Streak continues as Braves beat Northview 3-1

May 15—On paper, the high school softball game Friday night at Terre Haute South looked like a mismatch.

One team was big, strong and experienced, with three college-bound seniors — and a fourth who would be if that were her preference — and a Division I pitcher capable of throwing fastballs in the low 60s.

The other team was small, very young and with a pitcher whose fastball doesn't cross the plate in in the low 60s, on the rare occasions she decides to throw something straight.

But, like the proverbial dog in the fight, Terre Haute South's Braves don't recognize what some think are disadvantages, and after Friday's 3-1 win over visiting Northview — South's 13th win in a row — coach Jeff Biggs isn't about to tell them otherwise.

"We're riding high right now, playing good ball," Biggs said after the game. "Our hitting fell off the last few games, but our pitching has been good and our defense has been good."

South managed just one hit off Lauren Sackett, the former teammate of the few upperclassmen among the Braves, who struck out 14.

But by the time South got its hit, the Braves already had a 2-1 lead, and Sackett's electric stuff found the screen behind the plate — loudly — a few times too often.

"One hit, 14 strikeouts," Northview coach Kathy Vossmer said after the game. "But also five walks and hit by pitches and some wild pitches that scored runs. We also had two fielding errors.

"It's those other seven outs [that aren't strikeouts] we have to clean up."

South got its first run in the bottom of the second inning, after its pitcher Hanna Krockenberger had retired the first six Knights in order. Lexi Cottrell, South's only starting senior, bunted the ball toward shortstop and was safe when the throw was missed at first base. She took second and third on a passed ball and a wild pitch, and scored when freshman Kyar McVey got a bunt down and Cottrell slid under the tag at the plate.

Northview got its first two hits in the top of the third but stranded both runners, and in the bottom of the inning South scored again without getting a hit. This run was simple: Maddy Griswold slapped the ball on the ground, the throw to first was wild, Griswold sped all the way to third, and she scored on a wild pitch.

Krockenberger breezed through Northview's three, four and five hitters in a nine-pitch fourth inning, but ran into trouble in the fifth when Karigan Krider led off with a hit and the South infield botched what may have been a double-play ball to put runners on first and second with nobody out. An infield out put both runners in scoring position, but Maizie Pell's sacrifice fly was all the Knights could get, and Krockenberger retired the Knights' four, five and six hitters in the sixth after a leadoff single by Ellie Carter.

Cottrell broke up her former teammate's no-hit bid with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and two walks and two wild pitches enabled the Braves to pad their lead.

The Knights weren't done, and got the first two runners on in the seventh when Tara Pearce singled and the usually reliable Grace Kidwell dropped a ball in center field. But Krockenberger induced a popup and a harmless grounder, and Kidwell more than atoned for the error by robbing Mianah Thompson of an extra-base hit to end the game.

Asked afterward how hard she threw, Krockenberger replied, "Not very hard, honestly.

"Movement," she said, is her secret. "Curveballs and screwballs are my favorites . . . I've been consistent recently, and I just bring everything I've got."

"She pitched well, kept us off-balance," Vossmer said about Krockenberger. "We've had trouble with off-speed, but we've been able to adjust in the past. Not today. Our focus was not there."

South's battles against Sackett — Marlee Loudermilk worked a 10-pitch walk in the first inning, Izzy Light a 12-pitch free pass in the second, for example — may have frustrated the future Sycamore.

"We knew what we were up against," Biggs said. "She has a great riseball. We just tried to execute, and it seemed to work in our favor."

Both teams are now a little over a week away from what they hope are successful postseason appearances.

"We need to toughen up our mental game," Vossmer said of the Knights, "and learn to let go of disappointments faster."

"All the young kids we've got just keep believing," Biggs said. "They got each other's backs and it's fun to watch."