PENDLETON — The Mt. Vernon girls tennis team evaded the rain on Thursday night, but victory couldn’t allude the Marauders.
Moving their match against host Pendleton Heights indoors due to inclement weather, the Marauders swept their season opener, 5-0, on the road behind five straight-set victories.
Mt. Vernon got rolling early with Maddie Swingle and Anna Isger teaming up to turn an initial 1-game deficit into a 12-game rally to win at No. 2 doubles 6-1, 6-0.
Lexi Shelton and Cici Buhlman won at No. 1 doubles 6-2, 6-1, while the Marauders’ trio of singles competitors put the match away.
Lydia Ruegsegger was victorious at No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-0. Carly Wilkerson captured his first-career varsity match with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles.
Hanna Smith closed out the sweep at No. 2 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
“(It’s been) 682 days since our last girls match. Our girls didn’t miss a beat. We played like the No. 27 or even the No. 26 team in the state,” Mt. Vernon head coach Gabe Muterspaugh remarked. “Potential can be a scary word, but we have a lot of room to get better. Coach ‘Ace’ (Graham) McMullen had the team pumped and ready to go. Good first match.”
Royals sweep season opener
The Eastern Hancock girls tennis team opened its season with a 5-0 sweep of host Randolph Southern on Wednesday.
Freshman Savannah Hardin won in straight sets at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-0. Senior Chloe McCarty cruised 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles for the visiting Royals (1-0).
Freshman Lexi Swauger matched her teammates’ dominance to win 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
Seniors Kalyn Edwards and Lilly Richmond rolled 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Junior Audrey Tice and freshman Tori Parker also earned the win at No. 2 doubles.
Cougars drop opener to Tigers
The Greenfield-Central girls tennis team lost to visiting Alexandria 6-1 to open the season on Thursday.
The young Cougars showed potential throughout the match with Jaclyn Layton earning the team’s lone point at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-2.
At No. 2 doubles, Leah Puckett and Makayla Price battled through a tight three-set match before falling 7-5, 0-6, 4-6.
Zoe Starks had a competitive match at No. 1 singles, nearly forcing a third set before losing 1-6, 5-7.
Track & Field
Dragons’ girls take down HHC foes
The New Palestine girls track and field team won a three-way meet Thursday at Kelso Stadium against two Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals.
The Dragons boys finished second.
The New Palestine girls tallied 78.5 points to beat Greenfield-Central (64) and Shelbyville (24.5), while the Dragons’ boys tallied 70 points to finish second to Greenfield-Central (70) and beat Shelbyville (16).
In the girls meet, the Dragons won four individual events. Faith Hensel won the shot put with a 36-09.00 distance, fifth-best in school history. Lexi Baynes won the 400-meter run, while Brenna Shaw won the 800 and Kendall Mann the 3,200.
In the boys meet, Richard Clevenger swept the shot put and discus, while Damon Hockett won the high jump.
Cougars’ boys win tri-meet
The Greenfield-Central boys track team amassed 80 points to win a three-way meet against host New Palestine and Shelbyville on Thursday night.
New Palestine scored 70 points, and Shelbyville posted 16 points.
The Cougars won 11 of 16 events. The Greenfield-Central girls finished second with 64 points behind host New Palestine’s 78.5. Shelbyville was third at 23.5.
For the G-C boys, Cash Looper won the 110 hurdles in 19.09 seconds. Kirk Knecht was first in the 100-meter dash (10.97), 200 (23.15) and in the long jump (20-10.00).
Jacob Presser won the 1,600-meter run (4:55), Michael Runions crossed first in the 400 (54.03), Ian Jack was first in the 300 hurdles (46.04), Griffen Wheeler won the 800 (2:06), Morgan Flanagan won the 3,200 (11:13) and Cody Hargett cleared 12-00 to win the pole vault.
The 1,600-meter relay team of Runions, Logan Stoeffler, Logan Masters and Jack posted a 3:44 to win.
The Cougars’ girls posted victories in seven events.
Kayana Maroska finished first in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and the 200.
Other winners included: Savannah Lake (100), Audrey Brinkruff (1,600), Reagan Crouch (high jump) and Betsy Underwood (pole vault).
Baseball
Royals fall to Indians
The Eastern Hancock baseball team lost 15-2 to host Anderson in five innings on Thursday night.
The Indians built a 9-0 lead after the bottom of the first en route to the run-rule victory over the Royals, who dropped to 1-1 on the season.
Drew White went 1-for-3 for the Royals, driving in the team’s lone RBI. Eastern Hancock recorded five hits. Landon Kintner finished 1-for-3 with a double.
Softball
Royals win fourth straight
The Eastern Hancock softball team defeated host Bishop Chatard 11-8 on Thursday night to win its fourth straight game.
The Royals (4-1) trailed 5-2 after the bottom of the first before going up 9-5 in the top of the third to pull ahead for good.
The Royals logged 14 hits overall, including a trio of home runs by Sammie Bolding (2-for-5, two RBI), Kaylee Stewart (3-for-5, four RBI) and Taylor Koch (1-for-4, three RBI).
Caroline Stapleton (2-for-4, two RBI) connected with a triple, and Brooklyn Willis (2-for-4) lined a double. Grace Stapleton went 2-for-4.
