By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – After a close game with Zionsville on Wednesday, things were dramatically different for the Fishers baseball team on Thursday.
The Class 4A No. 1 Tigers hosted the 4A No. 3 Eagles to complete the Hoosier Crossroads Conference series. Fishers won the Wednesday game with a seventh-inning comeback, but Thursday’s game didn’t make it to seven innings, because the Tigers won 13-3 in a five-inning, run-rule contest.
Fishers never trailed in the game, although it took a few innings for the Tigers to get their bats going. Fishers scored their first runs in the bottom of the third: Carson Dunn led off with a walk, then Joey Brenczewski singled to move Dunn to second.
Dunn then stole third base, then scored on an error. That also moved Brenczewski to third, and he got home on Dominic Oliverio’s RBI fielder’s choice. Oliverio was safe at first, and he moved around the bases before scoring on Jack Brown’s single.
Tigers coach Matt Cherry said that Zionsville pitcher Aidan Hatcher kept his team guessing at the beginning of the game, and admitted he was getting “a little frustrated with our guys. I thought we took too many strikes, took too many pitches across the zone, even his curveball into the zone. I thought we could’ve swung out early in the count and we weren’t doing it.”
Eventually, Cherry and his staff “had a little conversation in the dugout and got them a little more aggressive.” That began to work in the third inning and would get even better in the later parts of the game. But before that, Fishers had to absorb a three-run top of the fourth inning from Zionsville that tied the game.
Hatcher got two strikeouts on the Tigers in the bottom of the fourth, with Brenczewski getting hit by a pitch in between. That’s when Fishers got going, to the tune of seven runs in that inning. Jack Brown started it with a left field double to send in Brenczewski.
Jack Backofen came in to run for Jack Brown, and Caulin Brown would send him home with a single. Quinn Seefeldt went to the plate as a pinch hitter, and smacked a left field hit to score Jackson Preston (who was walked) and Curtis Kearschner (running for Caulin Brown).
Zach Cox singled on to base, moving Seefeldt to second. That brought up Joe Hietpas, and he delivered a home run to center field. Fishers now led 10-3.
Cherry was thrilled to see Hietpas get the home run.
“He was the guy that was in our lineup the beginning of the year last year, and then we took him out and he never really got a chance again,” said Cherry. “He’s just worked really, really hard this off-season. He’s gotten really strong and you can see by that hit into the wind right there that he has the strength to do it and drove that ball.”
The Tigers got the three runs they needed to end the game in the fifth inning. Brenczewski and Oliverio were walked, then were scored by a Jack Brown double. Caulin Brown hit his own double to move Jack Brown to third, then Jack Brown scored when Gavin Clayton hit a sacrifice fly.
Jack Brown finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs and two doubles. He also pitched all five innings, striking out seven and allowing just four hits.
Caulin Brown had two hits, while Brenczewski scored three runs. Oliverio had two runs, and Seefeldt totaled two RBIs. Every batter for Fishers had at least one run, one hit or an RBI.
The victory gave the Tigers an early 2-0 lead in HCC play, and served as a reminder that there will be “no nights off in our conference,” as Cherry said.
“The pitching in our conference is unmatched,” said Cherry. “I thought (Zionsville’s) Drew Dixon did a great job last night and I thought Hatcher did a great job tonight against us the start of the game. There’s definitely no nights off in this league.”
The Tigers are 2-0 in HCC play and 5-1 overall. Fishers was supposed to play in this weekend’s Kokomo Invitational, but that event has been canceled due to the predicted cold weather. The Tigers will next play Monday at Lafayette Jefferson.
FISHERS 13, ZIONSVILLE 3
(5 innings)
Fishers AB R H RBI
Joey Brenczewski 1 3 1 0
Dominic Oliverio 3 2 0 1
Jack Brown 4 1 3 4
Jackson Preston 3 1 0 0
Caulin Brown 4 0 2 1
Gavin Clayton 1 0 0 1
Quinn Seefeldt 1 1 1 2
Zach Cox 2 1 1 0
Joe Hietpas 3 1 1 3
Carson Dunn 2 1 0 0
Jack Backofen 0 1 0 0
Curtis Kearschner 0 1 0 0
Totals 24 13 9 12
Score by Innings
Zionsville 000 30 – 3 4 3
Fishers 003 73 – 13 9 3
HR: Hietpas. 2B: J. Brown 2, C. Brown. SB: Brenczewski 3, J. Brown, Kearschner, Dunn. SAC: Clayton. HBP: Brenczewski.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
J. Brown 5 3 1 4
Strikeouts: J. Brown 7. Walks: J. Brown 2.
Click here for more game images: https://capturephotographybydkirk.smugmug.com/FHS-TIGERS-BASEBALL-472022-/