For the 36th year, the pairings for the IHSAA Softball State Tournament were announced Sunday evening with 371 teams placed into sectional brackets.

Sectional action runs May 24-29 with the 64 survivors moving into a one-game regional round on Tuesday, June 1, and the four-team semi-states on Saturday, June 5.

The four state championship games, scheduled for Saturday, June 11-12, will be played at Center Grove in Greenwood for the first time.

In Class A Action, West Washington plays Lanesville in the first game of Class A Sectional 61, followed by Borden vs. South Central Elizabeth. 

Game three features the winners of those two games.

Game 4 features Christian Academy vs. Orleans with the Championship between the winners of Game 3 and 4. 

The Henryville Section 62 features Shawe Memorial vs. New Washington in Game 1. 

Henryville and Trinity Lutheran face off in Game 2 followed by Rock Creek Academy vs the winner of Game 1. 

The championship will feature the winner of Game 2 and Game 3. 

Three teams are in Class A Sectional 63 at Loogootee. 

Loogootee will face North Daviess in Game 1 and then Barr-Reeve will face the winner in the Championship game. 

In Class A action at Switzerland County in Sectional 45, Southwestern Hanover will play Austin in Game 1. South Ripley will face Milan in Game 2. The winners of those two games will play in Game 3. 

North Decatur and Switzerland County will face off in Game 4 with the winners of Games 3 and 4 playing in the Championship. 

In Sectional 46 at Clarksville, Eastern and Crawford County will play in Game 1, followed by Clarksville and Mitchell. 

Game 3 will put those two winners together. Providence and Paoli will play in Game 4 and the Championship will feature the winners of Game 3 and 4. 

Host schools will announce playing schedules in the days to come which will then be added to the online brackets at MaxPreps.com the week before the tournament begins.

Among the top-ranked teams in this week’s poll from the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association (ICGSA), Lanesville and Loogootee share the top spot in Class A.

The Eagles will host No. 16 West Washington in the Sectional 61 opener while the Lions will host No. 10 North Daviess in Sectional 63, respectively.

In Class 2A, the No. 1 Tecumseh Braves will face Tell City for its Sectional 48 assignment at Forest Park.

The Class 3A top-ranked Danville Warriors are set to face Brebeuf Jesuit as the host of Sectional 26.

In Class 4A, the No. 1 Roncalli Royals drew Southport in the opening game of Sectional 11 played at New Palestine.

The teams that won state championships two seasons ago include the New Palestine Dragons which won the last three titles in Class 3A and have moved up to Class 4A.

The fourth-ranked Dragons will host Perry Meridian in Sectional 11 and could face top-ranked Roncalli in the semifinal round.

The seventh-ranked Center Grove Trojans won the 4A state championship in 2019 and will host Martinsville in Sectional 13.

The Bremen Lions won their first state championship two years ago in Class 2A, have moved up to 3A, and will take on Plymouth as the host of Sectional 18.

The No. 10 Indianapolis Lutheran Saints were the small-school state champions in 2019 and will face Greenwood Christian in Sectional 59 at Edinburgh.

Admission is $6 per session; $10 season (Season tickets may be provided for tourneys with three or more sessions).

The Scott County Sheriff’s Department added three new members of the sex offender registry on Saturday. 

They include Paul Brown, Austin; Almo Harding, Lexington and Jesse A Kiefer of Scottsburg. 

Charged with child molesting

Unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating an off-road vehicle (ORV) accident that occurred Wednesday evening in Montgomery County.

At approximately 5:16 p.m., first responders were dispatched to the intersection of State Road 234 and County Road 925 East near Ladoga.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Zachary Bauman, 35, of Ladoga, was operating a four-wheeler northbound on C.R. 925 E with a juvenile passenger. Witnesses said the ORV failed to stop at the T intersection at S.R. 234, resulting in the ORV colliding with the guardrail.

The juvenile sustained a serious leg injury. Bauman sustained a severed leg. A witness applied a tourniquet to Bauman’s leg. Both passengers were transported by ambulance to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.

The accident is still under investigation.

Agencies assisting on the scene included the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Crawfordsville, Ladoga, and Walnut Township fire departments.  

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The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to activate the last of five Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (ICWS) in southeastern Indiana this week on S.R. 60 in Clark and Washington Counties. 

The new systems are scheduled to be activated on or after Tuesday, May 4, at the intersections of S.R. 60 and Ebenezer Church Road in Clark County, and S.R. 60 and Old S.R. 60 in Washington County.

Each ICWS includes signage and amber flashers to alert drivers of approaching traffic at two-way, stop-controlled intersections, typically a major road (higher traffic volume with no stop sign) and a minor road (lower traffic volume, with a stop sign).

In-pavement detection equipment allows the system to notify motorists in real-time of traffic approaching an intersection or traffic waiting to enter an intersection.

The purpose of ICWS is to improve traffic safety. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the systems can reduce severe crashes by 20 to 30 percent. Drivers should still exercise caution when approaching or entering intersections, even when lights are not flashing.

A total of five systems have been installed in southeastern Indiana, and more than 15 statewide.