Some news and notes today. Nothing flashy, but hopefully effective.

  • The Indiana Baseball Coaches Association, in cooperation with the American Cancer Society, has initiated a state-wide effort to raise money for the fight against cancer. The effort is being called “Baseball Strikes Out ‘K’ancer” and the campaign will be taking place during games played the final week of this month. For example, Fishers has designated its home game this Saturday against Avon as their “Baseball Strikes Out ‘K’ancer” game. The participating schools have the option of getting money donated or pledged using different game factors such as number of strikeouts, runs scored, or total hits gotten by both teams. Cool stuff, be sure to donate if you find yourself at a local game participating in this effort.
  • Updates in the various rankings this week. Avon has jumped to the top spot in the 4A softball poll, thanks in part to the efforts of outstanding pitcher Jenny Esparza. On Thursday, the Orioles have a showdown schedule on the road against 2A No. 1 Scecina. In baseball, Carmel fell out of the top spot after losing 1-of-2 against North Central last week while Brownsburg fell from No. 2 to No. 5. Crown Point and Penn take the top two spots, respectively.

  • On our homepage this week, we take a quick look at some spring standouts – some of which have already been mentioned on the blog and some new highlights as well. Also, the Indiana All-Stars have been announced and you can get the full roster here.

  • The softball City Tournament gets underway this Saturday at Brookside Park, where the aforementioned Scecina Crusaders are the top seed and heavy favorites. The semifinals are set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 and the championship game follows.

  • We’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of the May issue, which is set to begin distribution on Monday at local Marsh and Blockbuster stores. However, we will be sending out the digital copy in the brand new HSSTM E-Mag newsletter tomorrow morning, so if you haven’t signed up for the free newsletter (in which the digital issue will be sent every month, along with other tidbits), you can do so here.

  • We’re saying farewell to our beloved (and over-worked) intern this Friday. Bob, who was recently named next year’s Editor in Chief for the Butler Collegian, has been a big help to our staff here since January and we wish him nothing but the best. If you notice a bit of a drop-off in production next week, well, you can always blame the intern. Sure, that excuse still works.

And that’s a wrap, for now. Be sure to check out Bob’s farewell blog on Friday…I’m sure it will be a real tear-jerker. Have a great weekend!