THE REPORTER
The Hamilton Southeastern softball team split a pair of games played at Fort Wayne Carroll last Saturday.
In their first game, the Royals beat the host Chargers 8-3. Carroll scored one run in the first inning, but Southeastern’s Morgan Hicks smacked a three-run double in the third inning and the Royals held the lead from there. Addy Justice, Megan Wincek and Lani Wyrick all scored.
Wincek got a big hit in the fourth inning, cracking a triple to bring in Paige Gould. Wincek later scored on a wild pitch, and Payton Fox’s right field hit got Makenna Selm home. Fox also batted in two runs with a sixth-inning single, sending Wyrick and Selm home.
Justice and Fox both had two hits. Sage Ladig went four and two-thirds innings for the win, tossing three strikeouts. Grace Swedarsky struck out six in relief.
Southeastern dropped its second game 2-0 to South Bend St. Joseph. Fox and Hicks both had one hit, while Swedarsky threw 11 strikeouts in a complete game.
The Royals are 16-7 and play Tuesday at Franklin Central and Thursday at Ben Davis, then finish the regular season Friday by hosting Yorktown.
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Carmel also split a pair of games last Saturday, traveling to northwest Indiana to play two tough teams on their home fields.
First, the Greyhounds beat Crown Point 8-7 in a back-and-forth game. Both teams scored a run in the first inning; Lily Sullivan hit a double for Carmel, then Hope McDonald sent her home with a double.
A two-RBI double gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The ‘Hounds tied it up in the top of the fourth. Sullivan led off with another double, then McDonald drove her in with a center field hit. McDonald later scored on an error.
Carmel went up 4-3 in the fifth inning after Sullivan hit her third double of the game to score Sophie Esposito. Crown Point put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth and led 5-4.
The Greyhounds took the lead for good in the sixth inning with four runs. Gracyn Erickson scored on Mia Fleming’s RBI fielder’s choice, then Alex Longsterth’s left field hit brought in Esposito and Fleming. Sullivan then hit a center field single to score Longstreth and give Carmel an 8-5 lead. The Bulldogs scored two in the bottom of the sixth, but the ‘Hounds took care of them three-up, three-down in the seventh.
Sullivan had a perfect hitting game, going 4-for-4. McDonald had two hits, a double and a single, while Erickson also hit a double. Lucy Broughton pitched a complete game for the win.
Carmel played at Munster next, and fell 3-1. The Mustangs scored all three of their runs in the first inning. The Greyhounds scored one in the sixth inning; Esposito got home when Sullivan reached on error.
Erickson hit a triple for Carmel.
The Greyhounds are 5-13 and host Harrison Monday and Shelbyville on Tuesday before finishing the regular-season Thursday at Greenfield-Central.
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Westfield dropped a 4-1 game to Mooresville last Saturday.
The Shamrocks scored their run in the seventh inning when Chloe Tanner hit a sacrifice fly that brought Allie Dolenc home. Chloe Tanner pitched a complete game, striking out five.
Westfield is 12-12 and plays Monday at Western, then hosts Avon Tuesday and McCutcheon Thursday in its regular-season finale.
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Sheridan dropped two games at the Madison-Grant Argyll Classic last Saturday.
The Blackhawks fell to Cowan 15-5 in five innings in their opener. Sheridan scored all five of its runs in the first inning. Mariana Lopez singled in Jacquellynne Bates. Chaney Smith got home when Ashlynn Tryon drew a bases-loaded walk. Lopez scored on Shelby Eaton’s RBI groundout, Abbi Merritt was brought in by Kennedy Zachary’s bases-loaded walk, then Bates was hit by a pitch to score Tryon.
Cowan scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, then took the lead with three runs in the second inning. Lopez had two hits.
Sheridan dropped its second game to Union City 13-3 in five innings. Smith hit a two-run home run in the third inning, also scoring Bates. It was Smith’s first-ever homer. Bates doubled in Emma Settles in the fifth inning; Bates had two hits for the game.
The Blackhawks are 2-21 and play Taylor Monday in the first round of the Hoosier Heartland Conference tournament. The game will be played at 5 p.m. at Abby & Libby Park in Delphi.