By RICH TORRES
FISHERS – The sixth-ranked Class 4A Fishers Tigers are one step closer to their goal, and they stuck to their M.O. on Thursday night to get it done.
Fueled by senior ace Luke Albright, the resilient Tigers charged back from an early 3-1 deficit behind a decisive five-run bottom of the fourth to defeat visiting 4A No. 7 Zionsville 6-3 and tighten the Hoosier Crossroads Conference race with two games remaining.
A game behind Zionsville in the standings prior to the first pitch, the defending HCC champion Tigers (21-7, 13-3 HCC) are now tied for first with the Eagles (18-6, 13-3 HCC) as the three-game series shifts to Boone County on Friday night before concluding in Fishers on Saturday afternoon.
“If you can win it outright, you want to do that,” Albright remarked after the Tigers pushed their winning streak to three consecutive. “That’s what we’re trying to do, and if we stay focused, I think we have a good shot at it.”
Albright, a Kent State recruit, was locked in during the series opener, striking out seven and walking two through six innings. The senior right-handed logged 114 pitches to earn his fifth win on the year, and after allowing two runs in the top of the first, he retired six straight as the Tigers regrouped.
“He settled in and he does because he’s a workhorse. He has been the past few years. He was able to get some outs there to stop the bleeding and settled right in,” Fishers head coach Matthew Cherry said. “He’s a special young man. He’s in shape. His arm is in shape. We have no problem with him going that deep, especially this late in the year.”
Zionsville tried to chase Albright by working deep into counts and pushing his pitch total above 70 after the first four innings, but he responded by stranding five of the Eagles’ six runners in scoring position overall.
The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, using a leadoff double by Michigan recruit Riley Bertram and an error to put runners on third and second base with no outs.
An RBI-sacrifice fly to center field by Kyle Richardson and an RBI-single to left field from Stephen Karis brought both runners home. The Eagles increased their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth when A.J. Cantrell drove in courtesy runner Drew Baker from third with an RBI-groundout to second base.
Zionsville attempted to pad the margin in with runners on third base in the top of the third and fourth, but Albright ended both innings with swinging strikeouts.
Albright induced an infield fly for the third out in the top of the fifth to halt a potential Zionsville rally with runners on second and third. He later stranded Eagles at first and second in the top of the sixth as the defense backed him up for the final two outs.
“When you’re pitching, that restores your confidence, and you’re ready to go back out,” Albright said. “We had to battle, but we remained focused and that’s the important part.
“One thing happens, and then another thing happens, and next thing you know you’re down 2-0. But my defense has got me. They picked me up after the first, and after that we just rallied. We just kept it going.”
Down 3-1, the Tigers broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth as two costly mistakes by Zionsville flipped the momentum.
Kiel Brenczewski started off the Tigers’ comeback after getting hit by a pitch before Alex Jamieson drew a one-out walk. Sophomore Nick Lukac, who drove in Fishers first run with an RBI-groundout to score Matthew Wolff in the bottom of the second, collected his second RBI when a fielding error plated courtesy runner Tristan Baker from third base.
A passed ball with two outs scored Jamieson and Lukac from second and third to put Fishers ahead 4-3.
“We’ve been doing it for the last few years with this group,” Cherry said. “Pretty much every game that we’ve lost except maybe one we had runners in scoring position at the end of the game. We always have a chance to get back in it.”
Ben Burton lined a double to right field, which J.J. Woolwine followed up with an RBI-triple. Craig Yoho made it 6-3 with an RBI-single before getting thrown out at second base.
“It’s about 80 percent mindset and 20 percent how good you are and what you want to do,” Lukac said. “Once your mind is on it, then everybody’s in it.”
The Tigers’ eyes were fixated on revenge after losing to Zionsville in the Lafayette Jefferson Regional finals 4-3 last June. Fishers beat Zionsville during their HCC series 2-1 last year, and up until the bottom of the fourth, Eagles’ starter Nick Brier nearly positioned his team to take a two-game lead in the HCC.
Brier carried a one-hitter through three innings and pitched six frames with two strikeouts, three walks, one earned run, and five hits surrendered. The Tigers posted three hits in the fourth and left four runners on base in the game.
Last year, the Tigers clinched the HCC title by a three-game margin. Two more wins will secure their repeat bid.
“It is a little bit different. We lost some games down the stretch that I don’t think we should have, but now’s the time to prove it. We think we’re really good and there’s no better series to prove it in,” Albright said. “It’s the final series. It’s a good time.”
Bertram and Callahan both went 2-for-4 for the Eagles. Zionsville posted nine hits total against Albright and Wolf, who nailed down the victory in the top of the seventh.
Karis was 2-for-3 along with Sam Edgell, who finished with a double. The Eagles left seven runners on base, including five in the final three innings.
“We left quite a few runners on second and third. If you come up with some hits, it could be a different story,” Zionsville head coach Jered Moore said. “We had to win one of three to basically be co-champions, and I know no one wants to be co-champions, but it’s better than coming in second place. We were in a good spot coming into this, but we also know that Fishers is a very good team. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, but our goal is to get the next two games and win it outright. We’ll see what happens.”
Fishers 6, Zionsville 3
Fishers AB R H RBI
J.J. Woolwine 3 1 1 1
Craig Yoho 2 0 1 1
Grant Richardson 3 0 0 0
Kiel Brenczewski 1 0 0 0
*Tristan Baker 0 1 0 0
Matthew Wolff 2 1 0 0
Alex Jamieson 2 1 1 0
Nick Lukac 3 1 1 2
Jack Roudebush 3 0 0 0
Daniel Owens 0 0 0 0
Ben Burton 3 1 1 0
Totals 22 6 5 4
Score by innings
Zionsville 200 100 0 – 3 9 2
Fishers 010 500 x – 6 5 1
3B: Woolwine, 2B: Jamieson, Burton, HBP: Wolff, Brenczewski.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Luke Albright 6.0 3 2 7
Wolff 1.0 0 0 2
Strikeouts: Albright 7, Wolff 1. Walks: Albright 2.