Two Bartholomew County softball teams will head to Johnson County tonight hoping for a repeat of their regular-season results against those opponents.
Columbus North will visit Center Grove in a 7 p.m. Class 4A regional, and Hauser will make the short drive to Edinburgh for a 6 p.m. Class A regional. Winners advance to semistate action on Saturday.
The North-Center Grove game will be a rematch of the 2019 sectional final, won by the Trojans 7-0. It also will be a rematch of a regular-season game this year, which the Bull Dogs (24-4) won 3-1 at Center Grove (20-8).
Both teams pulled mild upsets to win their sectional. North beat 4A No. 6 and host Shelbyville in the opening round, and Center Grove upset 4A No. 5 Mooresville in its sectional final.
“I went up and watched them when they played Mooresville in the sectional up there, and they’re still a great club,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “They looked to be a lot better than Mooresville that night, which surprised me. They just played solid ball, and I’d guarantee you they’ll probably be doing that Tuesday night, too. But we think we’re up for the challenge.”
The Bull Dogs, winners of 18 in a row, have one of the state’s top pitcher-hitters in sophomore Maddi Rutan. She likely will be opposed in the circle by Trojans ace Jordan Rudd.
Meanwhile, about 20 miles to the southeast, Hauser (24-4) and Edinburgh (16-10) will battle for the fourth time this season. The Jets won all three previous matchups.
“I think the biggest thing for us is just putting runs on the board and knocking down the errors,” Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor said. “All the games that we played with Hauser, we had a lot of errors in there. We’ve given up more runs than what we would have liked in those games. The first two that we played, we were missing some people that have come on pretty well for us toward the end of the season.”
The Lancers have lost two center fielders to ACL injuries this season. They are led both in the circle and at the plate by freshman MacKenzie Bieker.
“It seems like after that last loss to Hauser that we had in April, the girls had to turn the corner a little bit,” Taylor said. “We’re definitely a lot more competitive. We’re still dealing with injuries, but I definitely feel like we’re a lot more in place now that we were at the beginning of the season.”
“I have a lot of respect for Ben and the program that they have,” Hauser coach Andy Brunner added. “They have grown well through the year, like we have. They’re on a hot streak right now, but so are we. Definitely, seeing somebody that we’ve known throughout the year, it takes some advantages away. But is also grants us some advantages.”
While Edinburgh was winning its own sectional, the Jets blitzed through the Rising Sun Sectional, winning three games by a combined 33-2. Hauser did not commit an error in sectional, and freshman Paige McDaniel was lights out, throwing a no-hitter in a semifinal win against Oldenburg Academy.
“The girls are playing extremely well right now,” Brunner said. “Paige is dialed in and absolutely doing her job. The bats are working from top to bottom. I have no reason to not be confident in our team, but Edinburgh is hitting on all cylinders right now, as well.”
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Regional softball
Today
Hauser at Edinburgh (Class A), 6 p.m.
Columbus North at Center Grove (Class 4A), 7 p.m.
Admission: $8
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