Center Grove gathers at the mound after another New Palestine run on Wednesday.
Tom Russo | For the Daily Journal
NEW PALESTINE
The battle between two of the top softball teams in Class 4A was one-sided when Center Grove visited New Palestine on Wednesday evening.
Missing their top pitcher, Riley Henson, the No. 1-ranked Trojans fell 10-0 to the Dragons.
Without the 11-1 Henson, it was freshman Aiyana Keown that got the start in the circle, and it took just five batters for the Dragons’ offense to force her out of the game.
A leadoff walk to catcher Aglaia Rudd set up Allie Blum’s team-leading sixth home run of the season. A hard-hit ball to right center hit the top of the fence and bounced over for an early 2-0 New Palestine lead.
Alyssa Mumaw and Paige Ernstes smacked consecutive doubles, and Reese Rosenbaum added an RBI single to force Center Grove coach Alyssa Coleman to make a pitching change.
“They’re tough. You could see in warmups that they’re very talented and very disciplined,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said. “Coming out with four runs in the first was key and kind of took out any momentum they might have had. You can relax a little bit more pitching with the lead.”
Another freshman, Riley Fuhr, replaced Keown and retired the next three batters. She stayed in the remainder of the game, allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks.
“That’s huge. It’s opportunities that they can’t ever get back, so in that sense I’m hoping they’re just taking it all in,” Coleman said of being able to throw two freshman pitchers against a strong opponent. “[Fuhr] was the shining star for us. She came in a tough spot and shut them down. She was great.”
While Center Grove (15-4) threw two freshmen, the Dragons threw their ace — Courtney Study.
In maybe her best performance of the season, Study held the Trojans’ high-scoring offense scoreless through the five-inning complete game, allowing just five hits.
“[Courtney] threw great. She was hitting her spots, and did a really nice job of moving the ball around and getting ahead in the count, which was huge,” Marcum said. “She allowed them to put it in play and let our defense work. That was key, but she pitched very well.”
The Trojans were shut out for the second straight game after a 17-0 loss on Monday to No. 2 Roncalli.
“I think we’re hitting it too much at people right now, and we’re not having team at-bats where we string hits together,” Coleman said. “If we’re going to be cold right now, though, I’ll take it if we’re hot at the end.”
The two-run Blum home run in the first was all the Dragons needed, but they added two-spots in the second, fourth, and fifth to end the game after five.
Alyssa Mumaw walked things off with an RBI single in the fifth. The single was Mumaw’s fourth hit of the game. Ernstes led New Palestine with three RBIs.
Five different Trojans recorded singles; Ashlynn Wolff was the only Center Grove batter to reach base twice.
