SOFTBALL SECTIONALS: Floyd to face Jennings in final

By MATT CRESS
Matthew.Cress@newsandtribune.com

May 21, 2008 01:37 am

— NEW ALBANY — It was a night of bumps, bruises, close calls and heartache. And when the smoke cleared, the finals were set.
Defending champion Floyd Central will meet Jennings County on Thursday in the finals of the Class 4A New Albany Sectional after each team rode a dominating pitching performance to victory in Tuesday’s semifinals.
The Panthers saw freshman Leah Kemmerer overcome a shaky early start to hold the host Bulldogs to a single hit in their 5-1 victory, while the Highlanders got 12 strikeouts from senior hurler Rena Philpot to end the season for Jeffersonville with a 3-0 triumph.

Jennings Co. 5, New Albany 1
The Panthers (16-13) gave the Bulldogs a gift in the first inning, but that’s where the generosity stopped.
New Albany (12-11) took advantage of freshman jitters on the part of Kemmerer, who issued two walks in the first inning, including one to lead-off hitter Chelsea Jordan.
After a sacrifice bunt from catcher Chelsea Knable, Jordan — who moved to second on a wild pitch — scampered home on a ball thrown over the head of Panther catcher Tori Magner. Kemmerer followed by walking opposing pitcher Faith Griffaw, but got Sydney Brown to ground out and end the early threat.
“I just had to try and calm her down a little,” said Jennings coach Jerry Burton, who waved his defense back into position when he went out for a conference with his freshman pitcher. “I just told her to not get wrapped up in everything going on around her and look for the plate.”
Meanwhile, New Albany starter Faith Griffaw kept the potent Jennings offense at bay. One day after throwing a shut out against Bedford North Lawrence, the junior picked up right where she left off by yielding only a single to Kemmerer over the first three innings.
“I told the girls we probably played better tonight,” said New Albany coach Steve Belden, referring to Monday’s 1-0 win over the Stars. “I just have to give credit to Jennings. They put the bat on the ball and they’re coached well. Their pitcher is one of the faster girls we’ve seen this year.”
The Bulldogs had opportunities to add to the lead in both the third and fourth frames. Amber Cart drew a lead-off walk from Kemmerer in the third and was bunted over by Brittany Kaiser. But Kemmerer struck out Ashleigh Holcomb and got Paige Wells to ground out. Jordan reached on an error in the fourth, but was caught in a double play when Banks lined out.
Jennings finally solved Griffaw in the fifth, when Rylee Gibson singled and was moved to second on a bunt by Olivia Jarrell. Magner then hit a sharp single through the infield and Hannah Hirtzel singled to score Magner and give the Panthers their first lead.
“I knew tonight would have nothing to do with last night,” said Burton, whose team rolled over Seymour 8-0 in Monday’s action. “I wasn’t surprised at all. We expected a tough game and we got it.”
Once behind, the Bulldog defense suffered.
A double by Jenny Royse opened the Jennings sixth, and she scored on a double by Amber Lozier. A key error then allowed Blakli Nading to reach safely, and then Mary Gerth smacked an RBI single. The rally was capped with a single from Jarrell that provided the final margin.
“We always pride ourselves on our defense,” Belden said. “All of a sudden we got down and we started pressing. Once you start pressing, it seems like every ball drops exactly where they need it to go.”
It was the final game for five New Albany seniors and an especially tough one for Knable. The catcher collided with Magner on Jennings’ first run, made controversial because Magner did not slide. After a short delay, Knable returned to the game in the next inning and was hit in the back with the ball while standing on first base.
Wills, Banks, Cart and Holcomb also made their last appearance at Prosser Field.
“Record-wise, we didn’t do as well as we have,” Belden said. “But I’m very proud of the girls for what we accomplished.”

Floyd Central 3, Jeffersonville 0
The Red Devils — recently crowned the Hoosier Hills Conference champions — played without head coach Becky Shafer, who sat out as part of a mandatory one-game suspension after being ejecting from a game against North Harrison over the weekend.
That left longtime Jeff assistant David Higgs in charge, but he seldom had a chance to make a decision. Philpot struck out six of the first seven hitters she faced and used her full repertoire of off-speed pitches and fastballs to keep the Jeff hitters guessing.
“She did her job and she did a fantastic job,” said Higgs. “We’re not a bad hitting team and we probably tried to hit the ball a little too hard and made some mistakes, but she (Philpot) was tough tonight.”
Still, it took time for the Highlanders to get going against Jeff starter Megan Stirn.
Cherrod Gwaltney’s lead-off double was the only Floyd hit in the first two innings, but she struck again in the third. After April Vanderplow reached on an error following a Samantha McClure single, Gwaltney swatted another deep drive, this time scoring McClure. Brittany Mills then hit a sacrifice fly to score Vanderplow from third for a 2-0 Highlander lead.
That’s all Floyd Central would need.
Philpot yielded only singles to Kim Hensley and Cydney Wilcoxson and never allowed a runner to get into scoring position. Wilcoxson also reached in the seventh when the ball got past Floyd catcher Brittany Bellus following a strikeout, but she was tagged out at second on a grounder by Natalie Nikitas.
“She was spectacular,” said Floyd coach Joe Witten of Philpot. “I didn’t expect anything less. She’s on a mission, and it’s partially done.”
Bellus tripled in the top of the sixth, and came home on a single by Katie Phillips. Randa Harbison pitched the seventh inning to get the save for the Highlanders, striking out all three batters she faced.
Higgs admitted it was strange standing in the coach’s box without Shafer, but said that he didn’t try to give the kids any fancy speech to rally around the suspended coach.
“We felt her absence,” Higgs said. “But they were still fired up to play and win. They don’t play for me or for Becky. They play for themselves and this team. I told them to win for themselves. We just couldn’t get the timely hit and when we got a hit, we couldn’t get anything with it.”
Kelsey Sumler, Erin Harper, Hensley and Nicole Heuser played their final game for the Red Devils, and brought home the school’s first HHC title in 10 years after beating Jennings less than two weeks ago.
“I can’t say enough about our girls,” Higgs said. “They never gave up. They never shut up, they were cheering from ‘play ball’ to ‘game over.’ They are all god kids and one of the smartest groups I’ve seen in a long time.”

NEW ALBANY 100 000 0—1 1 5
JENNINGS CO. 000 023 x—5 7 2
W — Kemmerer (7-9). L — Griffaw (11-10). 2B — Royse (JC), Lozier (JC).
Records — Jennings County 16-13, New Albany 12-11.

FLOYD CENTRAL 002 001 0—3 5 0
JEFFERSONVILLE 000 000 0—0 2 1
W — Philpot. L — Me. Stirn (14-6). SV — Harbison. 2B — Gwaltney (FC) 2. 3B — Bellus (FC).

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