By RICHIE HALL
The occasion of an Indiana high school baseball team making it to the state finals for the first time is unforgettable in itself.
University did that on Saturday, winning the IHSAA Class 1A south semi-state over Tecumseh 7-4 at Plainfield. The way the Trailblazers won the semi-state made the occasion even more unforgettable.
“This was one of the craziest games we’ve had,” said ‘Blazers senior Garrett Hill. “We knew that we couldn’t give up. There’s always three outs of baseball.”
University trailed 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning and was down to its final out – final strike! – before scoring four runs. The ‘Blazers will play Daleville in the 1A state finals, which take place next weekend at Victory Field. The IHSAA will release the state schedule today.
The Trailblazers began their comeback with two outs and runners at the corners: Hill on third base and Brock Moore on first. Ben Ewer came up to the plate next, and fouled off three pitches in a row, putting the count at 0-2.
Ewer made contact on the fourth pitch and reached on error, enabling Hill to score the tying run. Moore dashed around the bases, and beat the tag to score the go-ahead run. While all this was going on, Ewer got to third. Just like that, 5-4 University.
Ben Westerkamm’s double sent Ewer home, then Asher Thompson drew a walk. Westerkamm scored after Nate Shatkowski reached first on a dropped third strike.
“The one thing that we talk about all the time, we’re going to fight to the very end,” said UHS coach Chris Estep. “And the kids were up there battling. Even when they got the lead, you saw every kid going up and just having some of the best at-bats they had had for the day.”
The ‘Blazers struck out for the third out. Now University had to hold the Braves in the bottom of the seventh. The Trailblazers quickly got the first two outs, but walked Jalen Oxley on to first.
That brought up Aaron Beard; the senior was Tecumseh’s best hitter coming in to the game, but University was able to keep him off base for most of the game. Beard finally delivered a hit in the seventh, moving Oxley to second. That brought up the tying run, but Hill closed the door with one, two, three strikes.
This game was the dictionary definition of “gritty, not pretty.” The contest was interrupted due to weather after the first three at-bats. University had put runners on first and third before the weather delay, which halted play for an hour and 40 minutes. Hill was the runner at third, and scored right away once play resumed, getting home on a wild pitch.
“I thought it hurt our momentum,” said Estep. “I really did. We had first and third. We had them on the hook. We come out of that rain delay and we score one run. It is what it is. Mother Nature’s going to do what she wants to do.”
In the second inning, Ryan Williams reached second base on error, and scored on Dawson Estep’s single. That put the Trailblazers up 2-0, but Tecumseh tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third when William Brucken hit a two-RBI double into right field.
Cade Carlson had been pitching for University, but he was relieved in the third inning after tweaking his elbow.
“Cade started getting some forearm stiffness up into his elbow and we weren’t going to take any chances that we were done,” said Estep. “We’re not going to allow that to happen. He had about 52 pitches, 54 pitches, something like that. And he started having some stiffness. That a lot of times is a precursor to an elbow injury, so we weren’t going to take a chance with him.”
It was not the easiest of circumstances for Hill to enter the game, but he pitched well, striking out four and allowing only three hits.
“I think I handled it pretty well,” said Hill. “With the weather, it started downpouring, a balk call, things that got in my head, I just cleared it out and focused at the task at hand, which is to get us through this inning.”
Meanwhile, the ‘Blazers offense added a run in the fourth inning: Kolton Stevens batted in Asher Thompson, who led off the inning with a double. The Braves tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth, and the score remained 3-3 until the sixth inning, when Tecumseh scored on an error to take a 4-3 lead, its first lead of the game.
University’s aggressive base running paid off. Hill totaled four stolen bases for the game, while Williams had two. The ‘Blazers had six total hits, including a double from Thompson and Westerkamm. Before having to leave the game, Carlson was doing well on the mound, with four strikeouts.
Daleville beat Northfield 8-2 to win the 1A north semi-state, which took place at Kokomo’s Municipal Stadium. This will be the Broncos’ second appearance at state; they made it to Victory Field in 2016, beating Lanesville 4-0 for the 1A state title.
University 7, Tecumseh 4
University AB R H RBI
Dawson Estep 4 0 1 1
Garrett Hill 2 2 1 0
Brock Moore 3 1 0 0
Ben Ewer 3 1 1 0
Cade Carlson 2 0 0 0
Ben Westerkamm 2 1 1 1
Asher Thompson 3 1 1 0
Nate Shatkowski 3 0 0 0
Kolton Stevens 4 0 1 1
Ryan Williams 1 1 0 0
Totals 27 7 6 3
Score by innings
University 110 100 4 – 7 6 1
Tecumseh 002 101 0 – 4 7 3
2B: Thompson, Westerkamm. SB: Hill 4, Williams 2, Ewer. SAC: Shatkowski, Williams.
University pitching IP R ER H
Carlson 2.1 2 2 4
Hill (W) 4.2 2 1 3
Strikeouts: Carlson 4, Hill 4. Walks: Hill 6, Carlson 3.
University was down to its last out at the Class 1A Plainfield semi-state on Saturday, but rallied to beat Tecumseh 7-4. The Trailblazers claimed their first-ever semi-state championship and will play Daleville next weekend in the 1A state championship game. (Richie Hall)