By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
It was the only way this game could be decided.
A sectional championship game between two teams that played a nine-inning game in the regular season. Not surprisingly, the Monday evening sectional game at Westfield between No. 3 Fishers and No. 1 Carmel needed another extra inning to reach its conclusion.
The Tigers got the run they needed in the top of the eighth, as an RBI single by Matthew Wolff pushed them ahead 4-3. Then Fishers pitcher Luke Duermit finished off a complete game by retiring the side, and that clinched the championship for the Tigers.
It’s the first sectional title in Fishers school history, and qualifies the Tigers for Saturday’s Lafayette Jeff regional. Fishers will play Huntington North in the first semi-final game at 11 a.m.
“Carmel’s a heck of a ball team, so we definitely knew it was going to be a close game,” said Tigers coach Matthew Cherry. “We talked about it today after we won against Westfield, we had to win a one-run game tonight. And the guys did it.”
The run was scored by Caleb Brenczewski, who was walked on to first base. Brenczewski advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brendan Toungate. Carmel pitcher Ryan Woock got the second out on a strikeout, but during the third strike, Brenczewski stole third.
That brought up Matthew Wolff, who hit the ball into the left infield, where it was corralled by Greyhounds shortstop Trent Terwilliger. Brenczewski ran home with all eyes on first base, with Wolff racing to first – and beating the throw by less than a second for an RBI single.
“I hit the ball, and I hit it pretty good,” said Wolff. “I knew I had to run as fast as I ever had, get down the line. To beat it out was just huge. I lost it when I got there.”
Fishers grounded out for the third out. Now all that stood between the Tigers and history was three outs. Fishers would need one more inning from its star pitcher Luke Duermit, whose pitch count was already at 101. (The IHSAA’s one-day pitch count limit is 120.)
But Duermit and the Tigers’ outfield got the game done quickly. Right fielder Wolff made catches for the first two outs, and center fielder Trevor Newman made a one-handed catch to take care of the third out.
Duermit finished his complete game with 10 strikeouts and four hits. He is undefeated for the season at 9-0.
“I knew going into that last inning, I was like, ‘Alright, I really got to get my pitchers over and be as quick as possible,'” said Duermit, since he knew his pitch count was getting close to the limit.
“Normally I would be coming out in this game, but I was dealing, and I felt really, really good going into that last inning,” said Duermit. “I was like, ‘Coach, I can’t come out.’ So I went back out there and just did what I had to do.”
The Tigers scored their other runs in the second inning. Kiel Brenczewski scored on a fielder’s choice by Taylor Soper, then Newman singled home Wolff. Ryan Metz scored the third run on an error.
Carmel answered back with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Justin Greene drew a walk, then moved to second on an Aaron Ernst single. Chris McNally then drove a single into center field, which sent Greene and Ernst home.
The Greyhounds then blasted in another run in the third inning to tie the game. Rhett Wintner sent a double into left field, and he quickly scored on another left-field double, this one by Parker Massman. The score remained tied at 3-3 until the eighth inning.
Duermit faced off against Carmel’s ace, Indiana University-bound Tommy Sommer. He pitched a solid seven innings, striking out seven and allowing just six hits.
“We got confidence in all of our guys,” said Carmel coach Matt Buczkowski. “Tommy did a tremendous job tonight.”
The ‘Hounds finished their season 23-3, and won the Metropolitan Conference championship.
In the semi-final games, Carmel blitzed Noblesville 16-0 in five innings. JC Hanley and Wintner both hit home runs, with Jack Van Remortel going 3-for-3 and batting in three runs. Hanley also had three RBIs. Greene and Massman both hit triples, with Van Remortel and Wintner each getting a double. Max Habegger pitched the complete game, only allowing one hit.
Noblesville’s DJ Owens got the lone hit.
The Tigers, meanwhile, beat Westfield 6-1. Andy Bennett and Wolff both had two hits, with one of Bennett’s hits a triple. Metz pitched a complete game, striking out seven and giving up just five hits.
Brian Skelton had two hits for the Shamrocks. Matthew Meyer threw six and a third innings, with five strikeouts.
SEMI-FINAL GAMES
Carmel 16, Noblesville 0
(5 innings)
Carmel AB R H RBI
Trent Terwilliger 4 1 1 0
Dylan Page 0 0 0 1
Rhett Wintner 4 3 2 2
Luke Thompson 1 0 0 0
Parker Massman 4 2 1 1
Jack Van Remortel 4 2 3 3
Ryan Woock 0 1 0 0
JC Hanley 4 3 2 3
Justin Greene 4 1 2 2
Luke Barnes 2 1 1 2
Aaron Ernst 1 1 1 0
Collin Donahue 3 0 1 0
Evan Petruzzi 0 0 0 0
Chris McNally 2 1 1 1
Robbie Levine 0 0 0 0
Totals 33 16 15 15
HR: Hanley, Wintner. 3B: Greene, Massman. 2B: Van Remortel, Wintner. SB: Wintner 2, Terwilliger. HBP: Levine, Page.
