By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent

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ZIONSVILLE – Riding the arms of two underclassmen, Hamilton Southeastern scored a pair of victories Monday to win 4A Sectional 8 at the Zionsville Community High School Athletic Complex. 

The Royals squeaked past Fishers in their morning semifinal and then knocked off fifth-ranked Zionsville in the championship game. 

Earlier in the day, Zionsville completed a semifinal win over Westfield in a game that began Saturday but had been suspended due to bad weather.  

HSE advances to next Saturday’s Regional round at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. 

The HSE-Fishers semifinal began at 11:00 a.m. under overcast skies with unseasonably cool weather and occasional sprinkles.  By the time the 7:00 p.m. title game got underway there was partial sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures.  

1^st semifinal – Hamilton Southeastern 1, Fishers 0

Junior left-hander Michael Pachmayer pitched the Royals into the championship game, firing a two-hit shutout at the Tigers.  

The game ended on a disputed call at first base with the potential tying run streaking for home plate. 

The contest’s lone run came in the top of the fourth.  HSE’s Owen Callaghan started things with a single up the middle and took second on a passed ball.  Nick Kiehl got aboard with a bunt down the first base line to put runners at the corners.  Callaghan scampered home on Jonathan McGee's fly ball to center. 

Fishers (13-19) threatened in the bottom of the seventh.  Joe Michel led off with a hit and advanced on an infield out.  Caleb Brenczewki grounded toward second, where HSE second baseman Matt Gorski knocked the ball down, grabbed it, and threw a bullet to first for the second out. 

Michel took third on the play, and Luke Duermit followed with another hot grounder up the middle.  Gorski went to his right, backhanded the ball, whirled and fired to first.  Duermit seemed to reach the bag at the same time as the ball, and the first base umpire called him out.  

The Royals poured out of the first base dugout whooping and hollering in triumph, but Fishers coach Matt Cherry appealed the decision, claiming HSE first baseman Aaron McGee's foot was off the base.  

The Royals' celebration paused while the umpires huddled between first base and the mound to confer.  When the out sign flashed a second time, everyone in blue raced onto the field in triumph while players in red slowly trudged away.  

“I knew that he (McGee) got it, right off the bat,” Pachmayer said of the game-ending play.  “He was on the bag, and I was like, 'There's no way he came off the base.  No way!'”

Along with Michel’s seventh-inning single, Pachmayer gave up a hit to Duermit in the second.   The 6-foot-5, 188-pound Ball State commit issued one walk and hit a batter while striking out nine. 

At one point Pachmayer retired 11 consecutive Fishers hitters, relying on his fastball.  “(They) couldn't hit it, and I stuck to it all game,” he said.

Cameron Boyd started for the Tigers and took the loss.  The junior righty went six and two-thirds innings, fanning nine batters while allowing seven hits and no walks.  He also hit two batters. 

Elliott Gilmore, a junior southpaw, came in from the Fishers bullpen in the seventh and retired the only batter he faced. 

The game took an hour and 28 minutes.

2^nd semifinal (continued from Saturday) – Zionsville 6, Westfield 1

In a game that ended nearly 50 hours after it started, the Eagles nailed down a berth in the championship game.

The contest began around noon on Saturday and was interrupted twice by rain before it was suspended at 5:20 p.m.  It ended at twelve minutes before 2:00 p.m. Monday.

Play resumed with Nick Rhodes batting for Westfield in the top of the sixth with a one-and-one count.

Kelan Elsbury, who pitched a third of an inning in relief for Zionsville before the rains came, went back to the mound Monday and got the last seven outs of the game.  The 4A No. 6 Shamrocks (21-9) had runners on first and second in the top of the seventh when Elsbury got Jackson Garret on a fly to left for the final out.

Jack Pilcher went 3-for-3 while Jake Hurd knocked in a pair of runs for Zionsville.  Jacob Robinson had two hits to lead Westfield.

“A lot of rain delays, a lot of putting on the tarp and taking it off,” said Eagles coach Jered Moore. “I'm real happy with how the kids played.”

