RIVERTON PARKE CLAIMS FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 2 Riverton Parke (31-2) scored the only run of the contest in the top of the first inning, leading the Panthers to a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Indianapolis Lutheran in the Class A championship game at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis.
The Panthers started off quickly in the first inning when Riverton Parke freshman Sara Dickey hit a triple off of Lutheran senior pitcher Morgan Lewis to get into scoring position. Two batters later, junior Ashley Kinne singled in Dickey for the first and only run of the game.
Lutheran challenged in the bottom of the fifth when senior Amanda Korb advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but sophomore pitcher Haley Chambers struck out the next two Lutheran batters to get out of the inning. From that point on the Riverton Parke defense rallied behind Chambers, who had seven strikeouts and only allowed two hits on the day.
Riverton Parke only allowed one more hit the rest of the game to claim the school’s first state championship in any sport. The Panthers made their last appearance in the state finals championship game in 1998, when they fell to Eastside. Head coach Joe Cox and this year’s Panther squad finished with a record of 31-2.
This was Lutheran’s seventh state finals appearance, and the school’s fourth in as many years. The Saints, led by head coach Don Pietz, finished the season with a record of 31-2.
MORGAN LEWIS of INDIANAPOLIS LUTHERAN WINS MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD
Morgan Lewis of Indianapolis Lutheran High School was recognized by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee as this year’s recipient of the Mental Attitude Award in Class A softball.
Lewis has been a part of four highly successful Lutheran squads that have reached the state finals each year of her career. She has been nominated to the All-Marion County Team for four consecutive years, and this year was named the 2009-10 Gatorade Softball Player of the Year for Indiana.
Lewis is ranked 14th in her class and is a member of the National Honors Society, Pep Band, Concert Band, and Prom Committee. She has volunteered for the Fletcher Place Community Center, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, and the WRTV-6 Toy Drive.
In the fall, Lewis will attend the University of Tennessee-Martin to study Health and Human Performance.
She is the daughter of Brad and Sharon Lewis of Indianapolis.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Lutheran High School in the name of Morgan Lewis.