INDIANAPOLIS – Class 4A Sectional 11 play got underway Wednesday evening at Ben Davis High School on the Indianapolis Westside. Southport and Ben Davis squared off in the opener, with Decatur Central taking on Perry Meridian in the second contest. 

Roncalli and Pike drew first-round byes.  The Rebels are ranked third in 4A while the Red Devils are No. 24. Wednesday's games started out under sunny skies with temperatures in the low eighties. 

GAME 1 – BEN DAVIS 6, SOUTHPORT 5:  Kameron Kelly's double in the bottom of the seventh scored two runs to give the Giants a come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals. 

Kelly's last-ditch heroics sent Ben Davis to Saturday's semifinal round and negated an impressive 15-strikeout performance by junior left-hander Avery Short, who pitched the first six innings for the Cardinals. 

The two squads committed four errors apiece.  “It was a very crazy game,” said Ben Davis coach Dave Beard.  “To be honest with you, I don't think anybody really wanted to win it.  We both just wanted to give each other errors and runs.  And when that finally stopped, we were able to come out ahead.” 

The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.  Michael Fidler led off with an infield hit and took second on a throwing error.  A single by Nick Lynn put runners at the corners.  When Ben Davis starter Tyler Duncan got the next batter to hit into a double play, Fidler scored the game’s first run. 

Pa'tyn Pardue, the next batter, worked Duncan for a full-count walk and went to second on Short's line drive base hit.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Jack Vanover’s single brought in two more runs.  

Ben Davis fought back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the first, aided by shaky Southport defense. 

With one out, Zyon Avery and Garison Poteet had back-to-back hits. Short fanned Kelly, but the Giants’ cleanup hitter made it to first when the Cardinals catcher dropped the third strike and threw wild to first.  Brian Larkin, a courtesy runner for Avery, took third on the error. 

With Jose Guzman batting, Larkin came home on a double steal.  When Southport's third baseman misplayed Guzman's grounder for a two-base error, Kelly came in from second with the tying run. 

Southport went up 5-3 in the third with the help of two Ben Davis miscues.  Ryan Lezon opened the frame with a single and took second on an outfield error.  Lezon came in when Pardue grounded to the Ben Davis third baseman, whose throw to first was wide. Pardue took third on a base hit to left by Short and rode home on Vanover's sacrifice fly. 

After the rough first inning, Short took command.  He allowed one hit over the next five innings, at one point fanning eight consecutive Ben Davis batters.  The Giants nicked him for another run in the sixth when Poteet was hit by a pitch, stole second, went to third on an infield out and scored on a passed ball. 

In the seventh, Short moved to first base with Vanover shifting from first to third and Kris Massey coming in from the bullpen.   The first batter the side-arming lefty faced was Larkin, who had replaced Jaylen Nolan in center field earlier in the contest.  Larkin greeted Massey with a base hit and was forced at second by Flinchem.  Flinchem stole second, Avery was hit by a pitch, and when Poteet was safe on an infield error, Ben Davis had the bases loaded. 

Kelly, the Giants' first baseman, followed with a drive down the right field line that ended the one-hour, 59-minute contest.  “He threw me a rising fastball,” said Kelly, adding that he’d never before had a game-winning hit for the Giants.  “The last time was three or four years ago,” said the burly sophomore.  

Ian Schilling, who replaced Duncan after a leadoff single in the fifth, got the win.  Massey took the loss. 

Schilling, a senior right-hander, pitched three shutout innings and gave up a pair of hits and a walk while striking out three.  He also hit a batter. “Ian has done a great job for us in relief all year,” said Coach Bear.  “We started him at the beginning of the year, and that didn't go very well.  And then we brought him on in relief, and he's done well.  I'm very proud of him, and very proud of my boys for not giving up.” 

Ben Davis catcher Zyon Avery, an Ohio commit, paced the Giants offense with a 2-for-3 performance.  Short paced the Southport offense with three hits in four trips.    

Bear, the Giants skipper, praised the Cardinals pitcher, calling Short “one of the toughest left-handers in the game.  That's probably the reason he's going to Indiana to pitch for them.  Avery's a tough pitcher, and that's probably a tough loss for them.” 

