Sports Roundup (By Paul Beitler)

Girls’ tennis sectional draw released

The Bluffton Tigers drew a first-round match and the Norwell Knights received a second-round bye match in the pairings for the Norwell IHSAA girls’ tennis sectional slated to begin Thursday.

Bluffton will be facing the Huntington North Vikings at 4:30 p.m., while South Adams and Adams Central will be meeting in the other first-round match.

The winner of the South Adams/Adams Central contest will meet Norwell at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner of the Bluffton/Huntington North match will play the Bellmont Squaws in the other semifinal match.

The championship round is slated to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Knights defeat South Side netters

A sweep of the three singles matches propelled the Norwell Knights to a 4-1 victory over Fort Wayne South Side in a rescheduled girls’ tennis contest on Monday at Norwell.

Norwell upped its varsity record to 8-5, while the Archers slipped to 9-7. South Side won the junior varsity contest 4-3.

VARSITY SINGLES

Kaylee Imel (N) def. Shaquala Ackerson 6-1, 6-4; Alyssa Tucker (N) def. Cassie Graf 6-2, 6-2; Rachelle Rodenbeck (N) def. Katie Miller 6-1, 6-0.

VARSITY DOUBLES

Shanice Nagel/Maqube Reese (SS) def. Haley Chaney/Jaylee Leman 6-2, 6-4; Kourtney Reed/Christy Taylor (N) def. Sydney Weinert/Kaitlyn Meneely 6-2, 6-4.

JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES

Brittany Johnson (SS) def. Sara Nahrwold 9-7; Katie Beasley (SS) def. Amanda Horan 8-2; Kiley Wuellner (SS) def. Taylor Sprinkle 8-1.

JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES

Adriene Troxel/Lindsey Dahn (N) def. Taylor DeBruce/Shelby Pequignot 8-3; Jami Reinhard/Eden Chaney (N) def. Alexis Ackerson/Aaren Curry 9-7; Beasley/Wuellner (SS) def. Sophie Gerber/Addie Williams 6-4; Matte Troxel/Jessica Rupright (N) def. DeBruce/Pequignot 6-2.

Heritage golfers sink Raiders

Tyler Schmidt shot a 39 at Cross Creek in Decatur to lead the Heritage Patriots to a 169-193 victory over the Southern Wells Raiders in boys’ golf action.

The Raiders were led by Blake Huffman with a 42. Alex Trosper shot a 46. Daniel Schmidt finished with a 52, while Tyler Cassiday and Adam Sills each shot a 53.

Derrick Grotrian added a 42 for Heritage (10-1). Jake Niemeyer added a 43 and Matt Sorg a 45.

In the junior varsity round, Heritage won 189-239. The Raiders were led by Justin Herring with a 50, Derek Price with a 54 and Gary Bouse with a 58.

Eagles out slug Norwell girls

The Columbia City Eagles pounded out 15 hits and defeated the Norwell Knights 13-3 in a Northeast Hoosier Conference girls’ softball game on Monday at Devol Park in Columbia City.

Ashton Sprunger and Cassie Rice drove in a run for Norwell, which had four hits. Sprunger ripped a double and Melissa Werling tripled and scored. Alyssa Shutt and Morgan Chilton also scored. Erin Hayes and Chilton each singled. Starting pitcher Jenny Sterrett took the loss, allowing seven runs and nine hits over three innings.

Jets riddle Raiders in girls’ softball

Adams Central downed Southern Wells 14-4 on Monday in a girls’ softball game between Allen County Athletic Conference rivals.

The Jets (13-5) out hit the Raiders 16-6 in the five-inning contest at Monroe. Kayla Foreman was the winning pitcher, striking out eight Raiders.

Southern Wells starting pitcher Kaitlin Bonewit took the loss. Kayla Banter, Kelsey Bonewit and Stella Grimm each drove in one Raider run. Dani Warfield and relief pitcher Emily Oswalt doubled. Cristin Carter, Emily Pursifull, Banter and Grimm each singled.

Whittney Yoder and Bailey Gerke each drove in three runs for AC. Kourtney Brite knocked in two. Alyssa Keller and Foreman each plated one run.

Norwell drops two JV softball games

The Norwell Knights junior varsity softball team suffered a pair of recent losses, falling 17-7 to Columbia City in six innings on Monday and dropping an 11-1 five-inning game to South Adams last Friday.

At Columbia City, the Knights (1-10) had 15 hits. Rachel Lind had three hits, including a double. Taylor Goodpaster, Kayla Hanni, Raven Pearson, Jenny Merryman and Breanna Foreman each had two hits, including a double by Hanni. Wendy Meyer and Heather Miller each had one hit. Hanni was the losing pitcher.

At Berne, South Adams scored six runs in the fifth to shorten the game. Lind tripled and scored. Morgan Chilton and Miller each singled. Merryman was the losing pitcher.

Summer track program slated

The South Adams track and field program will be holding a track and field series at Starfire Field in Berne on Saturday nights, June 13, 20 and 27, at 7 p.m. All ages may compete. Athletes will be charged 50 cents to participate in an event (no limit). Ribbons will be presented to the top three in each event. Participation ribbons also will be presented to those participating in children events.

Youth baseball camps available

Baseball Bunch Mini Camps for children ages 10-14 are slated for June 2, 9, 16, 23 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ossian Ball Diamond and June 3, 10, 17, 24 from 10 a.m. to noon at Roush Park Farm Diamond in Bluffton. Cost is $15 per week or $40 for all four weeks. For registration questions call Mark DeLaGarza at 260-402-0789 or e-mail at delagarza0185@comcast.net