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Missed chances see Greencastle knocked out by Danvillle
INDIANAPOLIS – Chances didn’t come often for Greencastle Wednesday night in the opening game of IHSAA Baseball Class 3A Sectional No. 26 against Danville.
The Tiger Cubs managed to scratch out runs in the first, third and fifth but could not keep the Warriors pinned down and saw their season come to an end in a 4-3 loss.
“We really couldn’t have played a much better game,” Greencastle head coach Ben Wells said. “(Danville) just made a couple more plays than we did.
“We’re really pleased with the way the guys battled at the plate tonight. They ran the pitch count of their pitcher up pretty quick and we really made some good contact on the ball tonight.”
Greencastle got off to a quick start as, with two outs, Nick Sutherlin drew a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Keifer Wilson’s single.
Brandon Glaze got through the first inning with minimal trouble but the same could not be said the following inning.
Trey Morrell opened the bottom of the second with a double to deep center field, followed by a shot by Caiden Toney to nearly the same spot that was hauled in by Bryce Barger.
Warrior starting pitcher Wesley Wright hit a hard single to center to plate the first Danville run with courtesy runner Michael Carter stealing second and scoring on another single by Kaleb Stevens to give the hosts on the scoreboard the lead.
The Tiger Cubs leveled things in the top of the next inning as Barger was hit by a pitch, Glaze singled and Sutherlin walked to load the bases.
Wilson singled to drive in a run but the bottom but, as would be the case throughout the game, the five through nine hitters did not record a hit and the bases were left full.
Glaze settled down after the second and moved through the next two innings with minimal fuss outside of an infield error, which the pitcher negated with a strikeout to end the fourth.
“I can’t say enough about how Brandon pitched tonight,” Wells said about the senior. “He kept us in the game, keeping (Danville’s) hitters off balance.
“We made an adjustment after the second inning and kept them off balance. From our scouting report, we knew they didn’t hit a curve ball the best and he was able to use that to keep them off balance.”
The Tiger Cubs got the top of the back up in the fifth and loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batsman.
Wilson grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw the junior out at first but with Whitaker scoring to retake the lead at 3-2 but Chase Carrington’s liner to center was caught and Sutherlin, having strayed too far from second, was unable to get back in time to avoid the double play.
“Chase hit a hard ball into the gap in center that’s been getting down all year,” Wells said about the inning. “(Drew Bradley) made a great play on it and doubled us off.
“Those were the moments which were the difference in the ball game, those times when you need a timely hit. We’ve done that a lot this year; you don’t win 19 games by accident but it was one of those days where we hit the ball hard but right at them.”
Danville would capitalize in the bottom half of the inning as Bradley hit a one-out single and Brett Poindexter was walked, both runners advancing up a base on a wild pitch.
A ground ball by Tony Ramirez ended up thrown to the fence with both base runners scoring to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead.
Glaze would limit the damage with a pair of fielder’s choice outs but Greencastle’s offense could not get any momentum built up in the sixth or seventh and saw its season come to a halt.
The Warriors advanced to Monday’s semifinal against hosts Brebeuf Jesuit while the Tiger Cubs finished the season 19-8 with a 7-3 mark in WIC play.
Wells said the squad
“It’s everything I thought last season would be and more,” Wells said. “This is my fifth year as head coach and I’ve been talking about changing the culture, changing how things are done and changing how we approach the program.
“This senior class has really embodied that. It’s not a coincidence that you have 10 guys that stick with you for four years.
“They put in the time and effort and it’s because of them that we were in the situation that we were in all year.”
Greencastle 101 010 0 — 3 6 3
Danville 020 020 X — 4 4 0
WP — Wright 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 2 HBP, 7 K
LP — Glaze 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 8 K
S — Carter IP, H
2B — Morrell
RBI — Wilson (3); Ramirez (2), Stevens, Wright