Prep Baseball Report

Walk-Off Squeeze Propels No. 3 Providence Past No. 1 LCC



By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent



INDIANAPOLIS – Jay Lorenz squeezed home Jake Katchur in the bottom of the seventh to give the Class 2A No. 3 Providence Pioneers a 7-6 win over the top-ranked Lafayette Central Catholic Knights in Saturday’s IHSAA Class 2A championship game at Victory Field. 

It was the second consecutive year that Tim Bordenet's storied LCC program was denied the 2A title.  The Knights dropped an 8-2 decision to South Spencer in the 2015 title game. 

The penultimate contest of the 2016 Indiana high school baseball season had more twists than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.  “The momentum was crazy in this game,” said Providence coach Scott Hornung.  “There was a lot of shifts.  But we said it was going to be a battle, and we had to stay the course.”  

LCC (33-2) entered Saturday’s contest with a 13-game-winning streak.  The Knights’ only previous defeat came on May 6, when they lost to Andrean by a score of 5-4. 

Jake Lewis started for Providence (26-3) while Jackson Anthrop was on the bump for LCC.  Both hurlers benefited from first-inning double plays. 

The left-handed Lewis opened the game with a walk to LCC leadoff man Anthony Berumen, who took second on Adam Lovell's sacrifice.  After a walk to Coy Cronk, Ben Tharp grounded sharply to Providence third sacker Reece Davis.  Davis slapped a tag on Berumen for an out, then fired to first baseman Tre Watson to end the inning. 

Bret Aria opened the bottom of the frame for Providence with a base on balls and took second on a line single to center by Lewis.  After a wild pitch advanced the runners, Anthrop got Tim Borden on a pop-up to third.  When Tre Watson lifted a fly ball to shallow right field, LCC second baseman Sergio Rios raced back to make the catch.  Aria tagged up on the play, but was nailed at the plate by Rios's throw to catcher Coy Cronk. 

The Pioneers broke the ice in the bottom of the second.  Parker Graf started the inning with a two-base hit to left.  Anthrop fanned the next two batters, but Lorenz ripped a shot to the hole that LCC shortstop Tyler Powers managed to knock down.  Powers had no play at first, however, and Graf went home on the hit. 

A pair of Providence misplays contributed to a two-run third inning for LCC.  Luke Schrader started off things for the Knights with a double, and he went to third on Anthony Berumen's hard-hit single to left.  Adam Lovell grounded to second baseman Parker Graf, but Graf booted the ball and Schrader scored to make it 1-1. 

Coy Cronk, LCC's imposing three-hole hitter, followed with a double to left center that scored Berumen.  Lovell stopped at third, but raced home to make it 3-1 on an errant throw by the Providence left fielder. 

LCC's Anthrop worked his way out of trouble in the bottom of the third.  Lewis opened the frame for Providence with a walk and went to second on Tim Borden's single to center.  Lewis stole third to give the Pioneers runners at the corners with nobody out.  After Anthrop got the next two batters to pop up, Providence tried a delayed steal.  Cronk's throw to second baseman Sergio Rios mowed down Borden. 

The Pioneers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth on a walk to Joe Wilkinson and back-to-back infield hits by Lorenz and Juston Betz.  Anthrop grazed Bret Aria with a pitch, forcing home a run that narrowed LCC's lead to 3-2. 

Lewis followed with a bases-clearing triple to center that gave Providence a 5-3 advantage.  “Jake just ripped that ball into right-center,” said Hornung.  “I think he could have run for days, because it traveled pretty far, and that outfield is pretty deep out there.” 

The extra-base hit by Lewis brought down the curtain on Anthrop.  He moved to second base, with Noah Richardson coming in from the LCC bullpen.  The Pioneers extended their lead to 6-3 when Tim Borden greeted the left-hander with a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze that scored courtesy runner Kaden Williams. 

Lewis got through the fifth, but the Eastern Kentucky recruit hit the wall in the bottom of the sixth.  Anthrop's single, a base hit by Tyler Powers and a walk to Luke Schrader filled the bases. 

That was all for Lewis, who moved to first while Reece Davis shifted from third to the mound.  Davis walked Anthony Berumen to force in a run that made it 6-4.  Adam Lovell followed with a grounder to second for a force out, but in the attempt for a double play, the throw to first was in the dirt.  Two runs scored and the game was tied at 6-6. 

