LAPORTE ― NorthWood baseball’s surprise run to the IHSAA 3A state semifinals ended Saturday night, June 14, with a 4-0 loss to top-ranked Andrean at Scheiber Field.
The teams went a combined 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position, but a spate of ill-timed hiccups kept the upstart Panthers from reaching the first state final in program history.
“I have to believe Andrean wasn’t expecting that kind of fight out of us,” NorthWood coach Zach Benko said. “We gave them everything they wanted and a little bit more.”
Northwood (21-13) held off Norwell 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the semi-state nightcap.
Andrean (30-3), the Merrillville-based powerhouse, advances to face No. 7 Jasper (28-6) in the state 3A final on Friday, June 20 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Senior right-hander Nate Dutkowski, who saved the opener in relief of lefty ace Connor Reed, threw 109 pitches against Andrean and fell one out shy of a complete game.
Dutkowski gave up a long leadoff homer to lefty masher Steven Mack in the second inning, catching too much plate after jumping ahead with two quick strikes.
“Probably the farthest I’ve ever seen a ball hit,” Dutkowski said.
That homer, just the second NorthWood has allowed all year, marked Andrean’s only scoring until a three-error sixth gave the favorites some breathing room.
Blake Kouder added a two-out RBI single in the seventh and came around to score on a balk.
“Really proud of Nate,” Benko said. “Really gutsy performance. Nate’s a competitor, maybe the most competitive player on our squad. He wants the ball. We were right there.”
Ty Stankovich and Landon Perry, the bottom two hitters in the NorthWood order, reached to open the third as the Panthers chased Andrean starter Braden Branigin. Junior lefty Kaden Maxwell, however, worked out of trouble, aided by a botched suicide squeeze.
“That’s just a play that we do; that’s part of our game,” Benko said. “It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to execute there. Those things are tough. They hurt. Certainly, that’s one that sticks out.”
Small ball wasn’t the Panthers’ friend on this night, as they struggled to move runners on several sacrifice bunt attempts. Reed also was caught stealing on a pickoff after working a nine-pitch walk in the fourth, and the senior was doubled off second after opening the last-gasp seventh with a single.
Reed scattered seven hits over six innings in the win over Norwell, walking three and fanning six. He added a two-run single in the sixth.
This marks the 11th time in the past 21 playoffs that Andrean has advanced to the state championship. The 59ers, a 4-2 winner over Delta in Saturday’s opener, have won eight titles under coach Dave Pishkur, tied with LaPorte for the most in Indiana prep history.
LaPorte’s first seven titles, all under coach Ken Schreiber, came before classification was implemented with the 1998 season.
“(Andrean has) some pretty remarkable athletes they get into that school through different means than the public schools certainly,” Benko said. “They’ve got all kinds of guys going to play college ball, some of them at high Division I, but I love that.
“Our guys are just a handful of guys going to small colleges to play ball. But you put us all together and we can be tough. That’s really what I love about our guys.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Miscues cost NorthWood baseball against top-ranked Andrean in IHSAA 3A semi-state final
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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