<p>INDIANAPOLIS</p><p>Resilience was Indian Creek’s unofficial theme during Saturday afternoon’s Class 3A sectional semifinal at Bishop Chatard.</p><p>Junior designated hitter Wyatt Rund was the epitome of that, as Rund’s long bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Xavier Ferris to give the Braves a thrilling 5-4 triumph over the host Trojans in a game that, because of two weather stoppages that took and an hour and a half, plus the three extra frames, took nearly five hours to complete.</p><p>With the game already starting 40 minutes late because of the first semifinal running long, it made for quite the long day.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Nevertheless, the win puts the Braves (19-11) in the championship game against Beech Grove at 11 a.m. today. If the Braves win, it will be their fourth consecutive sectional championship.</p><p>It certainly wasn’t easy, as the Braves spotted the Trojans an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.</p><p>“Our guys are resilient,” Indian Creek coach Steve Mirizzi said. “I’m so proud of them. They came out, backs against the wall all day and kept fighting, and finally things went our way in the end.”</p><p>The Braves must have felt like they were playing themselves.</p><p>Both teams had near identical records (the Trojans finished up 17-11), and like the Braves, had pitching, hitting and had lost some tight games that could have gone the other way.</p><p>“We matched up well,” Mirizzi said. “They are pretty much identical to us.”</p><p>Bishop Chatard’s quick lead wasn’t due to its bats as much as Indian Creek starter Dustin Sprong.</p><p>When Sprong was on — which he was for most of the game — he was magnificent, scattering four hits and striking out 12 Trojans. But he also issued four walks and had three wild pitches, two of which led to those three runs in the first.</p><p>At the plate, though, Sprong made up for it, slamming a three-run home run to right field to tie the score at 3-3 in the bottom half of the third.</p><p>Chatard retook the lead in the fifth when Leo Dilts singled home Brady Kinnit.</p><p>Trevor Ankney then took over on the mound for Sprong, and despite recent injuries, he was also magnificent, striking out seven batters in only three innings of work.</p><p>With Indian Creek down a run in the do-or-die seventh inning, senior Wyatt Phillips smashed a one-out triple, then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.</p><p>The Trojans had runners on third base in the eighth and 10th innings but didn’t score.</p><p>Indian Creek, meanwhile, was not a threat until the 10th, when consecutive singles by Ferris (who also was the third and winning Brave pitcher) and Ankney put runners on first and third. An intentional pass was sandwiched between a fielder’s choice and strikeout before Rund’s heroics.</p><p>With the count 2-2, Rund smashed a shot to left field that bounced and hit the wall as Ferris jubilantly scored.</p><p>There was a bit of confusion in the end as Bishop Chatard players insisted that Rund hadn’t touched first base. The umpire ruled he had touched first, and the Braves went wild.</p><p>“I for sure touched it,” Rund said. “I saw (the pitch) come out of the pitcher’s hands and I knew I had to piece one up for the team.”</p><p>Afterwards, a relieved Mirizzi talked about how good both teams were and that is was a shame someone had to lose. Make no mistake though — Mirizzi was very happy with the win.</p><p>“Hats off to Bishop Chatard,” he said. “They played a great game and I do feel for those guys. They played hard, but right now I like where we are and I’m very confident in our guys for Monday.</p><p>“Today was a huge momentum shift.”</p>
