By Rick Teverbaugh | For the Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Make way Bronx Bombers, there’s a new gang in town.
The Greenfield Central Cougars have their own Murderers Row and it is a long one. On Monday evening, six different Cougars blasted Anderson pitches over the fence.
When it was over, Greenfield posted an 11-0 victory over the Indians and advanced to a second-round Mount Vernon Sectional matchup against Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Pendleton Heights today at 5:30 p.m.
The Arabians posted their own 11-0 victory over Richmond on Monday to secure their berth in the semifinals.
The Cougars’ first two round-trippers came in the first inning. Ellie Ewald slugged a three-run no doubter, scoring both Olivia Roberts and Caroline Gibson. One out later, Lilly Stewart added a solo clout for a 4-0 lead.
“That was great that Ellie and Lilly hit those home runs in the first inning,” said Greenfield-Central coach Jason Stewart. “We’ve been in a funk offensively since we lost players to the COVID. We were missing 13 players and were down to nine for four games. This should be a confidence builder.”
Greenfield-Central enjoyed the four-spot so much in the first that it put up four more in the second. Three runs came in on Roberts’ homer and Gibson made it back-to-back for an 8-0 lead before Anderson got a second turn at bat against Greenfield-Central starting pitcher Hannah Holden.
Holden’s only blemishes over the first three innings were a pair of walks and a hit batter. She eventually allowed a couple of harmless singles in the fourth but no runs.
She fanned four in her four innings of work before Camille Burelison put the Tribe down in order in the fifth to finish the game.
“Hannah came out and went after them,” said Stewart. “She threw strikes. She’s been a really solid pitcher for us.”
Ella Redmon made it 10-0 for the Cougars in the fourth with a two-run home run, following an Ewald double. Morgan Hornaday closed out the scoring with a leadoff homer that had its own calling card. The ball bounced off the glove of the Anderson center fielder and went over the fence.
Pendleton Heights used its own power and cashed in on multiple errors by Richmond in the early innings to secure the win in the evening’s opening contest.
Junior catcher Kieli Ryan had a big night with three hits. Brinkley Epperson didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning and struck out 14 hitters.
Sophomore Sydney Clark was called out of the bullpen where she was warming up a pitcher in the fifth to get two-run single that capped the PH scoring.
As for the semifinal clash between the Arabians and the Cougars, “We expect a rivalry game and a war,” said Stewart. “I think the teams are pretty much mirror images. Both teams can hit and both have pretty good pitching. It may come down to who makes the big mistake.”
