Local rivalry games get a little extra spice when they come during the postseason, and next month offers the potential for several, thanks to the pairings released by the IHSAA and the IBVCA on Sunday evening.
The Class 4A softball pairings offered up a pair of possible county clashes in semifinal games. Host Center Grove received a first-round bye and will await the winner of the Bloomington South-Greenwood tilt. Defending sectional champion Mooresville, which knocked the Trojans out last season and beat them again in this year’s season opener, are on the other side of the draw. Meanwhile, at Columbus East, Franklin drew a first-round game against the host Olympians, with Whiteland set to meet whichever team advances. The Grizzly Cubs beat Columbus East twice on April 20 and also split a home-and-home series with the Warriors.
In Class 3A, Indian Creek will play a semifinal game against host Owen Valley, with three other Western Indiana Conference rivals (Edgewood, Northview and West Vigo) set to mix it up on the bottom half of the bracket. In a four-team Class A sectional at Indianapolis Lutheran, Edinburgh will play Morristown — which it beat twice last week — in one semifinal and Greenwood Christian will play the host Saints in the other.
Likewise, the baseball pairings didn’t bring any immediate head-to-heads within the county, but the potential exists for some deeper into the sectionals.
In the Class 4A sectional at Shelbyville, Franklin will play a first-round game against Columbus North, with Whiteland to face East Central immediately thereafter. If the Grizzly Cubs and Warriors both win, they’ll meet in a semifinal contest. In other 4A action at Bloomington North, Greenwood will meet Mooresville in the opening round. Top-ranked Center Grove sits on the other side of the bracket, having drawn a bye into a semifinal game against Bloomington South.
Indian Creek will meet Owen Valley in the first round of the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional, with the winner to take on either West Vigo or Northview in the semifinals. Greenwood Christian and Edinburgh sit on opposite sides of the draw in the Class A Morristown Sectional, with the Cougars playing Indianapolis Metropolitan in one semifinal and the Lancers facing either Indianapolis Lutheran or the host Yellow Jackets in the other.
Also coming out Sunday were the IBVCA’s boys volleyball pairings, and host Franklin could see more than one county foe on its way to a possible championship. The top-seeded Grizzly Cubs will play a semifinal match against either Whiteland or Martinsville, while Greenwood Christian, seeded second, looms as a possible opponent in the final. The Cougars will first play Terre Haute North in a quarterfinal match.
Center Grove, meanwhile, has to travel to Madison, where it is the No. 1 seed. The Trojans open with a semifinal match against Scottsburg.
Franklin also hosts a regional; Center Grove, should it win its sectional, would funnel into a regional at Illiana Christian.
