Published: April 21, 2008 11:04 pm            

PREP ROUNDUP: Copp hurls, hits TC past Eastern

Comets improve to 3-0 in MIC tennis play

The hits were too few and far between for the Eastern baseball team Monday as visiting Tri-Central left town with a 3-0 victory.

Josh Copp hurled the gem for the Trojans, blanking the Comets on three hits. He struck out six and walked three in seven innings. Brandon Hainlen, Jonathan Keith and Dane DeWitt had the only safeties for Eastern, all singles.

“We didn’t hit the ball very well [Monday],” Eastern coach Steve Swinson said. “We played good enough defense and pitched well enough to win, but [Copp] just kept us off-balance all night.”

Copp also led Tri-Central at the plate with a single, a double and two runs scored. Andrew Bilby singled and doubled while Blake Burnett had two doubles and a run. It was the Trojans’ first win in six tries.

“We finally got one in the win column,” said coach Sean Swan. “We’ve been trying to preach to [the team] about playing the game the right way and we were finally able to bounce back and get one.

“[Copp] pitched tremendous. He was around the strike zone all night and made big pitches when he needed to.”

The Trojans pushed across earned runs in the second, fourth and sixth innings off starter Joel Hoover, who gave up nine hits and a walk in 51/3 innings. He struck out two. Michael Moreno pitched the final inning and two-thirds of hitless ball, striking out one and walking two (one intentional).

The Comets (1-5) begin Mid-Indiana Conference play today, hosting Peru, in search of more consistency.

“I’d like to see us bring all three phases of the game,” said Swinson. “We start six sophomores, so we’re just making some [youthful] mistakes. We’re looking for some kind of spark.”

Taylor 11, Manchester 6

After losing a double header to Logansport Saturday, Taylor bounced back with the victory over Manchester.

The Titans (3-4-1) were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the second inning when they scored four runs. They never trailed after that.

Ted Nolley led Taylor with three singles, and Evan Schroeder added a double.

Taylor coach Jeremy Luna called up James Ringley from the junior varsity team to be the starting pitcher, and he responded. Ringley pitched five innings allowing four runs (all unearned) on four hits. He walked two and fanned one. Calib Winninger pitched the final two innings.

“Everybody knew that we are going to have to step up their game,” Luna said. “They knew what they had to do, and [Ringley] pitched a heck of a game. We also showed good plate discipline at the plate.”

SOFTBALL

Western 6, Hamilton Heights 2

The Panthers made their 2008 Mid-Indiana Conference debut a successful one at home Monday by producing four runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 2-2 deadlock.

Lindsey Clouse’s two-run double proved to be the game-winner in the sixth, followed by Ashley Rice’s run-scoring single and A.J. Finch’s RBI-double.

“That’s something that hasn’t always be a strong point for us, but we’ve done pretty well with that this year,” Western coach Jim Clouse said the two-out rally.

Alisha Davenport clubbed a fourth-inning, two-run home run for the winners and Finch was 2 for 2 with two doubles. Davenport also had a double.

Heights tied the score with a pair of unearned runs off winning pitcher Morgan Oilar, one in the fifth and one in the sixth. Oilar allowed only one hit in 52/3 innings while Clouse pitched the final inning and a third for the save.

“We did a good job of hanging in there and scored when we needed to,” said Jim Clouse. “Their pitcher really had us off-balance early until the two-run homer.”

Western (3-4, 1-0 MIC) hosts Taylor today.

Maconaquah 4, Manchester 1

The Lady Braves (6-4) tuned up for their Mid-Indiana Conference opener today at Northwestern with a home win.

Amy Wooten was the winning pitcher. She fanned 10 while allowing three hits and three walks without an earned run.

Jennifer Kuepper had three singles and two runs scored, Jessica Honeycutt had two singles and Tia Dossett and Lauren Shotts each doubled and drove in a run.

