By Ken Severson | For the Daily Journal
Center Grove has been Westfield’s nemesis lately in football, taking two straight Class 6A championships against the Shamrocks.
That didn’t translate to baseball.
Class 4A No. 4 Westfield was flawless on the field and aggressive at the plate, pounding out seven hits, including two solo home runs, to knock off the top-ranked and previously undefeated Trojans, 5-2, Monday evening on Center Grove’s home field.
But the Trojans (11-1-1) didn’t go without a fight, trying to stage a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. They plated one run and loaded the bases on a pair of singles, a hit batsman and a walk before Shamrocks relief pitcher Ty Anderson got Grant Sawa to pop up to right field for the final out.
The loss snapped an 11-game win streak for the Trojans, whose only previous blemish was a 7-7 tie in the season opener against Columbus East. On the opposite track, Westfield — which had held the top spot in the coaches’ poll last week — ended a three-game losing streak in style after dropping a pair to conference rival Fishers and one to unbeaten New Castle.
“We knew that, and we talked about it before the game,” Center Grove coach Keith Hatfield said. “(Westfield) had a bad taste in their mouth, and we had to be ready for their best shot because it was coming.”
What killed the Trojans was lost opportunities, particularly stranding baserunners — they left a staggering 10.
In the first inning, Westfield starter Jacob Culp walked three batters to load the bases for Center Grove, however Culpbut he recovered and struck out the next two hitters to get out of the jam with the Trojans getting nothing for the free gifts.
“We let him off the hook,” Hatfield said. “In the first three innings we should have put runs on the board. Credit to (Culp); he battled through all those innings.”
Meanwhile, Westfield (9-3) created their own gifts, jumping on Center Grove starter Ben Murphy in the second inning. Trey Dorton smashed a 2-1 pitch to right-center field for a solo home run. An inning later, the Shamrocks piled on three more runs thanks to four singles and a sacrifice fly.
A solo shot in the fifth inning by Collin Lindsey turned out to be both the final hit and run for Westfield.
Center Grove didn’t get its first base hit until the third, when senior Mitchell Evans blasted a solo home run to straightaway center field. The usually powerful hitting Trojans had to wait for three more innings for their second hit, as Culp and reliever Matt Morris put the cuffs on the home team.
“We have to have better approaches to the plate,” Hatfield said.
When the Trojans did get another hit, they wasted the opportunity. Sam Griffith belted a one-out double to right center, but some great execution by the Westfield fielders nailed Griffith at third as he attempted to stretch the double into a triple.
With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Noah Coy and Evans had consecutive singles and Owen Guilfoy took base after getting hit.
Coy then scored when Anderson (the Shamrocks’ third pitcher of the game) walked Garrison Barile, but then Sawa was retired to end the threat.
Center Grove collected four hits in all, with Evans getting two of them.
“That’s a really good team,” Hatfield said of the Shamrocks. “They were a tough strikeout team. We had problems striking them out. They had a lot of first-pitch swingers.”
Despite the loss, Hatfield had praise for his hurlers, believing they did a credible job on the mound.
“Ben would probably like some pitches back, but he wasn’t horrible,” Hatfield said. “I think he did a lot better than what he thinks.”
Center Grove looks to get back to its winning ways today when it hosts former MIC rival Ben Davis.
