MOORESVILLE
Center Grove baseball coach Keith Hatfield was fairly subdued after securing his first sectional title in five years, perhaps more out of exhaustion than anything else. But after his Trojans survived 16 innings against a pair of county rivals to reclaim the trophy, Hatfield and company earned the right to sleep in this morning.
Jacob Wilson struck out 11 during a complete-game one-hitter and Center Grove — which needed extra innings to get past Franklin in its morning semifinal — gradually pulled away for a 6-1 victory in the championship game of the Class 4A Mooresville Sectional on Monday night.
The third-ranked Trojans (28-4) advance to the Jasper Regional, where they’ll face No. 2 Columbus North in a semifinal showdown at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Bull Dogs won both regular-season meetings between the two teams.
“It was a long day,” Hatfield said. “We obviously wasted a lot of energy this morning trying to get that win, but it was good. First one since 2016; it’s definitely a long time coming.”
The Woodmen (4-21) struck first in their first turn at bat, with Conner Stidham drawing a one-out walk, stealing second and dashing home on a two-out single to left by Josh Miller. Center Grove responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, with Sam Griffith hooking a triple down the right-field line and scoring on a double off the wall from Mitchell Evans, who then stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
That was enough for Wilson, who faced just one batter more than the minimum the rest of the way.
“I felt like my fastball command was pretty good,” the junior said. “Me and (catcher Grant) Sawa were working well; he was giving me good spots over the plate, and I was just locating my fastball.”
Offense was in short supply — neither team had a hit after the first inning — but Center Grove was able to gradually pad its lead as the evening wore on against freshman southpaw Cade Kelly, who battled his way through five-plus solid innings.
Evans added another run to make it 3-1 in the third, drawing a two-out walk, stealing second and coming home when a passed ball rolled into the dugout. The Trojans tacked on some small-ball insurance in the fifth when Drew Culbertson walked, stole second and third and came across on a sacrifice fly from Griffith, and plated two more in the sixth on a Tyler Cerny sacrifice fly and a passed ball.
The Trojans needed considerably more work to get through their semifinal game with the Grizzly Cubs, which didn’t end until Center Grove pushed three runs across in the top of the ninth and held off a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the frame.
Down 2-0, Franklin tied the game up without a hit in the bottom of the sixth inning on RBI fielder’s choices by Logen Devenport and Grant Roberts. Relief pitchers Devenport and Ben Murphy then traded zeroes until the ninth, when Center Grove scored on an error and sacrifice fly before Evans punctuated the inning with a two-out solo home run.
The Grizzly Cubs filled the bases with no one out to bring the winning run to the plate, but a double play and a strikeout ended it.
In the second semifinal, Greenwood’s Zak Rasener outdueled Whiteland’s Caden Wilburn and pinch runner Mac Cunningham scored on a passed ball in the seventh inning to lift the Woodmen to a 1-0 win.
Rasener scattered four hits while striking out 10 in the victory. Wilburn struck out seven in the loss, scattering three hits and four walks over his 6 2/3 innings.
Though the Woodmen lost in the final, coach Andy Bass was thrilled with how his young team acquitted itself all day long.
“That’s what we just talked about,” Bass said. “You just faced one of the best teams in Indiana and gave up two hits. … Our kids never quit and they fought, so I’m extremely pleased with them. Rasener this morning and Cade here this evening, I couldn’t be happier with the pitching we got.
“We just told the young guys, let that sink in, let it hurt a little bit and let that drive you to work hard this offseason.”
Center Grove, meanwhile, is hoping to put its offseason off for a while longer but knows it faces a stiff challenge come Saturday.
“They’re a team that you’re going to have to beat,” Hatfield said of Columbus North. “They’re not going to beat themselves.”
