It’s already time for the Special Olympics Indiana softball postseason.
In the same month, teams have played in tournaments and games to qualify to enter the EKS Games. That starts with sectionals Saturday, and winners will advance to the state tournament Sept. 9 in Greenwood.
Special Olympics Indiana Jackson County’s Tornadoes softball team will travel to Evansville on Saturday to compete against the Vanderburgh County Cardinals. That will start at 1 p.m. (noon Evansville time) at Marrs Township Community Park, 6734 W. Franklin Road, Evansville.
Jackson County also will have three athletes competing in the individual skills competition at sectional. That starts at 11:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m. Evansville time).
The Tornadoes have played four games and are 2-2 going into the sectional.
The Johnson County softball tournament was July 29 in Greenwood. Due to the rain overnight, the start was pushed back, and the Tornadoes only played one game. That was against the Howard County Wildcats, and they lost 15-8.
Chaz Rothrock finished with a triple, a single, an RBI and two runs; Billy Allman had a double, a single and three RBI; Zack Campbell and Todd Smith both had a single, an RBI and a run; James Knight, Austin Hernandez, Alysha Sandlin and Tim Ashburn all had a single and a run; and Josh Beals had a single and an RBI.
Also, Owen Law, Rob Smith and Becky Klosterman participated in individual skills at the tournament.
The next tournament was Aug. 5 in Shelbyville. First, the Tornadoes beat Wayne County 9-6. Rothrock had two home runs, Allman had two hits and Ashburn had two hits to lead the way. In their other game, the Tornadoes lost to Decatur County 4-3 in extra innings. Rothrock hit another home run and Allman had a triple to lead the Tornadoes.
Again, Law, Smith and Klosterman competed in individual skills.
Finally, on Aug. 8, Jackson County traveled to Bloomington to take on the Monroe County Sluggers. The Tornadoes won 11-0 to finish the regular season.
Knight led with three singles and scored two runs, while Rothrock hit an inside-the-park home run and a double, scored twice and had an RBI, and Allman had two doubles, two RBI and two runs.
Beals and Sandlin each had two singles. Beals also had two RBI and Sandlin had one, and Beals scored a run.
Ashburn hit a single and had two RBI and two runs; A.J. Engel had a single, an RBI and a run; Derrick Martin had an RBI; and Campbell scored a run.
This past Saturday, the softball players took a break from regular-season competition and had a fun game against volunteers in the county program during the Seymour Noon Lions Club’s Pig in the Park fundraiser at Gaiser Park in Seymour. It was a good way to gear up for the sectional.
The state tournament will be at Center Grove Lassie League, which is where the Johnson County tournament was conducted.