By Eric Eaton
Hoosier Crossroads Conference Coordinator
CARMEL – Rain, Rain, Rain, would you just please go away!
I’m quite confident that is a phrase being uttered by nearly every
follower of the 4A softball state finals, as for the third scheduled
day of play rain forced postponement of the 4A State Finals from Cherry
Tree Elementary School in Carmel.
#2 McCutcheon and LaPorte took the field on June 9 for their semifinal
game under hot sunny skies. Unfortunately though, the bright skies
would eventually give way to thunderstorms forcing the stoppage of the
game after four-complete innings of play and McCutcheon leading 4-0.
The game will resume at 1:30 P.M. on June 10 at Ben Davis High School
in Indianapolis. The winner will face 4A #6 Franklin Central in the
state championship game at 6:30 P.M., also at Ben Davis.
The McCutcheon/LaPorte game was scoreless through the first two-innings
of play. McCutcheon then scored an unearned run in the top of the
third-inning to break on top.
Megan Millikan scored the first run of the game for the Mavericks on a
throwing error by LaPorte pitcher Amanda Jones. With two outs in the
inning, Jones overthrew teammate Karoline Richie at first base
attempting to throw out McCutcheon’s Kelsey Rummel, which allowed
Millikan to score.
The Mavericks would then increase their lead in the top-half of the fourth inning by plating three more runs.
Junior Meg Teller drove in the first-run of the inning with an RBI
single which scored Maggie Tull. Jones then walked both Megan Gray and
Kendra Julian to load the bases.
Mavericks Coach Jim Bates then called upon Kristen Garza to pinch-hit
for Millikan. Garza then made her coach look brilliant, delivering a
two-run single which scored both Teller and Gray to give the Mavericks
a 4-0 lead.
McCutcheon’s starting pitcher, Tori Collins, then followed by holding
the Slicers without a run for the fourth consecutive inning as the
skies began to open up with rain.
A fifth inning of play would never occur as lightening and heavy rains forced IHSAA officials to suspend the game.
The rain eventually stopped and the sunshine returned, but the field
was unable to be made ready for safe play. As a result, the game was
officially suspended after a four-hour and forty-minute delay.
In the first semifinal, #6 Franklin Central closed out #12 East Central 6-0 in a game that was resumed from Friday.
The game had been suspended on June 6 after two innings of play, with the Flashes leading 5-0.
Franklin Central pitcher Chanda Bell had held the Trojans without a hit
at the time of the stoppage. And when play was finally resumed, the
senior picked up right where she had left off, pitching a complete-game
no-hitter, which included 16 strikeouts.
Should Franklin Central and McCutcheon meet in the state championship
game, it won’t be the first time the two teams have squared of this
season. The Mavericks defeated the Flashes on April 12 by a score of
2-0 as part of The Mav Classic.
Collins pitched a gem of a ballgame in that encounter with Franklin
Central, tossing a complete-game on-hitter which included 15 strikeouts.
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