PLAINFIELD – Saturday's Class 1A and 4A semi-state games at Plainfield High School started out in hot, humid conditions with cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 90s and a steady breeze in from center field. 

Weather problems caused a lengthy delay in the first game.  By the time play started up again, the skies were completely overcast and the temperatures had dropped.  The wind, by now blowing from left to right, had picked up. 

CLASS 1A – No. 1 UNIVERSITY 7, No. 10 TECUMSEH 4:  Down 4-3 and one strike away from defeat, the Trailblazers rallied for four runs on one hit in the top of the seventh to beat the Braves and advance to next week's IHSAA state 1A championship game against Daleville. 

In a seesaw battle that lasted four hours and 56 minutes. including a rain delay, Tecumseh broke a 3-3 deadlock in the bottom of the sixth and held a one-run advantage going into the final frame.   But in the top of the seventh, University (28-6) batted around and capitalized on four walks and two Braves errors. 

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said University coach Chris Estep.  “The kids went up there battling.  Even when we got the lead, you saw every kid going up and having some of the best at-bats they had for the day.  I thought we played really well early.  And then a little bit of luck went our way.”  

Spencer Buse, the junior who started for Tecumseh, had to leave the game with two out in the seventh after reaching the IHSAA-mandated 120-pitch limit.  In a match-up of right-handers, the Lynville-based school went with Buse while Carmel-based University started senior Cade Carlson. 

The contest was four minutes old when tournament officials shooed the players off the field due to reports of lightning and the chance of a hailstorm. 

With one out in the top of the first for University, Garrett Hill got aboard on an infield hit and stole second.  Hill took third when the next batter, Brock Moore, reached first on a throwing error.  At that point play was halted, teams and fans headed for shelter, and the grounds crew covered home plate and the mound. 

The action resumed after a one-hour and 42-minute hiatus and a slight drizzle.  With Ben Ewer at bat and runners at the corners, Hill came home on a wild pitch.  After Ewer singled and stole second to give University runners at second and third, Buse struck out the next two batters to stem the threat. 

Tecumseh (20-10) had an opportunity in the bottom of the inning when one-out base hits by Dustin DuPont and Steve Molinet put runners at first and second for the Braves.  Carlson extricated himself from the fix by fanning the next two men. 

University made it 2-0 in the second, aided by a Braves miscue.  With two away Ryan Williams grounded to short, but the throw was off the mark and Williams wound up on second.  Dawson Estep followed with a bloop hit to center that scored Williams. 

Carlson again thwarted Tecumseh in the bottom of the second. After walks to Gage Green and Gavin Oxley, the Northwood University recruit ended the inning with a strikeout. 

The Braves made it 2-all in the bottom of the third.  Dustin DuPont led off with a single and took second on a wild pitch.  Carlson fanned Steven Molinet, but the ball skipped past the University catcher for another wild pitch.  Molinet reached first on the play, with DuPont hustling to third.  Woody Brucken followed with a bases-clearing double down the right-field line. 

Carlson whiffed the next batter, but drilled Kinzer Flowers and walked Gage Green to load the bases. At that point, Carlson appeared to be in distress and Coach Estep came out to the mound.  “Cade started getting some forearm stiffness up into his elbow,” explained Estep, “and we weren’t going to take any chances.”  

Garrett Hill moved over from third base to replace Carlson and got out of the inning thanks to a double play.  On a dribbler in front of home plate, Trailblazers catcher Kolton Stevens stepped on the dish for one out and fired to first to complete the twin killing. 

University regained the lead in the top of the fourth.  Asher Thompson started off with a two-base hit and went to third on Nate Shatkowski's sacrifice.  Kolten Stevens singled past a drawn-in infield to score Thompson, giving the Trailblazers a 3-2 lead. 

Tecumseh fought back with a run in the bottom of the frame.  Gavin Oxley led off with a double and went to third on a passed ball.  After a base on balls to Dustin DuPont, Hill struck out the next batter. With Woody Brucken at the plate, Hill was called for a balk and Oxley strolled home with the tying run.  “I didn’t understand the balk call,” said Coach Estep.  “I thought that turned the tide of the game.  We were fighting to come back from that the entire time.”  

The rain briefly resumed in Tecumseh’s half of the fifth.  The inning opened with consecutive walks to Jalen Oxley and Kinzer Flowers.  Gage Green followed with a bunt, and University's Ben Westerkamm, who had replaced Hill at third base, slipped on the wet grass while attempting to make the play.  All hands were safe, and Tecumseh had runners at each base with nobody out.  Westerkamm recovered with an impressive play, snagging a line drive by Carson White and stepping on third for an unassisted double play. 

The inning ended on a heads-up play by University.  With Flowers on second and Green at first, Gavin Oxley grounded back to Hill.  The Trailblazers senior attempted a bare-handed stop, but bobbled the ball.  Oxley beat the throw to first but Brock Moore, University’s first baseman, spotted Green straying too far past second and alertly fired to Westerkamm at third.  Flowers tried to scramble back, but Westerkamm's peg to second sacker Asher Thompson nailed Flowers for the final out.

Tecumseh went up 4-3 in the sixth.  Dustin DuPont walked and wound up on third after a wild pitch and a long fly ball to center.  With two out, University issued an intentional walk to Woody Brucken.  When Jalen Oxley's grounder went through the University second baseman's wickets, the Braves pulled ahead. 

Buse trudged out to the mound in the top of the seventh needing three outs for a trip to Victory Field. Ryan Williams led off for University with a walk, stole second, and then took third on a passed ball. When a suicide squeeze attempt went awry, Williams was out at the plate.  

