JUNE 6, 2015
LUTHERAN VS GREENWOOD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
REGIONAL - GAME 1 AT MORRISTOWN
I have been putting off writing about this game. Thinking about it still can make me not feel too good. There is no other game that I can recall where I look back and second-guess decisions I made or did not make as Ii do with this one. Perhaps this article will give me some closure!
The 2015 team was the best team we had in my years at Lutheran High School. We had 6 senior starters, a record of 21 and 5 going into this game, had beaten some very good schools and most importantly we had two very good pitchers. In most seasons we had one very good starter, but a little short when we went to our other guys, particularly at the Regional level.
Our season started with a great win over Perry Meridian. We defeated Perry Meridian at their diamond behind the school 1-0. Seth Hougesen pitched an excellent game allowing 5 hits and strking out 13 batters. The pitcher for the Falcons was Dusty Baird. He ended up allowing 2 hits and striking out 8 Saints. We scored our run when Seth was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a ground out, to 3rd on a wild pitch and then Austin Klase singled to drive in Seth. A big win to start the season.
Our line up for the season was made up of these 9 players:
Addison Robertson CF SR
Cody Moncel SS SR
Seth Hougesen P/RF SR
Austin Klase C SR
Austin Mays LF SR
Jake Reid 3B JR
Spencer Owen P/RF JR
Jason Sneed 1B SR
Patrick Kem 2B SO
Seth was a dominating pitcher in his career and Spencer was very good his junior season and then was
All-Marion County as a senior.
In the season we defeated Perry Meridian, Morristown, Southwestern, Speedway, Edinburgh, Scecina, Triton Central, Trinity Lutheran (2), Waldron, Park Tudor, Beech Grove, Monrovia, University (2),
Anderson Prep (2), Hauser and the biggest, beating #5 4A Columbus North at their place on Senior Night.
Our losses were respectable. We lost to Perry Meridian, Chatard, Cardinal Ritter, Guerin and Brebeuf in the County Tournament. We lost at Brebeuf in the first game of the County 4-3 and had the tying run on when we lined out to end the game. Brebeuf went on tho win the County and then forfeited the game to us later for using an ineligible player. Hmm.
We won two games in the Sectional. We beat Waldron in the first game and Morristown in the championship game. We learned we would play GCA in Game 1 of the Regional and then the winner would most likely play annual power Shakamak for the Regional Championship.
As luck would have it, I was able to go see GCA play University in their Sectional final at Bethesda Christian.
Our games scheduled against GCA during the season were rained out and then I think they just bailed on playing the re-scheduled game. Their game against University was high scoring and it seemed like both teams were making errors. It did not seem like either team could beat us. Baseball!
Going into the Regional game versus GCA, I felt that Spencer Owen would be able to defeat them. He did pitch well. In the games we lost during the season, our scoring runs was the problem as we faced good pitching. I anticipated being able to score against GCA.
Our game was Game 1 of the Regional at Morristown. We were the visitors and started the game with high expectations. GCA started Brayden Murray as their pitcher. My memory is that he also pitched against University and was not that impressive. But this was a new day.
Addison started off the game with a single and stole 2nd. Cody was up next. My first thought was to have Cody bunt and get Addison to 3B with one out. Cody had been hitting well and since it was the first inning I make the decision to let him swing thinking he would hit a groundball or maybe a fly ball that could get Addison to 3rd if he did not get a base hit. Unfortunately Cody popped out to the second baseman and Addison stayed at 2B. I second guess this decision regularly. Cody would have gotten the bunt down, the 3rd baseman was not great and perhaps he would have beaten it out or caused an error. So one out and Addison on 2B. Seth was the next hitter and had been good in his career. Murray got ahead of Seth 0-2. I then made the decision to have Addison steal 3B so if it was a ball, he would probably be safe and hopefully Seth was going to hit the ball and Addison would be able to score. Unfortunately Seth swung and missed for strike three and the catcher made a very good throw to third. The third baseman made a big sweep tag on Addison. I would still bet that he never tagged Addison but it looked good. The umpire called Addison out. Strike 'em out, throw 'em out! Second guess #2.
