Shaky Start, Strong Finish For Valley In Sectional Win
Shaky Start, Strong Finish For Valley In Sectional Win
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Mark Howe-
Shaky Start, Strong Finish For Valley In Sectional WinSYRACUSE – It’s been said time and again: it’s not how you start, but how you finish that matters. That motto applied to Tippecanoe Valley’s baseball team in its 5-2 win over Fairfield in the 3A Wawasee Sectional Thursday night.
Fairfield’s first three hitters reached base in the top of the first against Viking starter Lucas Walters. But the senior righted his ship, got Falcon cleanup hitter Westin Stutzman to pop out, then struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Vikings then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Tanner Trippiedi lined the first pitch he saw from Stutzman up the middle for a single. Wes Melanson then followed with a one-out infield hit and Russ Paxton walked to fill the bases with Vikings.
Valley cashed in when Ethan Yates singles up the middle to drive in Trippiedi and Melanson, sending the Vikings on their way to the win.
“We were trying to figure out (Stutzman’s) situation; we knew he was going to throw the curveball, and we picked up that pretty good, a lot better than we had in the past,” Valley coach Greg Prater said.
“From game one of the season to this one, both teams have gotten phenomenally better, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.
Prater revealed he held Walters back at the end of the regular season specifically for the Viking sectional opener Thursday.
“Lucas pitched the first time we played them this year (an 8-4 Falcon win on March 28), and I forgot how many strikeouts he had, but it was a lot and we didn’t get a very good spray chart on these guys,” the coach said.
“Lucas had been injured over the last week and we’ve been saving him for today, and getting him healthy enough to where he could throw off a mound.
“Lucas is Lucas; he throws strikes for us and is one of those kids who doesn’t get excited when he gets down in the count. He keeps his focus and he trusts his defense; and our defense was solid tonight.”
Prater said getting out of the first-inning jam also boosted the confidence of the Vikings, and perhaps shook off any pre-sectional tournament jitters.
“It did, but then Tanner hitting the first pitch he sees, then (Wes Melanson) getting a hit right behind him, that calmed them down. But they didn’t seem too nervous; they were having fun and I’ve told them ‘good things happen when you’re having fun.’”
Valley added another pair of runs in the third inning when the first four Vikings reached base.?Melanson led off with a double and scored on Paxton’s single. Payton Mills drew a walk, then paxton scored on Yates’ single to center than knocked out Stutzman.
Trippiedi scored the last Valley run when he drew a leadoff walk in the fourth. A pair of wild pitches moved him to third, and he scored on Mills’ two-out single on a fly ball to center that dropped.
Fairfield’s best chance to put up a big number came in the sixth. Walters walked leadoff hitter Stutzman, and Prater brought in Paxton in relief.
Paxton loaded the bases with a pair of walks before Prater came out to visit the junior.
After the visit, Paxton recorded a strikeout, but allowed one more walk that forced in a run. Another run scored on a sacrifice fly, and Paxton got out of the inning on a fielder’s choice grounder.
Paxton retired the first two hitters in the seventh on grounders to Trippiedi, and the game-ender came when Fairfield junior Felipe Arevalo was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple.
“Russ has been closing the last four or five games for us, and he’s just lights out, coming in and doing what he has to do,” said Prater. “When he walked those two, which made it three in a row for them. It was a matter of calling timeout and calming him down. This is the first year he’s actually pitched on the varsity for me, and he was nervous. But me talking to him calmed him down and made him trust his defense.
“We all made the decision together, players and coaches on the field, to pur Russ in and pull Walters when I did. This way we kept (Walters) under the pitch count and he’s be available for Monday if we need him.”
Tippecanoe Valley (11-9) will play tonight’s winner between NorthWood and West Noble in the second semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Sectional host Wawasee will play Angola in the first semifinal at 11 a.m.
