Watson leads Lawrence North past Rival Lawrence Central

By Phil Wade
Director, PBR Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS--- Sectional No. 10 at Warren Central is loaded with power arms, featuring three of the top ranked 2015 prospects, all RHP's, in No. 1 Ashe Russell (Cathedral), No. 4 Nolan Watson (Lawrence North) and No. 5 Jarrett Montgomery (Lawrence Central), as well as the No. 3 2016 prospect, RHP Michael McAvene (Roncalli). 

In a highly anticipated first round matchup between rivals Lawrence Central and Lawrence North, Florida State commit Jarrett Montgomery squared off against Vanderbilt commit Nolan Watson. 

The game lived up to its expectations.

The Lawrence Central Bears were quick to strike first, putting two runs across the plate in the top half of the first thanks to two Wildcat miscues. Senior Devin Heath-Granger singled on a hard hit ball to left to give the Bears their first base runner of the inning.  Heath-Granger eventually found his way to third on Montgomery's ground ball error to short, setting up runners on first and third.  After Watson's second strikeout of the inning, an errant throw by sophomore catcher Duncan Hewitt allowed Heath-Granger to score and moved Montgomery to third.  Montgomery eventually scored on a passed ball giving LC the 2-0 advantage.  Watson would K his third batter of the inning keeping the Wildcat deficit at two.  

LN cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning.  Leadoff hitter John Scheil lined a single to left to start the inning. Senior 3B Jason Schwenk followed that up with an infield single, giving the Wildcats two on with no outs. Montgomery then hit senior OF Tyler Doerner to load the bases with no outs.  Scheil scored the lone run of the inning on a past ball.  Montgomery eventually settled down, getting a fly out to left and two K's to end the inning.  

The score remained 2-1 through the next three and half innings. 

In the bottom half of the fourth LN broke through, putting two runs across the plate.  After a leadoff single by senior Andrew Herrman, Montgomery was able to get two consecutive outs on a strike out and ground ball out to first base.  With sophomore pinch runner Tyler Hofmann advancing to second on the groundout, senior 2B Drew Madden came to the plate.  On a 2-2 count, Madden lined a double to left, scoring Hoffman and tying the game at 2-2.  Senior OF Max Gray kept the rally going by driving in Madden on a hard hit single up the middle, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the night at 3-2. 

Both pitchers completely dominated the last three and a half innings, combining for eight strikeouts and no runs.  The Wildcats held on to their 3-2 lead, getting a first round win over their township rivals.  

Watson pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits and no earned runs while striking out 10 Bears hitters on the night. 

Montgomery finished his night with 12 strikeouts, allowing six hits and three runs.  

Lawrence North advances to the second round of Sectional 10 with a matchup against Roncalli this Friday at 5 pm at Warren Central HS.  

Key Players

Lawrence Central: 

Devin Heath-Granger--2 for 3, 1 Run
Ernie Harshman-- 1 for 3
Chris Tandy--1 for 3

Lawrence North: 

Max Gray--2 for 2, 1 RBI
Drew Madden-- 1 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 Run
John Scheil-- 1 for 3, 1 Run
Andrew Herrman--1 for 2, 1 BB