CHS pitching IP R ER H
Max Habbeger 5 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Habegger 4. Walks: Habbeger 2.
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Travis Gillian 1 0 0 0
DJ Owens 2 0 1 0
Alex Cleverly 2 0 0 0
Bryce Masterson 2 0 0 0
Mark Goudy 2 0 0 0
Reese Sharp 1 0 0 0
Bryce Randolph 1 0 0 0
Cooper Miles 1 0 0 0
Zac Tuinei 2 0 0 0
Harris Camp 1 0 0 0
Totals 15 0 1 0
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Tyler Owens 2.0 2 0 1
Sharp 1.1 7 4 5
Kade Gorman 1.0 5 5 7
Clay Holzworth 0.1 2 2 2
Nick Halbert 0.1 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Sharp 2. Walks: Sharp 2, Halbert 1.
Score by innings
Carmel 203 74 – 16 15 0
Noblesville 000 00 – 0 1 5
Fishers 6, Westfield 1
Fishers AB R H RBI
Andy Bennett 4 1 2 2
Craig Yoho 3 1 1 0
Caleb Brenczewski 2 2 1 0
Brendan Toungate 3 0 1 1
Collin Statz 0 0 0 0
Taylor Soper 3 0 0 1
Jack Roudebush 0 0 0 0
Kiel Brenczewski 4 0 1 0
TJ Ratliff 0 0 0 0
Ryan Metz 2 0 0 0
Matthew Wolff 3 1 2 0
Trevor Newman 2 1 0 0
Totals 26 6 8 4
3B: Bennett. SB: C. Brenczewski. SAC: Metz, Yoho. HBP: Roudebush.
FHS pitching IP R ER H
Metz 7 1 0 5
Strikeouts: Metz 5. Walks: Metz 1.
Westfield AB R H RBI
Logan McClurg 3 0 1 0
Matthew Meyer 3 0 1 0
Sam Eaton 2 0 0 0
Kaleb Pettijohn 1 0 0 0
Brian Skelton 3 1 2 0
Jason Gabennesch 3 0 0 0
Justin Miller 3 0 0 0
Kyle Pepiot 3 0 1 0
Evan Tomak 3 0 0 0
Cam Nance 2 0 0 0
Totals 26 1 5 0
WHS pitching IP R ER H
Meyer 6.1 6 4 10
McClurg 0.2 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Meyer 5. Walks: Meyer 4.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Fishers 4, Carmel 3
(8 innings)
Fishers AB R H RBI
Andy Bennett 4 0 1 0
Craig Yoho 4 0 0 0
Caleb Brenczewski 2 1 1 0
Brendan Toungate 3 0 1 0
Collin Statz 0 0 0 0
Kiel Brenczewski 4 1 1 0
Matthew Wolff 4 1 2 1
Ryan Metz 3 1 0 0
Taylor Soper 3 0 0 1
Trevor Newman 3 0 1 1
Totals 30 4 7 3
2B: Wolff. SB: Newman, C. Brenczewski. SAC: Toungate. HBP: C. Brenczewski.
FHS pitching IP R ER H
Luke Duermit 8 3 3 4
Strikeouts: Duermit 10. Walks: Duermit 1.
Carmel AB R H RBI
Trent Terwilliger 4 0 0 0
Rhett Wintner 4 1 1 0
Parker Massman 4 0 1 1
Jack Van Remortel 3 0 0 0
JC Hanley 3 0 0 0
Justin Greene 2 1 0 0
Aaron Ernst 3 1 1 0
Collin Donahue 2 0 0 0
Luke Thompson 0 0 0 0
Chris McNally 3 0 1 2
Totals 28 3 4 3
2B: Massman, Wintner. SB: Massman. HBP: Donahue.
CHS pitching IP R ER H
Tommy Sommer 7 3 2 6
Cam Pferrer 0 1 1 0
Ryan Woock 1 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Sommer 7, Woock 1. Walks: Sommer 1, Pferrer 1.
Score by innings
Fishers 030 000 01 – 4 7 0
Carmel 021 000 00 – 3 4 1
The Fishers baseball team won its first ever sectional Monday evening at Westfield. The No. 3 Tigers beat No. 1 Carmel 4-3 in eight innings. (Richie Hall)