SB: East Central's season ends in state semifinals

By Eric Eaton
Staff Writer

CARMEL – Franklin Central
senior Chanda Bell pitched a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts as the #6 Flashes defeated #12
East Central 6-0 on June 9 at Cherry Tree Elementary School in Carmel
to advance to the 4A state title game on June 10 at 6:30 P.M. from Ben
Davis High School in Indianapolis.

The game had been halted on June 6 with Franklin Central leading East Central 5-0 through two-complete innings of play.

The
Flashes will play either #2 McCutcheon or LaPorte in the 4A state title
game. The McCutcheon/LaPorte semifinal was suspened on June 9 due to
weather with the Mavericks leading 4-0 through four-complete innings of
play. The game will be resumed June 10 at 1:30 P.M. from Ben Davis High
School.

The following is a recap of the first two innings of the Franklin Central/East Central semifinal from June 7.

Lightening
and heavy rains forced IHSAA officials to postpone the 4A Softball
State Semifinals Friday June 6 at Cherry Tree Elementary School in
Carmel until 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, June 7.

Officials did
announce though that the 4A state title game will still take place at
its regularly scheduled time of 7:30 P.M. Saturday evening from Ben
Davis High School.

Semifinal #1 between #6 Franklin Central and
#12 East Central did get underway, but was halted after two-complete
innings of play with Franklin Central leading 5-0.

The Flashes
jumped on top of East Central by scoring two runs in the bottom of the
first-inning. Lead-off hitter Jennifer Demotte scored the first run on
an RBI single from clean-up hitter Leah Prewitt. Franklin Central then
added a second opening-frame run when Joy Perry drew a bases loaded
walk off of Trojans starting pitcher Amber Eckstein, which forced home
courtesy runner Denise Coram.

Then, after Franklin Central
senior Chanda Bell struck out the East Central side in the top of the
second-inning, the Flashes would add three more runs in the bottom-half
of the inning.

The number-nine hitter Eleni Prewitt led off the
inning being hit by a pitch. Demotte then proceeded to drive her in
with a bases clearing triple. The next batter, Bell, then hit a ground
ball to the right side of the infield. East Central came home with the
throw but it was offline, allowing Demotte to score.

However,
en route to home-plate Demote collided hard with East Central catcher
Beth Moorman. Both players hit the deck, but Demotte managed to crawl
and touch the plate, giving Franklin Central a 4-0 lead. Demotte and
Moorman were both shaken-up on the play, but neither one was seriously
injured.

The Flashes would add a fifth run moments later on Leah Prewitt’s second RBI-single of the game.

Mother-nature
then intervened with lightening and heavy rain, forcing the game to be
halted until 10:00 A.M. Saturday morning with the Flashes leading 5-0.

And
baring a miraculous comeback by the Trojans, Franklin Central will be
playing for its first-ever state softball championship at 7:30 P.M.
Saturday evening at Ben Davis.

If East Central is to comeback
from five-runs down, then they will half to do so against one of the
top pitchers in the state in Bell. For the season, Bell has allowed
just two earned-runs and sports a miniscule .10 ERA.

Game #2
between LaPorte and #2 McCutcheon will get underway following the
conclusion of the East Central/Franklin Central ballgame, which should
be sometime between 11:00 A.M. and noon.

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