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June 2, 2009

Elwood defeats Alexandria 8-2

By Quintin Harlan, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer The Herald Bulletin Tue Jun 02, 2009, 11:03 PM EDT

LAPEL — The Elwood Panthers waited 24 hours to repeat as sectional champions. And repeat they did, downing the Alexandria Tigers 8-2 at Lapel High School on Tuesday.

“It’s a great, great team we’ve got. We were really about how’d we come back (when we started) this year, and we started ranked No. 1 in the state and we go 0-2. Since then we’ve been 23-4, 7-0 in the (Central Indiana) conference. That’s the first time we’ve done that since I’ve been coaching at Elwood,” Panthers coach Adrian Heim said. “We won the (Muller) tourney and we came back and won the sectional; we just tell them the sky’s the limit.”

Because of the thunderstorms that rolled through the area late Tuesday afternoon, the decision was made to move the start time up from 5 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. by Lapel administrators and Elwood and Alexandria coaches.

“With what’s coming, we didn’t want to wait and make the kids come back again Wednesday,” Lapel athletic director Jimmie Howell said.

“There’s no possible way we could sit here and wait for (the storms) to come in on us,” Heim said. “We needed to get it in (Tuesday).”

“We didn’t want to come back Wednesday. My kids were ready, they’re kids were ready, let’s play,” Alexandria coach Jeff Closser said. “I’ve got no problems with the way this tournament was run; Lapel was a great host.”

When the game was suspended Monday, Elwood had a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. There was one out, and Jacob Dunnichay was standing on first base with Nathaniel Jones due up next for Elwood.

When play resumed Tuesday, Jones was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for the Panthers. Kevin Worsley flew out to center for the Panthers second out of the extended bottom of the sixth inning. An intentional walk to Davey Richards loaded the bases.

Dunnichay scored on a wild pitch, and a Jacob Hartman single scored Jones to give Elwood the 8-2 lead.

Alexandria got a single from Mitch Yeagy with one out in the top of the seventh to give the Tigers a base runner. Alex’s Nik Parkison hit a sharp grounder to Elwood third baseman Alex Juday, who threw to second baseman Tanner Boyland to put out Yeagy. Boyland then fired the ball to Richards for the around-the-horn double play to end the game and give Elwood the trophy.

“We executed well. We got the bunts down, we got the two-out hits and we got the pitching,” Heim said. “Tyler Creasy came on, and we rolled two double plays. I think we’re playing good baseball right now.”

For Elwood, Hartman picked up the win, going five innings and scattering four hits. Creasy came on in relief for the final two innings with two hits allowed and a strikeout.

Tigers junior Drew Overman pitched into the sixth inning on Monday night for Alexandria. He gave up six runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.

At the plate, Richards was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Elwood. Trevor Ozenbaugh went 2-for-4 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI.

Jones was 1-for-2 with a triple and three runs scored. He reached base in his other three at bats via an Alexandria error and being hit by a pitch twice. Juday went 1-for-2 for the Panthers with an RBI.

For the Tigers, Overman went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in the fourth inning. Blake Abshire finished 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Austin Quinn, Zach Yeagy, Garrett Hosier, Chance Morphew and Mitch Yeagy each had a hit for Alexandria.

“Our kids never quit all year long; they’re battlers,” Closser said. “We’ve got three seniors that had great years, and we’ve got some holes to fill.”

Elwood (23-6) will play Heritage Christian in the second game of the Park Tudor Regional at noon Saturday. Heritage Christian defeated Park Tudor 6-5 to win the sectional.

“We’ll give them a day off and then get ready for Heritage Christian,” Heim said. “We’re not done yet.”

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