Ben Davis (Indianapolis) moved up to No. 5 in the 4A rankings and promptly scored a 12-1 win over North Central on Tuesday. The Giants' offensive prowess has propelled them to an 8-0 record and the team is hitting its stride right before the meat of its schedule.
Coming off of a 15-13 season by a team laden with inexperience, the Giants have made a splash around Marion County as a potential title contender by outscoring their opponents 92-18 and earning wins over Avon and defending 4A state champion Center Grove.
"Last year we played a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and they took their lumps," said Ben Davis head coach Demetrius Dowler, who is also a 10-year assistant on the two-time defending state champion girls basketball team. "I knew that we had some talented players, and they worked hard in the offseason. Now we’ve got a lineup that’s strong from top to bottom, and that’s really been a strength for us."
Ben Davis has seven players batting over .400 on the season, led by junior third baseman Courtney Clark with a .567 batting average and 15 RBI. Sophomore Jessie Britt is hitting .536 with two triples, and senior Rachel Wilbur is batting .611 with six doubles in six games.
Senior Sydney West is 3-0 on the mound with three complete games and a 1.53 ERA and is batting .500. Sophomore pitcher Kaisey Carson is 5-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 22 strikeouts and is batting .469 with 11 RBI.
The Giants will host the Ben Davis Spring Softball Classic on Friday and Saturday and will play Perry Meridian, Twin Lakesm and No. 12 East Central before the final matchups are determined. The Giants may have turned some heads in 4A, but Dowler knows that the Giants will have to stay focused to capture the Marion County and go deep into the postseason.
"We expect to get everybody’s (best effort)," said Dowler. "The best thing we can do is to not let the winning get to our heads and keep on working."
Baseball: Bishop Chatard tops Heritage Christian
Brebeuf Jesuit Prep (Indianapolis) graduated just four players from last year's team, a squad that went 23-7 on the year and ended up one game short of the 3A state championship game. Despite two graduates off to play Division I baseball and the other two playing Division III baseball, the Braves returned 13 juniors from last year and their goals have not changed.
"I think we walked away from last year's semi-state feeling pretty good about this year's squad," said Brebeuf head coach John Zangrilli. "It's baseball, so we know we're not going to win them all, but we knew we'd be pretty tough. Our goal each year is (20 wins) going (into postseason), that way we know that we really came to play in at least 20 of the games leading up (to sectional), and that should be plenty to prepare us."
The Braves pushed their record to 11-2 with a win over defending 2A state champion Heritage Christian, thumping the Eagles 9-1. Shortstop Tres Eberhardt, a Xavier recruit, led the way, going 3 of 4 from the plate, while Wes Bruemmer had a pair of doubles and Tommy Green blasted a solo home run in the win.
"Our practices are intense and our kids really put in the work to be good," said Zangrilli of his team's most recent win. "They play the game 100 miles per hour, the way that it should be played." The Braves' only two losses on the season came at Cincinnatti (Ohio) Elder and Roncalli. Brebeuf now prepares to delve into a tough stretch, as the Braves will begin a five-game home stand on Saturday against Bishop Chatard and end on May 1 with games against Norwell and 3A No. 1 Andrean, last year's state champion.
Wrap-up
4A No. 6 Brownsburg (12-0) completed a two-game sweep of conference foe Noblesville and will play No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern (12-2) on back-to-back days starting Friday evening.
Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers) had its entire line-up together for the first time on Wednesday night as they topped in-town rival Fishers 9-2. The Royals had seven players knock in runs, led by senior catcher Jake Struab, who went 2 for 4 from the plate with two RBI, and centerfielder Rob Stein, who went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBI.
No. 5 Ben Davis is the two-time defending state champion in boys track and field, with a young Lawrence Central team sitting on top of the polls. Zionsville, however, has shot up the rankings after finishing a close second to Ben Davis twice this season, most recently on Saturday. Shane Mikesky won the 300-meter hurdles, Sam Berger took top honors in the 3,200-meter run, and the Eagles also won the 400-meter relay, while taking second place in four other events. Zionsville went on to beat Hamilton Southeastern 85-47 on Tuesday and will participate in the talent-heavy Franklin Central Invitational beginning on Friday.
In basketball recruiting news, Pike junior Marquis Teague, among the top players in the country in the 2011 class, committed to Kentucky on Thursday over Lousiville, Indiana, Purdue, and Cincinnatti. Hamilton Southeastern sophomore shooting guard Gary Harris also picked up scholarship offers from Cincinnati and Indiana, to go along with the current offers from Xavier, Minnesota, and Illinois.
