By Mike McGrawExecutive DirectorGREENWOOD – The first Saturday in June was a day the Center Grove softball team will long remember. And it was a day that Trojan sophomore Liz Prince will never forget.
Prince was instrumental in both Class 4A Regional 3 games that saw fourth-ranked host Center Grove (31-3) first beat No. 1 Avon, 1-0, then claim the regional title by downing No. 3 Carmel, 7-5.
The reward for now-prohibitive favorite – you earn a label like that when you toss aside the state’s No. 1 and No. 3 teams in succession – is an 8:30 p.m. ET date June 12 with unranked Lowell (23-10) in the 4A state semifinals at Ben Davis. No. 15 Harrison (West Lafayette) and No. 16 Floyd Central will face off in the other semi, with the winners clashing the next night at 7:30 for the 4A title.
In this day’s opening-round contest versus Avon (28-3), Prince’s heroics were sudden and deadly to say the least.
The Orioles’ superlative hurler, Jenny Esparza, took not only a no-hitter but a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh inning. But with one out in that final frame, she surrendered a walk. That brought Prince to the plate, and she quickly sent a drive into right-center field that plated the game’s only run.
The hit not only sent the Trojans into the final, but it also avenged a regular-season 3-1 loss to Esparza and Avon.
The second game of the morning session contained no such drama as Carmel dismantled an outmanned Indianapolis Cathedral (10-13) by a score of 8-0.
The Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning when Katie Jones’ single was misplayed in right field, sending a run across. That was all the support Erika Petruzzi needed as the senior shut down the Irish with little trouble the entire day.
The big blow of the game was a fifth-inning home run by Katie Osborne, the solo shot giving Carmel a 4-0 lead.
The two shutout victories set the stage for a rematch between Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rivals. The regular-season showdown was won 2-0 by the Greyhounds (26-4), and it appeared for awhile that the pitching would be just as dominant this time around.
Emily Gwaltney of Center Grove and Carmel’s Osborne both cruised through the first three innings of the championship tilt. But that all changed dramatically in the fourth frame.
Center Grove loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with only one out. But Osborne responded by producing back-to-back strikeouts, sending the Trojans back into the field frustrated. In the bottom of the inning, Carmel sophomore outfielder Kelsi Jones belted a two-run homer to left to give the Greyhounds a 2-0 lead.
The blast made the Trojans’ failure to capitalize on their threat in the top of the inning loom very large.
It didn’t appear that way for long, however. In the top of the fifth, the Trojans again loaded the bags with only one out, and this time they cashed in.
The big blow was a two-run single by – you guessed it – Liz Prince. Center Grove went on to add four more runs in its half of the sixth inning, and suddenly the lead was 7-2.
But even
that lead didn’t last long. Gwaltney began to tire in the bottom half of the inning, and Carmel quickly struck back by putting two runners on and sending Jones to the plate. She responded just as she had in the fourth, by driving a 3-2 pitch out of the park to bring Carmel within two at 7-5.
But Center Grove sophomore Sarah Franklin made sure that was as close as the Greyhounds would get. In relief of Gwaltney, she spun an inning-and-a-third of scoreless relief to seal victory for the Trojans.
Trojans will be looking for their fifth state title next weekend at Ben Davis. Hoosier Authority spoke briefly with Center Grove coach Russ Milligan after the thrilling morning game. His comments are in the video player on this page.
3. Center Grove RegionalGame 1 – #4 Center Grove 1, #1 Avon 0
Game 2 – #3 Carmel 8, Indianapolis Cathedral 0
Championship – #4 Center Grove 7, #3 Carmel 5