By Dennis Clark
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE
May 08, 2008 11:45 pm
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The field for the 24th IHSAA softball state tournament was announced Thursday with sectional play running from May 19-24.
The Class 4A sectional will be at Martinsville this year, with the host No. 7-ranked Artesians and Mooresville gaining the first round bye. In the opening round games, Northview will oppose South, followed by North vs. Plainfield.
“We didn’t get the bye so we would have to drive to Martinsville three nights in a row,” stated North coach Jack Kirchner. “I think it’s wide open. We’ll have to play three good games to win the sectional.”
“It all comes down to pitching and defense for us,” noted South coach Steve Woerner. “Getting Macy Toon back [from injury] this weekend after being out the last 10 games … it gets us back our shortstop.”
South Vermillion is host team for the Class 3A sectional for the first time in school history. All six 3A Western Indiana Conference schools are in the field, including No. 2 ranked Edgewood.
“Edgewood will be the favorite,” admitted South Vermillion coach Mike Kennedy. “We have a doubleheader at Edgewood on Saturday, so we will find out how good they are when we play.”
South Vermillion is a contender, being undefeated in the WIC thus far.
Linton gets the bye in the Class 2A South Knox sectional.
But perhaps the most competitive sectionals are at Class A, where Clay City and Riverton Parke are hosts of five-team fields at both sites.
The Clay City venue is the most intriguing, with two of their teams ranked in the top 10 (North Central No. 7, Shakamak No. 8) and two other teams receiving votes in the latest poll (White River Valley and Shakamak).
Riverton Parke is an all-Wabash River Conference field, with North Vermillion getting the first-round bye.
Specific dates and times for these sectionals will be announced later, except for the South Vermillion schedule which was announced Thursday.
Class 4A
Martinsville
Northview vs. Terre Haute South
Plainfield vs. Terre Haute North
Winner of game 1 vs. Winner of game 2
Mooresville vs. Martinsville
Championship — Winner of game 3 vs. Winner of game 4
CLASS 3A
South Vermillion
May 19 — South Vermillion vs. Brown County, 7 p.m.
May 20 — West Vigo vs. Owen Valley, 6 p.m.; followed by Edgewood vs. Greencastle.
May 21 — Sullivan vs. Winner of game 1, 6 p.m.; followed by Winner game 2 vs. Winner game 3.
May 22 — Championship game, 7 p.m.
CLASS 2A
South Knox
South Knox vs. North Knox
Bloomfield vs. Eastern Greene
Linton-Stockton vs. Winner of game 1
Championship — Winner of game 2 vs. Winner of game 3
CLASS A
Riverton Parke
Riverton Parke vs. Turkey Run
Rockville vs. Covington
North Vermillion vs. Winner of game 1
Championship— Winner of game 2 vs. Winner of game 3
Clay City
Shakamak vs. White River Valley
Union (Dugger) vs. Clay City
North Central (Farmersburg) vs. Winner of game 1
Championship — Winner of game 2 vs. Winner of game 3
Note: All tournaments are May 19-24.
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