DECATUR - A few defensive lapses and silent bats led to the end of the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings' baseball season Monday in Decatur.
In the second semifinal of the Bellmont Regional, Valley (16-9) fell 7-6 in nine innings to the New Haven Bulldogs (21-7), committing four errors and seeing the No. 4 through 8 hitters go 1 for 15."There were a couple of plays we should have made, then doggone it, the bottom half of our lineup has to produce for us," Valley coach Scott Backus said. "That didn't happen. That's the frustrating part right now. We have the ability to score runs and make plays, but that didn't work out."
The majority of Valley's offensive production came from junior Cory Krider, sophomore Brody Andrews and junior Tyler Akers, who accounted for six of the team's eight hits and five of the six RBIs.
Making life tough on the Vikings were the Bulldogs' junior pitchers, Brandon Pease and Justin Miller.
Pease went seven innings, striking out 13, while Miller entered in the eighth inning, getting the victory and fanning two.
"It's regional, so all the pitchers are good here," Backus said.
And Backus' guys were no exception.
Senior Tyler Peterson got the nod for Valley, going six innings and giving up just one earned run. Sophomore James Hackworth entered the game in the seventh, striking out the first five batters he faced and eight in all.
"Both of our guys did a good job throwing the ball," Backus said. "Obviously, we feel like this is a game we should have won. It's frustrating to be done at this point. We felt like we had a team that could compete for the regional."
While Hackworth has been Valley's No. 1 pitcher this season, striking out 116, Backus opted to go with the senior, who relies more on command than power.
"We thought these guys probably see hard-throwing fastballs all year, so Hack would be more of a style for them to hit," Backus said. "The pitching worked out. We got through what we needed to with Petey throwing the ball well. He kept us in the game with one earned run."
In the opening inning, it appeared the game wasn't going to finish well for Peterson.
After getting the lead-off hitter to pop out, Peterson then hit sophomore Caleb Heckley and saw junior Lucas Salerno reach on a bunt-single. With runners at first and third and only one out, Pease drove in Heckley from third, putting Valley in a 1-0 hole with only one out and runners still at first and second. Just when things were looking bleak, senior catcher Kameron Akers threw out Pease at second base as part of a double steal and Peterson struck out sophomore Kyle Sovine to end the threat.
In the bottom of the frame, Krider led off with a walk and senior Taylor Burkhart reached on a bunt-single of his own. With two on, Andrews sent a 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence, putting Valley in front 3-1.
Following the home run, Hackworth was then hit by a pitch and junior Dan Kitch reached on an error, meaning Valley's first five hitters all reached.
However, Pease regained his composure and struck out the next two batters before Kitch was caught in-between first and second base.
Valley tacked on another run in the bottom of the third, which was led off by a double from Andrews. Two batters later, Kitch drove Andrews in from third on a line drive past the shortstop, increasing the lead to 4-1.
The score was the last Valley would see against Pease, who left after the seventh inning.
"He never got into a rhythm like he has for us, but he was good enough, long enough to keep us in it," New Haven coach Dave Bischoff said.
While Valley struggled to get it going offensively, the defense was also struggling.
With two outs in the in the top of the fifth, New Haven got two runs off a Valley error, which cut the lead to 4-3.
An inning later, Miller drilled a two-out home run to left field that tied the game at 4-4.
The home run was deflating for Valley, but the home team on the scoreboard looked poise to win it in the seventh when Tyler Akers got things started with a lead-off single.
After moving to second on a sacrifice-bunt by Krider, Tyler Akers remained there after Miller struck out Burkhart. With two outs and a runner at second, Bischoff reluctantly walked Andrews who had gone 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
"It was a consensus," Bischoff said about giving the .485-hitting Andrews the open base. "I'm probably the more reluctant guy to put someone on in that situation than the other guys. It was a no-brainer for those guys, so I thought, 'Why should I start thinking?'"
The gamble almost backfired.
The walk brought Hackworth, a .394 hitter, to the dish.
The lefty lasered a grounder to first base, which was nicely dug out of the dirt, sending the game to extra innings.
"Hackworth did a helluva job, ripping the ball to first, but their guy made a gold glove play," Backus said. "Otherwise, we win the ballgame right there."
In the top of the ninth, Hackworth struck out the first batter, but walked junior Zach Brown and junior Logan Baker reached on a single. With two on, Hackworth then coaxed a flyout, but that's when the trouble began.
On the verge of getting out of the inning, Salerno posted his fourth hit of the game, and an error in the outfield allowed another run to cross the plate, giving New Haven a 6-4 lead.
"We have been an aggressive team all season," Bischoff said. "We hit our sixth home run of the year tonight. Given that, we have to make things happen and be aggressive. We get guys thrown out at certain places, but sometimes we break it open."
The Bulldogs tacked on another run when Pease legged out an RBI-single that scored Salerno.
Valley made it interesting in the bottom of the inning when Krider drilled a two-run, one-out shot over the center-field fence that also scored Tyler Akers, who had reached on a single.
"In that situation, you're trying to control the middle of the plate," Bischoff said. "He got it and the kid hit it. The kid's a good player."
After getting his lead to to one, Miller finished the game by striking out Burkhart and getting the dangerous Andrews to ground out to second base.
"We're happy to sneak out," Bischoff said.
Bischoff may be happy, but Backus was a bit disappointed to see his team's season end at the same location it did a year ago.
"I think we came in knowing we could win this game," he said. "Last year, it was more of a first-time-here, glad-to-be-here kind of thing. This year, we came in with the idea that we could win this. It's frustrating to be going home right now.
New Haven faces Fort Wayne Elmhurst, who defeated Yorktown 6-1 Monday, in tonight's 7 p.m. championship game.
