Conference play has begun throughout the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference. At this point, each of the 10 teams have competed in SIAC play at least once.
Castle and Vincennes Lincoln have established themselves atop the conference with stellar performances leading to 2-0 starts in conference play. Both teams picked up closely-contested wins – Castle defeating Henderson County 6-5 and Vincennes Lincoln defeating Mater Dei 8-6.
Over in the Pocket Athletic Conference, standings are more defined. Tecumseh, led by sophomore Audrey Seiler’s high-quality pitching, picked up some dominating wins this week. Gibson Southern has also impressed, allowing just four runs this week en route to three straight wins.
Nearly one month away from sectionals, and the state tournament pairings show coming even sooner on May 3, this is what we learned from this week’s performances in the SIAC and PAC.
SIAC: Castle
Castle, 10-2-1, just keeps pushing forward. After a solid start to its softball invitational last weekend at Deaconess Sports Park, the Knights fell flat in a 16-2 loss to Avon in the final game. Since then, they have not looked back.
It’s been a solid week for Castle, starting with its win over Henderson County on April 14 where Maddie Rose starred. The junior went 2-for-3 at the plate with three-run homer in the first inning.
The Knights followed that up with a convincing win over North, 13-3, on April 16. They were led by Indiana commit Emma Bruggenschmidt, who went 3-for-4 paired with two runs.
Then, a 13-1 win against South Spencer would follow. Once again, Bruggenschmidt performed admirably as the senior finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
Castle’s next game will not come until April 23 against Mater Dei.
SIAC: Vincennes Lincoln
After starting the season with a 5-2 loss to North Posey, Vincennes Lincoln have been on a roll with a 10-game winning streak. The Alices, 10-1, started the week with a 19-0 win against Bosse where many of the girls impressed. Perhaps most notably was senior Grace Archer, committed to Wabash Valley, who went 2-for-3 with 4 RBIs against the Bulldogs.
The win against Mater Dei is nothing to scoff at either. The Wildcats came into the game with just one loss. Mia Hagood, a junior, led Vincennes Lincoln with a three-run homer on 2-for-4 hitting.
The Alices’ next three opponents are Memorial, North Central and Harrison.
Other SIAC news
Jasper (7-4) went 2-0 this week and earned its first conference win against Reitz, 8-1. Bryn Smith put together 11 strikeouts total in those games. Ayla Elkins, a senior, had strong showings for the Wildcats in both games as she went 5-for-7 with three runs and two RBIs.
Jasper, 1-0 in the SIAC, will play North Daviess, Tecumseh and Mater Dei next week.
Memorial (6-4) won its lone game this week in convincing fashion, 17-1 against Princeton on April 16. Bri Caanan had 11 strikeouts in five innings pitched. The Tigers host Vincennes Lincoln in its next game on April 18 in what will be their second SIAC game.
Central (3-6) went 1-1 this week with a 5-3 loss to North and 8-3 win against Harrison. While the Lady Bears have struggled to gather wins this season, their 2-1 SIAC record is noteworthy. Central will have one more game this week, April 18 against South Knox.
Mater Dei (5-3) started its season winning five straight before losing three in a row. This week, they lost to a couple of quality opponents in Vincennes Lincoln and Mt. Vernon. One more game comes for the Wildcats this week on April 18 as they hope to end their losing streak against PAC-opponent Forest Park.
PAC: Tecumseh
Tecumseh (8-2) went 3-0 this week following the Castle Softball Invitational. Seiler featured in two of those games and had 23 strikeouts.
The Braves’ most impactful hitter this week was Breann Harris who combined to go 9 for 11 at the plate with eight RBIs. Each of their wins were won by at least five as they scored a combined 41 runs in three games against Apollo, Pike Central and North Posey. And each game came on consecutive days – April 13, 14 and 15.
Tecumseh will not play again until April 21 against Memorial, giving them some rest before they head to Evansville. The Braves sit atop the PAC with a 4-0 conference record.
PAC: Gibson Southern
Gibson Southern (10-4) also went 3-0 this week. The Titans scored 25 runs and allowed just four.
Most of their runs came in an 18-3 win against Forest Park. Laney Scherer, a junior, went 4 for 4 with four runs and two RBIs. Carly Potts, a senior committed to Iowa, also had an impactful game as she went 3 for 3 with four RBIs and three runs.
Gibson Southern are 3-0 in the PAC. They are off to Illinois to play Edwards County on April 18, the Titans’ last game of the week. Gibson Southern’s next conference game will come on April 21 against Southridge who also has a winning conference record at 2-1.
PAC: Mt. Vernon
Mt. Vernon (8-1) started off the week losing 10-5 to North Posey (6-7). Then, the Wildcats followed that up with two wins at home against SIAC opponents Harrison and Mater Dei.
In their 16-6 win against Harrison, Alaina Allyn went 3 for 3 with four RBIs and three runs. Allynn, a senior pitcher, then contributed 15 strikeouts in Mt. Vernon’s 8-2 against Mater Dei. Two freshman in Aubrey Grimes and Mallory Rhodes each hit a two-run home run in the win as well.
Next up, the Wildcats will host Forest Park on April 18. They won’t have to travel until April 24 when they match up with Southridge.
Other PAC news
Tell City (4-2) have won four of its last five games and are 2-0 in the conference. This week, the Marksmen went 2-1 with its lone loss coming against Perry Central while their wins came against Wood Memorial and Northeast Dubois. Next up, Tell City travels to Paoli to play the Rams on April 18 and its next PAC game comes against Heritage Hills on April 22.
Heritage Hills (6-5) went 2-2 this week. Two wins to start the week against Wood Memorial and Princeton before losing two straight to Boonville and Barr-Reeve. The Patriots are 2-1 in the PAC and have three conference games coming next week against Pike Central, Tell City and Gibson Southern.
Markos Tsegaye is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. He can be reached at mtsegaye@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @10_Markos_.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Softball Takeaways of the Week, April 13-17
Reporting by Markos Tsegaye, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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