Prep Baseball Report

4A Lafayette Regional: No. 1 Fishers, No. 12 Carroll Advance to Regional Championship Game


Rich Torres
PBR Indiana Correspondent

LAFAYETTE  Top-ranked Class 4A Fishers bided its time, while No. 12 Fort Wayne Carroll wasted little of it en route to their Lafayette Jefferson Regional semifinal victories at Loeb Stadium on Saturday.

Down 4-1 to No. 10 Zionsville, the Fishers Tigers flipped the deficit in the bottom of the third to win their eighth straight game, 6-5, and enacted some postseason revenge in the process.

The Tigers (26-7) swept the Eagles (20-9) last month during their three-game Hoosier Crossroads Conference series finale, but they still had a score to settle after getting knocked out by Zionsville in last years regional championship game.

The teams fourth meeting of the season opened with Zionsville taking a 2-1 and 4-1 advantage before the Tigers regrouped and rallied behind a three-hit, four-run bottom of the third.

"We talked in scout and in our series with them, coming into this week that they were going to punch us. We just had to weather the storm and punch them back," Fishers head coach Matthew Cherry said. "We were able to punch them pretty hard in the third.

The Eagles built a 4-1 lead after the first two innings with a pair of extra-base hits, including a two-run home run by junior Jack Firestone -- his fourth of the season -- in the top of the second.

A two-run double by Eastern Michigan recruit Stephen Karis in the top of the first put Zionsville ahead 2-0.

"I thought they were aggressive, and I really thought we would jump on them with a few more later, but we didn't. Their pitchers did a good job," Eagles head coach Jered Moore said.

Fishers starter Luke Albright, a Kent State commit, struggle momentarily against the Eagles, surrendering four runs and five hits through the first two innings.

Albright was coming off of four days rest after pitching a complete-game victory in the sectional semifinals against North Central on Memorial Day.

"It's the shortest rest he's ever had this season," Cherry said. "He threw 108 (pitches) on Monday in the sectional, so he was on short rest. He didn't quite have his fastball the way he's used to having it, but he's a competitor. He was able to locate some off-speed pitches there and changing speeds to get them off balance."

The senior right-hander settled in after the second, allowing four more hits for nine total and limiting the Eagles to one more run in the top of the fifth. He went five innings with four strikeouts and three walks.

Navy recruit Matthew Wolff relieved Albright in the top of the sixth and scattered one hit with two strikeouts to record the save. The win improved Albrights season record to 7-2.

"Albright's pitch count was up, so we knew we would get their bullpen early, which is not always a good thing," Moore said. "It's one of those things. Some of those balls, the center fielder made a few unbelievable catches. A few of those drop, and we're either still playing or we're ahead.

Zionsville sliced Fishers 6-4 lead to one run in the top of the fifth as Nick Nelson, a DePauw commit, connected for a one-out double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Otterbein recruit, Sam Edgell drove in Nelson in the next at-bat with an RBI groundout.

"We've been down quite a few times and have come back. I think we had enough confidence in our offense. I don't know if they were pressing, but it was something," Moore said. "There's no question their pitching made adjustments and shut us down after that.

Miami (Ohio) commit, J.J. Woolwine backed up the Tigers pitching staff by flashing the leather in centerfield. The junior ran down a pair of deeply hit fly balls in the spacious confines and halted a potential threat with a third-out catch in the top of the seventh to strand a runner.

Zionsville left eight runners on base, but they logged 10 hits overall compared to Fishers eight.

Kyle Richardson, an East Tennessee State recruit, Karis and Nelson all had doubles for the Eagles. Richardson was 2-for-3, and both Firestone and Tyler Milby were 2-for-3.

"A lot of our guys had last year on their minds. Even though we swept them in the conference, they came into this knowing that they put us out in the regional final. They wanted to avenge that," Cherry said. "They had a lot of emotion going into today, and once they settled in and had that big inning to take the lead. We were able to settle in a little bit.

The Tigers struck back in the bottom of the first with a leadoff solo home run by Woolwine against Zionsville starter Nick Brier.

Fishers strung together three hits and a walk to open the bottom of the third to chase Brier, who was relieved by Milby.

Senior Grant Richardson, an Indiana recruit, tied the game 4-4 by scoring on a wild pitch from third base. Richardson was 1-for-1 with two walks and added a tailing, RBI-double that was narrowly caught in center field in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-4.

"That hit was huge," Cherry said. "Nick Nelson is great, man. He chased that ball down and had a chance to get it, but yeah, Grant hit it a mile. Thankfully, it dropped."

Junior Kiel Brenczewski, who was 2-for-3, lined a two-run, RBI-double in the third to cut the Tigers deficit 4-3. An RBI-sacrifice fly to left field by Alex Jamieson put Fishers ahead 5-4.

"We got the leadoff guy on, and the top and middle of our lineup made the pay," Cherry said. "It's just the fight we've had with this group. They never give up. They just keep fighting."

Jamieson, a Huntington recruit, went 1-for-2 with a double, and Houston commit Craig Yoho, a senior, was 2-for-3. Woolwine went 2-for-4.

"Zionsville is one of the best ball clubs in the state," Cherry said. "The fact that we beat them four times is really tough. They're really good, and they showed it in the first few innings and scoring another run late. It's one of the best hitting teams I've seen in Indiana."

Carroll challenged for that label as they rolled to its seventh straight win 10-4 over Fort Wayne South Side in the second regional semifinal to advance into the finals against Fishers.

The Chargers (23-7) marched to a 9-1 lead after the first four innings and scored in each of the first five frames to pull ahead 10-1 before Fort Wayne South Side (14-13) pushed back.

"We got off to a good start. In those first five innings, we just felt good. I thought we had some bad at-bats late in the game, and one bad inning there in the fifth that made it more of a game," Carroll head coach David Ginder said. "But any time you get in the tournament, it's never easy."

Carroll made it look simple by racking up eight of its 10 hits in the first five innings. Mississippi State recruit Hayden Jones went 2-for-5 with an RBI-double in the top of the first and finished with two RBI.

Riley Perlich, a Wright State commit, was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Bryce Ginder was 2-for-3 with an RBI-double. The Chargers had four doubles, including one by Micah Frentz during Carrolls five-run top of the fourth, and another by Lincoln Lantz in the second.

Jacob Shirk went 1-for-3 with an RBI-sacrifice, and Langston Ginder, a Ball State recruit, had an RBI-groundout in the second inning.

Perlich earned the win, going three innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

South Sides Thomas Romero led the Archers by going 4-for-4. The Archers plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 10-4. South Side sent nine hitters to the plate in the inning and scored two runs on an error while loading the bases four times.

Langston Ginder escaped a potential jam in relief, stranding two runners in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of pop ups and a strikeout. He had three punch outs and allowed two hits over two innings.

"We managed. We advanced and play for another game," David Ginder said. "In a one-game setting, anything can happen. So we'll see what happens (in the championship game)."

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