Indy Star

 

By Michael Pointer

The Scecina softball team was back in a familiar spot Saturday, less than 24 hours after its worst night of the season.

That was on its home field at Brookside Park, again celebrating city supremacy after defeating Bishop Chatard 2-1 to earn its sixth consecutive City Tournament title.

"It's still a big deal,'' said Scecina coach Tom Moorman, whose team won its eighth title in the past nine years. "They don't want to be the ones to have the streak snapped. They don't want to be the one losing it.''

Amy Tamer pitched a three-hitter and the Class 2A top-ranked Crusaders made two second-inning runs stand up for the victory.

"We're pretty confident we've got the best talent in the city," said Tamer, who struck out 12 and walked one. "But we know we've got to go out and prove it.''

It was a much different story Friday, when Scecina (16-2) was dominated from start to finish in a 7-0 loss at Class 3A No. 1 and rival New Palestine.

But the Crusaders apparently slept off any potential hangover. They beat Cardinal Ritter 15-0 in a semifinal game earlier Saturday before beating Chatard.

"It wasn't our type of ballgame (against New Palestine), but it wasn't going to carry over,'' Moorman said. "These girls have been around long enough (Scecina has eight senior starters) that we don't let those things bother us.''

Emily Bernstein and Amanda Couture each had run-scoring singles in the second for the Crusaders, but Chatard avoided further damage when center fielder Jillian Craig caught a fly ball and made a perfect throw to get a sliding Bernstein at the plate to end the inning.

The Trojans (11-6) got a run in the fourth when Casey Williamson scored on the back end of a double steal with runners on first and third. The play left Craig at second base with none out.

But Tamer struck out the next two batters and induced a popout to end the inning. Chatard got a runner on in each of the last three innings but failed to score.

"I felt like I had a little extra heat on my pitches today,'' Tamer said. "And I thought I hit my spots pretty well.''

Chatard coach Pat Miles was impressed.

'We haven't seen that kind of pitching for about 10 days or so,'' he said. "We didn't make the adjustments quick enough. But I've got to tip my hat to her. She pitched a great game. She kept us off balance.''

The Trojans have made things difficult for Scecina this season. They lost just 6-4 to the Crusaders on April 9.

"It hurts to lose 2-1, but we stuck in real well against a good team with a solid nucleus,'' Miles said. "We're right there. It's just one of those things where it didn't go our way today.''

Chatard advanced to the finals with a 6-0 victory over Covenant Christian earlier Saturday.