LAFAYETTE — Heat elevated from the artificial turf on a humid day at Loeb Stadium, but Eli Barnes wasn’t feeling it.
Rossville’s senior pitcher, admittedly nervous any time he’s on the mound, felt a sense of coolness even with the bases loaded and no outs while nursing a 2-0 lead. This day, Barnes felt the Hornets could do no wrong.
Barnes zoned in on catcher Nolan Britt and delivered. Riverton Parke No. 6 hitter Blake Todd clubbed a hard chopper right back at Barnes, who turned a 1-2-3 double play. An inning later, it was right fielder AJ Kelley who zoomed in to steal a base hit from the Panthers, only to double up a runner and help Barnes get out of a two-on, no-out scenario.
“We’re a team. It’s not just me,” Barnes said. “If I go and do my part, the whole team will do what we need to do to win.”
Barnes was proven correct in the Hornets’ 3-0 victory over Riverton Parke for Rossville’s first regional championship since 2019.
Tenth-ranked Rossville (19-11) plays No. 1 Kouts (29-1) in the June 13 Class A semi-state.
Less than a decade ago, Barnes and his seven fellow seniors were watching a program transformation when the Hornets advanced to the 2017 Class A state championship game.
This senior group was supposed to be one that could make another deep tournament run.
“We’ve got four guys who have started since their freshman year. Two early exits the last two years and now they’re seniors,” Rossville coach Brad Scott said. “There’s no magic potion I’m giving out or any coach is giving out. I think the buy in and lock in from our seniors, when they realize that the hourglass is running out of sand, that’s been the best thing for us.”
Saturday’s performance was mostly flawless defensively, an errorless outing backed by eight Barnes strikeouts.
Just three hits offensively, but disciplined and smart base running.
Rossville’s first run was an executed double steal where Levi Darnell coaxed Riverton Parke into a rundown, buying just enough time for Daulton Faucett to race in from third base and beat a throw home. An inning later, Zac Wainscott capitalized on an error on what should have been a tailor-made double play by scoring on Evan McDonald’s double. And in the fifth, after Barnes had danced with danger twice in previous two top halves of innings, Wainscott made Britt’s sacrifice bunt pay off with a sac fly to center that scored Andrew Woollen.
“We’re a good hitting team, but early on, we just found a lot of hard hit balls that weren’t finding holes,” Wainscott said. “So when they walked us or we do find a gap hit, we need to capitalize on those moments, whether that’s stealing bases, bumping runners over with a sacrifice. When hits aren’t going your way, that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Barnes’ aided by his defense, made sure Rossville’s capitalistic offense held up.
“Growing up, (the seniors) played together, since we were eight, nine, 10 years old, all eight of us have been,” Barnes said. “Having the success this year, in our final run, all of us together, just feels amazing.”
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: Eli Barnes pitches around danger in Rossville baseball’s regional win
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
