By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
NEW PALESTINE — The battle between two of the top Class 4A softball teams in the state was one-sided on Wednesday night when Center Grove and New Palestine met at New Palestine High School.
Missing their top pitcher, Riley Henson, the No. 1 ranked Trojans fell 10-0 to the No. 11 Dragons.
Without the 11-1 Henson, it was freshman Aiyana Keown that got the start in the circle, and it took just five batters for the Dragons’ offense to force her out of the game.
A leadoff walk to catcher Aglaia Rudd set up Allie Blum for her team-leading sixth home run of the season. A hard-hit ball to right-center hit the top of the fence and bounced over for an early 2-0 New Palestine lead.
Alyssa Mumaw and Paige Ernstes smacked consecutive doubles, and Reese Rosenbaum added an RBI-single to force Center Grove head coach Alyssa Coleman to make a pitching change.
“They’re tough. You could see in warmups that they’re very talented and very disciplined,” New Palestine head coach Ed Marcum said. “Coming out with four runs in the first was key and kind of took out any momentum they might have had. You can relax a little bit more pitching with the lead.”
Another freshman, Riley Fuhr replaced Keown and retired the next three batters. She stayed in the remainder of the game, allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks.
“That’s huge. It’s opportunities that they can’t ever get back, so in that sense I’m hoping they’re just taking it all in,” Coleman said of being able to throw two freshman pitchers against a ranked opponent. “[Riley] was the shining star for us. She came in a tough spot and shut them down. She was great.”
While Center Grove threw two freshmen, the Dragons threw their ace — Courtney Study.
In maybe her best performance of the season, Study held the Trojans high-scoring offense scoreless through the five-inning complete game, and allowed just five hits.
“[Courtney] threw great. She was hitting her spots, and did a really nice job of moving the ball around and getting ahead in the count, which was huge,” Marcum said. “She allowed them to put it in play and let our defense work. That was key, but she pitched very well.”
With a slew of lefties in the lineup, the left side of the New Palestine infield was put to work. At shortstop, Blum made a few diving catches and tough throws to first for outs, alongside Ernstes at third who did the same.
“They’re really fast. Defensively, we were spectacular,” Marcum said. “Courtney threw the ball great, but our defense was amazing. Allie was making diving catch after diving catch, and Paige did a great job at third.”
While the New Palestine defense made it difficult, a Center Grove offense that has helped fuel the Trojans to a 15-4 record and the top ranking in the state was shut out for the second straight game after a 17-0 loss on Monday to No. 2 Roncalli.
“I think we’re hitting it too much at people right now, and we’re not having team at-bats where we string hits together,” Coleman said. “If we’re going to be cold right now though, I’ll take it if we’re hot at the end.”
The two-run Blum home run in the first was all the Dragons needed, but they added two-spots in the second, fourth, and fifth to end the game after five.
Alyssa Mumaw walked things off with an RBI-single in the fifth. The single was Mumaw’s fourth hit of the game to lead both teams. Ernstes led New Palestine with three RBIs.
“I think they’re getting comfortable with each other. We kind of moved some things around a bit, but they work hard, and we hit a lot,” Marcum said. “Hitting is a lot mental, so I think once you start getting it rolling, your confidence starts going up and your hitting is improved.”
Five different Trojans recorded singles, while Ashlynn Wolff was the only Center Grove batter to reach base twice.
New Palestine 10, Center Grove 0
Center Grove (15-4);000;00; — ;0;5;1
New Palestine (10-2);420;22; — ;10;11;1
Aiyana Keown, Riley Fuhr (1) and Payton Shimansky. Courtney Study and Aglaia Rudd. 2B: NP – Alyssa Mumaw, Paige Ernstes. HR: NP – Allie Blum (6). WP: Courtney Study (7-0). LP: Aiyana Keown (3-1)
