HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Combs belts three homers as Clovers win slugfest

SPENCER — Cloverdale picked up five runs in the top of the ninth on Tuesday to pull out an 18-13 slug fest win over Owen Valley in Western Indiana Conference play.

Lauren Meek improved her record to 10-2, pitching the first half of regulation before giving way to reliever Macie Couch for the next 4.2 innings.

Meek returned to finish the game.

Tori Combs hit three home runs and drove in seven runs to lead the Clovers at the plate, while Kiley Shedron had a single, double, home run and six RBI.

Skyler Price added two singles and a double, while Kelsey Helterbrand had three singles, Makenzie Allen had a single and a double and Baylee Hamilton had two singles.

The Clovers were able to win despite making seven potentially costly errors.

“Too many physical and mental errors in the field forced us to keep hitting for the entire game,” Clover coach Jim Spencer said. “Owen Valley put a lot of pressure on us with bunting, and on the bases and we just did not handle most of the situations very well.

“However, we did have a big night at the plate,” Spencer added. “Tori and Kiley both hit home runs in the top of the ninth inning to give us a little cushion going into the bottom of the ninth.”

Cloverdale is now 14-3 and is scheduled to host Monrovia today.

Cloverdale 510 032 205 — 18 18 7

Owen Valley 330 023 200 — 13 14 1

WP — Meek (10-2)

In other softball:

• West Vigo 11, North Putnam 7 — The Vikings got six runs in the top of the fourth inning to break open a 3-3 tie and pick up the Western Indiana Conference victory.

Chloe LaPierre had a double and a single, Emma Haste and Skylar Clifford each had a double and Dana Tennis, Baylee Osburn and Mia Runnells each had two singles for the Cougars. Osburn drove in three runs.

West Vigo 120 601 1 — 11 18 4

North Putnam 300 220 0 — 7 13 4

WP — Stevens

• Northview 22, Greencastle 3 — The visiting Knights got 21 runs over the final three innings in recording the Western Indiana Conference win.

Kenzie Horton had a home run and Grace Paul had a double to lead Greencastle at the plate, while Ivy Wright, Layna Robinson and Julia Mundy each added a single.

Ball State signee Stacy Payton hit three doubles, a home run and a single with five RBI for Northview.

Northview 106 4(11) — 22 20 2

Greencastle 100 20 — 3 5 2

WP — Timberman

• Sullivan 10, South Putnam 0 — The Eagles got just three hits off Golden Arrow pitcher McKenzie Pirtle.

Drew Bratcher, Helen Eaglin and Jaylen Hughbanks each got a hit for South Putnam.

South Putnam 000 00 — 0 3 3

Sullivan 101 8x — 10 11 1

WP — Pirtle

• Holler honored by NCAC — Sophomore Sidney Holler of Overland Park, Kan., was recently named the North Coast Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Week after hitting safely in all six games last week to lead the Tigers to a 5-1 (4-0 NCAC) record.

Holler homered in three of the four NCAC games, highlighted by her game-winning home run in the top of the seventh inning of game one at Kenyon. In the six games, Holler batted .474 (9-for-19) with one double, three home runs, three runs scored, 10 RBI, 19 total bases and one stolen base.

On the year, Holler is batting .308 with 7 HR and 27 RBI. The Tigers are 20-18 overall and 13-3 in the NCAC. They earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament and open play today against the No. 3 seed Denison Big Red.

Baseball

• Northview 10, Greencastle 3 — The Tiger Cubs committed eight errors for the game, with some of them leading to five unearned runs in the first inning against the No. 10-ranked Knights.

“We played probably one of our worst innings of the year,” Greencastle coach Ben Wells said. We just could not make a play to get out of the inning.”

Wells felt starting pitcher Jackie Scanland was probably pitching with the best stuff that he has had all year.

“He was doing a great job of keeping them off balance, and his fastball had a little extra to it,” Wells said. “They did not have one hard hit ball.”

Wells said the Cubs settled down and held them in check.

“We could not get a lot going offensively, but like we have done all year, our guys just kept fighting and were able to chip away toward the end of the game,” he added.

Nick Costin had a double for the Tiger Cubs, while Jacob Harris had a single and an RBI and Abe Wade, Jacob Meyer and Rylan Lucas each added a single.

Northview 510 020 2 — 10 8 2

Greencastle 000 001 2 — 3 5 8

WP — Tucker