JASPER — For the third straight year, the New Palestine Dragons are heading to the state softball finals.
The Dragons traveled to Jasper again for semistate action on Saturday, picking up another pair of big wins, 10-0 against Silver Creek in the semifinal and 12-2 against No. 4 Danville in the semistate championship game.
They’ve been eyeing a three-peat all year. Now, they need just one more win to get there.
“You’ve got that thought all year … we’ve been talking about the path to Purdue. This is where we wanted to be,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said. “It’s been kind of a grueling year with our schedule, but obviously it’s paid off for us. The girls have just stayed with it. I still think it goes back to that Kokomo game where we had the big comeback, we had a really good senior meeting after that. We just turned it on.”
With the pair of 10-run wins Saturday, the Dragons have outscored their five tournament opponents by a combined 76-5 tally.
They got past Silver Creek with relative ease, scoring three first-innings runs and adding four more in the fourth. Jaylin Calvert and Michaela Jones homered and each drove in two runs in the game. Tatum Biddle, Kinsey Mitchell, Kendal Calvert and Emily O’Connor all added RBIs.
The top-ranked Dragons then earned their state finals spot with another double-digit win. O’Connor homered in the first, sparking the offense. After falling behind a run after a walk, single and two errors in the bottom of the first, the Dragons took the lead back for good.
Biddle led off the second and homered to tie the game. The Dragons then added runs after Mitchell, Emma Tucher and Kendal Calvert singled to load the bases. Jaylin Calvert drove in the winning run with a hit, then Jones added an RBI on a groundout.
New Palestine was mostly led offensively in the championship game by the bottom of the batting order. Mitchell and Kendal Calvert each had three hits, combining to score five runs and drive in three. Tucher and Miller each had two hits and drove in runs. O’Connor and Biddle homered.
“She’s a very good pitcher,” Marcum said of Danville’s Savanah Jones. “My girls would just grind out at-bats. She threw a lot of pitches. O’Connor getting a home run to start in the top of the first was huge.
“The top (of the order) really struggled. That bottom just kept putting pressure on.”
With starting pitcher Kaylea Bullock out due to injury, sophomore Sam Booe started both games in the circle.
Booe picked up two wins on the day, allowing one hit in four innings against Silver Creek and three hits and no earned runs in seven innings against Danville. She struck out 12 between the games, with four walks.
“Sam has really stepped up. She’s had a really good year,” Marcum said. “When her and Kaylea were both pitching well, she didn’t ever complain if she wasn’t the one pitching. She’s been a great teammate, and fortunately she was ready with Kaylea’s injury and the girls have played great defense behind her.”
Freshman Katie Kottlowski pitched the final two innings of the Silver Creek game, invaluable experience for a young pitcher.
She, too, had a strong outing in the circle.
“In the first game we got a bit of a lead, and Katie came in and she pitched great. They didn’t have a hit off her,” Marcum said. “That was good to see when you put a freshman into that. You don’t want to get them any momentum, and you’re kind of concerned as a coach by changing pitchers, but at that point I wanted to sort of save Sam for tonight and get Katie the experience.”
The pair of wins propels the Dragons back to the state finals for the eighth time since 2003. New Palestine will look to capture its third straight title and sixth overall against a familiar opponent, as they will face Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Yorktown in the 4:30 p.m. championship game Saturday at Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette.
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This week in the Daily Reporter, we’ll have much more on the New Palestine Dragons as they prepare for their third straight trip to the state finals.
Wednesday and Thursday we’ll take a more in-depth look at the Dragons, and Saturday’s edition will feature a full breakdown of the state championship game.
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