Limo in New Palestine, IN

A year ago, New Palestine (26-5) ended Cathedral’s softball season in the regional round of the IHSAA postseason.

This year, Cathedral got its payback.

In a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in Class 3A, the top-ranked Irish rallied late to defeat the second-ranked Dragons, 4-1, in the second of two semifinal games in the Class 3A South Semi-State at Jasper.

Cathedral (28-2) went on to defeat Evansville Memorial (20-8) in Saturday night’s semi-state championship game, 4-2, advancing to the Class 3A state title game next week.

Evansville Memorial won 2-0 over Charlestown (19-9) earlier in the day.

Against Cathedral, the Dragons jumped out to a 1-0 first-inning lead and held onto that advantage until Cathedral scored three times in the fifth inning. The Irish added one more in the sixth.

Both teams had five hits.

In the first inning for New Palestine, Katie Hirschy drew a walk, Maddie Engle got a base hit and Amber Hurt followed with an RBI-single.

The Dragons got a walk to Kenna Tweedy and single from Catherine Trebley in the second, but were unable to score.

Engle got another base hit in the third, but was erased on a double play.

In the sixth, Hurt singled, but courtesy runner Callie Cromwell was left stranded at second base.

The Dragons spent nearly the entire season ranked in the state’s top five, and spent some time in the No. 1 spot.

It was another great year, winning sectional and regional championships, but one that might not have been expected.

New Palestine graduated three all-state players and seven seniors total — all were either full-time or part-time starters —from last year’s club that finished state runner-up in Class 4A.

Prior to the season, longtime head coach Ed Marcum said it was a rare year in that he didn’t really know what to anticipate with a team that had so few players that had played varsity softball. Only a handful of players, Hirschy, Engle, Jersi Gross and Payton Dye had played much in 2024.

They avenged last year’s state finals loss to Hamilton Southeastern. Beat Class 4A No. 2 Center Grove and No. 3 Zionsville in regular-season games, knocked off Class 3A No. 4 Roncalli in the sectional title game, and No. 8 Cascade, last year’s Class 2A state champion, in the regional championship game on Tuesday.

After winning at Cascade, Marcum said he thought the success was part of the culture they had developed over the years, with six state titles and multiple long tournament runs.

After the regional game, Engle talked about it too, the “surprise” that New Palestine was at the top of the polls and making another push for a state title.

“It feels amazing. Everybody came in thinking [New Palestine] isn’t going to do anything because you lost so many players, “We said, ‘Yes, we are!’ We’re going to prove you all wrong. Nobody knew what we were getting ourselves into this season because we lost so many people.”

Though a few more underclassmen got significant varsity time this year, Marcum will have to replace another strong senior class for the 2026 season.

Saturday’s semi-state contest was the final game for six New Palestine seniors, Kylee Beranek, Engle, Jersi Gross, Hirschy, Trebley and Lauren Wagoner.

Cathedral will play Hanover Central (18-12) in next week’s state title game.

The New Palestine Dragons will take on the Indian Creek Braves at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. New Palestine will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.

New Palestine is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They came out on top against Rushville by a score of 6-2.

Jacob Morris made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out ten over four innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in May of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Gavin Neal, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and two runs. Jackson Kamp was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Indian Creek's offense. They lost 6-0 to Plainfield on Tuesday. While getting shut out isn't ideal, the Braves haven't been shut out since back in April.

Indian Creek also got a good showing from Zach Bartle, who tossed 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Bartle has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

Indian Creek's defeat dropped their record down to 13-9. As for New Palestine, their record is now 21-3.

New Palestine was able to grind out a solid victory over Indian Creek when the teams last played back in May of 2023, winning 7-2. Will the Dragons repeat their success, or do the Braves have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.