Ben Davis is now 7-16, while Southport finishes the year with a 10-9 record. 

GAME 2 – DECATUR CENTRAL 7, PERRY MERIDIAN 2:  Mustering just three hits, the Hawks capitalized on three Falcons errors and got solid pitching from Bradley Brehmer and reliever Devin Gross.  

Brehmer, a senior righty, started and scattered five hits over six innings for the win, notching 11 strikeouts.  Gross, a senior left-hander, fanned two of the four batters he faced in one inning of shutout relief. 

“That’s our guy,” Hawks coach Jason Combs said after the contest.  “He’s been our dude for three years.  He’s a Wright State commit, and when he shows up and he’s fired up and ready to go, he’s tough.”  

Decatur Central (12-11) jumped Perry Meridian for a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first.  Falcons starter Charles Joyce hit Hawks leadoff man Parker Harrington to start the contest.  Harrington advanced on Alex Mitchell's sacrifice and went to third on a single by Gross, who started the game in right field.  Joyce got the next man to pop up but when Derik Profitt grounded to short, the throw to first was off and two runs scored on the error. 

Perry Meridian (9-19) prevented further damage in the top of the third, when Decatur Central loaded the bases with one away.  Decatur Central cleanup hitter Nolan Wade sent a fly ball to left and after the catch, Parker Harrington tagged up and took off for home.  When Falcons left fielder Caden Reed fired a strike to home plate, catcher Elliot Obermaier tagged Harrington for an inning-ending double play. 

The Falcons made it 2-all in the bottom of the third.  Adam Taylor led off with a double and Alex Morgan was hit by a pitch.  That brought up Reed, who smacked a double down the right field line to plate Taylor.  One out later, Joe Genier sent a grounder up the middle that caromed off Brehmer’s leg.  The 6-5, 190-pounder recovered in time to nail Genier at first as Morgan came home with the tying run. 

The fourth inning saw Decatur Central score three runs on freak plays.  With one out, Brehmer was hit by a pitch.  He took second when Brayden Hazelwood walked.  Austin Mitchell's single filled the sacks, but Hazelwood was caught off second on the throw from the outfield.  With Hazelwood in a rundown, Brehmer took off for home and was safe on an error by the catcher.  Jared Thompson followed with a squeeze attempt, and Hazelwood scored when the throw home was off the mark.  Thompson went to second on the play and got caught in another rundown.  He was tagged out by shortstop Luke Arkins as Mitchell came home to give the Hawks a 5-2 lead. 

Bayley Arnold came on in relief of Joyce in the fifth, when Decatur Central added two more runs.  Alex Mitchell opened the inning with a walk and took second on Gross's single.  The runners advanced on a wild pitch and with Derek Profitt batting, Arnold balked home Mitchell.  That moved Gross to third, and he scored when Arnold balked for a second time. 

Brehmer kept Perry Meridian off-balance with a fastball, curve, changeup and a slider.  “We brought a lot of energy early,” he said.  “We scored those two runs in the first inning and I thought we just kept it.”    

In the bottom of the seventh, Brehmer moved to third base and Gross took the mound.  After a two-out walk to Alex Morgan and a passed ball, Gross closed out the two hour,

16-minute game with a strikeout.    

“It was kind of an ugly game there, both sides,” Decatur Central’s Combs said afterwards.  “That’s kind of how sectional baseball is.  Sometimes it’s not always the team that plays the best.  Sometimes it’s the team that makes the least mistakes.  But we were putting pressure on.  We were laying down bunts, we were doing a lot of movement on the basepaths.  And that’s what we do – put the ball in play.”  

DIAMOND DUST: In the semifinal round Saturday (May 26). Ben Davis plays Decatur Central at 11:00 a.m. Pike and Roncalli will meet at 2:00 p.m.  The championship game is set for 11:00 a.m. Monday, May 28. 

Ben Davis coach Dave Bear played for the Giants in 1981 when they met Fort Northrop in the IHSAA championship game at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis.  Ben Davis beat Northrop 4-1 and finished with a 27-4 slate.  Later that summer, Bear signed with St. Louis and spent five seasons pitching in the Cardinals organization.  In 168 minor league contests, he compiled a 25-21 record and a 3.68 earned run average. 

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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