Bruised Trojans Advance To SemisCULVER — The Triton baseball team did a lot of hitting and a lot of being hit in its first game of Class 1A Sectional 51. Opening sectional play at Culver Community High School against Michigan City Marquette Catholic (5-19) Friday night, the Triton Trojans (12-15) posted 14 hits and were hit by pitch nine times in a 21-11 five-inning victory. “I’ve never told kids to go and get themselves hit, but the kids kind of need to encourage each other,” Triton coach Jim Shively. “It’s not something where you’re saying, ‘Jump in front.’ But at tournament time, good teams don’t always jump out of the way. You don’t want to get hit in the head, but it’s part of the game.” During the course of the game, Triton scored three separate times when a batter was hit by a pitch in a bases loaded situation. Along with reaching base by getting hit by a pitch, the Trojans also drew six walks as the Marquette pitching staff struggled. “I felt like we needed to score runs tonight and we did,” Shively said. Along with taking pitches, the Trojans also used their bats, led by junior Pete Kauffman, who went 3 for 4, with two of those hits being two-run doubles. Also for Triton, junior Bryson Mosier went 3 for 4 with six RBIs, including a fourth-inning grand slam. The offense proved to be needed against Marquette, as senior starting pitcher Marc Lindsey had a rough outing, lasting just one out into the second inning, surrendering five earned runs. With Lindsey struggling with the strike zone, Shively turned to sophomore Cole Creighbaum, who went the rest of the way for the win. “Marc was having trouble throwing his curve ball for a strike and hitting his spots,” Shively said. “Cole came in, executed his pitches and hit his spots for us.” Triton now prepares for its third meeting of the season with the hosting Culver Cavaliers Monday, following the 10 a.m. game between Oregon-Davis and South Central. During the regular season, Triton went 2-0 against Culver, winning 4-1 at home and 11-7 in Culver. However, Shively isn’t putting too much stock in those wins. “They’ve gotten a lot better as the year has gone on,” he said. “They struggled early on, but they seem to have hit their stride. They’re a very capable team. It’s going to be an even game. If we play well, I think we should be OK.” A third win over Culver would put the Trojans in the 5:30 p.m. title game.
TRITON 21, MC MARQUETTE 11 (5 innings) (Sectional 51, 1st Rd) M 240 14 — 11 10 3 T 450 (10)2 — 21 14 1 Marc Lindsey (ND, 1-2/3IP, 6R, 5ER, 6H, 0K, 2BB, 1HB), Cole Creighbaum (2, W, 3-1/3IP, 5R, 4ER, 4H, 3K, 4BB) and Cody Shively; Isaiah Papineau (L, 3IP, 12R, 12ER, 11H, 1K, 2BB, 4HB), Nate Shinn (4, 1IP, 7R, 7ER, 3H, 4HB), Patrick Cannon (5, 1/3IP, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 1HB) and Billy Gotsch 2B — Pete Kauffman (T) 2, Cannon (M), Shinn (M), Daniel Miller (M) HR — Bryson Mosier (T), Cannon (M) Records: Triton 12-15, Marquette 5-19
