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Greencastle falls in sectional title game as South Vermillion makes it five straight
CLINTON – To beat a team of South Vermillion’s quality in the championship game of IHSAA Softball Class 2A Sectional No. 44 Monday afternoon, Greencastle was going to need to put plenty of runs on the board.
A golden chance in the third inning to do some damage ended with just a solitary run coming across home plate as the Tier Cubs could not match the Wildcats’ power at the plate in a 11-1 loss in six innings.
“It’s unfortunate that (South Vermillion) scored 11 runs because it played closer than a run-rule game,” Greencastle head coach Amy Coons said. “We’re not going to win a game against South Vermillion scoring one run.
“We didn’t come out and hit as well as we’d hoped. Our attitudes were good, we were ready to play but it just didn’t go our way.”
The hosts took an early 1-0 lead off a Hannah Boardman solo home run in the bottom of the first before Greencastle had its best scoring chance of the game in the top of the third.
Allie Beaman, Evelyn Briones and Sidney Lantzy all singled to load the bases with no outs.
Elise Lausee hit a sac fly to left field that allowed Beaman to score but further pop outs from Emma Hunter and Emma West left two runners stranded and the game tied at 1-1.
It was a tie that lasted five batters as, following a walk and a single, Taylor Wilson and Addyson Smith hit back-to-back doubles, driving in three runs in the process to make it a 4-1 game.
More runs were to come as Kenley Minor hit a solo home run in the fourth inning while Wilson hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in a run in the fifth, followed by a two-run home run from Rayven Wilson that made it 8-1.
The final runs came in the sixth as Taylor Wilson doubled home the first run of the inning while Mackey plated the final two runs with a double to win the sectional title.
Greencastle finishes the 2022 season with a 12-15 mark, 3-7 in WIC play, but won the Putnam County Championship title and improved by nearly 10 wins over the previous season.
Coons said the squad made a great deal of growth from the 2021 season and with almost all of the team returning in 2023, the girls had a chance to improve again and be right back in the same situation.
“Nobody would have put us in a sectional championship if they had seen how we played last year,” Coons noted. “We also only lose one player (Raigan Chavez).
“We’re bringing up a pitcher from eighth grade who will add to our existing pitchers, though we still need to get everyone better.
“We need to get our pitchers on a level where they can compete for a sectional championship. A team like South Vermillion is losing two of their pitchers, so who knows? Maybe it’s us battling for a sectional title again next year.”
Greencastle 001 000 — 1 3 0
South Vermillion 103 133 — 11 11 0
WP — Mackey 6 IP, 3 H, R, HBP, BB, 6 K
LP — Briones 2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K
HR — Boardman, Minor, R. Wilson
2B — T. Wilson (2) Boardman, Mackey, Smith
RBI — T. Wilson (5), R. Wilson (2) Minor, Boardman, Mackey, Smith; Lausee