With the final day of the school year near, teachers are already making vacation plans. Mark Hensley does not have that luxury because of his double duty as educator and head softball coach at Shelbyville.

“We’re not making any plans,” laughed Hensley as he recalled his wife asking him about the upcoming schedule. “We may be off Memorial Day weekend or we play be playing for two more weeks.”

To be clear, Hensley will take the extended postseason softball schedule before enjoying his summer break.

Shelbyville has followed up its first Final Four appearance in 2022 with a 17-8 season that includes six losses against state-ranked opponents by a combined eight runs, including a 2-0 loss to Class 4A, No. 1 Roncalli and 1-0 loss to 4A No. 2 Columbus North.

The Golden Bears, co-champions of the Hoosier Heritage Conference for the second consecutive season, open the Columbus North Sectional tonight at 6 p.m. against East Central (11-17). Shelbyville secured a 1-0 victory over the Trojans on April 7.

“All I remember about that game is I don’t think I’ve ever been that cold in my life,” said Hensley. “It was about 40 degrees out. It was spitting that sleety rain stuff and it was dark. I remember it was not a real good game.”

East Central pitcher Montana Plymale limited Shelbyville to seven hits in what was a scoreless game until the bottom of the seventh when Hailey Pogue drove in Addysyn Wettrick with the game’s only run.

“This time around, it will be around 80 degrees when we play,” said Hensley. “Hopefully, it is a little bit better for us.”

The second sectional quarterfinal game tonight pits Columbus East (16-11) against Columbus North (23-1-1).

The winner of the Shelbyville-East Central game returns Thursday for a 6 p.m. semifinal contest against Franklin (15-13-1). The winner of the game between the Columbus schools gets Whiteland (13-11) in the second game Thursday.
The sectional championship game is slated for 7 p.m. Friday.

The Golden Bears are led offensively by Mississippi State commit Kylee Edwards, who is hitting .542 during her senior season with 39 hits, 14 home runs and 24 runs batted in.

Pogue (photo), who will play collegiately at the University of Indianapolis, is hitting .449 with 15 doubles and 20 RBIs.

Shelbyville also will count on production from junior Cheyenne Eads (.351 average, nine doubles, three home runs, 18 RBIs) and sophomore Addie Stieneker (.442, 10 doubles, seven home runs, team-leading 35 RBIs).

Eads (9-6, 2.17 earned run average, 150 strikeouts in 96 innings) and Pogue (6-1, 1.57 ERA) are a strong 1-2 pitching punch and regularly overpower opponents.

The winner of the Columbus North Sectional advances to play at the winner of Sectional 13, which includes 4A No. 9 Mooresville (26-3-1), who defeated Shelbyville, 2-1, on May 6.

TRITON CENTRAL

Class 2A, Sectional 42, hosted by Triton Central, got underway Monday with a pair of quarterfinal contests that did not feature the top two teams in the field.

Indianapolis Scecina defeated Christel House, 13-0, and Park Tudor knocked off Irvington Prep, 11-8.

The semifinals are tonight with Heritage Christian (18-8) facing Scecina (5-14) at 5 p.m. with Triton Central (17-5) following against Park Tudor (11-8).

Triton Central has put together a 17-win season without a senior on the roster and more talent in the pipeline, according to head coach Aaron Pyle.

“For the next few years, we will be tough,” said Pyle following a loss to Indiana Crossroads Conference champion Cascade on April 25.

The Tigers finished third in the ICC standings behind 2A No. 6 Cascade (21-4, 7-0 ICC) and Class A, No. 7 Indianapolis Lutheran (16-7, 6-1 ICC).

Pyle used three pitchers this season to amass a program-record 17 wins. Sophomores Brylie Couch and Lillie Fillippinie and freshman Madi Peterson all have earned run averages below 2.50 and have nearly twice as many strikeouts as innings pitched.

Fillippinie and Couch also help themselves at the plate, leading the team with .519 and .500 batting averages, respectively.

“Overall, we have a lot more utility players that can play multiple positions and not tied to one position,” said Pyle of his roster. “From the top down, everybody does what we ask and goes with it.”

Three of TC’s five losses this season are to state-ranked opponents. The two biggest wins came at Beech Grove (19-6), 2-1 on April 19, and against Heritage Christian, 10-0 on April 13.

Fillippinie twirled a five-inning no-hitter against Heritage Christian which sets up the Tigers as the favorite to capture the program’s first sectional championship since 2015.

In the win, though, Triton Central did not face Heritage Christian junior pitcher Alayna Tesnar, who has an ERA under 2.00 and a more than 2-to-1 strikeout-to-innings-pitched ratio.

The Triton Central Sectional champion will face the Union County Sectional champion in a one-game regional on May 30. The Union County Sectional includes 2A No. 9 Eastern Hancock (20-6) and Union County (19-4).

MORRISTOWN

The Yellow Jackets won four of their final six games to get above .500 going into the postseason.

Morristown will be the last team to debut at the Edinburgh Sectional that started Monday with Class A, No. 7 Indianapolis Lutheran defeating a 17-win Eminence squad, 11-0.

The host Lancers (12-12) take on Greenwood Christian (3-10) today in another quarterfinal contest.

On Wednesday, Lutheran (16-7) returns to face Providence Cristo Rey (1-12) in the first semifinal game.

Morristown (11-9) finally arrives on Thursday to face the winner of the Edinburgh-Greenwood Christian game.

The sectional championship game is set for Friday.

The Yellow Jackets do not have an overpowering pitching staff so they will need a strong offensive punch just to get to the championship game.

Nevaeh Cox leads Morristown with a .562 batting average. Brandi Enterkin (.489) and Alexia Rogers (.404) also are above .400 entering the postseason.

Cox leads the team with 10 doubles, three triples and seven home runs. She also has a team-high 34 RBIs.

The Edinburgh Sectional champion will host the winner of the North Decatur Sectional champion in a one-game regional.

WALDRON

The Mohawks (3-13-1) received a bye into the North Decatur Sectional semifinal round and will face the host Chargers (13-15) today at 6 p.m.

On Monday, North Decatur advanced with a 13-1 victory over Oldenburg Academy (2-17). Jac-Cen-Del (8-16) earned a spot in the sectional championship game with a 16-0 win over South Decatur (7-17).

Waldron lost a pair of conference games to North Decatur during the regular season and was outscored 32-3.

The pitching staff will be hard pressed to keep the Chargers off the scoreboard. That means the offense needs to be productive to reach the sectional championship game.

Audrey Hogg, Alyssa Benson, Brooklyn Hudnall and Bre Barton are all hitting over .300 this season.

The North Decatur Sectional champion will travel to the Edinburgh Sectional champion for a one-game regional.

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