Caston goes 1-2 at Kokomo tournament, places 4th

Scales homers to support Mollenkopf shutout of Westfield before losses to St. Joe, Bellmont

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Softball

Kinzie Mollenkopf

The Caston softball team went 1-2 at the Kokomo tournament Friday and Saturday and finished fourth in the eight-team tournament.

Caston edged Westfield 1-0 on Friday in the quarterfinals, lost to South Bend St. Joe 17-8 on Saturday in the semifinals and lost to Bellmont 10-3 on Saturday in the third-place game.

The Lady Comets are 6-4 on the season.

In the Westfield game, Isabel Scales homered in the bottom of the sixth for the lone run, and Kinzie Mollenkopf tossed a one-hitter with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

Addison Zimpleman added a pair of singles, and Alexa Finke had a double and a walk. Scales also walked twice, and Mollenkopf drew a walk.

In the South Bend St. Joe game, Zimpleman singled and homered and drove in two runs, and Mollenkopf had two singles and an RBI. Scales and Annie Harsh also homered and had two RBIs each.

Kylee Logan and Macee Hinderlider each had a pair of singles, and Finke and Makena Middleton had one hit each.

Isabel Scales

Zimpleman started in the circle and went the first three innings. She allowed 11 hits and three walks while striking out four. Mollenkopf relieved and went four innings and gave up eight hits and a walk while striking out four.

South Bend St. Joe is ranked No. 13 in Class 4A. They are the reigning Class 3A state champions, and they had allowed only six runs total in seven games prior to facing Caston.

In the Bellmont game, Scales went 2 for 4 with a single and a double, and Kylee Logan had an RBI single. Bailey Harness, Mollenkopf and Hinderlider also had singles.

Mollenkopf took the loss in the circle, allowing nine hits and 10 runs in six innings. She walked two and struck out eight.

Caston will travel to sectional rival and Class 1A, No. 2 West Central at 5 p.m. Monday.

Quarterfinals: Caston 1, Westfield 0

Westfield 000 000 0 – 0 1 0

Caston 000 001 X – 1 4 1

WP – Kinzie Mollenkopf (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K)

LP – Tanner (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K)

Semifinals: South Bend St. Joe 17, Caston 8

Caston 232 001 0 – 8

SB St. Joe 710 310 5 – 17

LP – Addison Zimpleman (3 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 3 BB, 4 K)

HR – Addison Zimpleman (CAS), Isabel Scales (CAS), Annie Harsh (CAS)

Third-place game: Belmont 10, Caston 3

Caston 102 000 0 – 3 6 1

Bellmont 230 122 X – 10 9 3

LP – Kinzie Mollenkopf (6 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 2 BB, 8 K)

2B – Isabel Scales (CAS)