach Ryan Ward said Thursday's game "was a ton of fun. Great baseball game between two outstanding programs. We just came up short.

"Really proud of Cole Wise, felt like this was his best outing to this point of the season, and proud of our team as a whole. We outhit McCutcheon 8-4, we just didn't get a timely hit and left too many guys on base. It was a playoff-type game, and if we learn from the experience, I think [Thursday's] game is really going to help us in the playoffs."

PERU 6, MAC 2

Matt Roettger homered and drove in three runs, and Gavin Eldridge went 2 for 3 with a double and drove in two runs to lead the Bengal Tigers over the Braves in Three Rivers Conference play. Leif Astrup was 2 for 4 with a double and Jackson Rogers homered for Peru (7-12, 3-5 TRC).

Logan Gatliff threw six innings for the win with four hits, three walks, two earned runs and five strikeouts.

Walker Hayes doubled and scored both runs for Maconaquah (9-12-1, 5-4 TRC). Tyler Stapleton was 1 for 3 and drove in a run.

"Maconaquah lost a well-played game to Peru," Mac coach Eric Isenburg said.