Daily Reporter staff reports
PENDLETON — A total of five Hancock County competitors earned automatic advancements during the girls track sectional at Pendleton Heights on Tuesday.
The Eastern Hancock Royals had three regional qualifiers with a sectional champion in Bailey Allen. The top-three place winners in each event at sectional qualify for regional.
Joining Allen at next week’s Ben Davis Regional on Tuesday will be Hannah Gates, who placed third in the 300-meter hurdles at 51.66 seconds. Allen won the shot put competition with a toss of 34 feet, 11 inches.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Eastern Hancock’s Taylor Stine also qualified with a runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.52.
Mt. Vernon’s 4×800 relay team will move on after taking third at sectional. The group of Meg Schleter, Kamryn Eason, Kassy Ramirez and Nicole Siefker posted a time of 10:29.41.
Grace Yeadon was third in the pole vault for the Marauders, clearing a height of 7-06.
Mt. Vernon placed fourth at the sectional as a team with 57.5 points. Lawrence North won the sectional with 154 points, and Pendleton Heights was second at 96. Anderson was third with 61 points, and Eastern Hancock finished sixth with 49.
golf
Cougars fall to HHC rival Pendleton Heights
The Greenfield-Central boys golf team lost to rival Pendleton Heights 178-202 on Tuesday.
The host Cougars were led by Kyle Arrowood, who turned in a 48 through nine holes.
Softball
Cougars avenge loss to rival Marauders
The Class 4A No. 18 Greenfield-Central Cougars avenged their previous loss to rival Mt. Vernon in a back-and-forth battle on Tuesday night.
The Cougars put up three crucial runs late in the game and fended off a potential rally by the Marauders to win 9-8.
Host Mt. Vernon led the game 3-2 after the bottom of the fourth and were up 7-6 through five innings. The Marauders scored their final run in the bottom of the seventh and tied Greenfield-Central with 11 hits each.
Makayla Durick came on in relief to earn the win for Greenfield-Central. She went 2.1 innings.
Michaela Ballman led the Cougars by going 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. Sam Kihega was 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs.
Sara Morris and Maria Kihega added two hits apiece for the Cougars. Morganne Denny became the program’s all-time hits leader with an infield single in the sixth inning, giving her 186.
Cassidy Parker paced the Marauders at the plate going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Anelise Worden was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Morgan Scruggs was 3-for-4, and MacKenzie McCann went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
The Cougars are now 19-4 and 5-1 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. Mt. Vernon dropped to 8-13 and 0-7 in the HHC.
The Marauders beat the Cougars 11-6 during the Cougar Classic on Saturday.
Royals defeat New Castle on road
The Eastern Hancock softball team won 6-1 against host New Castle on Monday.
The Class 2A No. 11 Royals used a four-run top of the seventh to win big after leading 2-0 through the first six frames.
Brooke Walden led the Royals by going 2-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs. Megan Bever was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Faithe Webster and Kaysi Gilbert each drove in a run.
Elise Bittinger earned the win, pitching a complete-game five-hitter with four strikeouts. The Royals are now 17-6-1 on the season.
Baseball
Cougars cruise to 15th win
The Greenfield-Central Cougars took care of business on Tuesday, crushing Tri 10-0 by run rule.
The Cougars are now 15-7 on the year.
Against Tri, the Cougars’ lineup belted five home runs. Drey Jameson had two, Tyler Farrell added another along with Adam Hutchison and Noah Ramsey.
Josh Mundell earned the win, pitching a one-hitter over four innings.
Tennis
Royals fall to Blue River
The Eastern Hancock girls tennis team lost their regular-season finale 5-0 to Blue River Valley on Tuesday.
Chelsi McMahan battled at No. 1 singles. She won the first set 7-5 before dropping the next two 0-6, 4-6.
Kayla Huff, who moved back to No. 2 singles, won a tiebreaker in the first set, and she narrowly lost the second 4-7. Blue River’s Rachel Snavely won the third 6-1 to close out the match.
Corina Jennings lost at No. 3 singles 2-6, 2-6. The No. 1 doubles team of Erin McKeeman and Cassandra Hannemann lost 0-6, 2-6. Taylor Kline and Madison Hagan fell 0-6, 3-6 at No. 2 doubles.
The Royals play host Mt. Vernon in the sectional semifinals on today.
