SB 1A FINAL: #2 Riverton Parke upsets #1 Lutheran, 1-0

INDIANAPOLIS – In a game like softball that’s so often dominated by strong pitching, you have to take advantage of your scoring opportunities when they come. Second-ranked Riverton Parke did June 12 at the Ben Davis Softball Complex, whereas No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran did not. 

That, in essence, is the story of the Panthers’ 1-0 Class A state championship victory.

Although the fans didn’t know it, this game was settled before most people got comfortable in their seats Saturday morning. With one out in the top of the first, Riverton Parke freshman shortstop Sara Dickey launched a triple to left. Junior third baseman Ashley Kinne singled her home one out later, and the Panthers took an early lead. 

It was the only serious scoring threat they had the entire game.

In the bottom of the first, Lutheran sophomore shortstop Hailey Reed led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. With one out, junior catcher Chaunsey Bell advanced her to third while reaching safely on a fielder’s choice that went bad for Riverton Parke (31-2). 

Lutheran (also 31-2) had runners on the corners with one out, but they failed to score when the next two batters struck out. The Saints would never come close to denting the plate again.

Riverton Parke’s Haley Chambers (21-1), a gutty left-handed sophomore, limited Lutheran to just two hits while going the distance and striking out seven. She worked out of a minor jam in the fifth and sailed to the finish.

The Panthers certainly needed the gem of a pitching performance. After her first-inning troubles, Lutheran right-handed senior Morgan Lewis – the 1A Mental Attitude Award winner as well as the 2009-10 Gatorade Softball Player of the Year for Indiana – allowed only one additional hit in the game. 

Lewis (29-2) also struck out 13 Panther batters along the way in a dominant performance for fifth-year coach Don Pietz.

A key point in the game came in the top of the fifth inning. With one out and a runner on first base, Chambers blistered a drive to right-center that looked bound for the fence. The insurance run for Riverton Parke was nearly at third base when Lutheran sophomore Amanda Korb made a sensational diving grab, and Lutheran doubled up the runner to keep the score at 1-0. 

In the bottom of the inning, Korb once again got the better of Chambers by leading off the inning with an infield single. It would have been an easy thing for the Panther hurler to have come emotionally unhinged, but she didn’t. After she got out of the frame with no damage, Lutheran failed to mount a challenge in its final two at-bats.

The victory by fifth-year coach Joe Cox’s Riverton Parke team – the state runner-up in 1998 to Eastside – represents the first state championship of any kind for the tiny Parke County School. 

Meanwhile, this was Lutheran’s seventh state finals appearance and the school’s fourth in as many years. The Saints won the crown in 2004 and 2007 and were runners-up in 2001 as well as last year to Tecumseh.

Morgan Lewis of Indianapolis Lutheran was recognized by members of the IHSAA executive committee as this year’s recipient of the Mental Attitude Award in Class A softball. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the school in her name.

Lewis was a part of four highly successful Lutheran squads that reached the state finals each year of her career. She was nominated to the All-Marion County Team for four consecutive years, and this year was named the 2009-10 Gatorade Softball Player of the Year for Indiana.

Lewis is ranked 14th in her class and is a member of the National Honor Society, Pep Band, Concert Band, and Prom Committee. She has volunteered for the Fletcher Place Community Center, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, and the WRTV-6 Toy Drive. 

The daughter of Brad and Sharon Lewis of Indianapolis will attend the University of Tennessee-Martin to study health and human performance.

The box score:

Player   ab    r    h   rbi   bb   so   po    a   lob 

Haley Chambers p   3   0   0   0   0   2   0   1   1 

Sara Dickey ss   3   1   1   0   0   1   1   1   0 

Sarah Burnham 2b   3   0   0   0   0   2   3   2   0 

Ashley Kinne 3b   3   0   1   1   0   1   1   1   0 

Randi Cookus lf   3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   0 

Mikayla Grindle c   3   0   0   0   0   2   7   0   2 

Makenzie Haltom 1b   3   0   0   0   0   2   4   0   0 

Sheldan Falls cf   1   0   0   0   0   1   4   0   0 

Paige Yando rf   2   0   1   0   0   1   1   0   0 

Totals   24   1   3   1   0   13   21   5   3 

  

Player   ab    r    h   rbi   bb   so   po    a   lob 

Hailey Reed ss   2   0   0   0   1   0   0   0   0 

Brandi Lawson 1b   3   0   1   0   0   2   7   0   0 

Chaunsey Bell c   3   0   0   0   0   0   13   1   0 

  Emily Snow pr   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0 

Morgan Lewis p   3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   1 

Frances Shaffer 2b   3   0   0   0   0   1   0   1   2 

Amanda Korb cf   3   0   1   0   0   1   1   1   0 

Baylea Buiters dp   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0 

Jensen Pritt lf   2   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   0 

Molly Burke rf   2   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   1 

Jonni Nowakoski 3b   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0 

Totals   23   0   2   0   1   7   21   6   4 

Score by Innings                 R  H  E

Riverton Parke 100 000 0 – 1  3  0

Indianapolis Lutheran 000 000 0 – 0  2  1

E – Reed. DP – Saints 1. LOB – Panthers 3, Saints 4. 3B – S. Dickey. HBP – Falls. SH – Nowakoski.

