Recap of Saturday's Four Games at McCutcheon
By Ben Grossberg

Lafayette - Recap of the four games at McCutcheon for the Joe Heath Classic on Saturday

 

Game 1 – Two Eight Run Innings Lead McCutcheon to a Win

The opening game of day two at the Joe Heath Classic had No. 6 McCutcheon face off against Terre Haute North. McCutcheon was able to put together two late rallies to get a win to start the day.

In the first McCutcheon jumped on the board with a run, thanks to a RBI double from Jordan Young that brought in Sean Roginski. That would be all the scoring that McCutcheon could produce until the fifth inning.

Terre Haute North would get on the board in the third. Lane Dransfield walked and stole second to start the inning and Brett Herndon brought him in with a RBI single. A sac bunt and an error moved Herndon to third and Jonathan Eilbracht brought him in with a groundout.

In the fourth TH North added to their lead with two more runs. TJ Collett started the inning with an opposite field solo homerun. Nathan Will followed that with a single and eventually scored on an error to give TH North a 4-1 lead.

In the fifth McCutcheon would take the lead for good, sending 13 runners to the plate and scoring eight in the inning. They loaded the bases without getting a hit and then Sean Roginski doubled bringing two runs in. Jordan Young picked up his second RBI of the game with a single and TJ Harmon singled bringing in two more runs. Walt Talcott had the last RBI hit of the inning with a double that brought in a run. The eight runs pushed McCutcheon ahead 9-4.

TH North answered right back with three runs of their own in the top of the sixth. Lane Dransfield doubled to deep center to bring in the first run and two passed balls would bring in the other two runs cutting the deficit to 9-7.

However, McCutcheon had an answer of their own putting up their second eight run inning. Errors would give McCutcheon two runs in the inning. Caleb Jordy had a RBI single and Walt Talcott drove in two with a single of his own. The big hit came from Indiana commit Logan Sowers. With two outs, two runners on, and McCutcheon up 14-7 Sowers drove a pitch deep over the scoreboard in left for a three run homerun. The homerun pushed the lead to 10 runs, ending the game.

McCutcheon starting pitcher Junior TJ Harmon was 83-85 during his four innings, touching 86 a few times.

 

Game 2 – Terre Haute North Overcomes Early Deficit to get a Win

In game two Terre Haute North fell behind in the first to Lafayette Harrison, but were able to score in five of their six at bats to pull out the victory.

Lafayette Harrison jumped on the board quickly, putting three runs up in the first inning. Nick Torres walked and Jake Fernung singled to start the game, with both moving up a base on a balk. Rhett Baxter would then bring both runners in with a single. One batter later Baxter scored, thanks to a Jacob Chase RBI single.

Nathan Will got a run back for TH North with a two out RBI double in the bottom of the first, that brought Jonathan Eilbracht around to score.

TH North starting pitcher Tristan Pate settled down after his rough first inning. In his next four innings he allowed no runs and just two hits. During his five innings of work he struck out six batters and set down nine in a row at one point.

Two out hits helped TH North push across one run in both the third and fourth innings. In the third TJ Collett doubled with two outs and Nathan Will picked up his second RBI of the game with a line drive single to right. In the fourth Lane Dransfield tripled to start the inning, but wasn’t able to score until a two out single from Austin Turner that tied the game at three.

North would take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Zach Milam singled to start the inning and Collett tripled off the wall to bring in Milam. After an out Cody Maloon brought in Collett with a sacrifice fly.

Collett provided insurance runs for TH North in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and the bases loaded the lefty drove a ball to left field for a grand slam giving TH North a 9-3 lead.

Harrison was able to push across a run in the top of the seventh thanks to an error, but Dransfield got a strike out to end the game and  to give TH North a 9-4 win.

  

Game 3 – Big Fourth Inning Propels Logansport to Run Rule Win

Game three had Logansport and Lafayette Harrison square off, with the game being tight for the first three innings. Again Harrison was able to take the lead early on, but could not hold onto it.

After both teams went down in order in the first, Harrison scored once in the top of the second. Rhett Baxter led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on Evan Sturgeon groundout to give Harrison 1-0 lead.

Harrison lefty Matt McConnell looked good for the first three innings sitting 80-84, but ran into trouble in the fourth inning.

In the fourth inning the Logansport offense exploded for 11 runs sending 17 batters to the plate. Kyle Jordan tied the game up right away with a leadoff solo homerun. Marcus Record would have the next big hit with a two run triple, giving Logansport the lead for the first time. Travis Palmer brought in Record with a single for a 4-1 lead. After a walk, Jacob Shelton and Dustin Clements had back to back RBI singles. Then Kyle Jordan had his second RBI hit of the inning, this time doubling in two more runs. Logansport would add three more on a RBI single from Chris Jones, a bases loaded walk from Record, and a sacrifice fly from Travis Palmer.

With Logansport up 11-1, starter Clayton Frye was able to get three outs in the top of the fifth to end the game in a run rule. Frye got the win going all five innings allowing just four hits.

 

Game 4 – Logansport Rally Falls Short McCutcheon gets 11-9 win

The final game of the day showcased both offenses. Logansport jumped out in front early, but McCutcheon was able to take the lead for good in the second.

Both teams were able to score in the first. In the top of the first Logansport came through with two, two out runs. Jacob Shelton delivered the first one with a triple and Dustin Clements followed with a RBI single. McCutcheon got a run back in the bottom of the first with a leadoff solo homerun from Braden Giroux. 

McCutcheon would have a big bottom of the second putting up five runs. TJ Harmon started the inning off with a double and a Mason Bruce single put runners on the corners. Walt Talcott put McCutcheon in the lead for the first time with a double that brought both Harmon and Bruce in to score. Two batters later with runners on the corners again Logan Sowers hit his second homerun of the day, a no doubter to left field giving McCutcheon a 6-2 lead.

Logansport would answer with three runs of their own in the top of the third. Kyle Jordan cut the deficit to two with a two run homerun to left, also his second of the day. Chris Jones later delivered with a RBI single.

Mason Bruce got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third with a RBI single, scoring Myles Hann to put the McCutcheon at 7-5.

McCutcheon gave themselves some breathing room with a four run fourth inning. Hann and Talcott each drove in runs with RBI singles. The other two runs came on a wild throw to third that went into left field. The four runs gave McCutcheon an 11-5 lead after four innings.

That game stayed locked at 11-5 until the top of the seventh when Logansport got back in the game. Logansport was still trailing 11-5 with two outs when, Marcus Record deliver the first run with a RBI single. One batter later with the bases loaded, Clayton Frye cleared them with a triple cutting the deficit to 11-9. A hit by pitch put runners on the corners with two outs, but Hann was able to get the five hitter to fly out to shallow right center to preserve a 11-9 win.