Mt. Vernon’s Carly Wilkerson returns a shot during her singles match against New Palestine on Monday, May 10, 2021.
MUNCIE — The Mt. Vernon girls tennis team couldn’t quite reach lucky No. 7.
The Marauders carried a perfect 6-0 record into their Hoosier Heritage Conference road match Wednesday against defending champion Delta, but the host Eagles put an end to their streak.
The Marauders won one of their three singles matches and challenged at two doubles, but the Eagles prevailed 4-1.
Mt. Vernon’s lone win came at No. 1 singles as Kylie Brandes won in two sets, 7-6, 6-1.
The Marauders’ doubles tandem of Madison Swingle and Shay Shipley battled through three sets before losing in a tough match.
Mt. Vernon drops to 6-1 on the season with the loss and 2-1 in the HHC.
Prior to the setback, the defending Hancock County and sectional champion Marauders cruised to a 4-1 win over HHC foe Pendleton Heights to open the season on April 7.
They swept HHC foe Shelbyville, 5-0, on April 14, followed by a 3-0 performance during their own invitational this past Saturday. The Marauders defeated Danville, 5-0, and Northwestern, 3-2, before besting Marion, 4-1, in the invitational finals this weekend.
A 5-0 win over Bishop Chatard on Tuesday put the Marauders at 6-0 overall.
Up next, Mt. Vernon travels to county rival Greenfield-Central today before hosting the county tournament on Friday night, beginning at 5 p.m.
Cougars tame Bulldogs
The Greenfield-Central girls tennis team defeated host Lapel, 4-1, on Tuesday to improve its season record to 3-1.
Jaclyn Layton, Brianna McConnell, Hallie Smith, Lauren Chastain, Leah Puckett and Emma Berty all won for the Cougars.
The Cougars have won three straight matches after defeating Blue River Valley, 4-1, April 8 and Morristown, 5-0, on April 12.
They host Mt. Vernon today before the county tournament on Friday.
Royals gaining momentum
The Eastern Hancock girls tennis team traveled to Triton Central on Tuesday and won 3-2.
Bianca Di Vittorio won at No. 1 singles for the Royals, 6-0, 6-3. At 2 singles, Violette Sagalowicz won 6-2, 6-0.
The clinching match came tied 2-2, where the No. 1 doubles team of Savanah Hardin/Lexi Swauger won in a three-hour match, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
The other two matches went three sets with Tori Parker getting edged out 3-6, 6-1, 4-6 at No. 3 singles, and the two doubles team of Abby Bolding/Mikayla Hardy losing, 3-6, 6-2, 3-6.
“After a disappointing showing Saturday, the girls came out ready to fight. We are a young team, but we are getting better with each match,” EH head coach Christopher Hardin said. “We have some work to do, but we are gaining confidence with each day.”
Prior to Tuesday, the Royals finished second at their own invitational on Saturday.
Jay County won the event with 26 points, followed by EH at 23, Blue River Valley with 11 and Seton Catholic placing fourth.
The Royals advanced to the invitational finals in all five positions, but only netted a pair of wins from Di Vittorio and Sagalowicz in singles play.
Dragons score a sweep
The New Palestine tennis team posted a 5-0 victory Tuesday over Edinburgh.
The Dragons swept their singles matches with Abby Blachly winning, 6-0, 7-5, in the evening’s longest match. Olivia Hasenkamp won, 6-0, 6-2, and Kaitlyn Mitchell won, 6-1, 6-0.
At doubles, Jo Harvey/Maddy Potter won 6-2, 6-2, while Lily Haeberle/Bethany Blachly won 6-3, 6-1.
The Dragons are now 4-0 on the season after defeating Triton Central, 4-1, last week and New Castle, 5-0, on April 7. They opened with the season with a 3-2 win over Whiteland on April 6.
Softball
Dragons topple state-ranked Tigers
Allie Blum hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the seventh inning, lifting the Class 4A No. 5 New Palestine softball team to a 4-3 victory at 3A No. 4 Yorktown on Tuesday.
The victory gives the Dragons a 5-0-1 record and a 1-0 Hoosier Heritage Conference standing.
Blum’s blast came on an 0-1 pitch to lead off the seventh, and came moments after Yorktown had tied the game with a two-out homer the previous half-inning.
Yorktown led off the seventh with a single, but Dragons pitcher Katie Kottlowski retired the next three batters, with Grace Paquette snaring a line drive in right for the final out.
