Columbus North’s Kelsey Lovelace hits the ball during a softball game at Columbus East April 17. The Bull Dogs and Olympians will meet in the opening round of the North Sectional.
The Republic file photo
Ron McDonald is in his seventh season as Columbus North softball coach, and Rusty Brummett is in his ninth season as coach at Columbus East, and since they’ve been at those schools, the Bull Dogs and Olympians have not met in the sectional.
That will change this year.
North, which is hosting the sectional for the first time since 2012, and East will square off in the second first-round game. The pairings were announced by the IHSAA on Sunday evening.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve never played each other in the sectional, so it’s going to be kind of neat,” McDonald said. “It’s kind of special having the draw against Columbus East. It’s a rivalry, and anything can happen. We’re playing pretty well right now, though.”
The Bull Dogs, who are ranked No. 3 in the state Class 4A coaches poll and No. 1 overall by MaxPreps, won 7-0 at East two weeks ago.
“If you look at our sectional, you have to believe North and probably Shelbyville are the two favorites, and North is probably THE favorite,” Brummett said. “So you have to beat them sometime. You take two innings away from that first ballgame, it’s a tight game. We can’t give them extra outs, and offensively, just make them get us out and take our chances from there.”
The winner of the North-East game will meet Whiteland in the second semifinal. Franklin will play the East Central-Shelbyville winner in the first semifinal.
Softball sectional tournaments will be the week of May 22-27. Dates and times for most of those have yet to be determined.
Hauser, which jumped from Class A to 2A this year, will play Switzerland County in the first round on the second day of the seven-team Brownstown Central Sectional. Brownstown will play Brown County in the last first-round game that day.
Hauser and Brownstown are considered the top two teams in that sectional and could meet in the second semifinal. Those two teams will meet in what could be a preview at 5:30 p.m. today at Hauser.
Jennings County will play New Albany in the 4A opener at Bedford North Lawrence. The winner will face Jeffersonville in the first semifinal.
In Class A, Edinburgh will play Greenwood Christian Academy in the second first-round game. The winner will meet Morristown in the second semifinal.
South Decatur will face Jac-Cen-Del in the Class A opener at North Decatur. The winner will play Southwestern (Shelby) in the first semifinal.
Also in Class A, Trinity Lutheran drew a first-round bye at Rising Sun and will meet the Shawe Memorial-Henryville winner in the first semifinal.
Meanwhile, the IHSAA also announced the baseball tournament pairings on Sunday night. Baseball sectional games will take place between May 24-29.
Columbus East will face host East Central in the opener of the 4A East Central Sectional. The winner will play the Whiteland-Shelbyville winner in the first semifinal, and Columbus North and Franklin will meet in the second semifinal.
Hauser’s Owen McIntyre fires a pitch to the plate against North Decatur April 12 at Hauser High School.
The Republic file photo
Hauser will play Southwestern (Hanover) in the final first-round game on the second day of the eight-team 2A Austin Sectional. The winner will meet Switzerland County or Austin in the second semifinal.
In that same sectional at Austin, Brown County will face Brownstown Central in the opener. The winner will meet Milan or South Ripley in the first semifinal.
Jennings County will play New Albany in the second first-round game in the 4A New Albany Sectional. The winner will face Floyd Central or Bedford North Lawrence in the first semifinal.
In Class A, Edinburgh will meet host Morristown in the opener of the Morristown Sectional. The winner will face Indianapolis Lutheran or Eminence in the first semifinal.
South Decatur drew a first-round bye in the Class A Jac-Cen-Del Sectional and will play Waldron in the second semifinal.
Trinity Lutheran received a bye in the Class A Shawe Memorial Sectional and will face New Washington in the second semifinal.
The baseball format has changed this year to the one-game regional, two-game semistate format that softball has used since going to four classes. Softball regional games will be on May 30, semistates on June 3 and state finals June 9-10. Baseball regional games will be June 3, semistates June 10 and state finals June 16-17.
