With the weather still wreaking havoc around central Indiana, news in the high school sports world seems a bit trivial. But should you need an escape, or a reason to get your mind elsewhere, here’s a look at a busy weekend and what lies ahead as spring sports come to a close.

BASEBALL
What a story the Decatur Central baseball team has become the past couple weeks, as the Hawks have thrilled and survived to now find themselves playing for the 4A state title this Saturday. The squad came into sectionals ranked No. 9 and was certainly under the radar on most accounts, but Saturday’s 7-6 comeback win over Evansville Harrison put the radar detectors into overdrive.

Nick Stoia, who made an error in the top of the seventh that allowed Harrison to take a 6-4 lead, got some serious redemption in the bottom half of the inning when he hit a two-run double off the left field wall. That shot off his bat tied the game at 6, and then the next batter, Adam Kirk, drove in Stoia and the celebration ensued.

Decatur Central, now sporting a 28-7 record, will play Saturday evening at Victory Field against the winner of today’s game between Crown Point and FW Homestead.

Elsewhere around the diamond, the area’s top teams in 3A have fallen during regionals and the title game is set with Crawfordsville and Mishawaka Marian. Crawfordsville is one of the hottest teams around, having taken out the likes of Brebeuf and Greensburg to reach the title game. In Class 2A, the northern half of the bracket is complete and FW Luers will be playing for the title. The southern half of the semistate bracket plays today at Mooresville with Elwood taking on Austin and South Ripley playing Eastern Greene.

Finally, in Class 1A, Bethesda Christian hopes to continue its unexpected run today as it is scheduled to face Shakamak in one semistate semifinal. Should Bethesda win, it will play the winner between Tecumseh and Jac-Cen-Del at 8:00 this evening at Perry Meridian.

GOLF
Starting tomorrow (Tuesday) at The Legends in Franklin, the boys golf state finals will get underway and two local teams have set themselves apart from the others. Avon, ranked No. 1 in the final poll, is probably considered the favorite after consistently posting low scores with serious depth on the roster. The Orioles beat Cathedral, the other frontrunner, at last Thursday’s regional by 10 strokes and have yet to lose one dual meet or invitational this season.

Senior Ronnie Harris posted a 67 at sectionals and 77 at regionals, while freshman Patrick Rodgers (my boy) won the individual regional title with a 69 at Hickory Stick. Center Grove claimed the final team spot out of that regional, finishing third by edging Brebreuf by one shot. Advancing individually were Perry Meridian’s Aaron Monson, Zionsville’s Graham Singer, Roncalli’s David Holmes and Greenwood’s Corbin Mitchell.

In other regional action, Lebanon was sent up north and came away with a berth in the state finals after Andrew Frandsen led the way with a 75. And at the Muncie Central Regional, Hamilton SE won the team crown and advanced along with second-place Noblesville. Carmel suffered a tough one as a tiebreaker put them one spot out of qualification.

GIRLS TENNIS
One week after Park Tudor claimed the team state championship, individual titles were on the line this past weekend. In a central Indiana showdown for the doubles crown, North Central’s senior pair of Maggie Ashby and Alena Perez-Majul came back to defeat Park Tudor seniors Heather Rogers and Elizabeth Emhardt by the score of 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Ashby and Perez-Majul completed a perfect season (23-0) and became the sixth doubles team in school history to claim the top spot.

In singles action, Carmel freshman Courtney Wild made an impressive run to the championship match before falling to Columbus North sophomore Caroline Hedrick (3-6, 6-4, 6-1). With the win, Hedrick posted a 25-0 record this season. In the consolation match, Avon junior Christina Riley fell to Munster junior Mary Hill to finish fourth overall.

THIS WEEK
The softball state championships, after being postponed on Saturday due to the weather, will be settled this evening at 7:00 at various locations around the area. Click here to view the schedule.

As mentioned, the boys golf state championships are set to be played Tuesday and Wednesday at The Legends in Franklin.

Friday, the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Games will be played at Conseco Fieldhouse starting at 6:00 p.m. and will feature several local hoops stars. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

Finally, the baseball state championships are scheduled to be claimed this Friday and Saturday at Victory Field. Teams are still to be determined, so check back on our homepage tomorrow for the full list of games.