JEFFERSONVILLE — The Floyd Central girls’ tennis team moved one step closer to another Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament title on Wednesday.

The third-ranked Highlanders swept host Jeffersonville in the tournament semifinals, 5-0. Floyd Central will travel to either Columbus East or Jennings County on Friday for the HHC tournament final.

The Highlanders only dropped six games in singles action. At No. 1 singles, Olivia Boesing defeated the Red Devils’ Julianna Jenks, 6-1, 6-0. Senior Carmen Schreiber won her No. 2 singles match over Jeff’s Emily Lewis, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 3 singles, the Highlanders’ Dana Frank did not lose a game against Larissa Neville, 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles action, the Floyd Central team of Whitney Batliner and Katherine Dauby upended Morgan Reilly and Macy Lancaster at the No. 1 spot, 6-4, 6-1. At two doubles, Kadey Welch and Chelsea Shackelford knocked off Jeff’s Rachel Williams and Kaitlin Wunsch, 6-0, 6-1.

“I thought we played great. We played with a lot of intensity,” Floyd Central head coach Rick Miller said. “We’re getting better. I saw improvement over last week. I’m looking for lots of improvement by sectional or regional. If we get 5-10 percent better, we’ll be hard to handle.”

Jeff head coach Mark Reilly lauded Lewis’ effort.

“They have a nice team, but I was very impressed with our sophomore Emily Lewis at the No. 2 spot,” the Red Devil mentor said. “She played a very competitive match and gave the senior a lot to think about.”

Jeff will play at either East or Jennings County in the third-place match of the tournament on Friday.

• Silver Creek finishes MSC slate undefeated: Silver Creek won the Mid-Southern Conference title on Wednesday night with a 5-0 sweep at Salem to wrap up conference play 9-0 on the season.

The Dragons won all five matches in straight sets each with Kat Hebble defeating Salem’s Rachel Carter 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. At two singles, Kristen Haeberlein beat Sarah Fisher, 6-1, 6-0. In the No. 3 singles pairing, Tess Vanover defeated Nicole Sullivan 6-3, 6-1.

Silver Creek’s dominance continued in the doubles matches with the No. 1 team of Rain Hopkins and Jenny Block defeating Salem’s Kassidy Smith and Teddi Mahuron, 6-2, 6-0. At No. 2 doubles, Katy Hawkins and Rebekah Knittle beat Shelby Colglazier and Elizabeth Catlin 6-4, 6-3.

“We’ve accompllished our first goal of the season to go undefeated in MSC play, and that has really helped us prepare for what comes next. We are looking forward to beginning sectional play next week,” Silver Creek head coach Robert Briscoe said.

Silver Creek (11-4) hosts Providence today.

• Clarksville downs CAI, 4-1: On Tuesday, visiting Clarksville swept both doubles positions to defeat Christian Academy of Indiana, 4-1. The Generals extended their winning streak to four matches.

At No. 1 doubles, the Generals’ Bailey Duggan and Courtney Miller knocked off Emily Mitchell and Courtney Brown, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(9-7). At two doubles, Sharon Garcia and Abigail Hurtgen upended the Warriors’ Callie Allison and Camarr Kelly, 6-1, 6-1.

Clarksville’s Jackie Slaten won at No. 2 singles over Courtney Heishman, 6-4, 6-3. At three singles, the Generals’ Tesia Jenkins beat CAI’s Kacie Arrell, 6-4, 6-2.

The Warriors’ lone point came at No. 1 singles as Rachel Jones defeated Chloe Stephens, 6-1, 6-0.

“I feel like we are hopefully peaking at the right time,” Clarksville head coach Steve Welcher said. “I am really happy for my doubles. Finally, both teams won. My No. 1 doubles finally fought through a close match and came out on the winning side.”

The Generals will host Salem on Monday. CAI will visit Southwestern on Friday.



SOFTBALL

• Highlanders advance to HHC final: On Wednesday, Floyd Central advanced to the championship game of the HHC Tournament with a 1-0 win over visiting Jennings County in the semifinals. The Highlanders (21-3) will host Bedford North Lawrence in Friday’s title contest at 5:30 p.m.

Floyd Central’s one run came in the bottom of the first inning when Katelin Dreher smacked a two-out double to center field to plate Samantha Feather.

Feather ended up going 3-for-3. The Highlanders’ Morgan Harper was the winning pitcher, improving her record to 9-1. Floyd Central’s defense backed up Harper with two double plays.

“The girls were ready to play against a good team,” Floyd Central head coach Joe Witten said. “The ball bounced our way several times tonight.”

• Bulldogs fall in HHC semifinals: Host New Albany committed six errors in its 8-4 loss to Bedford in the HHC Tournament semifinals at Prosser Field.

The Bulldogs’ Brittany Jones went 3-for-4, teammate Mady Baumann was 2-for-4 and New Albany’s Jamie Whitten contributed a 2-for-3 performance.

