By Andy Amey
The Tribune-Star
Brazil
May 03, 2008 11:57 pm
—
J.T. Bailey was able to keep cool — not much of a challenge, actually, during an afternoon and evening that brought the term “wind-chill factor” to high school baseball — and as a result Terre Haute North has a chance to wrap up the Big Four championship on Monday night.
The Patriot junior earned a save and a complete-game win Saturday at Northview, each time wriggling out of tight spots and getting the games’ final outs with the tying run on third base, as North held off Northview 10-9 and West Vigo 7-6.
Terre Haute South can still win the Big Four title too by beating the Patriots at 6 p.m. Monday in the makeup of Friday’s rained-out game at North. The Braves got a shutout from sophomore Tyler Goldman in beating West Vigo 5-0, then lost 7-6 to the host Knights in the final game of the day.
North struck early in each game, scoring eight times in the first two innings of the opener against the Knights and six times in the first two innings against the Vikings.
But Northview pecked away in the first game, getting within a run in the bottom of the sixth when Keaton Robertson sliced a long opposite-field homer to right field with two runners aboard. Bailey, North’s fifth pitcher of the game, came on in the bottom of the seventh after a hit batter and an error put a runner at third with no outs.
“I was thinking [the runner at third] was scoring, and I’d close it out after that [and get the game to extra innings],” Bailey admitted later.
Bailey immediately walked the next batter to put the winning run on base — but then got the first out of the inning by using the fake-to-third pickoff. Then came a grounder to the pulled-in North infield, then a strikeout, and the Patriots had survived.
North had the early lead in the second game when Brandon Dorsett ripped a three-run first-inning homer, then added three more in the second with the help of some uncharacteristic West Vigo errors.
West Vigo finally scored in the top of the fourth on a Brodey McCalister single, and added four runs — all but one unearned — in the fifth. Although the Patriots contributed three errors to that fifth-inning rally, they also got the game’s biggest defensive play by catcher Joe Meggs.
Drew Aff had tripled and Jordan Pearson followed with an RBI single to open that inning, and a walk and an error enabled the Vikings to load the bases with none out. The next batter tapped to the mound; after the force at home, Meggs faked a double-play relay to first, then cut down the runner who had rounded third base for an unusual 1-2-5 double play. “That was the play of the game, by far,” said coach Shawn Turner of North later.
Two more errors and a two-run single by McCalister cut the lead to 6-5, however, before the inning ended. North got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Jared Eller.
West Vigo scored in the seventh on a double by Derek Edwards and an RBI single, but the batter who had singled was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double. With two out and none on, however, a walk and a double by Aff put runners at second and third before Bailey induced a called third strike.
“I felt [Bailey] had such an excellent job, we were going to let him get out of it — particularly since he had gotten himself into [the seventh-inning situation],” Turner said a few moments later. “To his credit, he competed.”
“I didn’t pitch the greatest,” said Bailey. Asked for his seventh-inning strategy, he answered, “I pray … I just look at it as I have to throw a strike.”
“We were real fortunate to be in the position we’re in,” Turner added. “We faced two excellent teams today; they gave us everything we wanted and more.”
Goldman’s surprising pitching was the key to the next game, which was still close until the Braves scored three times in the top of the seventh. The sophomore lefty faced the minimum 15 batters through the first five innings, helped by two double plays and a pickoff.
“In seven innings, he threw 89 pitches,” coach Kyle Kraemer of the Braves pointed out. “That’s the difference in being around the strike zone and keeping your defenders in the game.”
South got a first-inning run when Koby Kraemer was hit by a pitch and scored on Justin Ferrell’s two-out single, then got a solo homer from Ethan Buske in the fourth. Finally in the seventh the Braves pulled away on another hit batter, a pinch-hit single by Brock Lough and run-scoring hits by Koby Kraemer and Evan Luken.
“We did some good things today — offensively, defensively and pitching-wise,” coach Steve DeGroote of the Vikings said afterward, “but we didn’t do enough of them at the right time. And we ran into two teams that can swing the bat.”
