After getting past one tough game on Saturday morning, the Fishers baseball team found itself in another tough game Saturday night.
The evening game was the regional championship at Lafayette’s Loeb Stadium. The Tigers were knotted at 5-5 with a pumped-up Fort Wayne Carroll team through eight innings. After having the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh and eighth but not scoring, Fishers was in that same situation in the top of the ninth.
That time, the Tigers came through, to the tune of seven runs. That powered Fishers to a 12-5 Class 4A Lafayette Jefferson regional championship victory, the first ever regional crown for the program. The Tigers will now play Chesterton next Saturday in the 4A north semi-state at Plymouth.
“It’s awesome,” said Fishers coach Matt Cherry. “We’re not done yet, but excited for them to keep fighting, keep battling and finally coming through with the seven runs in the ninth.”
While it was frustrating to leave the bases loaded so late, both times the Tigers quickly regrouped on defense. Fishers set down the Chargers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, forcing extra innings. The Tigers again took care of Carroll three-up, three-down in the bottom of the eighth.
Fishers’ offense tried again in the ninth. With one out, Jack Roudebush drew a walk, then Ben Burton was hit by a pitch. JJ Woolwine got on with a base hit, loading the bases again. Could the Tigers finally get one in?
They did and then some. Craig Yoho came up after Woolwine, and he sent a single into left field to score Jack Roudebush and Ben Burton. Next up was Grant Richardson, who smashed a single into center field to get Woolwine and Yoho in to score.
“That’s what this team’s done for the last two years,” said Cherry. “As long as we don’t run out of time, they have fight in them and they’re going to find a way to get it done. And we didn’t run out of time this time, we kept holding them defensively and on the mound and finally broke through there in the ninth.”
After absorbing a strikeout, Fishers got another runner on when Matt Wolff got hit by a pitch, sending Richardson to second. That brought up Alex Jamieson, and he cracked a home run into left field. The 5-5 tie was now a 12-5 lead.
Carroll got a groundout for the third out, so all the Tigers had to do now was get three outs on defense, which they did easily. Matt Wolff, who relieved Richardson in the eighth inning, sandwiched two strikeouts in between a groundout to third baseman Kiel Brenczewski.
Wolff is officially credited with the win, but Richardson deserves recognition as well. He threw seven and a third innings, striking out 12 and allowing seven hits. Richardson also went 4-for-6 at the plate; he, Yoho and Jamieson all batted in three runs.
Fishers scored one run each in the first three innings. Richardson hit a homer into center field in the first inning, Burton singled in Nick Lukac in the second, and Brenczewski hit a sacrifice fly to score Yoho in the third.
Carroll took a 5-3 lead through the fifth inning, but the Tigers tied it up in the top of the sixth on back-to-back sacrifice flies. Woolwine’s right field fly ball sent Tristan Baker home and moved Burton to third base. Burton then scored after Yoho sent another fly ball into right field.
In the semi-final, Fishers came back to beat Zionsville 6-5. The Eagles had the Tigers down 4-1 midway through the third inning, but the Tigers rallied with four runs in the bottom of the third.
Brenczewski got things started with a left field double that sent Woolwine and Yoho home. Richardson scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4. Jamieson then hit a sacrifice fly to score Collin Shelton and put Fishers in the lead.
Richardson hit a fourth-inning double that scored Yoho and put the Tigers up 6-4. Woolwine got Fishers on the board in the first inning with a solo home run; both he and Yoho had two hits.
Luke Albright went five innings for the win, striking out four. Wolff pitched the last two innings and got the save.
Fishers 6, Zionsville 5
Fishers AB R H RBI
JJ Woolwine 4 2 2 1
Craig Yoho 3 2 2 0
Grant Richardson 1 1 1 1
Kiel Brenczewski 3 0 1 2
Matt Wolff 2 0 0 0
Alex Jamieson 2 0 1 1
Nick Lukac 3 0 0 0
Jack Roudebush 3 0 1 0
Ben Burton 3 0 0 0
Collin Shelton 0 1 0 0
Grant Whetsel 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 6 8 5
Score by innings
Zionsville 220 010 0 – 5 10 0
Fishers 104 100 x – 6 8 0
HR: Woolwine. 2B: Brenczewski, Jamieson, Richardson, Yoho. SB: Yoho. SAC: Jamieson. HBP: Yoho.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Luke Albright (W) 5 5 5 9
Wolff (S) 2 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Albright 4, Wolff 2. Walks: Albright 3.
Fishers 12, Fort Wayne Carroll 5
(9 innings)
Fishers AB R H RBI
JJ Woolwine 4 1 2 1
Craig Yoho 3 2 1 3
Grant Richardson 6 2 4 3
Kiel Brenczewski 3 0 1 1
Matt Wolff 4 0 2 0
Alex Jamieson 6 1 1 3
Nick Lukac 5 1 0 0
Jack Roudebush 3 1 1 0
AJ Waltermann 0 0 0 0
Ben Burton 3 2 2 1
Grant Whetsel 0 0 0 0
Tristan Baker 0 1 0 0
Collin Shelton 0 0 0 0
Alex Klotz 0 1 0 0
Totals 37 12 14 12
Score by innings
Fishers 111 002 007 – 12 14 0
Carroll 102 020 000 – 5 7 1
HR: Richardson, Jamieson. 2B: Roudebush. SAC: Yoho 2, Brenczewski, Woolwine. HBP: Brenczewski 2, Burton, Lukac, Wolff, Yoho.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Richardson 7.1 5 4 7
Wolff (W) 1.2 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Richardson 12, Wolff 3. Walks: Richardson 2.
The Fishers baseball team won its first ever regional championship on Saturday. The Tigers scored seven runs in the ninth inning to beat Fort Wayne Carroll 12-5, thus winning the Lafayette Jefferson regional at Loeb Stadium. Fishers plays Chesterton next Saturday in the Plymouth semi-state. (Photo provided)