Center Grove senior Caden Cornett (27) gets ready to shake the hand of Jasper athletic director Phil Kendall after Cornett got the final three outs in Saturday’s regional championship win over Columbus North.
Corey Stolzenbach | For the Daily Journal
JASPER
Seven years in the making, 14 seniors, and Center Grove isn’t done yet.
The Class 4A No. 1 Trojans captured the regional hardware on Saturday with a 4-2 win against Columbus North in the championship game of the Jasper Regional at Ruxer Field. They found themselves tied, 1-1, with the Bull Dogs after the first inning, but they grabbed the lead for good in the top of the third and added runs in both the fourth and sixth innings.
“Hats off to Columbus North — they battled, they made it hard on us all the way to the last out,” Trojans coach Keith Hatfield said. “I’m so proud of our guys, though. They’ve worked so long for this and it’s fun to get to watch them play.”
Having so many seniors on the team helped in the first regional plaque for the Trojans since 2016, with some of the seniors having big days.
“Not only 14 seniors, but they’ve been playing together forever,” Hatfield said. “They’re a tight group and it’s a big, big group, no doubt, but they’ve done a great job of bringing the younger guys up.”
One of those younger guys is Gannon Grant, a freshman, who scored an insurance run in the top of the fourth off a double play groundout when the Trojans loaded the bases with nobody out. Grant also turned around and got the big last out in the bottom of the fourth. The Bull Dogs left a runner at third, and that ball falling in would’ve made it a one-run game at 3-2.
“He hasn’t even been with us all year; he was a midseason call-up,” Hatfield said of Grant. “Kobe Cherry is another freshman at first base, he’s been with us all year, and (the seniors have) really just done a great job of helping those guys, making them feel comfortable so that they can perform like they did today.”
But Hatfield also got a lot of mileage out of his seniors on the mound. Jacob Murphy got the win, going six innings for the Trojans, and while he still had some pitches before he got to the limit, Hatfield instead sent Caden Cornett out in the seventh to get the save — which he did.
“(Murphy) had some long innings,” he said. “And he battled and battled; that was not a typical Jacob outing, normally he cruises. So, to see him battle like that, I went to him before the seventh inning and said, ‘How do you feel?’ And he just said, ‘I’m done.’ … And when you have somebody like Caden in the bullpen, that’s an easy decision to make.”
Pitcher Luke Harmon, who took the loss for the Bull Dogs, had some challenges with command and location, especially early. The Trojans (27-3) scored their first run in the top of the first without registering a hit, and stayed out in front for good after Harmon drilled Center Grove senior Drew Culbertson to lead off the top of the third; Culbertson later came around to score when senior Evan Zapp singled him in.
Center Grove is scheduled to play Brownsburg in a semistate semifinal this coming Saturday.
Hatfield cited the importance of timely hitting, which the Trojans had on Saturday, but also emphasized pitching and defense.
“We need rest,” he said. “I know it’s tourney time and you’re not playing very often, but playing two games on Monday in the sectional, having four days’ rest and then playing in a very emotional regional game — I would say we need to get rest, focus, take care of our bodies and then get ready for a four- or five-day week of practice.”
