WEST LAFAYETTE — Lake Central’s Selena Michko has shined in two games this season against Penn.
Then again, the senior third baseman’s performance in Saturday’s semifinals of the Class 4A West Lafayette Harrison Semistate simply extended her hot-hitting postseason.
Michko went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run as the Indians topped the Kingsmen 2-0.
Lake Central (28-4) advanced to Saturday night’s championship game against Noblesville (21-10), which beat Leo 5-2 in eight innings in the second semifinal.
Michko — who went 3-for-4 with a homer, double and three RBIs on April 27 when Lake Central beat Penn 5-2 — has batted .471 (8-for-17) with two homers, two doubles and six RBIs in five postseason games.
“It’s just waiting for my pitch, looking around the outfield and seeing where the gaps are,” Michko said. “If she throws my pitch, I’m going to stick my bat out there and see where the ball goes.”
Michko also excelled defensively against Penn (21-7), neatly handling all five of her chances as Lake Central didn’t commit an error. This season has been her first as a full-time third baseman.
“The kid has gotten so much better over the course of the season,” Lake Central coach Jeff Sherman said. “She’s gotten really comfortable over there at third base. She’s not scared or tentative at all — she’s attacking balls. She’s come a long way in that regard.”
Senior Alexa Pinarski (21-2) continued her stellar pitching, tossing a three-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk. The Columbia recruit settled down after walking the game’s first batter, didn’t allow a hit until the fourth and worked around a leadoff single in the seventh.
“I was really focused,” Pinarski said. “I knew I had to help my team. I’ve been riding this momentum of the past few games, just doing my thing.
“I knew they were going to be really good hitters. I’ve played with a few of them in travel ball. I know they’re really disciplined. I had to adjust a little bit after I started out a little rocky.”
Although Pinarski has not allowed more than two runs in any postseason game, Saturday’s semifinal was her first shutout.
“Alexa Pinarski was a magician in the circle,” Sherman said. “She worked spots, kept hitters off-balance. They hit maybe two balls on the barrel — maybe two.”
Lake Central took a 1-0 lead in the second. Michko lined a double to lead off, moved to third on Rylee Platusic’s groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
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The Indians added an insurance run in the sixth. Cheyenne Mathas drew a leadoff walk and Michko drilled a two-out single to score Mathas from first. Michko hit the ball so sharply that it hopped off the fence and she had to hold at first.
“Selena Michko’s locked in right now and I like it — I like it a lot,” Sherman said. “She seems to want to be at the plate in big situations at this moment and you can’t ask for more out of a senior.”