INDIANAPOLIS
Nerves and errors pretty much summed up the night for the Greenwood Christian softball team.
That and a variety of pitching by host Indianapolis Lutheran, which gave up only two hits in knocking out the Cougars in five innings, 10-0 in a Class A sectional championship Friday night.
The Saints now advance to play a regional game at Rising Sun on Tuesday.
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According to Cougar coach Tami Haynes, this loss could have also been to a desire to win a championship.
“I think we wanted it so badly that our nerves got the better of us,” she said. “We were excited and nervous. It just kind of fell apart when we needed to come together.”
It was in the second inning when things unraveled for Greenwood Christian.
Down 1-0, the Cougars were hoping to keep the score close, but three errors helped lead to four runs, pushing the score to 5-0.
Two more errors in the third inning saw the Lutheran lead increase by two runs.
The Cougars committed another error in the fourth, but that’s not what ended the game early, it was a three-run home run to left field by No. 5 hitter Rylee Morris.
With a 10-0 lead, the Saints put in a third pitcher to baffle the Cougars, and it was a simple process of getting three straight outs on all three GCA hitters.
Lutheran’s pitching was excellent as the Saints struck out eight Greenwood Christian batters.
The only hits provided for by the Cougars were an infield single in the first by Izzy Reed and a shot to right center field in the fourth by Morgan Haynes.
That was for Greenwood Christian, who could not get a runner to third base.
“I thought it would be a deep hitting game,” Tami Haynes said. “They small balled us. They placed the bunt perfectly and were able to execute.”
GCA ends a fine season at 11-6.
The Cougars lose two seniors, but Haynes should have a more experienced, more well-rounded team coming back.
“We had a great season and I don’t think this game represented our season at all,” the coach said. “We were young and not experienced at all, but the progress we made was unbelievable. We have a lot of players coming back.”
