It takes courage to stare down a 90-mph fastball from Center Grove pitcher Gannon Grant, bat in front of your body with the goal of laying down a bunt.
Courage, toughness, heart, whatever you want to call it, Richmond junior Jayvian Burdette showed it in spades during the Red Devils’ regional championship loss to the Trojans. Trailing 8-0 in the fourth inning and hitless as a team, Burdette experienced the worst-case scenario when attempting to bunt.
Burdette squared his body toward Grant, and got his bat on the ball, but the ball ricocheted off his bat and hit him squarely in the head. The junior went down in a heap, hands on his head in visible pain. The Center Grove athletic training staff tended to Burdette, helping him off the field. After a few minutes, Burdette returned to the field and continued his at bat.
“It didn’t go as planned, but I got back up,” Burdette said.
Burdette didn’t just get back up; he nearly broke up Grant’s no-hitter. Showing no ill effects of the blow to the head, Burdette connected with a fastball from Grant, hitting a chopper to Emerson Haver at third base. With Burdette busting it down the first base line, Haver fielded the ball and fired to Joel Tracy at first in one smooth motion, nailing the runner without a second to spare.
Hustling down the line while trailing. Shaking off a painful blow to the head. That’s the toughness and baseball character the Red Devils showed all season.
“It’s every single guy on this team,” Richmond coach Michael Medley said. “We’ve been going with a motto called ‘Forda’ which means ‘For the Boys’. They all pick each other up, they’re all here for each other. They’re gonna do what they can to help the team out.”
Helping out the team didn’t stop at running hard for Burdette. The junior came in to pitch in the sixth inning, struggling with his command early before recording a strikeout and getting Grady Grant to fly out to right to end the inning.
“To show that I don’t give up,” Burdette said on why he chose to stay in the game. “Just because I got hit — this sport means something to me. I want to go places with it, so I’ve got to show people that I’m not some unknown person.”
North Central wins close game, the rest of Central Indiana rolls
Central Indiana teams advanced to the semistate semifinals outscoring their opponents by a combined 91-23 margin. The closest games were Guerin Catholic’s 4-1 win over Northview, and North Central’s 5-3 win over Avon, another Central Indiana team.
Avon led 1-0 after five innings. Grant Trisler’s home run tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth. North Central took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jaden Mitchell and Caleb McIntyre drew walks, tying the game at 3-3.
Cy Street reached first on a fielder’s choice. After two straight walks, Street scored from third on a wild pitcher. With two outs, Trisler was hit by a pitch, scoring Calvin Nelson from third. Nelson earned the win, recording one out in relief of Street. Christian Kropa shut the door for the save, striking out one in the eighth. Street struck out eight over 6⅔ innings.
Clayton Lenz and McIntyre led Avon with two hits and one RBI each.
North Central (21-6) advances to face Bloomington South (21-6) at the University of Evansville on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Down not out: Richmond’s Jayvian Burdette takes fastball to the head and stays in the game
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