Riverton Parke   ip   h   r   er   bb   so   wp   bk   hbp   ibb   ab   bf   fo   go   np 

Haley Chambers W (21-1)  7.0   2   0   0   1   7   0   0   0   0   23   25   9   5   89 

  

Indianapolis Lutheran   ip   h   r   er   bb   so   wp   bk   hbp   ibb   ab   bf   fo   go   np 

Morgan Lewis L (29-2)   7.0   3   1   1   0   13   1   0   1   0   24   25   3   4   92 

Win – Chambers (21-1). Loss – Lewis (29-2). WP – Lewis. HBP – by Lewis (Falls). PB – Grindle. Pitches/strikes: Chambers 89/63, Lewis 92/67.

Umpires: HP David Bogard, 1B Bob Storms, 3B Larry Higgins

Start: 10:33 a.m. Time: 1:31. Attendance:

Weather: 74 degrees, overcast

Riverton Parke starters: 2/p Chambers; 17/ss S. Dickey; 3/2b Burnham; 16/3b Kinne; 8/lf Cookus; 11/c Grindle; 10/1b Haltom; 4/cf Falls; 1/rf Yando;

Indpls. Lutheran starters: 3/ss Reed; 8/1b Lawson; 11/c Bell; 24/p Lewis; 7/2b Shaffer; 4/cf Korb; 23/dp Suiters; 1/lf Pritt; 15/rf Burke; 26/3b Nowakoski;

Riverton Parke 1st – Chambers struck out swinging (1-2). S. Dickey tripled to left field (0-1). Burnham popped up to 1b (0-0). Kinne singled down the lf line, RBI (1-0); S. Dickey scored. Cookus reached on a dropped fly by ss (0-0); Kinne advanced to second. Cookus advanced to second; Kinne advanced to third on a wild pitch. Grindle struck out swinging (1-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 1st – Reed walked (3-2). Reed advanced to second on a passed ball. Lawson struck out swinging (3-2). Bell reached on a fielder’s choice to shortstop, advanced to second (0-1); Reed advanced to third. Snow pinch ran for Bell. Lewis struck out swinging (3-2). Shaffer struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Riverton Parke 2nd – Bell to c for Snow. Haltom struck out swinging (3-2). Falls hit by pitch (3-2). Yando struck out swinging (2-2). Chambers struck out swinging (0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 2nd – Korb struck out looking (0-2). Suiters popped up to 2b (1-1). Pritt popped up to 2b (1-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Riverton Parke 3rd – S. Dickey struck out swinging (0-2). Burnham struck out swinging (3-2). Kinne struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 3rd – Burke popped up to 3b, bunt (1-1). Reed flied out to cf (1-2). Lawson struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Riverton Parke 4th – Cookus grounded out to 3b (0-1). Grindle struck out swinging (1-2). Haltom struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 4th – Bell grounded out to 2b (0-0). Lewis grounded out to 3b (0-0). Shaffer lined out to ss (1-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Riverton Parke 5th – Falls struck out swinging (1-2). Yando singled to shortstop (2-1). Chambers flied into double play cf to 2b to 1b (0-1); Yando out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 5th – Korb singled to second base (1-1). Nowakoski to 3b for Suiters. / for Nowakoski. Nowakoski out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt (3-1); Korb advanced to second. Pritt struck out looking (0-2). Burke struck out swinging (0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Riverton Parke 6th – S. Dickey fouled out to c (0-2). Burnham struck out swinging (3-2). Kinne grounded out to 3b (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 6th – Reed grounded out to ss (0-2). Lawson singled to center field (0-0). Bell lined out to cf (2-1). Lewis grounded out to 2b (0-0). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Riverton Parke 7th – Cookus struck out swinging (0-2). Grindle grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-0). Haltom grounded out to 3b (1-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Indpls. Lutheran 7th – Shaffer flied out to cf (0-1). Korb flied out to rf (0-2). Suiters to dp for Nowakoski. Nowakoski to 3b. Suiters flied out to cf (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.