Indianapolis, IN---No. 5 Cathedral came into this morning’s first semi-final game at Cathedral as the 7 time defending sectional champion in the IHSAA sectional 10 tournament.  It appeared early as if the Irish were headed for their eighth straight appearance in the sectional championship game as they took an early 2-0 lead on Warren Central. 

The Irish scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the first on senior Will Hunker’s RBI single, scoring fellow senior Nick McCarty (Notre Dame).  Cathedral’s second run came off of Ryan Levenhagen’s (Army) RBI single, scoring Irish teammate Austin Boos (Illinois Institute of Technology).  The Irish would hold the 2-0 lead through four innings behind solid pitching from freshman RHP Ashe Russell.  Russell only allowed two Warren Central hits through his first four innings of work.

Despite the two run deficit, the Warriors were determined to get their offense going.  In the top of the fifth freshman Jordan Bare led off the inning with a double to left center.  Bare advanced to third on sophomore Jeff George’s bunt for hit, setting up runners at first and third.  Senor Gabe Holstein bunted for a hit, scoring Bare from third, giving Warren Central runners on first and second.  The Warriors’ leadoff hitter Thomas Rea (2012) earned a walk, setting up Charlie Dant’s (DePauw) at bat with bases loaded.  Dant would then double to right, driving in three runs, giving the Warriors their first lead of the day at 4-3.  Dant’s double would knock Russell out of the game for Cathedral, allowing senior Nick McCarty to come in and finish the inning off.

Cathedral would tie the game at four a piece in the bottom half the sixth off of Luke Cureton’s RBI triple. Dant was able to keep Cureton at third, keeping the game tied at 4-4 heading into the seventh.

In the top half of the seventh Warren Central’s Rea led off with a base hit, and eventually advanced to second on Dant’s sacrifice bunt.  Senior Matt Dunnavant grounded out to second, giving the Irish two outs, and bringing up senior Kameron Utter to the plate.  Utter then singled, bringing in the go ahead run for the Warriors.  Warren Central took the one run lead into the bottom of the seventh.

The Irish led off the bottom of the seventh with McCarty.  Dant got McCarty to ground out to himself for the first out.  Mike Kseniak then grounded out to third for the second out.  Senior Will Hunker was the Irish’s last hope for a comeback.  Dant, however, continued his strong outing, striking Hunker out to end the game and Cathedral’s streak of sectional championships.

Dant pitched yet another solid game in the sectional tournament.  He allowed four runs on eight hits and striking out three.  When asked about his performance Dant said, “This is by far the biggest win of my high school career.  When we were down two early, we were a little bummed, but we still had tons of confidence in ourselves.  We were able to get some momentum in the fifth, and we just kept fighting.  We never gave up.”

Warren Central will face Roncalli for the Sectional Championship at 6 pm at Cathedral.