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The Paper file photo
Crawfordsville High School
sophomore Marissa French scored a run and had a hit in the Class 3A No. 5
Athenians’ 4-3 IHSAA Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional semifinal loss Saturday
to Batesville. |
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| Softball
Saturday
IHSAA
Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional
At Mount Vernon HS
First
semifinal
Batesville 4, Crawfordsville 3
Crawfordsville 000 210 0
– 3 3 0
Batesville 010 200 1 – 4 10 4
WP: Devin Moorman B. LP:
Chelsea Day C.
Crawfordsville runs scored: Marissa French, Stormy
Staton, Chelsea Day
Batesville runs scored: Madi Lamppert, Ashley
Wuestefeld, Cassie Lecher, Billeigh Hankins
Crawfordsville RBI: Stormy
Staton, Hannah Fink, Marissa French
Batesville RBI: Jenny Meyer 2, Madi
Lamppert, Amy Wuestefeld
Crawfordsville hits: Stormy Staton, Hannah Fink,
Marissa French
Batesville hits: Amy Wuestefeld 3, Jenny Meyer 2, Ashley
Wuestefeld, Stacy Kessens, Madi Lamppert, Cassi Lecher, Billeigh
Hankins
HR: Madi Lamppert B
2B: Stormy Staton C; Amy Wuestefeld
B
Stolen bases: Crawfordsville 2 (Marissa French), Batesville 2 (Sarah
Schwegman, Cassi Lecher)
LOB: Crawfordsville 5, Batesville
4
Records: Crawfordsville 27-3, Batesville 17-6
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Reprinted Coutesy Of:
The Paper Of Montgomery County
www.thepaper24-7.com
By John
Groth
Sports
Editor
FORTVILLE,
Ind. – Crawfordsville High School softball coach Brian Norris wanted the
Athenians seniors to have their moment, their day.
But what was supposed
to be a special afternoon for Crawfordsville’s four seniors – filled with
graduation and a championship game appearance all in the same day – turned into
heartbreak in the last inning of Saturday’s Indiana High School Athletic
Association Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional semifinal.
With one out in
the bottom of the seventh inning, Batesville junior Amy Wuestefeld connected on
an RBI double to deep centerfield and junior Billeigh Hankins raced all the way
around from first base to give Batesville a 4-3 victory over Class 3A No. 5
Crawfordsville in Saturday’s opening IHSAA Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional
semifinal.
“This is a tough way to lose,” Norris said. “I really felt
good about this game. I don’t know. I would’ve liked to have had a try (in the
sectional title game).”
Batesville (18-7) advanced to the Mount Vernon
(Fortville) Regional final, losing 4-3 to Class 3A No. 2 New Palestine (27-3).
Crawfordsville (27-3) had its record-breaking season come to a close.
But Norris still hopes the Athenians will remember what a season they had.
Crawfordsville set a school record for wins (27); finished undefeated in
Sagamore Athletic Conference play (14-0) and won the conference title outright;
won its first Athenian Invitational championship; achieved a top 5 Class 3A
ranking; and captured its first IHSAA sectional championship in five years with
its 7-0 victory over conference rival Danville in the title game.
“It
hurts now. It should hurt,” Norris said. “I hope our younger players come back
and step up and do better next year. This is something they seniors will look
back on it and say ‘wow, that was an awesome, awesome year.’ It’s hard to look
back on that now, though.”
After battling back from its first two
deficits of this postseason, Crawfordsville couldn’t find a way to pull out the
victory.
The Athenians rallied two one-run deficits (1-0 and 3-2), tying
the game at 3-3 after sophomore Marissa French’s RBI single in the top of the
fifth inning.
But Crawfordsville left two runners on in that fifth
inning and one more in the top of the seventh, along with one each in the first,
second and fourth innings.
Senior Alex Brock was one of those runners.
She was hit by a pitch to start the top of the seventh but was left stranded
after the Athenians recorded three straight outs.
They scored runs off
only two of Batesville’s four errors and only had three hits.
After their
post-game meeting, senior third baseman Hayley Fink stopped to hug each one of
her teammates – a final hug before graduating a few hours later.
She and
her twin sister, Hannah, each won their first sectional titles in their careers
this year.
“They’re like my family,” Hayley Fink said. “I think this is
the closest group of girls we’ve ever had. We all love each other like a
family.”
Junior Stormy Staton pitched four innings – allowing seven hits
and three runs. Sophomore Chelsea Day pitched the final three innings, striking
out three batters and allowing three hits and a run.
Batesville junior
Madi Lamppert hit a solo home run to left field off Staton in the second inning
to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Staton responded two innings later,
smashing an RBI double to the left field fence and then scoring on a wild pitch
to put Crawfordsville up 2-1.
Batesville junior Jenny Meyer gave the
Bulldogs the lead again in the fifth at 3-2 with a two-RBI single before
Crawfordsville scored the tying run in the sixth.
Norris reiterated the
loss doesn’t diminish what Crawfordsville accomplished this season.
They’ll lose the Finks, Brock and Sarah Williams – who not only were
valued athletically but also mentally.
“We’ll miss their softball
ability but mostly their whole attitude about softball this year and the game,”
Norris said. “I’ve moved some of them around from position to position and
they’ve never griped. They did what they needed to do. We’ll have shoes to fill
in more ways than just their softball abilities.”
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