Valley Baseball Team Ready For Challenge
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
The 16-8 Vikings take on the 20-7 New Haven Bulldogs at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, following the 10 a.m. game between No. 4 Yorktown (26-6) and Fort Wayne Elmhurst (17-6).[[In-content Ad]]"We know heading in that New Haven is a solid team," Valley coach Scott Backus said. "They play some stiff competition on a weekly basis and have won games over some great teams. Our work will be cut out for us."
New Haven enters the regional after winning Sectional 23 by defeating No. 3 Leo 6-4, wrapping up its 11th sectional title.
"We really don't have a 'star' per say, but are really more of the sum of our parts," New Haven coach Dave Bischoff said. "Brandon Pease is enjoying a nice year on the mound and Justin Miller has stepped up to be our No. 2 pitcher in the rotation with back up help by Andy Jones if needed. We have no power, but have been able to put the ball in play enough to cause some damage."
And Backus is aware of that lack of power, but that hasn't resulted in a lack of wins.
"We know they rely on small ball and aggressive base-running to try and make teams make mistakes," Backus said. "If we want a chance to win, we'll need another solid game on the mound from Tyler (Peterson) and James (Hackworth). We'll need to continue to play the great defense that got us through the sectional and we have to be more productive at the plate."
Valley won its fourth sectional with a 7-0 victory over Wawasee Tuesday, but Backus knows his team will need to play even better if its going to win its first regional.
The Vikings reached this level of the tournament a year ago, but fell 2-1 to eventual regional champion Delta.
"Last year versus Delta we made three base running errors that cost us a chance to move on to the championship," Backus said. "We have to play mentally tough, fundamentally sound baseball to move out of the first round this year."
If Valley does move on, it will be because of the pitching of the sophomore Hackworth and the senior Peterson.
During sectionals, Hackworth pitched a complete-game shutout in the championship and Peterson pulled off a no-hitter in the semifinal.
Carrying a 6-2 record this season, Hackworth has a 1.47 ERA, with108 strikeouts, while the left-handed Peterson is 4-3 with a 1.79 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
Another sophomore, designated hitter Brody Andrews, leads the Vikings in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.485), hits (33), RBIs (20), doubles (7), triples (3) and home runs (3). Displaying his plate discipline, Andrews also struck out just three times in 68 at-bats.
Hackworth has also been an offensive leader for Valley, batting .394 with 26 hits, 15 RBIs and six doubles.
Other Vikings batting over .300 are Cory Krider (.379), Dan Kitch (.359), Kameron Akers (.351), and Kameron Larimer (.333).
The winner of the game will go on to play in the night's 7 p.m. championship against the winner of the day's opening game.
"If we are lucky enough to put together a win versus New Haven, the evening game will be a bear as well," Backus said. "Yorktown is a very impressive team and Elmhurst put up 22 runs against a Peru team that was hot coming into the sectional."
Yorktown probably enters the regional as the favorite with its 26 wins.
"We have had an excellent season to this point and are looking forward to playing on Saturday," Yorktown coach Mike Larrabee said. "Hopefully the momentum that we gained from our sectional victory, especially in the fashion that it occurred, will follow us into the regional."
Yorktown reached the regional by taking down defending champion Delta 7-0 in the Sectional 23 championship, while Elmhurst defeated Peru 22-0 in five innings at Sectional 22 in Peru.
Following their loss in the opening game of the regional a year ago, the Vikings are hoping for a little longer run this year.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get back to the regional and move deeper into the tournament," Backus said. "We're one game away from reaching that goal and we intend to go to Bellmont and give 100 percent to try and get a win and move on."
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The 16-8 Vikings take on the 20-7 New Haven Bulldogs at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, following the 10 a.m. game between No. 4 Yorktown (26-6) and Fort Wayne Elmhurst (17-6).[[In-content Ad]]"We know heading in that New Haven is a solid team," Valley coach Scott Backus said. "They play some stiff competition on a weekly basis and have won games over some great teams. Our work will be cut out for us."
New Haven enters the regional after winning Sectional 23 by defeating No. 3 Leo 6-4, wrapping up its 11th sectional title.
"We really don't have a 'star' per say, but are really more of the sum of our parts," New Haven coach Dave Bischoff said. "Brandon Pease is enjoying a nice year on the mound and Justin Miller has stepped up to be our No. 2 pitcher in the rotation with back up help by Andy Jones if needed. We have no power, but have been able to put the ball in play enough to cause some damage."
And Backus is aware of that lack of power, but that hasn't resulted in a lack of wins.
"We know they rely on small ball and aggressive base-running to try and make teams make mistakes," Backus said. "If we want a chance to win, we'll need another solid game on the mound from Tyler (Peterson) and James (Hackworth). We'll need to continue to play the great defense that got us through the sectional and we have to be more productive at the plate."
Valley won its fourth sectional with a 7-0 victory over Wawasee Tuesday, but Backus knows his team will need to play even better if its going to win its first regional.
The Vikings reached this level of the tournament a year ago, but fell 2-1 to eventual regional champion Delta.
"Last year versus Delta we made three base running errors that cost us a chance to move on to the championship," Backus said. "We have to play mentally tough, fundamentally sound baseball to move out of the first round this year."
If Valley does move on, it will be because of the pitching of the sophomore Hackworth and the senior Peterson.
During sectionals, Hackworth pitched a complete-game shutout in the championship and Peterson pulled off a no-hitter in the semifinal.
Carrying a 6-2 record this season, Hackworth has a 1.47 ERA, with108 strikeouts, while the left-handed Peterson is 4-3 with a 1.79 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
Another sophomore, designated hitter Brody Andrews, leads the Vikings in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.485), hits (33), RBIs (20), doubles (7), triples (3) and home runs (3). Displaying his plate discipline, Andrews also struck out just three times in 68 at-bats.
Hackworth has also been an offensive leader for Valley, batting .394 with 26 hits, 15 RBIs and six doubles.
Other Vikings batting over .300 are Cory Krider (.379), Dan Kitch (.359), Kameron Akers (.351), and Kameron Larimer (.333).
The winner of the game will go on to play in the night's 7 p.m. championship against the winner of the day's opening game.
"If we are lucky enough to put together a win versus New Haven, the evening game will be a bear as well," Backus said. "Yorktown is a very impressive team and Elmhurst put up 22 runs against a Peru team that was hot coming into the sectional."
Yorktown probably enters the regional as the favorite with its 26 wins.
"We have had an excellent season to this point and are looking forward to playing on Saturday," Yorktown coach Mike Larrabee said. "Hopefully the momentum that we gained from our sectional victory, especially in the fashion that it occurred, will follow us into the regional."
Yorktown reached the regional by taking down defending champion Delta 7-0 in the Sectional 23 championship, while Elmhurst defeated Peru 22-0 in five innings at Sectional 22 in Peru.
Following their loss in the opening game of the regional a year ago, the Vikings are hoping for a little longer run this year.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get back to the regional and move deeper into the tournament," Backus said. "We're one game away from reaching that goal and we intend to go to Bellmont and give 100 percent to try and get a win and move on."
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