LAFAYETTE – Initially lost for words, Fishers head coach Matthew Cherry came up with three letters to sum up his top-ranked Class 4A Tigers thrilling 12-5 nine-inning regional championship victory at Loeb Stadium on Saturday night.

“There’s nothing else to say but, wow,” Cherry remarked after his team’s slugfest with No. 12 Fort Wayne Carroll during the Lafayette Jefferson Regional finals. “Our back was against the wall, and they kept fighting. We’ve said the last two years, we’re in every game until we run out of time. These guys never quit.”

Five days after charging back in the seventh inning to secure the program’s second straight sectional title on Memorial Day, the Tigers relied on their grit and perseverance once again, and it propelled them to uncharted territory – the Plymouth Semistate this coming weekend against Chesterton.

Tied 5-5 with Carroll (23-8) after seven innings, the resilient Tigers (27-2) erupted for seven runs in the top of the ninth led by senior captain Craig Yoho to knock off the Chargers and clinch their first regional championship.

Yoho, a Houston recruit, came up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth – the third straight inning the Tigers packed the bags with one out – and came through to ignite the decisive rally with one swing.

“I wasn’t looking to be up there and be passive. I was trying to be aggressive. I didn’t want to miss my pitch and it just happened to be a pitch I could handle,” Yoho said. “I hit it hard somewhere. That’s all I could ask for and I got the job done.”

Yoho drove Mississippi State recruit Hayden Jones’ first offering into left field, plating two runs and putting the Tigers’ potent lineup at ease.

Indiana University recruit Grant Richardson followed with a two-run single to right field, and with two outs, Huntington commit Alex Jamieson capped the frame with a towering three-run home run – his fifth on the season.

“We had a couple chances late in the game to put them away and take the lead and we weren’t able to. It was huge to be able to get that weight off everybody,” Yoho said. “I felt everybody just relax after that and start having fun again, just playing baseball.”

Prior to the Tigers’ breakout in the top of the ninth, the game remained tense and uncertain despite a solid performance by Richardson, who pitched 7 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out 12 batters, walked two and threw 122 pitches to open the eighth inning before being relieved by Navy recruit Matthew Wolff.

A Bishop Dwenger transfer last summer, Richardson played in the Fort Wayne area the past three seasons, so familiarity was a given for himself and the Chargers, and he met the challenge by keeping Carroll to seven hits. 

“The adrenaline got to me, and my arm was perfect from the get-go,” Richardson said. “Just being able to locate the way I did; I was extremely happy with the way I performed.”

The Chargers tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first as Jones, who went 2-for-4 with a triple, scored on a passed ball.

Carroll deadlocked the score 3-3 in the bottom of the third behind a two-out, RBI-triple by Wright State commit Riley Perlich, which Nathan Fish backed up with a run-scoring single.

The Chargers took their only lead of the game 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth as Ball State recruit Langston Ginder crossed home plate on a wild pitch and Fish drove in Jones with an RBI double.

The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first behind Richardson’s two-out home run that easily cleared the left-center field wall at spacious Loeb Stadium. An RBI-single by Ben Burton in the second gave Fishers a 2-1 lead, and a Kiel Brenczewski RBI-sacrifice fly to center field brought home Yoho, who finished with three runs scored and three RBI.

Fishers went scoreless four of the next five innings, but as they faced a two-run deficit in the top of the sixth, they manufactured a comeback.

“No team that’s still in the tournament right now is ever going to go away,” Yoho said. “We aren’t going to go away either.”

Winners of nine straight games, Fishers drew back-to-back walks in the top of the sixth to chase Perlich, who relieved Carroll starter Jacob Shirk in the fourth inning. Against Jones, the Tigers posted consecutive sacrifice flies to right field by Miami (Ohio) commit J.J. Woolwine and Yoho, tying the game 5-5.

“Sparking momentum is huge in high school baseball,” Cherry said. “Our guys find a way to do it.”

The big hit sidestepped the Tigers in the seventh and eighth innings as they setup four one-out bases loaded situations but came up empty.

Jones, who struck out three over 3 1/3 innings of relief, subdued the Tigers each time until the ninth with the bases loaded and Yoho up to bat.

“Him coming up with the bases loaded, and what’s he’s done in his career, it’s a pretty special moment for him to have it and give us that lead,” Cherry said.

Langston Ginder relieved Jones in the ninth, but the Tigers’ posted four of their 14 hits in the inning, including Richardson and Jamieson’s five insurance runs.

Woolwine went 2-for-4 for the Tigers, while Wolff went 2-for-4. Burton was 2-for-3, and Richardson finished 4-for-6 with three RBI.

“I wanted to back (Yoho) up real bad. So much pressure was just relieved. As soon as he hit that, it was like, ‘yes,’” Richardson said.

Wolff, who claimed the save during the Tigers’ 6-5 regional semifinal win in the morning closed out the bottom of the ninth for the win. He retired all five batters he faced.

“It was so frustrating. They’re a good team. They hit the ball, so it was frustrating, but you have to stick with it,” Jamieson said. “Obviously, when you do, you can end up a winner. Just two more games and then we’re champions. That’s how I see it. Two more dogpiles.”

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