In the bottom of the 1st, Spencer struck out 3 batters and walked one. A good start.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Austin Klase struck out to start the inning. Austin Mays then singled. I signaled for Austin to try and steal 2nd base. Their catcher made a great throw and Austin was out. The next hitter Jake Reid singled. Second guess #3. Spencer then stuck out to end our half of the inning.
In the bottom half, Spencer got a ground out, gave up a single, then got a ground out and pop out to end the inning.
In the top of the third Jason Sneed struck out to start the inning. Patrick Kem then singled, but Addison flew out to centerfield. Cody then singled and Seth walked. So, the bases loaded with two outs. Austin Klase then hit a line drive that probably would have gone over the first baseman except the GCA first baseman ws Krae Sparks. Krae was 6'6". The 3rd out.
Spencer had a good 3rd inning. Struck out the first two hitters, then got a ground out to second base.
Austin Mays started off the top of the 4th with a blast to deep right center field for a triple. Jake then hit a fly ball to leftfield to drive in the first run of the game. Spencer and Jason made outs but we took the lead 1-0 into the bottom of the 4th.
In the bottom of the 4th Spencer stuuck out their 4th hitter but walked #5 on four pitches. He struck out the next hitter but walked the next hitter on a full count. Spencer came back and struck out the next hitter on a 2-2 count. Perhaps I should have taken note that Spencer was tiring a bit. He had thrown 23 pitches in the 4th but seemed good to continue to the 5th.
In the top of the 6th, we went down in order; a ground out to SS and two fly outs to CF.
The bottom of the 6th did not start off too well. The #8 hitter got a lead off hit to right field. The #9 hitter then walked on a full count. The GCA lead-off hitter then successfully bunted to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Here is another decision. I thought about bringing Seth in to pitch. Perhaps he would be able to strike out the next hitter. But, I left Spencer in thinking we would get out of the jam. The #2 hitter then hit a ground ball down the third base line. I think Jake stopped the ball, but there was just a big cloud of dust. Morristown had an ag-lime infield at the time so it wa difficult to see the ball and it went for a base hit and a tie game. Spencer then struck out the #3 hitter for the second out. So runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs and their clean up hitter in the box. The first pitch was a ball. I vividly remember talking with Coach Baglow about putting this guy on and moving to the 5th hitter. As we were deciding, Spencer threw a breaking ball that stayed over the plate and the batter hit the ball to the between Cody and Jake. I do not recall if the ball made it to the outfield. It was a single and GCA had taken the lead. Spencer got the next hitter on a fly ball to Austin in leftfield.
We go to the top of the 7th with Jake leading off. He flew out to leftfield. Next was Spencer and he flew out to centerfield. Jason was our last hope but he ended up popping out to first base. Devastating loss.
Perhaps you have seen why this loss upsets me to this day. At a crucial time, several of the decisions I made turned out to not work and ultimately gave GCA a chance to win the game. Perhaps if this was a single game I may have done something differently. In the back of my mind was having Seth available to face Shakamak in the Championship game. Also, I had confidence we could score more than one run.
I was incorrect. In looking back, of our 21 outs, 16 were by fly outs or strike outs. Two were being thrown out stealing. Only three on ground outs. On one of the ground outs, I believe when Seth led off the 7th, there second baseman did not field the ball cleanly, threw to first base on the short hop and it looked to me that he was safe. Coach Riensche believed Seth was safe. I thought he was also, but the umpire called him out. i called time and went to speak with the 1st Base Umpire. He had a wild eyed lookk on his face like he knew he blew the call. He said "I heard the ball hit the glove." Supposedly before Seth hit the base. Very sketchy. I would have been happier if he said he SAW the catch before the touch. Regardless, he was not going to change the call, though I still think he missed it.
It is important that I give GCA credit for a great game on their part. Their pitcher was excellent. Their catcher threw out two runners. They did not make any errors and we only had one base runner due to a walk. They took advantage of their opportunities. I know they were very excitied about the win and they had a right to be.
Not to my surprise, GCA lost to Shakamak 9-0 in the Championship game.
We had a great season. Sadly for us, it had to end as it did. Maybe this article will help me get some closure. I doubt it!
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