Bats 14U win Tree City Showdown Championship

Aaron Kirchoff, Greensburg Daily News, Ind.
·3 min read

Jun. 13—SHELBYVILLE — Mother Nature opened up the skies with rain on Sunday in Shelbyville and earned the Batesville Bats 14U the Tree City Showdown Championship this past weekend.

Sunday's bracket play was cancelled after one game due to rain and the title was presented to the Bats due to their No. 1 ranking in points accumulated in Indiana USSSA this season.

The Bats put themselves in position for the title by earning the No. 1 seed from their pool on Saturday by going 2-0 on the day. In the early contest on Saturday, the Bats defeated the Indiana Longhorns from Muncie 8-2 and then defeated the Indiana Bullets from Bluffton 13-9.

Performances of note for the tournament: Trevor Castner (.750 batting average, HR, 5 RBIs), Carson Hartley (.750 batting average, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBIs, 2 SB), Clay Eckstein (.500 batting avg., 3 R), Rylan Yeager (.429 batting avg.), Brody Huff (.333 batting avg.), Keegan Walke (.333 batting average) and Preston Blessing (3 RBIs)

Pitching was a solid strength for the Bats as they sent six different pitchers to the hill in pool play. Leading the way on the mound was Cayden Drake, who earned the win against the Longhorns (3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER). Noah Weigel came in relief in Game 2 against the Bullets to earn the win, going 2/3 of an inning with two strike outs. Walke got the nod to start against the Bullets and was solid through 2 1/3 innings, allowing no earned runs, and striking out three. Yeager pitched the final inning to earn the save and grant the team the pool title against the Bullets.

Defensively the Bats were not at their best, but behind the solid pitching and hitting, the squad was able to capture the second tournament championship of the season. Huff, Cade Simonson, Weigel (including an incredible deep fly ball track down in center field), Walke and Yeager were all error free for the tournament. Austin Hodge completed the battery from the behind the plate by throwing out a key runner trying to steal in the Bullets contest.

The squad (16-10-2) will next be in action in the Indiana USSSA State Tournament this coming weekend. The Bats face Wabash at Greenwood High School at 2 p.m. and Indy Titans at 6 p.m. at the Indianapolis Sports Park Friday, June 17.

Bracket play for the 43-team field will begin on Saturday. The following weekend the team will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Open Class USSSA Ohio State Tournament.

The team would like to thank its many sponsors, who without their generous donations this experience would not be possible: Batesville Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #1130, The Napoleon State Bank, Randy's Roadhouse — Batesville, Buckley's Service Center, Bruns-Gutzwiller, Laudick Trucking Inc., S&B Driving School, Med-Mizer Inc, Gunter Landscaping LLC, @Hair Alley 812, Weigel Funeral Home, Great Plains Communications, Lee's Country RV, Edward Jones-Financial Advisor Ryan Holcomb, On Target Sporting Goods Inc, Advanced Nitriding Solutions LLC, The Toros Batesville Indiana, Spruce Salon, Koch Auto Parts & Service, Inc., Batesville Tool & Die, The Office Shop, Inc., Widener Automotive Inc., Meyer Custom Cues and Walmart.

Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com