Brownstown senior Rylee May swings for a hit during a home game. She had four hits and two RBIs against Cascade in the championship game of the Forest Park Semi-state.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brownstown Central senior Kelsey Schneider pitches during a home game this season. She picked up her 10th win of the season in a 7-5 victory over Eastern Hancock in the Forest Park Semi-state. She also scored a run in this game and had two hits against Cascade
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brownstown’s Brooke Meahl swings for a hit during a home game this spring. She had a hit, walk and scored two runs against Eastern Hancock, and she had a hit and scored a run against Cascade.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
FERDINAND — Coach Darren Bryant says whoever Cascade plays in the girls Class 2A state championship Saturday that team will need to be at its absolute best.
Bryant saw up close just how strong the Lady Cadets are when they beat his Brownstown Lady Braves 14-2 Saturday night in the finals of the Forest Park Semi-state.
Hebron and Lapel were rained out Saturday in the northern semi-state at Warsaw and will play tonight.
The Braves advanced to the finals with an impressive 7-5 win over a good Eastern Hancock team, while Cascade defeated North Posey 3-0.
The Cascade-North Posey game was played as scheduled on Saturday.
About the time that game was over, it started to rain lightly, but the ground crew at Cedar Crest Intermediate School, outside Ferdinand got the field in playable condition and the Brownstown-Eastern Hancock game started and one inning was played before a downpour forced the game to be suspended.
The game was delayed for 3 hours and 45 minutes before playing resumed, and the Braves used a pair of three-run home runs from Olivia Justice in the second inning and Kinzee Dean in the fifth inning to win.
That game ended at 7:30 p.m., and Bryant let the girls vote on how long a rest they wanted between games. They could have had a 90-minute rest, but decided on an hour with the game starting at 8:30 p.m.
Bryant said his team was tired and at a disadvantage, although Kelsey Schneider and Rylee May had hits for the Braves in the first two innings, and Schneider held the Cadets without a hit in the first two innings.
With two outs in the top of the third, the Cadets showed why they are ranked No. 1 in the state and take a record of 29-2 into the state finals as they used a walk, triple, single, two run homer by Lacie Godby to score four times.
The Braves cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when Sophie Wayt walked, Brooke Meahl singled and both came home on May’s double to right-center field.
The Cadets produced four runs on five hits in the fifth inning, two more runs in the sixth and finished with a four spot in the seventh.
The Braves loaded the bases in the fifth on hits by Schneider, May, and Kyndle Huddleston, but two strike outs followed.
May got her fourth hit of the game in the seventh, and Dean hit a single, but the runners were left stranded.
The Braves had nine hits this game, they had 17 strike outs against left-hander Grace Gray, only a junior but already on her way to Ball State after next season. All the Brave starters except May had at least one strike.
Cascade had 17 hits, and Gray homered in the sixth inning.
Bryant said, “They will be hard to beat. They had good pitching and good hitting.
“We got big key hits that first game. We beat a very good team. Kinzee came through again in big spots. She has done that all year. Olivia played well behind the plate and had a big hit that game. Our defense was phenomenal.
“Kelsey pitched another very good game, in tough conditions. That ball was wet, it was muddy and no footing. That stuff makes it hard on a pitcher and she pitched very well.”
Schneider allowed eight hits, five runs, she had five strike outs and walked four in picking up her 10th win of the season.
Huddleston and Alex Davidson drew walks in the second inning against Eastern, and Justice homered to left.
Meahl, Huddleston and Dean had singles in the third inning to produce the Braves’ fourth run, but Lilli Ringer homered for the Royals it left the game tied 4-4 after three innings.
In the fifth, Schneider received first base on a dropped third strike, and Meahl walked to put runners on first and second.
Dean then hit a drive over the fence in left field that proved to be the winning hit.
She said she tries to learn a lot about the pitcher when she is in the on-deck circle.
“When she was pitching to Kyndle I saw (Eastern’s relief pitcher) was pitching a bunch of balls up and usually if I can sit on a ball up, I can hit it pretty far, so I was watching for that. The first two pitches were rise balls. The second one I was a little under it and I knew if she pitched me that one again, I was going to get ahold if it and she did, and I squared it up and sent it out.”
Dean and Schneider were also on the Brownstown girls’ basketball team that beat the Royals in the Shelbyville Semistate Final.
The Braves finished 19-12. Bryant said he is proud that they made the final four in Class 2A.
“They came together at the right time,” he said. “It was an outstanding season.”
Forest Park Semi-state
Semi-final
Brownstown 7, Eastern Hancock 5
Brownstown hits: 2-Kinzee Dean, 1-Brooke Meahl, Kyndle Huddleston, Olivia Justice, HR-Dean, Justice, 2B: Dean, RBIs- 4-Dean, 3-Justice, Runs- 2-Meahl, 1-Kelsey Schneider, Huddleston, Alex Davidson, Justice, Dean
Brownstown pitching- Schneider 1 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 K, 4 BB
Championship
Cascade 14, Brownstown 2
Brownstown hits- 4-May, 2-Schneider, 1-Meahl, Huddleston, Dean, 2B- May 2, RBI- May 2, runs-Meahl, Sophia Wayt
Brownstown pitching: Schneider 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 K, 2 BB, May 4 IP, 13 H, 10 R, 0 K, 1 BB