New Palestine High School

The New Palestine softball team split a twinbill against two teams from Northwest Indiana Saturday, as the Dragons beat Munster 3-0 before falling 4-3 to Crown Point, as the Bulldogs staged a seventh-inning rally. The Dragons head into the regular season's final week with a 17-2 record. Against Munster - the Northwest Crossroads Conference champion - Cailyn Hurst threw a two-hit shutout to lead the Dragons to the victory. The two hits - a leadoff double in the second and a one-out single in the fourth - were the Mustangs' only baserunners. Hurst struck out six and retired the last 11 batters she faced. The Dragons started in the opening inning, as Allie Blum singled, moved to third on an error and scored on Sydney Oliver's groundout. In the fourth, the Dragons added two more runs, with Blum hitting the first pitch of the inning for a double. Oliver followed with an RBI triple and scored on a groundout by Paige Ernstes. The Dragons had five hits in the game. Blum was 2-for-2 with two runs. Oliver was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Maddie Engle and Reese Rosenbaum also had hits. Against Crown Point, the Dragons carried a lead into the fifth inning, but the Bulldogs were able to stage a late rally, scoring two runs in the seventh to take the lead. The Dragons scored first, with Jersi Gross reaching on an error and scoring on Ernstes' groundout. In the third, Gross led off with a single. She was forced at second on a groundout by Allie Blum, but Blum would later score on Ernstes' single up the middle. Crown Point scored twice in the fifth on four consecutive two-out singles to tie the game at 2-2. The Dragons responded in the bottom of the frame when Blum singled and scored on Ernstes' groundout. However, Crown Point took the lead in the seventh, leading off with three consecutive hits to plate two runs. Blum turned a doubleplay on a lineout to quell the threat. The Dragons did get the tying run on base bottom of the frame, but were unable to find the equalizer. The Dragons next play Monday at home against Plainfield.