In the top of the seventh, Davis fanned the first LCC batter.  The Knights had a man in scoring position after Anthrop's infield single and a base on balls to Ben Metzinger.  But Davis struck out the next two batters to send the game into the bottom of the seventh. 

Tre Watson led off with a walk for Providence and moved up on Parker Graf's sacrifice.  After an intentional walk to Reece Davis, Tyler Payne drew a base on balls.  Payne had entered the game in the sixth as part of the defensive switch that saw Davis take the mound. 

That brought Lorenz to the plate.  With LCC playing in, the senior left fielder worked the count to two balls and one strike.  Then Lorenz laid down a bunt that sent courtesy runner Jake Katchur streaking for the plate.  As Katchur scored the deciding run, all the Knightscould do was watch helplessly as the speedy Lorenz stumbled safely into first base.

”I was too excited running down to first,” said Lorenz, who had three hits in four trips to the plate and a pair of runs batted in.  “I think that was part of the reason I wiped out. 

Lorenz said he wanted to step up to the plate swinging.  “That first pitch was a good fastball.  That was my pitch, but Coach gave me the take sign, so I had to take it.  And I’m really glad I did, honestly!” 

Lorenz said the win was the realization of a dream for his teammates and their fans.  “This whole year, we’ve been saying ‘hashtag 501’ (the street number for Victory Field on Maryland Avenue).   Our dream was to get here, and for us to be here now and to win, it’s an amazing feeling.  Especially for our fans, who came out to support us all season.” 

Although Providence twice used the squeeze play Saturday, Coach Hornung claimed he didn’t call for it that often during the regular season.  “I love to do it – when it works,” he joked.  “I love to make the call, but we have to have the right situation. 

“It was a little crazy, because (LCC’s pitcher) was having a little bit of a hard time throwing strikes.  So you want to make sure he’s going to throw it somewhere close to the plate.  But with the count being 2-and-1, and with a great bunter up and a great baserunner, I thought it was time.  And they did a great job with it.”

In the tournament, Hornung went on to say, “we’ve done it pretty much at every level at some point in time, because those runs are just too precious out there at third base, and we need to get them in when we can.” 

Hornung said the victory was “like the best day that I’ve had in a long time, because I get to share it with the most awesome kids in the whole wide world.  They are terrific, and it’s a pleasure to spend time with them and coach them.”

Jake Lewis was 2-for-2 for the Pioneers with three ribbies.  Jackson Anthrop and Tyler Powers paced LCC with two hits apiece.  Reece Davis (5-0) got the win, while the loss went to Noah Richardson (7-1).

The game took two hours and 53 minutes to play, thanks in part to a record number of 17 base on balls – 11 by LCC and six by Providence. The 11 walks given up by the Knights broke the previous team record of 10 by Jasper in the 2000 Class 2A championship game versus Plymouth.

Caught on the fly:  The IHSAA Executive Committee's selection for the Class 2A L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award was Providence senior first baseman Tre Watson.  The son of Charles and Denna Watson of Jeffersonville, Ind., Tre is a member of the National Honor Society.  He battled back from a torn hip labrum this season.  While undecided on college plans, Watson hopes to major in physical therapy.

Providence (Clarksville, Ind.) was making its first appearance in the title game.  The Pioneers, who opened the 2016 campaign with 11 consecutive victories, won 14 of their last 15 games.

Saturday marked LCC's eleventh trip to the IHSAA state baseball championships.  The Knights, who shifted from Class A to 2A last year, played for all the marbles in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and again this season.  LCC won eight state crowns (2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015), all under Tim Bordenet.

“They’ve had a lot of success,” said Hornung.  “We’re a pretty good program, too.  We haven’t had the championships they’ve had, but we play a tough schedule, and year in and year out, I think we’re pretty daggone good.  This is a great way to put an exclamation on it.” 

Bordenet and Hornung are both veteran coaches.  Bordenet has a 506-173 record (with one tie) in 21 years at the helm.  Hornung is 405-219-2.  “This is my 22nd year as a head coach,” he said, “and 30 years altogether with the program.  I was an assistant for eight.”

Was the long wait for a state title worth it?  “Yes,” Hornung replied, clutching the championship plaque and smiling broadly, “most definitely worth the wait!” 

Pete Cava is the author of Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014, now available from McFarland Publishers