Published: May 03, 2008 11:50 pm            

Patriots claim first Big Four softball title since 2003

Brazil — Coach Jack Kirchner didn’t know how his Terre Haute North softball team would respond in the annual Big Four Classic after losing on the road to Carmel and Center Grove late Friday night and getting home at 1 a.m. Saturday.

As it turned out, the Patriots did just fine.

For the first time since 2003, North won the Big Four title in softball, defeating Northview 5-0 and West Vigo 18-1 in five innings on a windy Saturday at Northview High School to finish 3-0 in the tournament.

The Patriots also defeated Terre Haute South 9-0 Tuesday at South as part of the Big Four.

In the other Big Four contest played Saturday at Northview, South routed West Vigo 15-5 in six innings.

Northview placed second in the tourney with a 2-1 mark, thanks in part to its 15-0 home triumph over West Vigo on Tuesday. But the Knights — playing without standout Erica Conrad, who’s been recovering from pneumonia — couldn’t manufacture much offense against North pitcher Bethany Sullivan in Saturday’s most important matchup.

“Defensively, we played strong in both games today,” Northview coach Bethany Jones said. “Offensively, we struggled in that North game. We knew Sullivan had a change[up] and a rise[ball] and we told our hitters to stay off of them. We weren’t as selective as we normally are.”

North seized an early advantage with three unearned runs in the second inning. Freshman Kelsey Coffey led off with a walk. One out later, Brittney Isom singled and stole second base. With two outs, Kelsey Rosselli reached on an infield throwing error, which allowed Coffey to touch home. Then Carly Butwin dumped a two-run single into right-center field.

The only earned run allowed by Northview pitcher Katie Smith occurred in the sixth on a solo homer to left-center by Kelly Meggs.

The Patriots’ final run came in the seventh, again unearned. With one out, Rosselli walked and stole second. With two outs, Danielle Ketner singled sharply and the ball rolled past the left fielder, enabling Rosselli to race home.

Sullivan, a sophomore right-hander, gave up only three hits to the defending Big Four champions.

“Jack’s got a strong team this year — solid throughout,” Jones mentioned. “We were expecting it to be a tough game. We’ll play them again in a week and a half [May 14] at our place and maybe again in the sectional. We’ll be looking for them next time and hopefully we’ll be ready to play from Pitch 1.”

“It was a good ballgame,” Kirchner assessed. “Carly Butwin stepped up and got the big two-out hit to give us that three-run lead.”

In the afternoon, North jumped ahead of West Vigo in the first inning on a two-run homer to left by Meggs. Her second roundtripper of the day also was her second of the season.

“I got two pitches right down the middle,” Meggs said, trying to explain her newfound power. “I just hit ’em on the nose.”

The Vikings answered with one of their own in the bottom of the first, then the rest of the game belonged to the Patriots.

Ketner added a three-run blast to left in North’s seven-run third frame. The sophomore third baseman ended up with four runs batted in.

Four more North runs in the fifth increased the margin to 18-1. Isom pitched a three-hitter to pick up the victory.

“It was a rough day,” admitted West Vigo coach Amanda Woelfle, whose squad hit slightly better against South earlier Saturday but still lost.

The Braves got three hits, including a double, from Carmen Wickware in that matchup.

According to the Northview scorebook, South had only one hit against the Knights in their afternoon clash.

“We’re starting to play a little better now,” South coach Steve Woerner said. “I’ve had so many kids [this season] out with injuries and rules violations. We’re awfully young and our pitching’s real thin… But the girls played well today. The last time we played Northview, they beat us 17-9.”



Big Four Classic

Tournament records — Terre Haute North 3-0, Northview 2-1, Terre Haute South 1-2, West Vigo 0-3.

Saturday’s games

Terre Haute South 401 109 — 15 15 2

West Vigo 002 030 — 5 5 13

Price (W, 5-11) and Fendrick; Woodward, Furrey (6) and Stewart. L — Woodward, 0-2.

Highlights — For South, Carmen Wickware went 3 for 4 with a double, Katie Moon and winning pitcher Kayla Price each went 2 for 4, Tara Decker went 2 for 5 with a double and 2 stolen bases, Kaitlyn Pluta went 2 for 5 with a double and a steal, Ciara Hall went 2 for 5 with a steal and Katie Kigin added 2 steals. For West Vigo, Chelsea Powers went 2 for 2 with a double and 2 runs and Gina Furrey went 2 for 3 with a double and 3 RBIs.



Terre Haute North 257 04 — 18 18 1

West Vigo 100 00 — 1 3 2

Woodward, Elkins (3), C.Ketner (4) and Stewart, T.Miller (5). W — Isom, 5-3. L — Woodward, 0-3. HR — THN: Meggs (2), D.Ketner (3).

Highlights — For North, Danielle Ketner went 2 for 3 with a home run, 4 RBIs and a stolen base; Kelly Meggs went 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and 2 RBIs; Kelsey Coffey went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs; Kelsey Rosselli went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs; Kelbie Drebes went 2 for 3; winning pitcher Brittney Isom went 2 for 2 with a double and 2 walks; Bethany Sullivan went 2 for 4; and Lindsey McBride contributed a double. For West Vigo, Samantha Richey scored the only run and stole a base.



Terre Haute South 000 010 0 — 1 1 6

Northview 201 023 x — 8 9 1

Orndorff (L, 0-1) and Fendrick; Colson (W, 6-4) and LaTourette. HR — Nv: Smith (1).

Highlights — For Northview, Traci Sanders went 3 for 4 with a double, Katie Smith clouted a 2-run homer in the 5th inning and Kyler Clark ended up 2 for 4 with a double. For South, Ashley Hilton knocked in the only run.

Next — North (11-7) will play Wednesday at Bloomington South. South (5-14) will play Monday at Clay City. Northview (9-7) will be at home Monday to face Riverton Parke. West Vigo (3-14) will battle Edgewood on Thursday at Terre Haute North’s field.



Friday scores (unrelated to the Big Four) — Carmel 8, Terre Haute South 2; Center Grove 10, Terre Haute South 0; Center Grove 3, Terre Haute North 1; Carmel 9, Terre Haute North 1. North finished 3rd in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference.



TH North 5, Northview 0

11 a.m. game

TH North ab r h bi Northview ab r h bi

Ketner 3b 4 0 1 0 Thomas cf 3 0 1 0

Branche c 4 0 0 0 Clark lf 2 0 0 0

Meggs ss 3 1 2 1 Colson rf-3b 2 0 0 0

Coffey rf 1 1 0 0 Sanders ss-1b 3 0 0 0

Sullivan p 3 0 0 0 LaTourette c 3 0 0 0

Isom 1b 3 1 1 0 Raderstorf 1b 1 0 0 0

Alli 2b 2 0 0 0 Matson rf 2 0 0 0

Rosselli cf 2 2 0 0 Smith p 3 0 1 0

Butwin lf 3 0 1 2 Kimball pr 0 0 0 0

Enders 2b 1 0 0 0

Phillips 3b-ss 2 0 1 0

Totals 25 5 5 3 Totals 22 0 3 0

Terre Haute North 030 001 1 — 5

Northview 000 000 0 — 0

E — Sanders, Clark. DP — Nv 1. LOB — THN 3, Nv 4. HR — Meggs (1). SH — Clark, Enders. SB — Rosselli 2, Colson, Isom, Meggs, Phillips. CS — Meggs.

IP H R ER BB SO

Terre Haute North

Sullivan (W, 6-4) 7.0 3 0 0 1 1

Northview

Smith (L, 3-3) 7.0 5 5 1 4 2

WP — Sullivan.

        

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