North Newton’s run to a softball state championship last season was propelled by a dominant pitcher.
Sydney Rainford is no longer playing for the Spartans, but an outstanding pitching performance again has North Newton playing in the Class 1A North semi-state.
Maria Jones allowed just two hits over seven innings, striking out seven in North Newton’s 4-1 win over Kouts in a regional championship game Tuesday, June 2.
The Spartans (17-8) allowed a run in the first, but recovered with a four-run fifth inning. Caylee Oxley delivered a two-run triple and Riley Higgins a two-run double among her two hits. Tatum Cahall also went 2-for-3 with a triple.
North Newton plays Class 1A No. 8 South Central (20-8) at 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 6 at Frontier in a semi-state semifinal. The winner will face either No. 10 Riverton Parke or Southwood at 7 p.m. that night to advance to the Class 1A state championship game.
Class 1A regional at Clinton Prairie
Clinton Prairie bounced back from a 2-0 deficit after the top of the first inning with three runs in the bottom half.
The Gophers were hindered by two costly errors, base running blunders and by leaving too many runners stranded from there, though, in a 12-5 loss to Riverton Parke.
Clinton Prairie’s Kaydence Kesler reached third base in the second, fourth and sixth innings but never crossed home plate, including after a leadoff triple in the fourth. Missed opportunities left the door open for the Panthers to deliver the big blow, which came on Aubri Morman’s sixth-inning grand slam.
Keera Grizzle went 3-for-4 with two runs, driving in another, for the Gophers. Sadie Weliver, Maddy Wessell, Alexis Perez and Zelda Wampler also drove in runs.
Class 2A regional at Monrovia
A big day for Kenzie Clark led Southmont to its second regional title and first since the Mounties finished as Class 2A state runner-up in 2014.
Clark was 3-for-5 with three runs batted in during 10th-ranked Southmont’s 7-4 win over Monrovia.
Kaylee Turner added two hits for the Mounties (19-5), who travel all the way to Forest Park on Saturday to play No. 3 Tecumseh (26-4), the defending state champion. The winner will play either Eastern Hancock or Salem that night in the title contest.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: North Newton, Southmont softball advance to IHSAA semi-state play
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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