New Palestine High School

The New Palestine softball team has made a habit of playing deep into June. The Dragons will again play for a state championship, after beating Evansville Memorial 4-1 in Saturday's semistate championship game at Jasper. Cara Steele delivered the big blow, a three-run homer in the sixth inning, to put the Dragons on top. Sadey Hughbanks continued to deliver in the circle, and she shut down the Tigers, scattering four hits in the game, to clinch the victory. A Dragons team that had its struggles during the regular season caught fire in the state tourney, and rolled through the tourney, beating three ranked teams to get to the semistate round, then beating Jennings County 14-4 in six innings in the semifinal before besting Memorial - which held on against No. 3 Cathedral 3-2 in the other semifinal - for the title. NP will be making its ninth State Finals appearance since 2003, and will be seeking its seventh state championship. With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the sixth, Payton Dye got things started with a leadoff walk. Saydie Miller then reached on an error, putting two runners on with none out. After a strikeout, Steele stepped in and blasted a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer. That's all the offense the Dragons would need. Hughbanks induced three straight groundouts in the bottom of the inning, and then a strikeout followed by a popout and lineout to Dye at third base to seal the victory. Hughbanks retired the last 13 batters she faced to seal the victory. Memorial took a 1-0 lead on a solo homer in the first. The Tigers followed with two more hits, but the Dragons got out of the inning. Hughbanks would allow just one more hit the rest of the game - a leadoff single in the bottom of the third. The runner advanced to third, where Dye scooped up a grounder and threw her out trying to score. After an error, Hughbanks induced a groundout and wouldn't allow a baserunner the remainder of the game. The Dragons tied the game in the fourth. With two outs, Claire Fitzgerald singled. Steele followed with a base hit, bringing Fitzgerald home. Each team had four hits in the game. Steele was 2-for-3 and drove in all four Dragons runs. Morgan Hutchinson was 1-for-1 and Fitzgerald 1-for-3 with a run. Hughbanks allowed one earned run, walked one and struck out six in a complete-game victory. The Dragons head to the State Finals with a 24-7 record. They will face either Hanover Central or East Noble at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Purdue University's Bittinger Stadium. Hanover Central leads East Noble 7-1 in the seventh inning in the Twin Lakes semistate final. It was suspended due to weather and will be completed Monday.