Eastern 1, Tipton 0

Kaitlyn Smith scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Class 2A, No. 8-ranked Eastern its seventh victory in nine tries.

Smith led off the sixth inning with a double, and she moved to third base on a sacrifice by Lyndsi Pence. Smith scored on a single by Anna Maddox.

Tristan Dykes pitched a one hit shutout for the Comets. Dykes gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter in the second inning. She allowed no runs on one hit and no walks with 15 strike outs.

“This is the kind of game where you want Dykes on the mound,” Eastern coach Jerry Haines said. “We didn’t want anything to happen in the late innings. She shut them down until we got the run. Dykes struck out the side in the seventh inning to end the game.”

Maddox led Eastern with two singles, and Smith added a double.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Western 107.5, Peru 15.5

The Panthers made it look easy again at home with another convincing win.

Sprinter Cara Earlywine continues to shine, taking four wins. She captured the 100 (13.3) and the 200 (27.6) and ran legs on both the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. They included Danae Rittmann, Jennifer Dale, Alleca Kerker and Earlywine in the 4x100 relay (51.5) and Maggie Talbert, Sable Staller, Dale and Earlywine in the 4x400 relay (4:24.2).

The 4x100 team nearly broke the school record of 51.36 seconds set last year at the Bremen Regional. Kerker added a win in the 300-meter low hurdles (51.7) while Staller won both the high jump (5-2) and the long jump (14-6).

“It was a real exciting race for the 4x100 relay,” said Western coach Marvin Boswell. Those girls have worked really hard to get their times down.

“All of our sprinters and jumpers have been doing a good job. Overall I’m just very pleased the way the girls are coming along.”

Jenn Elliott was busy being a triple winner. She captured the 1,600 meters in 6:04.1, the 800 in 2:49.5 and helped Lacey Myer, Ashley Gaskins and Breana Nicholas win the 4x800 relay in 11:27.0. Gaskins (13:08.9) won the 3,200, Nikki McCracken (15.9) won the 100-meter hurdles and Lizi Chandler swept the shot put (35-1 1/2) and the discus (90-10 1/2).

The Panthers are at the Kokomo Relays on Saturday.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Western 97, Peru 26

In a battle of Mid-Indiana Conference supremacy, the Panthers won handily.

Jerel Hall, Patrick Lennon, Austin Young and Kyle Young were triple winners as Western exacted some measure of revenge on the Bengal Tigers after they dethroned the Panthers in last season’s MIC meet.

“That was mentioned and I think the guys who have gone up against Peru in the past wanted to go out and make a statement,” Panthers coach Marvin Boswell said. “Peru is still a quality team and a good team to beat. Our kids were looking forward to this meet.”

Hall won the 100 (11.6) and the 200 (22.9) while teaming with Kyle Young, Alex Sigler and Kyle Brown to win the 4x400 relay in 3:32.1.

“Jerel Hall came out and had a phenomenal night,” said Boswell. “Kyle Brown was right with him in the 200 but Jerel stepped it up a notch.”

Lennon captured both hurdles, winning the 110 (15.7) and the 300 (43.4). He teamed with Ryan Elmore, Indy Mathew and Christoffer Kun to win the 4x100 in 45.9 seconds.

Austin Young swept the distance events, winning the 1,600 (4:52.8) and the 3,200 (10:55), and shared first place in the 4x800 relay (9:12.4) with Kyle Young, Kody Harmon and Chris Love.

Kyle Young (51.8) won the 400 meters, Love (2:11.4) won the 800, Sigler (6-1) claimed high jump with a personal-best leap, and Brown (19-0 1/2) won long jump.

Bart Shepherd (128-4) took discus.

Western is at the Kokomo Relays on Saturday.

BOYS GOLF

Northwestern 171, Taylor 189

Freshman Ben-Marvin Egel was medalist with a 37 at Chippendale Golf Club to lead the Purple Tigers.

Teammate Peyton Richardson carded a 42, followed by Chris Wisler and Sky Huston, each at 46.

