Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Manchester Claims Girls Tennis Sectional Crown
PERU – Thanks to the weather it took a lot longer than expected, but Manchester finally won the Peru Girls Tennis Sectional with a 4-1 win over the host Lady Tigers Monday.
Manchester’s Karly Eichenauer won a tightly contested two-set match at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-4 over Anna Boyer. Leiah Brandenburg won in straight sets at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2 over Peru freshman Julia Weeks.
The Lady Squires also won both doubles matches in straight sets. Bethany Collette and Lauren Metzger were victorious at No. 1 and Kendra Auler and Lydia Little at No. 2.
Peru’s Claire Boyer won a third-set tiebreaker over Kelsey Eichenauer at No. 2 singles for the Lady Tigers only win.
Because of the weather delays, Manchester goes right into regional play today. They will face Plymouth at Culver Academies in the semifinals. The other semifinal pits Warsaw against Rochester, with the winners playing Wednesday for the regional title.
Lady Squires Advance Easily Over Wabash
CONVERSE – No. 7 Manchester got off to a fast start in the 2A Oak Hill Softball Sectional Monday, scoring eight runs in the top of the first and rolling to a 13-0, six-inning win over Wabash.
Emma West had two hits and walked twice for the Lady Squires. Ellie Milam drove in a pair of runs, with West and Mackenzie Day each collecting RBIs.
Mattie McKee was the winning pitcher, striking out nine Wabash batters in six innings of work.
With the victory Manchester (20-2) will take on No. 14 Whitko in Wednesday’s first semifinal. First pitch is at 5:30 p.m.
Tigers Hold Off Blazers
Warsaw held off a late rally by visiting Elkhart Central to claim a 9-8 non-conference baseball win at Tiger Field Monday.
After Warsaw took a 2-0 lead in the first, the Blazers scored four times in the fourth inning to take the lead. The Tigers answered with four runs of their own in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Central answered with a run in the sixth and a three-run rally in the seventh was a run short of catching the Tigers in the regular-season finale for the home team.
Liam Patton, Jared Hawley, Alex Miller and Jordan Steffensmeier all stroked doubles for Warsaw. Miller finished with three hits and Patton had four RBIs. Matt Shapiro was the winning pitcher in relief.
The two teams face off in the opening round of the 4A Elkhart Memorial Sectional Thursday.
Wildcats Fall In Eight
DECATUR – Whitko pitching gave up just four hits in eight innings, but the Wildcats dropped their baseball regular-season finale 3-2 at Bellmont Wednesday.
Drew Bradford pitched the first seven innings, striking out seven and not allowing an earned run. Alex Bechtold doubled for the lone Wildcat extra-base hit.
Whitko finished the regular season with a 19-8 record, and will open its postseason Saturday in the semifinals of the 2A Wabash Sectional, against the winner of Thursday’s Cass-Manchester game.
