— Northwestern golfer Ben-Marvin Egel was the first medalist in the 12-team Taylor Invitational Saturday, shooting an event-record 3-under 68 at Chippendale G.C. The tourney was configured to play the Vintage Nine for the front half, then the back nine of the Championship course. Kokomo’s Nick Cardwell was fifth (77). Tipton teammates Keegan Gray (78) and teammate Mike Crawford (78) were sixth and seventh and Northwestern’s Drew Hanson was ninth (79).

Oak Hill won the invite with a score of 317, followed by Tipton (322), Mississinewa (327) and Kokomo (330) in fourth. Northwestern was sixth (330), Western eighth (344), Taylor ninth (366), and Eastern 10th (370).

“This is Oak Hill’s fourth straight year to win and looking at the all-time championships, they’ve just tied Western. Both teams have five championships in this tournament, which started back in 1991,” Taylor coach Frank Conner said. “Ben-Marvin’s 68 — I’m looking at the all-time low scores for individuals and that is the best. The former record was held by Brian Pearce of Tipton. In 1995 he shot a 70.”

Tipton’s other scorers were Marcus Tishner (82) and Jake Henry (84). For Kokomo, Colin Irish shot 81, Dominic Cognata 84, and Josh Stewart shot 88. For Northwestern, Kyle Condon shot 90 and Curtis Bretl shot 93.

For Western, Kenton Williams shot 85, Casey Cyr shot 82, Andrew Lindley shot 87 and Benji Fountain shot 90. For the host Titans, James Fantuzzo shot 87, Ron Johnston shot 91, John Fantuzzo shot 92, and Andrew Shively shot 96. For Eastern, Scott Bolinger shot 85, Noel Horvath shot 88, Micah Detweiler shot 94, Adam McKinney 103.

“We were pleased with the way the guys came back,” Kokomo coach Jason Snyder said. The Kats “shot a 182 on Friday on the front nine [at Chippendale] and that being played on the back nine [Saturday], we shot 169.

“Nick Cardwell shot a 77 and had a quadruple bogey on one hole [the 13th]; he did a nice job of finishing up and playing around that hole. It shows a lot of maturity and a strong mental game.”

Conner offered “a great big thank you for the Humphrey family [club owners] and Chippendale. We really appreciate their hospitality.”

Peru took third place at the 15-team event. Huntington North won the invite with a score of 307, followed by Culver Academies (314) and Peru (320). Cass and Maconaquah both shot 350.

P.J. Tackett of Huntington North shot an even-par 72 to take medalist honors. Peru’s Terry Smith was second with a 75. Also for Peru, Taylor Smith shot 79, and Travis Smith and Garrett Meives each shot 83.

“[320] wasn’t a bad score,” Peru coach Doug Muzzillo said. “Huntington North played very well and earned it. We’re still decent. We’re getting better each week. Obviously, we weren’t going to top our score from last week [297], but we’re getting better.”

David Watterson led Cass with a 76, finishing tied for third overall. He was followed by Jake Rush (87), Dillon Mund (88), Kalen Linback (99) and Brandon Weaver (105).

SOFTBALL

Kokomo won the opening game, the North Central Conference contest, 3-2 to begin a doubleheader at New Castle. The home squad rebounded to win the non-league closer 7-3.

Winning pitcher Carly Painter fired a three-hitter in the opener and aided her cause with a solo home run in the fifth inning, and a double. In the circle she gave up five walks and one earned run while striking out 11 as the Kats evened their NCC record at 1-1. Christine Skaggs had a double and a single for the Kats.

Painter doubled in the second game. Skaggs was the losing pitcher for Kokomo (8-4).

“In both games my pitchers both struggled a little in the first inning or two, and then they settled down and both came on really strong in the last couple innings and did a nice job,” Kokomo coach Lisa Tate said. “We hit the ball pretty well in the first game. I think we have a difficulty letting down in game 2. Doubleheaders are tough that way, trying to keep the intensity up.”

BASEBALL

Taylor put together a complete performance to rock Class 2A No. 1-ranked Cambridge City Lincoln 16-3 in five innings in the Wapahani Invitational.

The Titans scored three runs in the first inning and three more runs in the second to grab control. They exploded for eight runs in the fifth to win going away.

“We really came out and swung the bats incredibly well. We were aggressive,” Taylor skipper Jeremy Luna said. “It was probably the best all-around game we’ve played all season. We didn’t make any defensive mistakes. We knew we were playing the No. 1 team in the state, we knew what it would take, and we came out and delivered.”

Dalton Tinsley sparked the Titans with a 4-for-4 performance that included a home run and a triple. He drove in two runs and scored four runs.