The Dragons were out hit 8-5 but took advantage of their opportunities, drawing three walks and adding two base runners via error. Blum led the Dragons, going 2-for-4 with a homer, a triple and two RBI. Katie Hirschy was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBI. Alyssa Mumaw was 2-for-3 with a run.
Kottlowski picked up the pitching win in relief, allowing one earned run and four hits in four innings. She struck out three.
The Dragons are next in action today at Mt. Vernon.
Royals fall to Wildcats
The Class 2A ninth-ranked Eastern Hancock Royals softball team dropped its second game of the season with a 13-2 loss at Lawrence North on Wednesday.
The Royals (5-2-1) had won four games in the past nine days with victories over Monroe Central, 23-0, on Tuesday and a 17-4 win over Tri on Saturday.
EH beat Shenandoah, 17-0, on Thursday after blanking Randolph Southern, 14-0, on April 12.
Against LN, the Royals lost in five innings behind five hits compared to the Wildcats’ 12. All 13 LN runs scored in the first two frames.
EH tallied two doubles and a home run from Sammie Bolding (1-for-3, RBI). Kaylee Stewart (1-for-1, double) recorded the Royals only other RBI.
Brooklyn Willis finished 2-for-3 with a double, and Kaylee Kline went 1-for-2.
Marauders win HHC opener
The Mt. Vernon Marauders defeated visiting New Castle, 6-2, on Wednesday to improve to 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in the HHC.
The win was the Marauders’ second in consecutive days after defeating host Frankton, 9-7, on Tuesday.
Against New Castle, Mt. Vernon recorded six hits and led from the start with a two-run bottom of the first inning.
Mya Fields finished 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a double. Easton Wampler drove in a run, and Graci Hines went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Hines earned the win from the circle, striking out 13 over seven innings with three walks and two hits allowed.
Against Frankton, Mt. Vernon racked up 12 hits. Wampler went 4-for-4 with a home run.
Hines went seven innings for the win, allowing seven hits and seven runs while striking out 10.
Golf
Dragons secure first victory
The New Palestine boys golf team earned its first victory of the year Tuesday, beating Franklin Central, 164-181, at Hawk’s Tail.
Matthew Barada was match medalist with a 38. He shot a double-bogey on the first hole, then tallied eight consecutive pars.
Braeden Baker added a 39, Landon Beaty a 43 and Gus Walling a 44. Evan Griffith’s 46 and Alex Cofer’s 47 were the fifth and sixth scores.
The Dragons are at Hawk’s Tail today against Triton Central.
Arabians slip past Marauders
The Mt. Vernon boys golf team lost 175-164 to visiting Pendleton Heights at Ironwood G.C. on Tuesday.
Medalist for the teams was Pendleton Heights’ Sam Denny with a 38. For the Marauders, freshman Jace Lugar led with a 42. Senior Dylan Dreiman shot a 43, sophomore Sam Bridenthal had a 44 and Nils Erkmanis a 46.
Track & Field
Marauders win Marion Relays
Saturday at the Marion Relays, the third-longest running track event in Indiana, the Mt. Vernon boys track and field team took first place with 134 points over Yorktown at 81, South Bend Adams at 71 and Kokomo at 60.5 with a total of nine teams competing.
Winning for MV was Andres Langston in the high jump in 6-feet, George Burhenn in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.7, Keagan La Belle in the pole vault at 13-0, the sprint medley relay of Caden Wildey, Derrick Marble, Burhenn and Langston in 1:37.41 and the 4×400 relay in 3:32.23 with Burhenn, William Morris, Tristan Trevino and Langston.
MV set a new outdoor distance medley relay record at 11:06 with Reyce Morgan, Daylon King, Joseph Blagrave and Austin Rush finishing second to Ft. Wayne Concordia.
Baseball
Tigers sweep Cougars
The Greenfield-Central baseball team lost its third straight game Wednesday, as HHC foe Yorktown swept their two-game series.
The Tigers won at Greenfield-Central on Tuesday, 8-7, to take the series lead before capping their sweep in Yorktown, 3-2, Wednesday.
The Cougars also lost at Fishers, 9-3, on Saturday in a doubleheader, which drops their season record to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the HHC.
On Wednesday, the Cougars posted eight hits with RBI from A.J. Oden (2-for-3) and Grant Shepherd (2-for-4).
Lane Wadle (1-for-2), Brodie Mayberry (1-for-3), Landon Brooks (1-for-3) and Andrew Zellers (1-for-3) recorded the team’s other hits.
Zellers absorbed the tough loss, pitching six frames with four hits allowed, no earned runs and 10 strikeouts.
