New Castle wins first regional title since 1996 behind arms of Cooper and Decker-Petty
CONVERSE, Ind. — Eli Cooper, holding a four-run lead in the fifth inning, loaded the bases with one out when assistant coach Trey Ball walked to the mound.
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger got to the regional championship because of its offense, and Eli was in his opponent's head. But the Saints, finally with momentum, looked poised for a comeback, and Ball knew it.
The Trojans shortly huddled on the bump before Eli, unfazed by the tenseness of the New Castle crowd, quickly and calmly got a strikeout and popup to escape the frame.
"(Ball) said just know your stuff and know that your defense will work for you and you know that you will succeed," Eli said. "I wasn't (rattled). I'm pretty a steel-nerved guy, so that's why my team knew that I would be right for the situation."
The Trojans rode the senior's confidence to a 5-4 regional championship victory, the program's first since 1996 and just third ever, at Oak Hill High School on Saturday. Although Eli's final line shows four earned runs, he tossed six scoreless innings against a Saints squad that averaged 7.7 runs per game while adding a team-high two runs scored.
It took everything he and New Castle had to offer, and the team arrived to the turf field in the early morning with confidence that never waivered.
"We got a hotel room and a conference room ... as soon as everybody woke up, everybody was wide-eyed, everybody was ready to play, and from that moment on they were locked in," head coach Josh Cooper said. "I've never seen them like that all season. I was a little nervous because, like, 'Are these guys too loose?' It was fun to be a part of. I'm so happy for them and they deserve it."
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It was a true team effort. From senior Garrett Rusch's combined four hits and four RBI's on the day to senior Aydan Decker-Petty's complete-game shutout in the semifinals, sound all-around defense and the "excellent scouting report" Josh said assistant coach Rodney Scott put together, New Castle once again proved its grit.
There was even some superstition, too. The team has won all seven times bus driver Jeff Cross transported New Castle to its games, but he wasn't planning on driving to regionals since he was golfing in Kentucky.
Josh, having been a sophomore on New Castle's last regional-winning team, knew his boys needed all the help they could get, so he made Cross an offer he couldn't refuse.
"On Friday we couldn't find a bus driver, so I call him and I'm like, 'I'll give you $200 If you show up,'" Josh said "So we got Jeff, and it worked out."
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New Castle saved that good fortune for the title bout. Decker-Petty was lights-out on the bump against Wawasee in the semifinals, tallying 17 strikeouts en route to a 9-0 win.
The Indiana University commit knew almost immediately that he'd go the distance, especially in the first inning when "they were taking fastballs right down the middle ... they'd watch it and then they'd get mad in themselves, so I knew that they were thrown off by something."
Although he hit two batters, Decker-Petty had no walks and flirted with a no-hitter until allowing a single in the seventh inning. Sure, it would've been nice, but he didn't care. He was just excited that his teammates hit so well.
Decker-Petty also predicted Eli would "chuck it" in the championship, and he sure did. Eli entered the postseason struggling at the plate, unsure of his swing and having allowed 10 eared runs in his last two pitching starts. Yet Josh, Eli's father, had seen his son elevate his play in critical moments before and knew Eli's maturity would lift him out of his funk.
It happened quickly, with Eli tossing five inning with just one earned run in the sectional semifinal against Jay County, and then notching all three RBI's in the 3-2 sectional title win over Guerin Catholic.
He then got on base three times in New Castle's two regional games and earned the pitching win. It wasn't always pretty — Eli hit four batters and walked four in the regional final — but he tallied seven K's and repeatedly got out of jams, especially when the two teams and crowds were talking trash to each other.
"The crowd and my teammates, (the other) guys getting super mad, that just hypes me up more when the team I'm playing gets pissed off," Eli said.
The Trojans, however, almost let the game slip away in the seventh inning. Cooper again loaded the bases with one out, but this time he hit a batter that drove in Bishop Dwenger's first run to make it a 5-1 game.
He'd thrown 108 pitches, so Josh finally relieved him for the typically-shutdown senior closer Corbin Malott (0.98 ERA).
After striking out the first batter, the last out nearly never came. Malott allowed a hit, a walk and hit a batter make it a 5-4 contest with two outs, all of the runs allowed being charged to Eli.
For the first time all season, Malott was nervous. The last batter hit a bouncer over his head that went to second base, and for a moment after Rusch fielded the ball, Malott thought he'd froze and wouldn't make the force out.
But it clicked just soon enough for Rusch to get to the bag in time, then erupting in celebration as the Trojans formed an infield dogpile.
"When I went in I was as confident as ever because they put me in those situations all the time ... Strikeout the first guy, I'm really feeling good, and (then) they were just taking tough pitches, (the umpire) wasn't giving me much of the high pitch. All year when I've gone in I've kind of shut it down, so (when) I was given up those couple runs I was like, 'This is kind of different.' I was freaking out a little bit, but I had to really trust myself and trust my team behind me, and luckily they got that ball hit to Garrett, and (we) made some history.
"I'm so proud of (Eli) ... The biggest thing on my mind was that he's pitch such a great game, I had to give it back to him ... I'm just so happy that I could get him that win."
The Trojans will play Andrean (29-4), which beat the Saints 14-0 earlier this season, in the Kokomo semistate championship at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11.
Josh said it should be an "interesting" matchup for Decker-Petty.
"Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win state," Eli said. "We're shooting for the stars ... of course it feels good to win this, but it's not over for sure."
Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com or 765-729-4742.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Cooper, Decker-Petty lead New Castle baseball to IHSAA regional title
