By STU SWARTZ
THE GOSHEN NEWS
May 22, 2008 09:59 am
—
The high school girls softball season goes on for the Northridge Raiders and it is over for the Goshen Redskins.
Northridge blitzed Concord, 7-0, and Goshen was blanked by Elkhart Central, 3-0, in semifinals of a Class 4A sectional Wednesday at Elkhart Memorial.
That means it will be 19-5 Northridge and 3-21 Central in the championship game at 7:30 Friday night. The winner advances to a four-team regional at Memorial on Saturday, May 31.
First Game
Raider senior Ashley Hamilton, who pitched a first-round no-hitter against Memorial, settled for a three-hitter this time and her teammates backed her up with plenty of hitting and fielding support.
Northridge is relentless at the plate, fouling off numerous pitches until getting better ones to hit. On the bases, the Lady Raiders put plenty of pressure on the opposition.
Hamilton and senior Ashley Cooper had RBI singles in the first inning to get the Raiders off to a flying start.
In the fourth, freshman Megan Meyer reached on an error, went to second on a bunt single by senior Cassie Boese and scored on another Concord miscue.
Junior Samantha Baker did the rest with a two-run single in the fifth inning and a two-run homer off the scoreboard in the seventh.
Boese, Cooper and Baker each had two hits off CHS junior hurler Courtney Cameron.
Concord was able to muster only singles by junior Chelly Gaeddert in the first inning, senior Carli Riester in the second and junior Andrea Pinarski in the seventh.
Pinarski made several dazzling plays at shortstop and freshman Melanie Meyer another in left field.
Northridge coach Andy Robinson said, “We are playing very good softball right now. This was another total team effort and another shutout by Ashley Hamilton.
“She had a lot of support from her teammates. Samantha Baker just crushed the ball and we had some other key hits early to get the lead.
“Our girls go up to the plate looking to attack. They were getting pitches high in the zone and were ripping them.”
Concord coach Robb Freeze said, “Northridge hit the ball and we didn’t. Ashley Hamilton had control of what she was trying to do and we never could get a handle on it.
“When you make four errors like we did, it puts a lot of pressure on the whole team.
“Northridge has a great program, from Little League through high school. They take their softball very seriously and it shows. They always come to the park ready to play.”
Second Game
One swing of the bat put Central in the championship game and sent Goshen to the sideline.
Blue Blazer senior Brandy Sechrist rocketed a home run to left center field in the fourth inning after both juniors Brianne Widmoyer and Stephanie Wilmore singled.
Widmoyer pitched five innings and junior Kelly Walters the final two, combining for a six-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks.
Freshman Natalie Newell singled and doubled for the Lady Redskins. Sophomore Katelynn Flory had a pinch-hit double while junior Emily Kerns, freshmen Madison Hussey and Cassi Cook all singled.
Goshen left runners on second and third in the fourth inning and had another runner tagged out at third. The Redskins also stranded two in the fifth, left a runner on third in the sixth and second in the seventh.
Newell struck out seven and walked none in hurling a complete game for the Redskins.
GHS coach Lee Mast said, “Our bats had been coming around the last couple weeks, but we just couldn’t score in this game.
“These kids are fighters and we have a young group surrounding Natalie Newell who has to be one of the top freshman pitchers in Northern Indiana.
“She wants to go to the next level and the girls in this program need to ride her for the next three years.
“I thought Kerns played a great game at shortstop for us and (senior) Krista Meade made a couple nice catches in center field.
“We had our chances, but just couldn’t get a hit in the clutch.”
Central coach Todd King said, “We practiced all week, thinking we had a chance to get into the championship game. We had to disregard the record and now look at ourselves as being 1-0.
“We’ve had trouble putting seven innings together. It seems one bad inning often cost us the game. We played a tough schedule and saw a lot of good pitchers. Natalie Newell is another one.”
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.