Glenn, New Prairie set for the sectional final
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LAKEVILLE – It will be a Glenn and New Prairie matchup in the Glenn sectional final at Newton Park as the Cougars outhit CMA by an 8-4 final, and Glenn took the second semi-final game of the night by a 4-0 score over Tippecanoe Valley.
New Prairie 8, CMA 4
A disastrous start was more than the Eagles could overcome, as they fell in game one to New Prairie.
Academy starter Cooper Pumphrey hit the first two hitters he faced and walked three more as the Cougars were able to push across three runs in the opening frame without the benefit of a hit.
“We battled and I’m proud of the way that we competed,” said Academy coach Kurt Christenson. “We had too many walks too many free bases. You can scatter five or six hits and stay in the game but not when you walk seven or eight guys and hit two or three guys. I’m proud of the way we continued to fight even though it wasn’t pretty at times.”
CMA didn’t back off as they plated one of their own in the second but left the bases loaded and then in the third a lead-off single by Connor Schmiedlin went to waste.
From there New Prairie starter Tyson Greenwood settled in getting the last nine hitters he faced.
The Academy wasn’t done as they pushed across one in the sixth on a Trey Schumacher RBI double and two more in the seventh with RBIs from Luke Grundberg and Foster Stockton but New Prairie reliever Joe Kinney found a way to retire the Eagles to end it.
“Even not being as sharp as we needed to be there were two or three plays, like with the bases loaded we hit a ball up the middle if that squirts through its one, maybe two,” said Christensen. “There were two outs at home plate and neither one went our way there is two runs there. If one or two of those calls go our way maybe we are out of an inning, maybe we give up one instead of three but we didn’t play well enough to beat a really good team.”
Glenn 4, Tippecanoe Valley 0
Brycen Hannah was too much for the Vikings as the Glenn right-hander tossed a gem and sent Glenn to a finals match-up with New Prairie by a 4-0 final.
Hannah struck out nine walked one and gave up three hits in six innings of work but early on it was his defense that gave him a boost.
With two on and one out in the first, Valley’s Marcus Bernicky hit a shot to the fence in deep right field that Glenn left fielder Marshall Platz made a highlight reel catch on and then had the presence of mind to make the throw to second doubling up Hunter Craft to end the threat.
“If they were going to get to him they were going to get to him early,” said Glenn head coach John Nadolny. “Marshall’s play in right field kind of deflated them and it bounced us forward a little bit. First game of sectional I don’t care if you’re a senior or not he (Hannah) probably was a little bit tight. That play took them out of it and we got a few runs later I was happy with that.”
Valley starter Cameron Manuel was just as good until the third when a Jack Laskowski triple scored Joe Chrapliwy and Laskowski scored moments later on an error. In his five innings, Manuel gave up just one earned run struck out three, and walked one.
“He’s a good left-handed pitcher,” said Nadolny of Manuel’s work. “We’re going to face another one on Monday. All these lefties are tough. He kept the ball on the outside corner we popped some ball out to right field. We finally squared some balls up after that.”
“At this time of the year, you just have to be one run better. It doesn’t matter what it looks like or how you get there just as long as you have one more.”
*NEW PRAIRIE 8, CMA 4
at Newton Park
CMA 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 4-8-0
N.P. 3 1 1 3 0 0 x 8-5-2
WP – Greenwood. LP – Pumphrey. 3B – Robinson (NP). 2B – Schumacher (C), Robinson (NP), Greenwood (NP).
*GLENN 4, T. VALLEY 0
at Newton Park
Glenn 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 4-8-0
Valley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-4-2
WP – Hannah. LP – Manuel. 3B – Laskowski. 2B – Westfall (G), Chrapliwy (G).