McKenzie Gill was the losing pitcher. In a four-inning starting stint, the Bulldog freshman allowed eight runs (six earned) on nine hits.

New Albany (14-9) hosts Lanesville today. On Friday, the Bulldogs will visit Jennings County in the third-place game of the HHC Tournament.

• Red Devils blank Madison: Jeffersonville shut out host Madison in the consolation bracket semifinals of the HHC Tournament, 3-0.

The Red Devils’ Kayleigh Thomas was the winning pitcher, upping her record to 7-2. Jeff (17-5) will host Seymour in the fifth-place game on Friday.

• Generals handle Henryville: Kayla Wallace went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI to lead host Clarksville past Henryville, 7-2.

Also for the Generals (11-8), Shelby Carta went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Kierstin Hall was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Clarksville pitcher Hannah Heintzman earned the victory. In a complete-game performance, she allowed two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

“She threw strikes and our defense was pretty good,” Generals’ head coach Tim Hauber said. “Hannah got out of trouble in the first and shut them down the rest of the game.”

Henryville pitcher Natalie Basham suffered the loss. Clarksville hosts Scottsburg on its Senior Day today. The Hornets (10-10) will play in the Silver Creek Tournament on Saturday.

• Pioneers shut out South Central: Kristan Markland tossed a four-hit shutout to lead host Providence past South Central, 5-0. Markland struck out five and walked none.

The Pioneers (13-11) scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Providence’s Jordyn Stengel collected an RBI single and then scored on a Kelsea Bedan sacrifice fly.

“It was another great defensive game,” Pioneers’ head coach Sean Payne said. “One thing in practice that we have been really working hard on was minimizing our defensive mistakes. We couldn’t get into a flow today, but we found a way to win.”

Providence will host Southwestern on Monday.

• Dragons roll past Lanesville: Trailing 3-0, host Silver Creek scored eight runs in the bottom of the third and cruised to a 14-4 victory over Lanesville.

McKenzie Bush was the winning pitcher for the Dragons (16-6), as she kept her record undefeated at 6-0. Silver Creek’s Kira Jamros had a double.

The Dragons host Salem today.



BASEBALL

• Pioneers down Pirates in eight: With the score tied at three, visiting Providence scored six runs in the top of the eighth and defeated Charlestown, 9-4.

The Pioneers’ Brenden Popson was the winning pitcher, evening his record at 3-3. Providence’s Andrew Hunt, Justin Starr and Nick Campbell each had a double.

The Pirates’ Ryan Jones, Jon Crawford and Drew Reich each went 2-for-4. Crawford had two RBIs. Charlestown’s Jordan Hensley-Cole was the losing pitcher. He pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two runs (both earned) on one hit and two walks.

The Pirates had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh. They had the winning run on third with two out, but the final Charlestown batter of the inning struck out to send the game to extra innings.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Pirates’ head coach Ricky Romans said. “We had many opportunities tonight and we didn’t capitalize on them.”

Providence (9-9) will travel to Louisville St. Xavier tonight. Charlestown (13-7) visits Brownstown today.

• Hornets thump Borden: Starting pitcher Cody Reister tossed a one-hitter to lead host Henryville past Borden in five innings, 11-1. Reister gave up no earned runs, walked none and struck out nine.

Henryville’s Bailey Hall and Dylan Cissell each went 2-for-2, while teammate Joey Martin was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. The Hornets committed four errors.

“I was happy with the way we approached the game today,” Hornets’ head coach Jeff Schroeder said. “Other than the errors, we played a pretty good game.”

Borden’s Garrett Stephens was the losing pitcher. Henryville (9-9) visits Trinity Lutheran today. The Braves (4-12) will travel to Brownstown for a doubleheader on Saturday.

• Highlanders down Madison: Floyd Central bounced back from its disappointing 11-inning loss to New Albany in the first round of the HHC Tournament with a 5-3 victory at Madison in the tournament’s consolation semis on Wednesday.

The Highlanders’ Colton Kimm got the win on the mound, improving to 3-2. Floyd Central’s Tanner Wortham and Kyle Neafus each had a double.

The Highlanders (12-9) will host either Bedford or Jennings County in the fifth-place game on Friday.



BOYS’ GOLF

• Red Devils win tri-meet: On Tuesday at the Jeff Elks, Jeffersonville defeated North Harrison by two strikes to win a triangular meet. The Red Devils fired a team score of 187, while the Cougars had a 189. Charlestown ended up third with a 206.

Jeff senior Zack Lovan earned medalist honors with a 41. Rounding out the scoring for the Red Devils were Dalton Naiser with a 47, Jordan Lacy with a 48 and Dillion Willis with 51.

For the Pirates, Doug Wolfe had a 48, Chris Braun shot a 40, Clayton Terry fired a 52 and Luke Watson had a 56.

Jeff will play in the Southern Indiana Open at Hidden Creek Golf Club on Saturday. Charlestown hosts South Central and Corydon today at Hidden Creek.