Lauren Honkomp
Amanda Wilson
LIBERTY, Ind. – Centerville and Union County both advance to the next round of the Class 2A Softball Sectional 41 on Monday night.
Centerville survived a tight battle with a 2-1 victory over Northeastern, while Union County defeated Winchester 10-0 in five innings.
With their wins, the Bulldogs (11-5) and Patriots (21-6) meet in the semifinals on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“They play the game well,” Centerville Head Coach Avon Miller said of Union County. “We just hope for a good day.”
Union County Head Coach Scott Gray agreed as the Patriots look to avenge a 5-2 regular season loss to the Bulldogs.
“It’s going to be real tough,” he said. “We’re clicking at the right time. We’ve have been playing extremely well.”
Also on Tuesday, Hagerstown (9-11) and Knightstown (12-10) play at 7 p.m. The Tigers and Panthers did not meet in the regular season. Tuesday’s winners are slated to play for the championship on Wednesday.
“It was a very well played game,” Centerville Head Coach Avon Miller said of Monday’s tight contest. “We just happened to capitalize on one or two hits and that made the difference.”
“It took us awhile to get the formula to get everything to work (this season),” Miller added. “It was a great victory for the girls.”
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fifth in the opener.
Cassidy Weiss walked to begin the frame and then Amanda Wilson hit a triple to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. One out later, Lauren Honkomp made it 2-0 with a RBI ground out.
Northeastern scored its run in the top of the sixth on a RBI single by Leah Hoskins that scored Katie Schneider, who had reached on a single.
Honkomp tossed a complete game for Centerville as she allowed five hits with 16 strikeouts.
“Lauren did an outstanding job,” Miller said.
Schneider went the distance for the Knights giving up three hits and fanning six.
Big Start for Patriots
Emma Adams
Tanner Henry
Union County scored eight times in the bottom of the first to take command of the second contest.
“It was important,” Gray said. “We needed to jump on them early and we did that. I was happy we didn’t come out nervous. We got the bats going early.”
Emma Adams got things started with a two-run single and then Kristin Klein, Rachel Sparks amd Makayla Pike added RBI hits and it was 5-0.
Tanner Henry followed with a two-run triple. Tara Williams capped the rally with the last RBI single.
Adams made it 9-0 with a solo homer in the fourth before Henry ended the game with a RBI double in the fifth.
Danielle Franklin worked four innings to get the win for the Patriots as she and Sparks limted the Falcons to two hits by Rikki Phenis and Morgan Friend, while Becca Neville pitched for the Falcons.