PLYMOUTH − New Prairie baseball only needed one run — one hit — to advance to its seventh straight IHSAA 3A sectional championship game.
The Cougars got one more of each, but senior Reed Robinson’s solo home run in the top of the sixth inning against South Bend Saint Joseph Saturday, May 30, was yet another clutch moment for the Northern Illinois University (NIU) commit to add to his already long rolodex. Compared to monumental hits in both 2024 3A semi-state and state championship victories, a home run in a sectional semifinal should have been run of the mill for Robinson.
It wasn’t.
He was a sophomore during the Cougars’ state title run, playing with nothing to lose. He’s a senior now, and when he stepped up to the plate before launching a ball that just scraped over the right field fence, New Prairie was getting no-hit in a 0-0 ball game.
If Robinson didn’t come through, it very well could have been his final high school at-bat. Sure, junior Giovanni Naccarato came through with a single in the seventh inning and eventually made his way around the base paths to eventually steal home from third base when the Huskies’ catcher decided to throw to first on a dropped third strike. But, the Cougars may not have had the confidence to be in that position were it not for Robinson’s heroics an inning prior.
Robinson’s dinger puts all of those “ifs” to rest, and fellow senior starting pitcher Sullivan Kress ensured one run was all New Prairie needed, tossing a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts. The Cougars won 2-0 and now have a chance to win their fourth consecutive sectional title at Plymouth.
“This was definitely one of the most impactful home runs I’ve ever had,” Robinson said. “Being all of our senior years — 11 of us — and it comes down to a 0-0 game in the top of the sixth, I just knew I had to do whatever I could to support [Kress]. The first two at-bats I missed my pitch, so I was kind of getting amped up and ready to go for that at-bat. I sat on my pitch and drove it.”
Kress’ performance on the mound was made all the more impressive when a hard-hit ground ball ricocheted off of Kress’ left arm in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kress successfully fielded the ball and made the out at first base, but he had to take a moment to collect himself due to the pain.
A New Prairie trainer even briefly visited the mound, yet Kress finished that inning and the next to go the distance in victory. Just like Robinson dedicated his home run to Kress, the Cougars’ ace dedicated his grit to his teammates.
“It hurt a little bit, but I knew it wasn’t going to affect my pitching,” Kress said. “I just want to be tough for my guys, because they rely on me. I always want to be that guy who can take one for the team and keep going.”
Head coach Mark Schellinger wasn’t surprised in the least that his best hitter and his best pitcher delivered at the highest level when it mattered the most Saturday.
“That’s Reed; he’s our guy who gets us going, and we needed something,” Schellinger said. “ … Sully’s a tough kid. He was lights out all day, and that’s become the expectation. He expects it of himself, and he’s electric.”
Saint Joseph senior Jacob Snyder was also excellent on the mound, tossing seven innings and going through five of them without allowing a hit. He finished with 90 pitches, two hits, two earned runs, a walk and seven strikeouts in his final high school game.
This was against a Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) champion New Prairie squad that had previously knocked him for four hits and two earned runs while drawing four walks in a 5-3 victory back on April 7. Head coach John Smolinski said although his team may have been defeated, the Ohio Northern University (ONU) commit doesn’t deserve an “L” next to his name.
“He gave everything he had; he left it all out there,” Smolinski said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him … My message to the guys is, ‘Tip your cap. You lost to a really good opponent, but we’re going to be back next year, ready to go. We know what it takes, [we] just have to get over that hump.”
Mishawaka Marian’s season ends at hands of Culver Academies
After Mishawaka Marian senior Ryne O’Hara’s clutch sixth-inning RBI single helped push the Knights ahead of Glenn for a 3-1 victory Wednesday night, it looked like he might play hero again in their semifinal game against Culver Academies three days later.
As his squad trailed the Eagles 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, O’Hara knocked a two-RBI double to get Marian back within striking distance. The dugout erupted, and the Knights had life.
However, Culver Academies responded with three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the air out of Marian and win the game 7-3. The Eagles will play New Prairie in the sectional championship game 6 p.m. ET Monday, June 1, back at Plymouth’s Bill Nixon Field.
Meanwhile, it was the final high school game for 11 Knights seniors. O’Hara, who is committed to continue his baseball career at Lake Michigan College, was the last one back in the dugout after head coach Joe Turnock spoke to the team in the outfield after the loss.
O’Hara’s batting gloves were still on and his helmet was still in hand.
“They had a standard; it was a one heartbeat, one pulse thing,” Turnock said. “I say it all the time, ‘Marian baseball was here before me, it was here before the guys and it’ll be here after us. The only thing you can do is in your four-year window, leave the program better than you found it.’ I’m very comfortable saying our seniors did that.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleSmedley03.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New Prairie beats Saint Joseph in pitcher’s duel IHSAA baseball sectional
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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