Greenwood Christian’s Wyatt Schlageter, right, slides into second base with a steal during Tuesday’s game against Edinburgh.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
The elements were not the only thing the Greenwood Christian baseball team had to contend with Tuesday.
A tardy opponent in Edinburgh, which had to contend with a road closure that led to a few detours and a late start. The Cougars managed to overcome all, plus a few moments of uncertainties on the mound, to deliver a 15-5 win in five innings.
Prior to the start, the weather — which seemed more suited for a late October football contest — was chilly and it rained throughout, only stopping once the Cougars scored their final, decisive run.
And in such conditions, both coaches, the Cougars’ Ryan Hurley and Edinburgh’s Jason Schoettmer, tried some new things out with players and pitching, while keeping their hands covered as both are also in the same sectional and likely to be seeing each other again come May.
“I’m glad we got the game in,” Hurley said. “Sliding into the bases was a challenge, but overall, we did good. We have a lot of guys injured. We’re kind of down at the moment, but at the same time this allowed a lot of our underclassmen to step up.
“They had a chance to show what they got.”
Both teams struggled in the first two innings when the rain was at its peak. Only when it seemed to wane a bit did the teams start to rap the hits and runs.
Greenwood Christian (6-4) scored five times in the bottom of the third, on four consecutive singles and six overall in the inning.
Edinburgh countered in the fourth with four runs of its own, but unfortunately for the Lancers, that was it except for one run in the fifth.
The Cougars then had four and six runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, to end the game early.
Hurley wasn’t kidding when he said his underclassmen stepped up. Leading the Cougars was junior Ryder Knox with two hits, including a double, and two runs. Junior Caden Camden also had two hits with three runs and an RBI.
Freshmen Bryce Jacobson and Oliver Goodman also contributed heavily, with each supplying two RBIs. Senior Colten Flint scored twice and had a game-high three RBIs and stolen bases.
All told, the Cougars pounded out 13 hits.
Edinburgh’s Avynn Whitacker had three hits, two of them doubles, and raised his batting average to a glossy .485 for the season.
Hurley realizes it may be difficult to string together a series of wins, but he’s confident the Cougars will eventually do that.
“We have a tougher schedule this season on purpose,” Hurley said. “We’re trying to develop our process. Obviously we want to win, but we’re trying to develop a consistent process so that we can make it as far as we can.
Edinburgh dropped to 5-5-1, but showed promise with its young team and improvement. Last season, the Cougars blasted the Lancers 21-0.
“We threw a freshman (Ayden Swallows) that hadn’t started before. We have played on turf one other time, but not in these conditions,” Schoettmer said. “Footing was an issue, and we lost our starting third baseman Gabe Bennett from an injury early in the game, but we battled.”
Losing Bennett hurt the Lancers on the bases, as he is leading the team with 14 steals and 14 runs scored.
Swallows went four-plus innings before being replaced.
“Hopefully we’ll be above .500 going into next week,” Schoettmer said.
