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4A No. 1 Carmel Rebuffs 3A No. 2 Brebeuf 9-4

March 28, 2017



By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS – There was a chill in the air and the skies were gray Monday night on the Indianapolis Northside.  But there were stars all over the diamond at Brebeuf Jesuit's Father O'Brien Field, where the visiting Carmel Greyhounds defeated the Braves 9-4 in the season opener for both teams.

Carmel, the top-ranked club in Class 4A, and 3A No. 2 Brebeuf Jesuit are brimming with talent this year – players who’ve committed to colleges like Ball State, Butler, Dayton, Indiana, Miami-Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.  

Trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third, Brebeuf Jesuit clawed back to knot the score.  But while junior right-hander Cameron Pfeffer came out of Carmel’s bullpen to blank the Braves over the final four frames, the Greyhounds scored five times off three Brebeuf Jesuit relievers. 

“Winning the first one’s always good, especially against a quality opponent like Brebeuf,” said first-year Carmel skipper Matt Buczkowski, who joined the Greyhounds after four seasons at Lawrence Central.    

Carmel’s first run came in the top of the first off Braves starter Will Wentz, a senior right-hander.  With one out, Parker Massman (a Miami-Ohio commit) lined a two-base hit to the gap in left-center field.  Rhett Wintner (Ball State) followed with a double to right-center that plated Massman.

The Greyhounds made it 2-0 in the top of the second.  With one away, consecutive singles by Luke Barnes, Colin Donahue (DePauw) and Aaron Ernst (Dayton) loaded the bases.  That brought up leadoff hitter Chris McNally, who blooped a base hit into shallow left that scored Barnes.

Bo Richey’s stellar glovework prevented further damage.  The Braves third sacker, a Lander (S.C.) College recruit, snagged a hot grounder by Massman, toed the bag for the force, and then fired across the diamond to first baseman Justin Hensley (Butler) for an inning-ending double play.

Carmel added a pair in the third on a single by junior Jack Van Remortel (Michigan), followed by J.C. Hanley’s towering homer over the left-field fence.  “It was a curve ball, a hung curveball,” said the Stevens Tech commit.  ”I knew it was gone instantly.  My first at-bat, I had a little pop-out to about 380 (feet) into center.  On the second at-bat, I felt I really got ahold of it.”     

Senior left-hander Max Habegger (Lipscomb) started for the Greyhounds and pitched shutout ball for the first two frames.  In the bottom of the third, however, Brebeuf Jesuit tacked four runs on the board. 

The Braves filled the bases with one out on Will Richman's infield hit, a walk to Connor Drews and Shaine Mitchell's bunt single.  A base on balls to Hensley plated Brebeuf Jesuit’s first run.  One out later, Richey lifted a soft flare to the outfield.  Ernst, Carmel’s center fielder, attempted a diving catch but came up short.  As the ball rolled past the prostrate Greyhound, three runs scored and Richey legged it to third with a triple.

Carmel went back on top in the fourth, when Brebeuf Jesuit senior righty Jamie Born came on in relief.  Born plunked Donahue, the first batter he faced, and Ernst followed with a sharp single down the third base line.  McNally’s sac bunt put runners at second and third, with Trent Terwilliger pinch-running for Donahue.  Terwilliger flew home on a wild pitch, and when Wintner singled to center, Ernst came in for a 6-4 Greyhound advantage.   

Cameron Pferrer replaced Habegger to start the bottom of the fifth,.  After giving up a leadoff single to Shaine Mitchell, the Missouri commit struck out the next three Braves batters.

Carmel made it 8-4 in the sixth.  The first run came on an error, a bunt single by Ernst, and an infield out that scored pinch-runner Terwilliger.  Brebeuf Jesuit junior southpaw John Whiting came in from the pen and balked home another run before recording the final out.

The Greyhounds closed out the scoring in the seventh when junior right-hander E.J. White, the fourth Braves pitcher, took the hill.  Hanley led off and got aboard on a two-base error.  Luke Thompson ran for Hanley and took third on an infield hit by Justin Greene (Gulf Coast State JC).  The next batter hit into a 6-4-3 double play, with Thompson scoring on the play. 

Pferrer was lights-out for Carmel, giving up one hit and a walk while striking out eight of the 11 batters he faced.  “Cameron Pferrer’s not gonna be a guy who comes out of the pen very often,” said Buczkowski.  “Early season, we’re pretty strict on pitch counts.  He’s gonna be one of the better arms around.”

Ernst, Carmel’s nine-hole hitter, went 3-for-3 on the night while Wintner had two hits in three at-bats with a walk.  Wintner, Hanley and McNally each had a pair of runs batted in.

Brebeuf Jesuit coach Jeremy Sassanella was philosophical after the defeat.  “We’re gonna find out in the next few weeks how good we are,” he said.  “Carmel’s really good.  They have a lot of good arms.  We left some balls up today.  We got a lot of kids in.  I got several juniors in.  I had two juniors that finished and got some outs and threw some strikes.  I was proud of us, how we battled there, but it got away from us just a little bit.  For a first night out, outside of a ‘W’, we saw some good stuff.”    

More Notes

Carmel and Brebeuf Jesuit both ranked among the state's best last year.  The Greyhounds finished 27-5 under coach Dan Roman, bowing out in a regional championship tilt at Lafayette Jeff to Zionsville, the IHSAA 4A runnerup.  Roman resigned last July.

Coach Sassanella guided Brebeuf Jesuit to a 25-8 record in 2016.  The Braves made it to the Crawfordsville regional, where they lost to eventual state 3A champion Northview.

Other college-bound players on hand Monday night were Carmel left-hander Tommy Sommer (Indiana) and Brebeuf’s John Nierman (Lipscomb) and Jackson Williams (Depauw).  Nierman’s a southpaw pitcher and Williams is an infielder.    

“This is perfect Indiana spring weather,” said Carmel’s Buczkowski, a native of South Bend, glancing up at the gloomy skies. “We wouldn't have it any other way.”   On being ranked No. 4A #1 heading into the season, Buczkowski cracked: “No pressure, right? “

Carmel’s Rhett Wintner spent his first year in high school at Brebeuf Jesuit, where he played for the Braves freshman squad.  “I played with mostly the whole entire [Braves] starting lineup, aside from two or three guys,” he said.  “I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys.  Some of them, I’m still pretty close with, especially Coach [Ben] Balogh and Coach [Rob] Baker.  They both gave me big hugs after the game.  I’m just glad we got the ‘W’.” 

Carmel plays Westfield at home on Tuesday, with Tommy Sommer getting the start for the Greyhounds.  Sommer was 7-2 last season with a 1.72 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 54.2 innings.

Brebeuf Jesuit’s next contest is on the road Wednesday night against 4A No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern.  “So it doesn’t get any easier,” quipped Coach Sassanella.

Lefty John Nierman (1.48 ERA last year) gets the nod against HSE.   “He had a little bit of an ankle injury in January,” Sassanella said.  “He was just really, really sick last week, so he didn’t throw much.  So it was kind of a crap shoot with John and Will [Wentz].  It was more illness-related than anything.  But we felt good about sending Will out there tonight.  He threw really well for us last year, and threw really well against Carmel.”

Pete Cava is the author of “Tales From the Cubs Dugout” and “Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014.”

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