South’s defensive efficiency didn’t last, and the Braves made four errors in the first two innings of the final game to help Northview take a quick 7-0 lead.
“It’s tough for this [South] team to figure out what momentum is,” coach Kraemer said after the game.
Northview got three hits from both Curt Peters and Ryne Barr and two RBIs each from Peters and Nick Lancaster in taking its lead, but the Braves battled back with three runs in the fifth and three more in the bottom of the seventh. The Knights hung on, however, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
“I feel a lot better,” coach Gary Witham of Northview admitted afterward. “I’ve discovered I like winning a lot better than losing.
“We really played pretty well all day,” Witham added. “We were one hit away from winning the Big Four … today we put all aspects of our game together.”
“We set the tone [for the final game] in the first inning, when the leadoff batter gets on on an error,” coach Kraemer said. “We’re not a good enough team to be able to give anybody that amount of extra outs.
“Part of that’s my fault,” he added, referring to the scrambled lineup the Braves played. “[Infielder] Jacob Hayes being hurt hurts us defensively — and offensively.”
Leaders for the day in on-base percentage were North’s Meggs, who was on base all seven times he batted by getting six hits and being hit by a pitch, and Northview’s Barr, who wasn’t retired in 10 trips to the plate — three singles, a double, five walks and one error.
Terre Haute North 530 002 0 — 10 10 2
Northview 310 113 0 — 9 11 2
Bush, Gauer (2), O’Laughlin (6), Walker (7), Bailey (7) and Collett, Meggs (2); Lancaster, Bell (3), Barr (7) and Robertson. W — Gauer, 2-0. L — Lancaster, 0-1. Sv — Bailey (1). HR — Nv: Robertson (2).
Highlights — For North, Joe Meggs had three hits and Nick Pilipovich and Wade Bush had doubles. For Northview, Keaton Robertson had a double, homer and four RBIs; Matt Nodley had two singles and a double; Ryne Barr had a double, four walks and scored four runs; and Zac Niehaus had a double.
West Vigo 000 140 1 — 6 10 2
Terre Haute North 330 010 x — 7 8 5
Pearson (L, 4-2) and Lucas; Bailey (W, 4-3) and Meggs. HR — THN: Dorsett (3).
Highlights — For North, Joe Meggs was 3 for 3 with three runs and an RBI; Brandon Dorsett had a three-run homer; Jared Eller had a double and an RBI; Andrew Bledsoe had a double; and Mark Merrill had a hit and scored twice. For West Vigo, Drew Aff had a single, double and triple; Brodey McCalister had two hits and three RBIs; Jordan Pearson had two hits and an RBI; and Derek Edwards had a double and scored twice.
Terre Haute South 100 100 3 — 5 7 0
West Vigo 000 000 0 — 0 4 2
Goldman (W, 2-0) and Freeman; Wampler (L, 7-2) and Lucas. HR — THS: Buske (3).
Highlights — For South, Evan Luken had two hits and two RBIs; Koby Kraemer had a hit, two runs and an RBI; and Ethan Buske had a solo homer.
Northview 142 000 0 — 7 11 0
Terre Haute South 000 030 3 — 6 10 5
Lawson (W, 2-2) and Robertson; Dove, Duggins (2), Buske (3), Kraemer (6) and Freeman, Hunt (4). L — Dove, 1-2.
Highlights — For Northview, Curt Peters had three hits, two runs and two RBIs; Ryne Barr had three hits and two runs; Nick Lancaster had two hits and two RBIs; Dylan Kruse had a double; and Zac Niehaus had a hit and scored twice. For South, Evan Luken had two hits and two RBIs; A.J. Reed had two hits and an RBI; Zach Odum had a double and two RBIs; and Koby Kraemer scored twice.
Next games — Terre Haute North (10-11) and Terre Haute South (9-10) play at 6 p.m. Monday at North. Northview (5-11) plays Tuesday at South Vermillion. West Vigo (11-5) has a home game Wednesday against Edgewood.
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