Tigers don’t quit, claw back to beat Rocks

By RICHARD TORRES

For The Reporter

WESTFIELD – At the end of the fifth inning on Thursday night, Fishers baseball coach Matthew Cherry huddled his Tigers in front of the visitors’ dugout at Rocks Field and delivered a message.

The host Class 4A No. 7 Westfield Shamrocks had just broken a 1-1 tie with a two-run bottom of the fifth, aided by a fielding error and later a two-run wild pitch.

Slightly fazed by their 6-2 home loss to 4A No. 3 Center Grove on Monday, Cherry refocused his 4A second-ranked Tigers (11-2, 5-0 HCC) with the Hoosier Crossroads Conference lead at stake to start their two-game series with Westfield (10-2, 4-1 HCC).

“We talk all the time, our whole philosophy is until the other team has 21 outs with the lead, we’re never out of it,” Cherry said. “They hadn’t gotten to 21 outs yet, so we keep fighting. That’s kind of the mantra of this group.”

The Tigers lived up their battle cry in the final two innings, plating four runs, including three in the top of the seventh – two via wild pitch – to win 5-3 and maintain their HCC standings lead.

“Obviously, we want to win every game, but the conference is kind of what we play for in-season. We played well enough to win on Monday night, but they got the better of us, and the guys were locked in at practice for Westfield,” Cherry said. “We had a good game plan going into tonight, and they executed it.”

With HCC series sweeps against both Zionsville and Noblesville so far, the Tigers are aiming for a third, but the Shamrocks didn’t make it easy.

Fishers’ hitters tallied 10 hits and four walks compared to six strikeouts, but after six innings the Tigers left 10 runners on base and seven in scoring position with the bases loaded twice.

A sacrifice bunt by Grace College commit Mayo Fernandez (1-for-3) in the top of the third with runners on the corners drove in the game’s first run, but the Tigers weren’t able to inflict any substantial damage until the sixth.

A lead-off double by Carter Strole (2-for-4) set the table in the top of the sixth. A bunt single and a fielding error scored Strole from second base to cut the deficit 3-2.

The loudest bunt, however, came in the top of the seventh. Fernandez followed up a pair of singles, including a bunt single and another error that put Trevor Hall on second base and Luke Cherry on third.

Fernandez beat out a one-out bunt for an RBI hit to tie the game 3-3 before Westfield’s relief pitcher was ejected for arguing the safe call at first base.

“We weren’t emotionally in control of ourselves at the right times and that manifested in physical errors as well. Unfortunately, that’s what got us,” Westfield coach Ryan Bunnell said. “I said it in practice yesterday. If we don’t play better catch, it’s going to catch up to us, and it did tonight, so I hope we learned a lesson.”

Westfield was charged with three errors. All three surfaced in the final two innings.

A wild pitch during the at-bat following Fernandez’s second RBI plate appearance scored two runs, which put Fishers ahead 5-3.

“The guys are competing, and they’re so selfless right now. As you can see with all the bunting and moving runners and making things happen,” Cherry said. “They’re so selfless, it’s a fun group to coach.”

The Tigers’ pitchers did their job.

Owen Sanders, a Saint Xavier commit, held the Rocks to two hits over 4.1 innings pitched with one walk, four strikeouts, two hit batters and two earned runs allowed through 57 pitches.

“I was just trying to live in the zone as best I could. Had a pretty good bullpen this week as prep after coming off a no-hitter last week. I had to keep it up,” Sanders said.

The Tigers had added motivation after losing to Westfield in the sectional finals last year, 1-0, on an ESPN Top 10, home-run robbing catch by Nick Fero.

“I definitely came out this week with a chip on my shoulder in practice, and I think a lot of the other guys carried that same chip,” Sanders said. “Obviously, it brought us across the finish line tonight.”

Evansville commit Owen Lukac relieved Sanders in the fifth inning, but a wild pitch on his first offering gave Westfield an opening to go ahead 3-1. He settled in afterwards.

Reid Garber and Jase Ruggles backed up Sanders and Lukac to preserve the combined two-hitter.

“Sanders did a great job of holding them to just two hits. He’s been pitching it awesome. Probably could have left him out there, but I wanted to go with the lefty-lefty matchup, and Lukac is one of the best relievers in the state. Just the one got away from him,” Cherry said. “He pitched well after that.”

Westfield’s two hits came from Lincoln Hoffman (1-for-3, RBI) and Caden Lindsey (1-for-2).

Fishers’ Huston Dunn (2-for-3), a Ball State recruit, led the Tigers’ eight batters with at least one hit.

Fernandez capitalized by connecting with runners on base – twice.

“Mainly, I’m just looking to get the bunt down. He gave me two pitches to do that, so I got the bunt down. Just passing the torch, you know. Did my job to give the next guy an opportunity,” Fernandez said. “That loss Monday didn’t mean much to us. We knew we were going to bounce right back and get the next one.”

The Tigers will try to complete the sweep at home tonight at 6 p.m.

“There are no freebies in this conference. You have to go out, compete and give your best. You know you’re going to face their best, too,” Fernandez said. “Tigers are hot, man. Tigers are hot.”