The actual time of the game was an hour and 51 minutes – minus the rain delays and the suspension. 

Championship – Hamilton Southeastern 2, Zionsville 1  

Aaron McGee’s dramatic homer in the bottom of the sixth decided the outcome of a pitching duel between junior right-handers Andrew Bohm of HSE and Zionsville’s Nick Prather.

Both pitchers went the distance, doling out three hits each.  Prather, who took a one-hitter into the decisive sixth inning, had eight strikeouts, walked a batter and hit another.  Bohm fanned three men while giving up one walk. 

Both sides played errorless ball. 

“Very nerve-wracking,” said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Bohm, who employed a two-seam fastball and worked in a four-seamer along with a slider and changeup.  As he watched McGee’s towering blast sail out of the park, said Bohm, “I was like, ‘You just saved my butt, man!’  That kid is a great hitter.” 

Zionsville was the visiting team by the luck of the draw.

HSE took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.  With one out, Spencer Irick singled and David Herrmann pinch ran for him.  After Matt Gorski was drilled by a fastball, the runners advanced on a wild pitch.  Herrmann came home when Prather uncorked another wild toss.

Zionsville got the run back in the top of the fourth when Jake Hurd walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Prather's double to right.

The Eagles had the go-ahead on third with two outs in the top of the sixth when Jacob Hurtubise singled, stole second and then stole third.  Bohm got out of the fix when Prather grounded out to shortstop.  

With one out in the sixth, the left-handed hitting McGee stepped into the batter’s box.  McGee worked the count full, and Prather came in with a fastball.  McGee swung and rocked it far beyond the right field fence for a 2-1 Royals advantage.  

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what (pitch) they called,” said Jered Moore, who guided Zionsville to a 23-9 record.  “And after seeing how far it traveled, I didn’t ask.  I doubt that (Prather) got the pitch where he wanted, but that’s baseball.”

“I just turned on it,” said the 6-foot-1, 210-pound McGee, who also homered here in HSE’s 9-8 loss to the Eagles on May 1.  McGee said he was looking for the heater.  “Especially on 3-an-2,” said the Wabash Valley (Mount Carmel, Ill.) recruit, who now has four homers this season.

Bohm hurled a 1-2-3 seventh, sending the Royals into a celebratory dog pile between the pitcher’s mound and the third base line. 

“McGee’s a hell of a ballplayer, Bohm’s a hell of a ballplayer,” said coach Scott Henson, whose Royals (16-16) entered sectional play three games below .500.  “Maybe we’re not going to win 20 games every year,” Henson added, “but I know we’re going to be ready come tournament time.  When we play well, and play to the best of our abilities, I believe we can play with anybody.  That’s what we did tonight, and through the whole sectional.” 

Monday’s win meant redemption for HSE, which lost last year’s sectional title game to eventual state 4A champ Noblesville. 

“I love this team,” Henson said.  “They’ve worked real hard since losing the championship game last year.  They’re great kids and they work their butts off.  It’s an emotional roller coaster ride, but I’m glad I’m on it.”  

Notes: Monday's games showcased a bevy of talented underclassmen. Fishers skipper Matt Cherry's starting lineup consisted of five sophomores (designated hitter Caleb Brenczewski, right fielder Luke Duermit, catcher Brendan Toungate, second Andy Bennett, first baseman Taylor Soper) and a pair of juniors (pitcher Cameron Boyd, left fielder Mike Folta).

HSE's Scott Henson's starters in the morning game included six juniors (pitcher Michael Pachmayer, catcher Spencer Irick, second baseman Matthew Gorski, shortstop JB Washburn, center fielder Cole Jacobs, right fielder Jonathan McGee) and a pair of sophomores (third baseman Jack Lang, DH Owen Callaghan).

In the nightcap, Zionsville fielded a team with six juniors (pitcher Nick Prather, left fielder Jake Hurd, right fielder Jack Pilcher, second baseman Drew Bertram, center fielder Jacob Hurtubise, catcher Stephen Damm) and a freshman (shortstop Riley Bertram). 

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