ATHENS — Runs were going to be at a premium when Marcellus and White Pigeon met up in the regional baseball semifinal.
With two excellent starting pitchers taking the mound for each school, a low run-total was looking like par for the course. The end result proved to be just that as Marcellus snuck out a 2-1 win over the Chiefs at Athens High School.
The victory for the Wildcats puts them in the regional finals on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Hudson. Those teams will square off at Spring Arbor University.
Marcellus scored first in the game against White Pigeon, but coach Christian Hutson admitted the Wildcats never felt absolutely comfortable in the contest.
“With Brody Block on the mound, I am always uncomfortable, that kid’s a stud,” Hutson said of the Chiefs pitcher. “And they’re a tough group. What Coach (Cole) Decker has done with that program, I tip my cap to them. He’s a hell of a coach and he’s done a great job over there.”
Block pitched all six innings for White Pigeon in the contest. He struck out eight hitters and kept Marcellus off-balanced during the game.
“Brody Block is the best pitcher we’ve seen all year,” Hutson said. “And he’s an even better kid.”
White Pigeon won its second consecutive district championship this year. The Chiefs put together a hard-working group, Decker said, and he was pleased with how they brought effort every day.
“From the start of the year until now, they have made more growth, to me, than any team we’ve played,” Decker said. “That’s what it’s all about in my opinion. We came out, competed as hard as we could and left it out there. I’m so proud of this group of kids.”
Marcellus collected six hits in the game, each of them were singles. Cale Hackenberg singled twice and drove in one, Seth Barrera singled twice as well. Abram Coffey and Matthew Lehew each hit a single, Zade Tyszka drove in one.
The Wildcats got 11 strikeouts from Hackenberg, he scattered two hits and walked one. Coffey struck out five in two-plus innings of work.
White Pigeon got base hits from Bristol Ultz and Block.
Marcellus has had a couple of heartbreakers the past few years, but now the Wildcats find themselves in the Elite Eight of Division 4.
The Wildcats are 19-11 on the season but have some strong pitching they believe can help them continue.
“We’ve got three pitchers who can fill up the strike zone. I feel like in Division 4, with three pitchers, that can go a long ways, especially tournament time,” Hutson said. “We still have things to work out, but we get to keep playing and that’s the fun part.”
White Pigeon ends the season at 13-10.
In the other three regional finals, Petersburg Summerfield will play Kalamazoo Hackett, Mio will play Painesdale Jeffers and Norway will take on Hillman.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Marcellus baseball set to play Hudson after winning close one over White Pigeon
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
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By Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal | USA TODAY Network