With one out to go and Buse maxed out on pitches, Tecumseh coach Ted Thompson was forced to make a change.  Steven Molinet, a University of Southern Indiana recruit, came in from center field.  The senior right-hander issued back-to-back free passes to Garrett Hill and Brock Moore, who battled back from an 0-2 count.  Ben Ewer hit a grounder between the mound and third that Molinet gloved, but he airmailed his throw past first and two runs scored.  Ewer rode home on Ben Westerkamm’s double to close out the scoring. 

Tecumseh refused to go away quietly.  Hill retired the first two Braves batters in the bottom of the seventh, but Gavin Oxley walked and Aaron Beard singled.  With the tying run at the plate, Hill ended the contest with a strikeout. 

Hill got the win, logging four strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings of relief while giving up two runs on three hits and six walks (one intentional).  

“It means everything,” Hill said of the berth in the state 1A championship game.  “We’ve been working on this since day one.  We had a goal.  We knew this team had talent and depth with our pitching and our offense.  We always play for one another, kind of like that Will Ferrell movie, ‘Everyone Loves Everybody.’  Everyone gets along and we all play for each other.  Even with some errors, we still got back into it ‘cause we’re a well-rounded team.”  

Buse racked up seven Ks over six and two-thirds.  Molinet took the loss.  Sophomore catcher Dustin DuPont led Tecumseh with two hits and a pair of walks in five trips to the plate.    

CLASS 4A – No. 18 CATHEDRAL 5, CASTLE 1 (8 INNINGS):  A four-run outburst in overtime ended a pitching duel and gave the Fighting Irish a berth in the state championship game for a second consecutive year.  

“We’ve spent a good portion of the season figuring some things out,” said second-year Indianapolis Cathedral coach Ed Freije.  “And even up through the tournament, we’re figuring some things out.  I give these guys a lot of credit.  They stick with it, they work at it, they adjust, and they get behind each other.  They’re excited about an opportunity to play again.”  

Saturday’s nightcap saw Castle right-hander Zach Messinger, a Virginia commit, locking horns with Cathedral’s Jared Poland.  Poland, a Louisville recruit, had been drafted by the Boston Red Sox earlier in the week as a second baseman.    

Messinger and Poland traded goose eggs through the first four stanzas. Freije called Poland “a warrior.  He goes out and competes, and he’s been fantastic.”  

So was Messinger, who at one point fanned six straight Irish batters.  “He’s a good pitcher, probably the best pitcher we’ve seen so far this year,” said Poland.  “We heard scouting reports, and we knew he was gonna throw strikes.”  

“Being up here and them being down there (in Newburgh), we didn’t know a whole lot about him,” said Freije.  “We knew he was good.  We saw records, we saw ERAs, we talked to a few people and they said he was really good.  And he was that tonight.  He was real sharp, throwing multiple pitches for strikes.  He kept us off balance.  We looked like we were guessing a lot at the plate.  He did a fantastic job.”      

Cathedral (22-8-1) broke through for a run in the top of the fifth.  With two out, Bo Sanders and Mack Murphy laced back-to-back hits.  Poland followed with a grounder to third, and when the throw soared past the Castle first baseman for an error, Sanders raced home for a 1-0 Irish advantage.  “We just kept putting the bat on the ball,” said Poland.  “We made them make an error, and we got a run.”  

Poland benefited from solid glovework in the bottom of the fifth.  Castle had runners on first and second with nobody out after Evyn King reached on an error and a base hit by Nate James.  Poland fanned the next man and on a grounder to third, Derek Haslett initiated an inning-ending third-to-first double play. 

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Messinger took matters into his own hands.  The 6-foot-6, 200-pounder rocked Poland's delivery over the left field fence for a no-doubt-about-it, game-tying homer.  “That was an 0-and-2 fastball that I put right over the plate,” said Poland.  

The game moved into extra innings after neither team scored in the seventh.  Maxed out on the pitch count, Messinger’s day ended with a dozen strikeouts, two walks and four hits.  

Castle skipper Curt Welch brought in Blake Ciuffetelli to face Cathedral in the top of the eighth.  Poland greeted the junior left-hander with a towering drive to right-center that fell for a triple.  “It was a fastball, 3-and-1,” said Poland.  

Collin Greene followed with a rope to left that plated courtesy runner Carson Caito.  Cole Vassilo's single and Evan Uhland's misplayed grounder filled the bases for the Irish.  One out later, a wild pitch brought in another run.  With runners on second and third, a single up the middle by Alex Scherer plated two more.  “Our guys did a great job of capitalizing off their situation,” said Coach Freije.   

Poland fanned the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth and ended the two hour, two-minute game on a fly ball to center.  His line for the night included eight strikeouts, seven hits and a walk.  “It’s fantastic,” said Poland of the semi-state triumph.  “We’ve got a good team and good chemistry, and I think we can do it again.” 

Garron Moffett, Castle’s senior leftfielder and leadoff hitter, paced the Knights with a 2-for-4 effort.  Castle ended the year with a 22-9 record.  

“I’m excited for our guys,” said Coach Freije.  “It’s a group that’s worked to jell throughout the year.  We talked about ‘flipping a switch’ in practice.  We talked about how you can’t just flip a switch and expect things to happen.  I hear our guys saying ‘Flip the switch!  Flip they switch!’  And maybe they did.”  

The Fighting Irish will take on Fishers in next weekend’s Class 4A showdown at Victory Field.  The meeting will be the first this year between Cathedral and the Tigers. 

ODDS ‘N’ ENDS:  In a sport where screwball superstitions are commonplace, Poland has come up with a unique shibboleth:  he takes the mound with his fly unzipped.  “I did it a couple of games ago and it was working every time I pitched,” he explained, “so I’ve been doing it every time now.”      

Pete Cava is the author of “Tales From the Cubs Dugout” and “Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014.”

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