Trojans win sectional opener; Woodmen out

<p>For the Daily Journal</p><p>The Alyssa Coleman era got off to a great start for the Center Grove softball team this season, so it was natural that it continued in the opener of the sectional on Monday night.</p><p>Lexi Fair’s two-run shot past the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the third-ranked Trojans a thrilling 2-0 win against a stubborn Franklin Central team.</p><p>“We looked at this as a championship type game,” Coleman said. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a game and that’s what we got. Just a solid performance by our team against a good team.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>The Trojans (22-3) will play a semifinal game today against Martinsville, which defeated Greenwood 11-2 in Monday’s first game.</p><p>Center Grove senior Abby Herbst went against not one, but two Franklin Central pitchers, southpaw Hailey Pardue and right-hander Casey Mathews, both seniors.</p><p>Herbst won by not only striking out 13 Flashes and giving up only four singles, but by keeping her poise in potentially dangerous situations.</p><p>“I was banking on our defense having my back and I knew I had good stuff before the game,” Herbst said. “I also knew this was going to be close and I had to keep my team in it.”</p><p>That poise came through more than once as Franklin Central threatened to score in three different innings.</p><p>In the second, consecutive singles helped put runners on second and third base with one out. Herbst then coolly fielded a dink hit for an assist on one out and struck out another to end the threat.</p><p>The Flashes had another shot in the sixth inning with runners again on second and third, but a line drive catch by shortstop Piper Belden and strikeout by Herbst again denied Franklin Central.</p><p>Finally, in the final inning, Herbst gave up a leadoff single and hit the next batter, but a flyout and two more strikeouts sent the Trojans to the semifinals.</p><p>The game’s only scoring came when Fair, the other half of the Trojan battery, blasted the first pitch she saw from Mathews for her fourth home run of the season.</p><p>“I usually take the first pitch the first time I’m up against a pitcher, but I had seen her earlier and saw a pitch that I liked and swung away,” Fair said. “I wasn’t sure if it was a fastball or screw, but I knew it was gone when I hit it.”</p><p>The Trojans had six hits overall, with two each by Herbst and Fair.</p><p>In Monday’s opener, Martinsville pounded out 21 hits to knock the Woodmen out of the tournament. It was the third time this season the Artesians (16-12) beat their Mid-State rivals.</p><p>Greenwood bows out of a tough campaign with a 6-19 record, having lost their last six.</p><p>“Little victories I think would probably be our biggest assessment of the year,” Greenwood coach Greg Norwood said. “That was kind of our thing.”</p><p>Martinsville started out slow, scoring only twice in three innings, but then the Artesians exploded for the bulk of their runs in the fourth and fifth, scoring four in each.</p><p>Senior catcher Annah Elliott provided the muscle for Martinsville, going 4 for 4 with a triple and four RBIs. Paige Dorsett had two hits, including a home run to dead center field. Pitcher Madison Lindsey helped her own cause with three hits, including a homer of her own.</p><p>Greenwood senior catcher Alexis Rees capping off a four-year varsity career in nice fashion with two of the Woodmen’s five hits, including a center-field blast of her own.</p><p>The Woodmen graduate eight players, including four-year starters Rees and Allison Hayes.</p><p>“We’ll have five returning starters and they are still young, and it will get better,” Norwood said.</p>