NOBLESVILLE – Four hours and eight minutes after the first pitch of the ballgame, a couple hours before the Saturday morning sun would rise over Donald J. Dunker Field, Fishers freshman Henry Cherry stepped to the plate with the bases loaded.
Down six runs in the third inning, Westfield completed its comeback with a run in the seventh inning, but after four extra innings, neither team had claimed victory.
With a spot in the sectional championship on the line, the moment may have been too much for some freshmen, but Cherry, son of longtime Fishers coach Matthew Cherry, remained composed under pressure.
“His baseball IQ is off the charts,” Matthew said of Henry. “He’s one of the smartest baseball players I’ve ever coached. He knows the zone really well. I trusted that he would either see the zone and draw a walk or put the ball in play.”
With the count full, Cherry calmly avoided an inside pitch from Westfield lefty Aiden Grabowski, scoring the winning run from third in the 12th inning and sending Fishers to an 8-7 win.
The Tigers advance to face Zionsville, Monday at 6 p.m. for the Sectional 8 title.
“I was confident, just doing everything I could trying to get in position to win,” the younger Cherry said. “I knew if I couldn’t get it done Andrew (Baldini) would get it done. So, I had confidence in myself and Andrew behind me.
Maddox Novotney put Westfield ahead 7-6 in the top of the 12th, scoring Kasen Jessup from third with a sacrifice fly. David Pina led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. Isaac Fernandez reached on an error, and pinch runner Carter Davis scored on an error. Westfield intentionally walked Asher Nelson, loading the bases for Cherry’s walk-off walk.
Vincent Pecararo led Fishers with two hits and two RBIs. Carter Strole added two hits, two runs scored and one RBI. Nick Fero, Gavin Russ and Novotney drove in two runs each for the Shamrocks.
Zionsville’s Reid Zittel was ready for the curve
The order a pitcher throws his pitches can be just as impactful as an overpowering fastball.
If a pitcher can keep a hitter guessing, he’ll have the upper hand. If a hitter can anticipate what’s coming, it’s very hard to get them out.
With Friday’s Sectional 8 semifinal game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Zionsville senior Reid Zittel was looking for one specific pitch with a chance to end the game. A 2-0 count is usually a fastball count, but Hamilton Southeastern pitchers were throwing curveballs in fastball counts all game.
Zittel was sitting curveball, got the curveball and did not miss, driving the pitch over the left field fence for a walk-off home run, sending the Eagles to a 7-6 win over the Royals.
“Our coaches were on them, not necessarily their pitches, but we had an approach of what they were sequencing with their pitches down 2-0, they were going to the curveball,” Zittel said. “So, I was sitting curveball there, and I just took it (out). It felt great.”
Zittel’s teammates mobbed him in celebration as soon as he crossed home plate. Chants of “Reid, Reid, Reid,” rang out as Zittle celebrated with Eagles supporters along the third-base side.
Zittel finished 2-for-4. Tyler Hughes, Camden Moore and Liam Salapka had two hits and one RBI each. Jackson Bixler led HSE with three hits and one RBI. Chase Bradle added two hits and two RBIs.
Zionsville scored six runs in the first and did not score again until Zittel’s homer. Bradle entered in relief and kept the Eagles at bay, allowing the one run on six hits and one walk over five innings. Landon Ambs earned the save for Zionsville, allowing one run over 3⅔ innings.
It’s a tough way for a successful season to end for HSE, but coach Kory Seitz knows that one game does not negate what his team accomplished.
“A single game doesn’t define who this group of kids are,” Seitz said. ”… A lot of these kids experienced the losing season last year, they really grew up and responded this year. They dealt with multiple games of adversity, and they learned how to overcome that in games.
“Kids growing up into men is what it looked like a lot. So, I’m just super proud of those guys and how they compete.”
Brebeuf’s Isaiah Frank sets school records
Brebeuf Jesuit junior Isaiah Frank was unhittable during the Braves’ Class 3A Sectional 25 first-round game against Tri-West.
Frank led the Braves to a 1-0 win, striking out 13 over seven no-hit innings. Frank was four walks away from a perfect game. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound righty is the first Braves hitter in the last 14 years to throw a no-hit shutout in the state tournament. He’s also the first Brave to throw two no-hitters in the same season.
Frank struck out 15 and walked just one over seven no-hit innings against Hamilton Height in late April. For the season, Frank is 4-3 with a 2.27 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 37 innings.
Nick Winters leads Indian Creek to upset win over Roncalli
A potential Class 3A state title contender is out early in the state tournament as Indian Creek handed Roncalli a 7-1 defeat in the Class 3A Sectional 28 semifinals.
Roncalli entered the game with 20 wins to Indian Creek’s 11, but starter Nick Winters was the equalizing factor. Winter went the distance allowing just one run (unearned) on four hits and four walks, striking out eight.
Mason Woodke drew a lead-off walk in the first. With two outs, Colt DeHart’s single plated pinch runner Grayson Taylor putting the Braves up 1-0. Indian Creek added six runs in the sixth, taking a 7-0 lead.
Elijah Guyer had two RBIs. Landon Hamilton, Evan Clark and Allan Phelps added one RBI each.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Two games, two walk-offs: Wild finishes in Class 4A Sectional 8 and more
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