Jensen Pickett led the Titans with a 43 while James Fantuzzo shot 44 and Jon Fantuzzo and Matt Petty each shot 51.

“It certainly was an improvement for us,” Taylor coach Frank Conner said of the scores. “I think [Northwestern coach] Randy [Lindgren] was pleased with their scores, but he did say they had 21 penalty strokes.

“Welcome to Chippendale.”

Both teams are in action Wednesday. Taylor (0-2) is at Hamilton Heights and Northwestern will host Eastern.

No. 8 Noblesville 157, Kokomo 168

Kokomo had a strong day by coming within 11 strokes of the No. 8-ranked Noblesville Millers at the Kokomo Country Club.

The Wildkats’ Billy Bersbach shared medalist honors with Noblesville’s Jackson VanMeter and Evan Stegar each shooting 39.

Other Kokomo scores were Nick Irish (41), Lee Barker (44), Nick Cardwell (44), Brandon Gainer (45) and Luke Pitcher (46).

Despite the loss, Kokomo coach Tory Horner liked the improvement.

“Noblesville played really well,” Horner said. “They threw out a 41, and 42, and the 157 at the Country Club is a pretty good score. Bersbach was sick most of the year last year, and he is playing well for us. Irish seems to always be between 40-42 — he has been good surprise for us.”

GIRLS TENNIS

Heights 3, Western 2

The Panthers dropped their Mid-Indiana Conference opener on the road Monday as senior Katie Hollingsworth fought back after losing the first set to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Ashleigh Wheeler improved to 4-1 at No. 3 singles with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.

“Katie played a really nice match,” Western coach Jerry Bradley said. “It was kind of a slow start for her and then she really came on in the second and third sets. Ashleigh, again — it was just a real solid effort.”

The Panthers (3-2, 0-1 MIC) host Mississinewa today.

Eastern 5, Peru 0

The Comets improved to 3-0 in the Mid-Indiana Conference with the road win, although the fifth match of the evening was extended about as far as it could be.

With the victory already in hand, the team of Kayci Detweiler and Rebecca Kady gutted out a grueling 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 2 doubles.

The rest of the points were relatively much easier as No. 1 singles Carly Miles won 6-1, 6-0, No. 2 Vanessa Dove won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 and No. 3 Vanessa Oei won 6-0, 6-0. The No. 1 doubles team of Rachael Lindgren and Kourtney Cox rolled 7-5, 6-1.

“It was an awesome night for us,” said coach Pat Rice. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but this was a good stepping stone going into the meat of the season.

Eastern (5-1) is at Carroll today.

Northwestern 4, Delphi 1

The Tigers are one game south of the .500 mark after improving to a 3-4 record. Northwestern won two of the three singles matches, and swept doubles.

Maddie Sewell started things off by winning the No. 2 singles match (6-4, 6-2). Alba Rodriguez-Diez won at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-3).

The Tigers’ No. 1 doubles team of Sara Poppas and Amy Harshman took complete control of their match winning 6-0, 6-1, and the No. 2 doubles team of Jackie Adams and Claire Schoenian came out on top, 6-3, 6-3.

Northwestern coach Lori Miller likes what she sees in her team.

“The girls are playing well together,” Miller said. “They are improving nicely, and the No. 1 doubles team had a strong match giving up just one game.”

Tipton 4, Taylor 1

Whitney Martin got Taylor’s only victory at No. 2 singles. Martin won 6-1, 7-6 with a 7-5 tie-breaker.

Taylor coach Dave Wise was happy with Martin’s victory.

“This was an unusual match for both teams,” Wise said. “My No. 1 singles player was out with a family commitment, and Tipton’s No. 2 singles player was out. I adjusted our lineup, and Tipton adjusted their lineup from No. 2 singles on down. Martin usually plays in doubles matches, and this was her first singles match ever. Also, Taylor Allen played a close match at No. 3 singles, losing 7-5, 6-4.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.