One of Indiana’s best girls’ high school golf teams continues to be the Batesville Bulldogs– undefeated through their first 3 events! Batesville’s also ranked #10 statewide, and they knocked off 2 other leading teams at Saturday’s New Albany Invitational, 4th-ranked Floyd Central and #18 New Albany, down in Floyds Knobs. As our colleague Rob Lafary reports in the Osgood Journal, it was the ‘Dawgs’ 3rd invitational win of the season, but the first that featured 2 other Top 20 squads for them to battle. Batesville’s winning stroke total was 326, New Albany’s lead team tallying 340, Floyd Central’s top team 373, Madison 385, and East Central 401. Bulldog junior Ava South was the tournament medalist, shooting a 74.
Jonathan India got a night off from Reds baseball versus the Cards Monday, so all-purpose man Spencer Steer was back to what he calls his “natural position” for an evening, and that worked out really well for Cincinnati. Steer promptly delivered the first multi-homer game of his career, with the Reds’ first hit in the 3rd inning being a 2-run shot out of the park, then he belted another out for 3 runs in the 5th. It was only the second time this season Steer had led off the batting order, again India’s usual spot. He also stole 2nd base in the 7th inning. That made Steer only the 9th Red since 1920 to have 2 homers, 5 RBI’s, and a steal in the same game, a 6 to 1 Cincy victory. The Reds go for a 3rd straight win tonight, again facing the Cardinals, with Hunter Greene on the mound, versus Eric Feddy of St. Louis. We’ll have the broadcast for you at 6:10 this evening, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.
Some NFL observers say Sunday’s 34-30 preseason loss to the Broncos contained several factors that may help in judging the Colts’ progress toward the upcoming football season. Quarterback Anthony Richardson says it’ll be important for him moving forward, not to force plays to go one way if they’re not there. The coaches say Richardson did well completing plays Sunday, against opponents other than his teammates. And they feel their playbook’s coming together, since several receivers caught passes from the club’s current 5 quarterbacks, for significant yardage. Coach Shane Steichen says it’s important at this point of camp to give opportunities to as many players as possible. On defense, 6th-round draft pick Micah Abraham returned a Denver fumble for a touchdown. Wednesday & Thursday this week, the Arizona Cardinals join the Colts at their Grand Park training camp, then those teams play pre-season game number 2, Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
At Bengals camp, the status of rookie offensive right tackle Amarius Mims has been thrown into question for the start of the NFL season. Mims is expected to miss several weeks with a strained pectoral muscle according to the coaches. He’ll definitely miss the team’s last 2 pre-season games, and Mims’ status for the September 8th opener against the Patriots is now uncertain. The good news, according to Coach Zac Taylor, is that Mims shouldn’t need surgery to treat the strain.
Pre-season college football rankings are out, and the Associated Press Top 25 has exactly one Indiana school listed going into the fall. That is… #7 Notre Dame. Ranked 1st by the AP for a second straight year are the Georgia Bulldogs. The ‘Dawgs got 46 first-place votes, to wind up comfortably ahead of Number 2 Ohio State, with 15 votes. New members of the newly-18-team Big 10, the Oregon Ducks, are #3. The Texas Longhorns rank 4th. Only 4 conferences are represented in the AP Poll thanks to all that realignment– the Southeastern, Big 10, Big 12, and the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Irish remain independent, and at 7th, they’re the highest-ranked team outside the SEC and that bigger Big 10.