The North Decatur Charger softball squad is sporting an 11 & 9 record heading into regional play, having dispatched rival Jac-Cen-Del for the Class 1A Sectional 60 championship Thursday, 5-4. The Chargers’ first tournament game came in the semi-finals since they drew a bye through the first round, and there, they easily handled the Cougars of South Decatur 16-0, prior to the meeting with JCD’s Eagles. Tuesday, North hosts the Saints of Indianapolis Lutheran, a 17 & 9 squad enjoying a 5-game win streak, and ranked 10th in the state. Lutheran’s last victory came Wednesday in the tournament, 8-3 over Edinburgh. Senior Grace King is a Lutheran star to look out for. In the Edinburgh game, she went 3 for 3 in her plate appearances, scoring twice herself and batting a teammate in as well.
The Chargers are led by several players. While pitcher Sarah Swain is their only member of the Mid-Hoosier All-Conference 1st team, seven of her teammates have earned honorable mentions, including Kacie Ogden, Madison Rohls, Kennedy Stier, Carmen Thackery, Libby Crawford, Kendall HostKoetter, and Elizabeth Meister. Not making the list, in a surprise to some, was senior Katie Gearhart, whose post-season OPS percentage, on-base plus slugging, is a perfect 3.000 this post-season. It’s said to indicate a player’s ability to reach base, plus hit for power and average.
Also outstanding for the Chargers in the Jac-Cen-Del game were Swain, who went the 7-inning distance in the circle, giving up only 2 earned runs in a 5-hitter. Sarah’s been very consistent there, not allowing more than 1 walk in 7 straight pitching appearances. Offensively, opponents also have to watch out for Stier, who went 3 for 4 and scored twice against JCD.
However, the Chargers can’t bask in the glow of that narrow win over a rival, because in their one-game regional Tuesday, they’ll be up against the state’s 10th-ranked squad, the Saints. It has all the makings of an excellent game, and we’ll have it for you live, Tuesday evening starting at 5:45, on the Sports Voice 103.9 WRBI, and at WRBIRadio.com.
If you want to be there in person and bring us along, gates open at 5:00, tickets are $10 each, and they can be purchased in advance at this link– https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=81781