LAFAYETTE — For a full year, McCutcheon’s baseball team has envisioned a sectional championship rematch with Harrison, falling a win short of a repeat title a season ago.
The Mavericks couldn’t think about that on Saturday.
If McCutcheon didn’t beat Kokomo, there was no rematch against Harrison.
So McCutcheon removed Kokomo’s 7-19 record, or the fact Harrison already punched its ticket to the title game earlier in the day, in their minds.
“When you look past them, that’s when they’re going to get opportunities,” McCutcheon senior Rhett Clarkson said. “Those opportunities can lead to losses or big innings.”
Without looking past Kokomo, it was the Mavericks who delivered two big innings in its 11-2 victory.
That included a six-run first and four runs in the fifth.
Brodyn Sharp’s two-run single and Mekyel Almond’s two-run double in the first jumpstarted the McCutcheon offense.
“It was important to get that lead,” McCutcheon coach Tristan McIntyre said. “It takes the pressure off of (starting pitcher) Cason Trader there.”
Now the pressure of getting through the sectional semifinal is off, too.
Harrison already was waiting and McCutcheon did its job to set up the sixth straight season the Tippecanoe School Corp. rivals will meet in the sectional, with five of them being championship games.
McCutcheon defeated Harrison in the 2024 sectional semifinals, but Harrison won each of the four sectional final meetings in that span.
“I’ve been wanting to see them in the sectional championship,” senior Jonathan Riley said. “In the season, we went 1-1 against them and last year we lost to them in the sectional championship, so I’m excited to see what we can do against them.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: McCutcheon baseball sets up sectional title rematch with Harrison
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
