Mt. Vernon’s Kylie Brandes returns serve during her singles match against Greenfield-Central on Thursday, April 21, 2022.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — The defending Hancock County champion Mt. Vernon Marauders ended rival Eastern Hancock’s winning streak on Wednesday night.
Entering a flawless 7-0 on the season, the Royals’ girls tennis team challenged the host Marauders, but Mt. Vernon won, 3-2.
The victory improved Mt. Vernon’s record to 11-2.
“This was a great match for us. We had not played Eastern Hancock in over 10 years in a dual match during the season,” Mt. Vernon head coach Gabe Muterspaugh commented. “We have seven matches next week, so this was a good win.”
The Marauders scored wins in both doubles matches and at No. 3 singles where Anna Hawks was victorious in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3, over Tori Parker.
Madison Swingle and Kylie Brandes teamed at No. 1 doubles to win 6-0, 6-2, against Savanah Hardin and Lexi Swauger. Brandes usually competes at No. 1 singles for the Marauders, but the team shuffled its lineup slightly.
Shay Shipley was joined by Liv Lugo at No. 2 doubles to win 6-1, 6-1, over Abby Bolding and Mikayla Hardy.
The Royals collected one of their points at No. 1 singles behind Bianca Di Vittorio’s 6-1, 6-0 victory over Mt. Vernon’s CeCe Bulmahn.
Violette Sagalowicz secured the Royals’ other team point with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles over Carly Wilkerson.
“Our biggest challenge is our mindset,” Royals head coach Chris Hardin commented. “We are lacking confidence. We played very tentative throughout the lineup.”
The Royals are now 7-1 and host Lapel on Monday before traveling to Waldron on Tuesday.
The Marauders are on the road at Hoosier Heritage Conference rival New Palestine on Monday before hosting both league foes Shelbyville and Yorktown on Tuesday. They head to HHC foe New Castle on Wednesday, May 11.
Cougars win third straight
The Greenfield-Central girls tennis team posted its third consecutive victory in sweeping fashion on Wednesday night.
The visiting Cougars defeated host Rushville, 5-0, on the heels of two straight 5-0 wins over Knightstown and HHC foe New Castle last week.
Against Rushville, the Cougars won each match in straight sets.
Zoe Starks earned a point at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Jaclyn Layton won at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-2. Brianna McConnell completed the singles sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Hallie Smith and Lauren Chastain won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Emma Berty and Allison Lowe prevailed 6-0, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
The Cougars host HHC opponent Yorktown on Monday before heading to league foe Pendleton Heights on Tuesday.
Dragons beat the rain
The New Palestine girls tennis team won its second match in as many days Tuesday, beating host Southwestern (Shelby) 3-0 in a rain-shortened contest.
Olivia Hasenkamp was dominant in a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles on a blustery, windy day. Kaitlyn Maitchell also won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Lily Haeberle/Bethany Blachly won 6-1, 6-1 to clinch the match at No. 2 doubles.
Mia Knoop at No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Jo Harvey/Maddy Potter each won their first sets and were playing in the second set when rain shortened their respective matches.
The Dragons are now 9-2 on the season.
Baseball
Dragons soar past Eagles
The New Palestine baseball team scored seven early runs Wednesday and pulled away for a 9-1 victory over Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Delta, securing its fifth straight victory.
The win improved the Dragons’ season record to 11-5 overall and 6-3 in HHC play.
The Dragons scored four runs in the first inning and followed with three in the second. Carter Stogsdill was hit by a pitch to start the game. Zayden Stiller and Maddox Manes followed with singles, bringing in a run. With two outs, Blaine Nunnally drew a walk to load the bases. All three scored on a throwing error.
In the second, Stiller and Manes led off with back-to-back hits. Wes Stiller followed with a run-scoring double. After a wild pitch brought in a run, Nunnally drilled an RBI single to give the Dragons a 7-0 lead.
Nunnally extended the lead to 8-1 with an RBI single in the fourth. Zayden Stiller drove in a run with a base hit in the fifth.
Manes got the pitching win, allowing four hits and one earned run over six innings. He struck out 11. Michael Thorpe struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh to close out the game.
The Dragons’ 12-hit attack was led by the top of the order. Zayden Stiller and Manes were both 3-for-4 with an RBI. Nunnally was 2-for-2 with a run and two RBI. Wes Stiller was 1-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI. Charlie Giesler was 1-for-1 with a double. Jackson Havel was 1-for-2 and Ben Morwick 1-for-3.
