North softball moves on to face Center Grove in Class 4A semistate title game Saturday night

Terre Haute North and Center Grove chalked up victories in the semifinal portion of the Class 4A Bedford North Lawrence Semistate for high school softball Saturday.

Coach Chris Mundy’s Patriots cooled off a previously red-hot pitcher to beat Pendleton Heights 9-3 and Center Grove hammered Castle 14-1.

North and Center Grove will clash at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Class 4A state championship game next Friday or Saturday at a time to be determined.

The Patriots got hot early off Pendleton Heights pitcher Morgan Bricker, who had not allowed an earned run in her five previous games. But this time, Mundy’s squad put up four runs in the first inning on a Kenzie Zigler RBI single, an RBI double by eventual winning pitcher Jaleigh Lindley and a two-run homer by Kyleigh Walker.

North tallied three more runs in the second, boosting its advantage to 7-0 and the outcome was more or less secured. The Patriots finished with 12 hits and did not commit an error in the field.

Walker, a junior, finished 2 for 4 with the homer and three runs batted in.

North took a 29-1 record into its night matchup with Center Grove, which improved to 23-6 after dismantling Castle. Pendleton Heights finished 17-14 and Castle ended up 23-7-1.

In the final Softball Coaches Association of Indiana poll released in May, Center Grove was ranked in a tie for fifth and North 10th in Class 4A.