LAFAYETTE — With its season on the line, Harrison handed the ball to relief pitcher Colton Watts.
The Raiders led 2-1 with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth.
There were a few raindrops beginning to lightly splatter Loeb Stadium. Not much, but perhaps enough to rattle a senior who’d logged just 37 1/3 innings over the past two seasons.
“If it didn’t show, yeah, I did feel the pressure,” Watts said. “We’ve been kind of preparing for this all year, getting me in with the bases loaded to make sure I could deal with the pressure.”
The rain was brief. So was McCutcheon’s opportunity to mount a comeback in Monday’s Class 4A, Sectional 7 championship.
Watts struck out three straight, McCutcheon’s Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters, then retired three more in order in the bottom of the seventh in Harrison’s 2-1 victory.
“Colton comes in with bases loaded and we’re just trying not to give up three or four in that situation,” Harrison coach Pat Lowrey said. “He deserved that opportunity. The kid works hard and never complains. He doesn’t have a whole lot of innings as a youth through early high school, but he’s just getting better and better.”
Harrison’s fifth sectional title in six seasons all came at the expense of Tippecanoe School Corp. rival McCutcheon.
The Raiders (19-10) will play Zionsville in the regional championship on Saturday, June 6, at a site and time yet to be announced.
In a roller coaster season of perseverance where the Raiders saw five seniors’ careers cut short by season-ending injuries, Harrison was fundamentally sound against a team that also played nearly flawless baseball during a rare cool June night.
Nolan Hodnett made a spectacular play at short in the fourth, stabbing a hard hit grounder and ripping a strike to first while tailing into left field. Jack Gonzalez’ diving catch in center field, completed when he popped up and lasered a throw to first base to double up a runner, helped starter Lyrik Neal improve his pitching record to 7-0.
“We’re really found out how to complete games,” Gonzalez said. “(Assistant) coach (Jaylen) Cushenberry, he has a great mentality. Championship stamina. We have to play a full game. I think that’s what we did.”
McCutcheon’s threat in the sixth came via back-to-back singles by Deacon Anthrop and Zayne Newgent, followed by consecutive walks, including a bases loaded free pass drawn by Jacob Winger, who was the hard luck losing pitcher when Harrison delivered a small ball masterclass in the top of the fifth.
Hodnett had a leadoff single and stole second. Braylen Hands’ sacrifice bunt attempt turned into an infield single, the first of three straight bunt singles, including Eli Biggs to score Hodnett for a 1-0 lead. Harrison went up 2-0 on a fielder’s choice by Gonzalez.
“We started the season out and we preached to our guys that we’re not a lineup that is going to hit a lot of home runs, not a lot of extra bases,” Lowrey said. “We’re hitting, I think, over .300 (.298 after Monday) as a team, so we have a nice team batting average, but something we pride ourselves on is creating chaos on the bases.”
With a slim lead and danger looming, Watts made sure that fifth inning held up.
“I was just locked in on the batter,” Watts said of when he took the mound. “The damage was already done. Just do your job. help the team out and give us a chance to win it.”
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: Colton Watts brings energy from bullpen to power Harrison baseball
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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