Starfires finish 2nd at Eastbrook

MARION — The Starfires came back from an early deficit in the opener. They did the same with the title on the line, but couldn't hold on.
South Adams High School’s softball team finished as the runner-up at the Eastbrook Invitational on Saturday, dropping the championship game 11-6 to Eastern. The Starfires won the opening game 8-3 over Liberty Christian.
Alyssa Bluhm led SAHS to its victory, going 3-for-4 with a triple, three runs and two RBIs as her team erased a 3-1 deficit with five runs in the second inning. She also earned the win as she tossed six innings while giving up three runs on six hits and two walks.
Maddie Morgan added two hits, three RBIs and a run.
Loren Sparks took the loss in the championship game, in which South Adams trailed 1-0, took a 2-1 lead then gave up six runs in the third inning to fall behind for good. She allowed 11 runs — eight earned — on 12 hits  and two walks.
Bluhm again led the offense with two hits, a run and an RBI.
Netters drop finale
South Adams’ girls tennis team finished its regular season Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the Blackhawk Christian Braves.
Brittany Potts picked up the lone straight-set win for the Starfires (4-9) with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Chloe Taner at No. 3 singles. Shiana Scott and Alyssa Armenta won at No. 2 doubles 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Hannah Hartley and Sidney Tentgen.
In singles action, Maddy Kloepper suffered a shutout defeat to Morgan Bermsider at No. 1 singles, and Erika Miller fell 6-1, 6-0 to Becca Kanpal at No. 2 singles. Maddie Graber and Holly Taylor lost 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles to Larissa Clark and Kayla Stewart.
SAHS won the junior varsity match 7-3 with a shutout victory from Megan Hreha at No. 3 singles.

Baseball falls to Cass
WALTON — The Starfires lost for the fourth time in their last five games, falling 9-3 Saturday to the host Lewis Cass Kings.
Cass took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. It added three runs in the third and fourth to pull away.
Alex Augsburger suffered the loss, allowing seven runs — four earned — on seven hits and two walks in four innings.
Blake Fox paced the offense for the Starfires (13-11), going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run. Collin Affolder went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, Chandler Ingle had two hits and Corey Seffernick singled and scored twice.

Boys track second
GARRETT — South Adam’s boys track team finished as the Allen County Athletic Conference runner-up Friday, scoring 107.5 points to finish behind the Leo Lions (128) at the eight-team meet.
The Starfire girls were sixth with 47 points while Leo won with 155.5.
SAHS was at its best in the boys 1,600-meter run with Brody Shane and Joel Hawbaker battling for the title. Shane won in 4 minutes, 44.79 seconds, with Hawbaker less than a half-second behind in second place. Hawbaker won the ACAC title in the 3,200 run in 10:39.8, and teamed with Simon Sprunger, Andrew Steffen and Shane for first place in the 4x8700 relay in 8:28.88.
Cam Lengerich added a victory with a time of 15.68  in the 110 hurdles.
Hannah Mitchel turned in the top finish for the South Adams girls, placing second with a toss of 35 feet, 11¼ inches in the shot put. She was also third in the discus.[[In-content Ad]]