G-C’s Sims tosses no-hitter
The Greenfield-Central baseball team opened its two-game HHC series against rival Pendleton Heights with a 10-0 win in six innings Tuesday night.
The host Cougars improved to 7-9 on the season and 4-5 in the HHC behind junior Conner Sims’ second no-hitter this year.
Sims went six innings with nine strikeouts and three walks issued against 21 batters faced.
The Cougars’ hitters supported their ace with 13 hits, three stolen bases and four extra-base hits, including a home run by Joe Roland.
Andrew Zellers, Brodie Mayberry and Sims each connected for doubles.
The Cougars built a 5-0 lead after the bottom of the first, added another run in the third and four more through the fifth and sixth to win by run-rule.
Zellers finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Roland was 3-for-3 with two runs, a stolen base and two RBI. Mayberry went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Sims was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Corbin Tilley (1-for-1) and Landon Brooks each drove in a run apiece.
Zach Austin, Lane Wadle, Jaden Markus and Jaden McGee (stolen base) each posted singles. Grant Shepherd drew two walks, scored a run and stole a base.
The Cougars’ series finale at Pendleton Heights was postponed on Thursday due to rain.
Marauders win series opener
The Mt. Vernon baseball team pushed past host New Castle, 8-6, on Wednesday night to win its two-game HHC series opener.
The victory improved Mt. Vernon’s season record to 9-7 and 7-2 in the HHC.
The Marauders grabbed an early 5-0 lead after the first two frames, but the Trojans rallied back to take a 6-5 advantage at the conclusion of the fourth inning.
Three runs scored by the Marauders in the top of the sixth and seventh put the visitors ahead for good.
The Marauders tallied nine hits, including doubles from Gehrig Slunaker and Konnor Scheidt, who finished 1-for-3 with three RBI and a walk.
Slunaker went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Bryce Miller delivered at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, four stolen bases and an RBI. Gavin Sullivan drove in a run. Nick Heitman stole a base.
Russell Weaver was 1-for-3, while Eli Bridenthal went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Devon Scheumann finished 1-for-1.
Nathan Criss earned the pitching win, pitching three frames of no-hit baseball to go with one walk and four strikeouts.
Bridenthal struck out seven batters in four innings pitched and surrendered six hits and six walks.
Royals fall to Eagles
The Eastern Hancock baseball team lost 14-2 to visiting Frankton on Monday.
The Royals are now 3-13 on the season.
Eastern Hancock recorded five hits. Nick Potts finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a double.
Wyatt Sutton went 2-for-3 with a run scored, a stolen base and a double. Chase Stewart was 1-for-2 with a run, a stolen base and a double.
The Royals host Heritage Christian on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Softball
Cougars win third straight
The Greenfield-Central softball team marched to its third consecutive victory on Wednesday, defeating visiting Shenandoah 9-3.
The Cougars defeated HHC foe New Castle, 11-1, on Monday at home to open the week.
Greenfield-Central improved its season record to 10-4 and are 3-1 in the HHC.
The Cougars trailed 3-0 after two innings against Shenandoah before a three-run bottom of the third tied the game. Six runs scored through the fifth and sixth frames completed their comeback effort.
G-C’s four-hit attack was paced by Josie White, who finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, a double, a sacrifice and three RBI. Morgan Hornaday went 2-for-3 with a home run, a run scored and an RBI. Faith Butler recorded the other hit.
Butler earned the complete-game pitching win, striking out two and walking seven. She surrendered five hits.
Royals topple Eagles
The Class 2A 12th-ranked Eastern Hancock softball team grounded 2A No. 11 Frankton, 9-4, on Wednesday.
The host Royals posted 12 hits, including home runs by Brooklyn Willis, Sammie Bolding and Kaylee Kline.
Bolding finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored. Caroline Stapleton went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
Emma Bolding was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Willis went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Grace Stapleton was 2-for-2 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run. Kline went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Taylor Koch went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, a stolen base and two walks drawn.
Madison Stephens earned the pitching win, striking out two over seven frames with four walks issued and six hits allowed.
The Royals are now 11-2-1 on the season and a perfect 5-0 in the Mid-Eastern Conference.
