South comeback falls short in softball sectional

May 21—Terre Haute South made a big comeback throughout the season in high school softball, and for a while Monday night it looked like the Braves would carry that over into Class 4A sectional play at Terre Haute North.

But after the team's senior veterans created a pair of runs against Plainfield's one-two pitching punch, some bad breaks in the bottom of the inning enabled the Quakers to answer with three runs of their own and pull away for a 6-2 win.

Plainfield plays Tuesday's second semifinal game against Avon while the host Patriots play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against Brownsburg, a 16-10 winner over Decatur Central in a slugfest that started the evening Monday.

South had started 0-4 this season as a life-threatening illness cost the Braves their junior varsity coach, Brenda Stout — the wife of head coach Dwayne Stout. When the two of them returned for Braves Bash, it started the team on a run of 17 wins in 22 games that included a share of the Conference Indiana championship.

Plainfield had been South's opponent in the first of those four opening losses, however, and through the first five innings Monday it appeared history might repeat itself.

The Quakers scored twice in the bottom of the first inning, an errant pickoff throw bringing in the first run and a solo homer by eventual winning pitcher Kami Arnett accounting for the second.

South threatened immediately when Izzy Light worked a 10-pitch walk to start the top of the second inning and Lexi Kinzer followed with a double, but Arnett got two strikeouts and a popup to quell the threat. Marlee Loudermilk hit a one-out double of her own in the top of the third but was stranded, and in the bottom of the inning the Quakers got an unearned run on an error and a two-out RBI single by Ava Broyles.

Arnett breezed through the fourth and fifth innings, but an error on Loudermilk's grounder leading off the sixth proved to be a catalyst.

Loudermilk stole second and came home on an RBI single by Kyar McVey. McVey took second on the throw toward the plate that was cut off, but a throw to second sailed into center field and McVey wound up at third with nobody out. One out later Light made it a 3-2 game with a perfectly place bunt single — Loudermilk, McVey and Light are South's three four-year starters — and she was at third base with the tying run when Marcia Parker's line drive to right field was pulled in by a diving Kimber Madison (the second straight time the freshman catcher had been robbed of a hit).

Madison wasn't finished either. She led off the bottom of the inning with a double and that led to the three-run inning that put the game out of reach, even though the Quakers didn't get another hit. Emma Cesinger, who pitched gallantly, especially after taking a line drive off her right ankle in the bottom of the third inning, had a leadoff single in the seventh but was left at first.

"They did well," Dwayne Stout said of his Braves after the game. "They had a good idea about what they wanted to do at the plate, they stayed disciplined and they put a lot of balls in play."

South's other seniors are Kinzer, a three-year starter; Ella Gottschall, whose diving catch in left field with the bases loaded in the second inning kept the game from getting out of hand; and reserve outfielder Mia Shattuck.

"They all got a lot better the last two years," Stout said of that group. "All the girls took some strides.

"Conference champions with Columbus North, 17-10 [record] . . . I'll take it," the coach concluded.

TERRE HAUTE SOUTH (AB-R-H-RBI) — Loudermilk ss 4-1-1-0, McVey cf 3-1-1-1, Hadley 1b 3-0-0-0, Light 3b 2-0-1-1, Kinzer 2b 3-0-1-0, Parker c 3-0-0-0, Cesinger p 3-0-1-0, Cox rf 2-0-0-0, Akers ph 1-0-0-0, Werremeyer dp 3-0-0-0, Gottschall lf 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-2-5-2.

PLAINFIELD (AB-R-H-RBI) — Ke.Arnett lf 2-1-0-1, Swanson cf 1-0-0-1, Ka.Arnett p 3-1-1-1, Parks p 0-0-0-0, Haberkorn ph 1-0-0-0, Mayes ss 3-1-0-0, Fish 3b 3-0-1-0, Madison rf 3-1-1-0, Broyles 2b 3-0-1-1, Sauri 1b 2-0-0-0, Steele ph 0-1-0-1, Hanlin 1-1-0-0. Totals 23-6-4-4.

Terre Haute South 000 002 0 — 2

Plainfield 201 003 x — 6

E — Parker, Loudermilk 2, Mayes 2. LOB — THS 5, Plainfield 6. 2B — Kinzer, Loudermilk, Madison. HR — Ka.Arnett. SB — Ke.Arnett, Haberkorn (as courtesy runner), Mayes, Loudermilk, Steele, Madison, Swanson. SH — Swanson. SF — Ke.Arnett.

Terre Haute South IP H R ER BB SO

Cesinger (L) 6 4 6 5 5 7

Plainfield IP H R ER BB SO

Ka.Arnett (W) 5 3 2 1 1 7

Parks (Sv) 2 2 0 0 0 3

WP — Cesinger, Parks. PB — Parker. T — 2:08.

Next — Plainfield (23-6) moved into the Tuesday semifinals against Avon. Terre Haute South finished 17-10.