Dragons runs wild at Warren Central Sectional
INDIANAPOLIS — The New Palestine boys track team put together a strong showing at the Warren Central Sectional on Thursday night to claim six automatic regional qualifications.
The Dragons won three events and placed six competitors in the top three overall with the top three sectional place-winners advancing.
New Palestine had six more athletes move on in other events based on time and distance. The next four best times and distances in each event from the four sectionals that feed into the regional earn a berth.
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New Palestine placed fourth as a team with 83.5 point behind third-place Roncalli, runner-up Franklin Central and champion Warren Central (152 points).
Greenfield-Central was seventh as a team and had two automatic qualifiers. Braden Brown was third in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches, and Adam Lee took second in the pole vault by clearing 13-06.
The Dragons’ first regional qualifier was revealed with a sound victory in the 4×800-meter relay. Spencer Corey, Chase Crowder, Caleb Eagleson and Sam Voelz won the race by more than 23 seconds at 8:06.88.
The Dragons captured their second sectional title with a 1-2 finish in the 1,600-meter run. Eagleson ran a 4:30.7 to win and Crowder turned in a time of 4:37.04. Voelz added a third title in the 800 with a time of 1:57.60.
Eagleson placed second in the 3,200 in 10:00.77, while the 4×100 relay team of Adam Brickens, Colby Jenkins, DuRon Ford and Brady Walden was third in 44.30 to advance.
The 4×400 relay team of Jenkins, Corey, Voelz and Walden placed second at 3:25.49.
Gavin Hausz was fourth in the high jump (5-10), Ford was fourth in the 100 (11.28), and Corey took fourth in the 400 (51.90) to earn regional advancement based on times.
Laine Schonauer (high jump), Walden (long jump) and Jared Reed (110 hurdles) each received call backs for the Warren Central Regional next week.
Baseball
Royals fall to Union
The Eastern Hancock baseball team lost 8-2 to Union County on Thursday. The Royals fell behind 8-0 early but battled back to erase Union County’s shutout bid.
The Royals are now 12-12 on the season. Easton Fields went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the Eastern Hancock. Clayton White went 2-for-3 and A.J. Muegge was 2-for-4.
Dragons earn win
The Class 3A No. 4 New Palestine Dragons scored seven runs in the fourth inning to chop down Greenwood 8-3 on Thursday night.
New Palestine improved to 18-5 with the win after outhitting the Woodmen 14-3.
Nick Rusche was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Jarrett Jaques went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cameron Pitzer was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Jacob Garrison finished 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.
Jack Walker connected for a two-run double in the game, while Jacob Smith had a two-run single.
Walker pitched a shutout through four innings to earn the win. He allowed one hit and struck out six. Keegan Watson struck out four batters in relief.
The Dragons travel to New Castle today to close out their regular season with a potential Hoosier Heritage Conference title on the line. The first game of the doubleheader starts at 10 a.m.
Softball
Royals tame Bulldogs
The Class 2A No. 11 Eastern Hancock Royals defeated visiting Lapel 5-3 in eight innings Thursday night.
The Royals put together a two-run bottom of the eighth inning to complete their comeback after trailing 2-0 through the first four frames.
Eastern Hancock tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning.
Micah Black drove in a pair of runs for the Royals, going 1-for-4 with a home run. Hannah Lewis added a solo home run. She was 2-for-2. Paige Wickard was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
The Royals improve to 18-6-1 on the season.
Dragons keep winning
The white-hot top-ranked Class 3A New Palestine Dragons didn’t skip a beat on Thursday night, defeating Indianapolis Lutheran 13-2.
The win marked the team’s 15th straight and improved their record to 23-2 overall. The outright Hoosier Heritage Conference champions closed out their regular season at Delta on Friday.
Against Lutheran, the Dragons went ballistic. Abby Davis was 4-for-4 with four doubles and six RBIs. Ashley Prange and Emily O’Connor both homered with Prange’s shot netting two runs. The blast was Prange’s 17th on the year.
Elisha Barker pitched 3.0 innings to earn the win, allowing one run on four hits. Mackenzie Jones allowed one hit and struck out two in 2.0 innings of relief.