Also for Taylor (9-3), Spencer McQueary went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, Tyler Simmons finished 3-for-5 with a double, five RBI and three runs and Teran Knosp had two singles.

Starting pitcher Calib Wininger earned the win. He worked four innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out two. Matt Brankle followed with an inning of no-hit relief that included two strikeouts and one walk.

The Class 4A No. 9-ranked Wildkats exploded for 31 hits in a doubleheader sweep of the Red Devils in the first round of North Central Conference play. Casey Shipley led the relentless attack, going 7-for-9 over the two games.

In the opener, T.J. Weir went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and Nolan Sanburn went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for the Red and Blue. In addition, Shipley had a 3-for-5 performance and Michael Reynolds and Devin Schacht both had two hits.

In the second game, Shipley went 4-for-4, Phillip Kuhns went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs, Weir had two hits and three RBI and Reynolds had two hits and two RBI.

Sanburn pitched a complete game in the opener. He allowed two hits and seven walks and struck out 10. Colton Summers picked up the win in the second game. He started and worked four innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and one walk. Weir followed with two innings of relief and Nick Lorenc pitched the seventh.

Kokomo improved to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the NCC.

The Class 3A No. 4-ranked Tigers overcame a three-run deficit to beat the Warriors, snapping a two-game losing streak.

“Winamac was ready to play. We just have to get used to the fact that teams are coming after us, and we have to raise our level early in the game,” NW skipper Ryan Berryman said. “We had some mistakes that have been common for us the last couple games, but the nice thing was we stayed focused. The guys really responded.”

After Winamac scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up 4-1, Northwestern (11-3) knotted the score in the bottom of the frame, then used a two-out rally in the sixth to surge into the lead. Matt Adams ignited the rally with a double and Derek Mumaw followed with a home run. After Luke Miller and Bryan Beachy drew walks, Austin Henderson rapped an RBI single for a 7-4 lead.

Henderson finished with two hits, including a double, and three RBI. Adams had three hits and an RBI and Danny Turner chipped in two hits.

Beachy (4-2) earned the win with two innings of no-hit relief.

The Comets (10-2) scored five runs in the third to blow open a 4-all game, then poured in six more runs over the next two innings to win a shootout in the opening round of the Delphi Invitational. Eastern’s second game was rained out in the third inning and will not be made up.

Brandon Hainlen was the winning pitcher and led the charge at the plate with a home run, a double, two singles and three runs scored. Lee Beachy had a home run, a double and a single. Wes Horner had a double and two singles, Ian Beachy had a double and a single, Bryce Rainey had two singles, and Michael Moreno and T.J. DeHaan each doubled.

“I thought we did a nice job of getting after Clinton Central once they had some momentum,” Eastern coach Steve Swinson said. “We changed the momentum as the game went on with some key hits. We got some good performances and good at-bats from some kids that aren’t normally the big run producers. [It was a] big day for Lee Beachy, had a big day at the plate, and Bryce Rainey did a nice job.”

The Bengal Tigers got down 5-0 after one inning in the opening round of the Tippecanoe Valley Invite, but worked their way back into the game, eventually tying it t 7-all through five. Columbia City scored a run in the top of the seventh but the Bengals rallied with two runs in the bottom, ending it in walk-off fashion on the second of Justin Engel’s two RBI singles.

Hunter Bartell led the victors at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a single, double, two-run homer and four runs scored. Joe Bockover added two singles and was strong in relief to pick up the win. He threw the last 52⁄3 innings allowing just two earned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three.

“I thought the guys stayed right in there, clawed and scratched their way back and didn’t give up,” Peru coach Rob Hileman said. “Joe Bockover came in and got ground balls and fly balls that were defensive routine plays, and did his job well.”

“I thought we played better baseball the last three or four games and getting the W [Saturday] was quite a team accomplishment.”

Co-ed track

The co-ed relays are held every year in Logansport for track and field athletes to just focus on having a fun day. They were started in 1998 in honor of the late Jim Ridenour, a legendary coach and teacher at Logansport.

In a close meet with the top four teams finishing within 12 points of each other, Hobart won with 80 points, followed by Cass (77), Logan (74), Culver Academy (68) and Pioneer (31).

For Cass, Matt Eckelbarger, Jared Crum, Emily Beckley and Maddie Eurit won the high jump relay (21 feet, 6 inches). Jake Rouch, Matt Lane, Kassy Sprinkle and Rhi Sanders won the discus relay (481-.5). Eckelbarger and Mariah Swartz tied for first with a Hobart team in the 100-meter dash (:24.96).

• Pedro Velazco, Bryan Gaskins and Beau Wicker compiled this roundup.