Rigg Mahurin has been nearly unhittable all season. Saturday, he was completely unhittable, helping carry the New Palestine baseball team to its third straight regional title and fourth consecutive Elite Eight appearance. The Dragons senior lefty threw his first career no-hitter, while the offense came to life late. Mahurin had nine strikeouts and didn't allow an earned run in the contest, earning the pitching win for the third consecutive game. After walking two batters in the first inning, he proceeded to retire 12 batters in a row, the string only ended by a two-out hit batter in the fifth. Cascade's only other runner was from a one-out walk in the seventh, which came home after an errant pickoff throw and a two-out steal of home. Mahurin struck out nine and didn't allow an earned run in the victory. Meanwhile, the Dragons gave him all the offense he'd need early. Jackson Kamp led off the second inning with a sharp double into the leftfield corner. After two were out, a pair of walks loaded the bases for Ryan Haines, who drove in Kamp with a sharp single to left. The Cadets threw out a runner trying to score to end the inning, but NP had a lead. The Dragons added to it in the second, when Mahurin led off with a single and scored on Jacob Morris' line-drive single to left. From there, the game stayed a 2-0 contest. The Dragons were retired in order in the fourth, then loaded the bases in the fifth, but a sharp lineout ended the inning. They finally broke through in the sixth. Three walks loaded the bases for Morris, who launched a ball to right that one-hopped the fence for a two-run ground-rule double. A balk drove in a third run in the inning, while Kingston Hedges' sacrifice fly made it a 6-0 game. The Dragons sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning. In the seventh, they added some insurance. Haines and Mahurin led off with singles. Gavin Neal drove in a run with a grounder and reached on the error. The Dragons swiped a run by scoring on the front half of a double-steal to go up 8-0. Morris then belted a solo homer to extend the lead to 9-0. Morris led the Dragons' offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and four RBI. Mahurin was 2-for-4 with two runs from the leadoff spot. Haines was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Neal was 1-for-3 with two walks, a double, a run and an RBI. Kamp was 1-for-3 with a double and a run. In addition to 10 hits, the Dragons drew 11 walks and three hit batters. The Dragons had 14 runners left on base - loading the bases in five different innings. The third-ranked Dragons (23-3) advance to next week's semistate, where they will face Guerin Catholic in the first semifinal. The Golden Eagles beat No. 9 Cathedral 5-4 in eight innings. No. 7 Jasper will meet Greensburg in the second semifinal. The site - which will be either Mooresville, Mitchell, Jasper or the University of Evansville - will be announced Sunday by the IHSAA.

The New Palestine softball team isn't used to batting first on its home diamond. But when the sectional draw put the second-ranked Dragons as the visiting team in Wednesday's sectional championship game against No. 4 Roncalli, they wanted to make the most out of having the first at-bat. With two outs in the opening inning, Katie Hirschy blasted a pitch over the right-field fence for a no-doubter opposite-field homer, giving the Dragons an early lead they'd never relinquish in a 7-1 victory over Roncalli. The victory delivered the Dragons (26-4) their second consecutive sectional title and 16th overall. They will travel to No. 8 Cascade Tuesday for the regional. Hirschy went 4-for-4 with two homers, three runs and two RBI on the day, helping lead a nine-hit Dragons attack. The team was efficient - leaving only three runners on base during the game. Sadey Hughbanks pitched a complete-game victory, allowing five hits and striking out six. The only run she allowed was a sixth-inning homer to Roncalli slugger Addy Poe. After Hughbanks pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the second, the Dragons broke the game open in the third, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four times to go up 5-0. Saydie Miller led off with a sharp single up the middle. After an out, Jersi Gross hit a line-drive over the centerfielder's head for an RBI triple, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 game. The Dragons reloaded, as Payton Dye walked and moved to second on Hirschy's single. A wild pitch moved them into scoring position where sophomore Amber Hurt roped a base hit to right, plating both runners and eventually chasing Roncalli starter Elise Baker. In the fifth, Dye again led off with a walk and moved up on Hirschy's single. Maddie Engle followed with a double off the leftfield fence to push the lead to 6-0. The Dragons made two outs on the basepaths to end the threat, but held a comfortable lead. Roncalli scored on a sixth-inning homer, but Hirschy answered it with her second solo homer of the day in the seventh. Hughbanks pitched around a one-out walk in the seventh to nail down the title. In addition to Hirschy's 4-for-4 performance, Gross was 1-for-4 with a triple, a run and an RBI. Engle was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Hurt was 1-for-3 with two RBI. Kylee Beranek was 1-for-2. Miller was 1-for-3 with a run. Dye was 0-for-2, but drew two walks and scored twice.

New Palestine is a perfect 6-0 against Cathedral since May of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Dragons will face off against the Fighting Irish at 1:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

New Palestine is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Cascade 11-3. The victory was nothing new for the Dragons as they're now sitting on six straight.

Sadey Hughbanks spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 20 consecutive appearances.

At the plate, New Palestine got a massive performance out of Maddie Engle, who got on base in five of her six plate appearances with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. What's more, Engle posted three hits, the most she's had since back in May. Another player making a difference was Jersi Gross, who went 2-for-5 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI.

New Palestine was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .300 or higher in seven consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, while Cathedral put up plenty of runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Lebanon. The Fighting Irish were the clear victors by a 13-0 margin over the Tigers. The Fighting Irish haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

New Palestine's record is now 26-4. As for Cathedral, their record now sits at 26-2.

New Palestine took their victory against Cathedral in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 12-1 score. Do the Dragons have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Fighting Irish turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.