INDIANAPOLIS
Abby Herbst pitched a gem and drove in a run as Class 4A No. 1 Center Grove advanced to the title game of the Franklin Central softball sectional.
By defeating Franklin, 3-0, in the second semifinal Tuesday night, the Trojans avenged their lone loss of the season. The Grizzly Cubs defeated the Trojans, 11-7, in a semifinal game at the Johnson County tournament.
Herbst didn’t pitch that game, but this time she allowed three hits and struck out 10. Center Grove had only two hits, but more than made up with excellent defense.
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Center Grove (27-1) faces Martinsville (23-4) in tonight’s 6 p.m. championship game.
“It is never about revenge. It is simply about moving on and doing what it takes,” Trojans coach Russ Milligan said. “(Franklin) has a very nice pitcher (freshman Izzy Harrison) and two or three really good hitters.
“It’s tough to win when you don’t score. Defense wins championships, especially in these games. Hitting is streaky. It really is. Obviously, we’re not hitting on all cylinders right now, but we can control our defense.”
The Trojans struck first with two runs in the top of the third inning.
Senior Clara Andersen led off with a walk and moved to second on Brooke York’s sacrifice bunt. The next Center Grove batter, Addy Osborn, hit a grounder to third, but a Franklin throwing error brought Andersen home.
Osborn eventually came home on Herbst’s single up the middle.
Franklin threatened in the bottom of the fourth on singles from Harrison and Rilee King. They made it as far as second and third base with two out, but Herbst shut the door with a strikeout of sophomore Bostyn Parkhurst.
Center Grove scored its third in the sixth when Harrison hit Trojans’ shortstop Jordyn Rudd, then moved her all the way around on what amounted to three wild pitches.
Harrison allowed only two hits in the loss for the Cubs, striking out three. However, she walked seven Center Grove batters, including Rudd four times.
In the first game, Martinsville senior pitcher Lexi Lucas surrendered only three hits as the Artesians eliminated Whiteland, 10-1.
Lucas struck out five of the first 10 batters she faced and six overall. She was backed by an offense that produced 15 hits, every one of them a single, as Martinsville advanced to tonight’s title contest.
Held hitless through the first five innings, Whiteland (6-20) averted the shutout in the sixth when Addison Csikos singled to right field to bring home freshman shortstop Jordan Smith.
Though disappointed with the loss, fourth-year Warriors coach Katie Mitchell was happy with the progress her squad made throughout the season.
“We hung with every team we played with. We put the ball in play. We adjusted. We have great senior leaders,” Mitchell said. “I would say this team, especially, never quit. Throughout seven innings of every game, we were always in it.”
Smith’s bloop single to left was the first of the Warriors’ hits with seniors Csikos and Lindsey Boltz producing the others.
