North Central right-handed sophomore pitcher Cy Street is named after legendary former major league pitcher Cy Young, the man whose name adorns the award for the best pitcher in the National and American leagues, the Cy Young Award.
Street’s parents envisioned their child becoming a pitcher, and the righty set about becoming the best pitcher he could be from an early age, including hours upon hours of practice working on off-speed pitches with North Central pitching coach Andrew Dutkanych. Dutkanych knows plenty about talented pitchers; his son, former Brebeuf Jesuit star Andrew Dutkanych IV, was drafted out of Vanderbilt in the seventh round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024.
Street throws two breaking balls, a slider and a curveball, and his ability to command both pitches helped the Panthers clinch their second straight Class 4A Sectional 10 title Monday against Lawrence North.
In the bottom of the seventh in a 2-2 count, Street got LN outfielder Amari Moore to swing over the top of his curveball, recording his seventh strikeout of the game and clinching the 5-4 victory for the Panthers.
Street went the distance allowing five walks, three hits and zero earned runs.
“The confidence (in off-speed pitches) comes from constant work in the lab,” Street said. “Years and years of practice and it worked out for the team. Since I was a kid, I always knew I wanted to be a pitcher. … Working on (pitch) grips, intent, attitude, mindset, everything.”
With one out in the seventh, Street walked pinch-hitter Luke Tatum. With the winning run at the plate, Street retired the next two batters to end the game. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound righty stayed poised after a shaky start to the game. Street committed consecutive errors on attempted pickoffs, allowing lead-off hitter Oliver Glanzman to advance to third. The sophomore regrouped, recording nine straight outs before LN scored two in the fifth and once in the sixth. Street entered the seventh with his pitch count at 93 pitches, but Dutkanych told North Central head coach Andy McClain to let the young pitcher finish out the game.
“High school pitchers, if you throw your breaking ball in the zone for a strike, you’re going to be pretty darn good and (Street) was good,” Lawrence North coach Jason Taulman said. “A lot of high school guys want to throw that breaking ball out of the zone, and guys usually don’t chase it out of the zone.
“He did a nice job, he was in the zone, and it worked really well for him.”
North Central retook the lead in the third on two Lawrence North errors. Cole Kreinhagen added an RBI double in the sixth and came home to score on an error. Christian Krupa’s RBI single scored Tyler Jaynes for the winning run in the seventh.
Carson Maskel led LN with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Glanzman drove in one with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. Carter Nahre entered in relief and slowed down the Panthers, striking out five over five innings.
North Central awaits the winner of the Sectional 11 championship game between Avon and Brownsburg. The regional will be played on Saturday.
“It takes all of us, and everybody contributes in every way possible,” McClain said. “We’ve got a tremendous coaching staff. We were able to get two (sectional titles) in a row, we’re happy.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: North Central’s Cy Street keeps LN off balance, clinching second-straight sectional title
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
