Mooresville stays a step ahead of Martinsville, wins first sectional title since 2004
It’s been 18 years in the making for Mooresville.
Despite producing a multitude of winning seasons and playing in a handful of sectional championship games, the Pioneers’ baseball squad last hoisted a sectional trophy in 2004.
That all changed Monday evening against Morgan County and Mid-State Conference rival Martinsville.
Hours after defeating top-ranked Center Grove, Mooresville displayed its offensive firepower, getting up early on a hopeful Artesian squad and never letting off the gas, winning 9-4 and adding a new trophy to its case.
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“I'm very proud of our guys, love them, and I'm just super excited for them to win this sectional, and it has been a long time coming," Mooresville coach Eric McGaha said. "It was really hard for them emotionally to come back this evening after we beat Center Grove...but at the end of the day, I'm just very proud of how they grinded and worked and did the things they needed to do."
Martinsville coach Adam Peterson was pleased with the way his team showed resiliency in the later stages of the game, scoring four runs while holding Mooresville scoreless for the final four innings.
"I'm happy they fought back, they put some pressure on them, they didn't just fold in and give up," Peterson said. "I thought Austin (Pryor) came in and gave us a chance at the end, we put some runs up, it just wasn't in time."
Robinson comes up big again
Mooresville generated nine runs within the first three innings, and among those nine, Jack Robinson had the most impressive.
Robinson proved to be the most valuable player of the day for Mooresville, showing up big in both sectional matchups. Against the Artesians, the senior blasted a pitch well over the scoreboard in the third inning for a two-run homerun.
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He finished the evening going 2-for-4, adding five RBIs and a run to his totals.
"Honestly, I really don't try to think about it, I just play for my teammates and all that stuff," Robinson said. "Whenever it's my time to perform, I just go out there and try to do my best."
Martinsville mistakes fuel Mooresville offense
What defined the game, and provided Mooresville such a monster lead early, was the number of freebies the Artesians allowed.
In total, Martinsville let seven batters walk to first base while hitting three by pitch. It helped Mooresville load the bases twice, leading to some runs off base on balls.
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Additionally, the impressive display of baserunning and offense by Mooresville also proved to overwhelm the Artesians. Hogan Denny led the way in scoring with three runs, going 2-for-3 and an RBI. Judah Hennessey also connected on two pitches for one RBI.
"We grinded out some at bats, got some key hits," McGaha said. "I really thought our at bats were really competitive and we found some barrels. We jumped at them early, and at the end of the night, we just weren't going to be denied."
What it means
For Mooresville's six seniors, this sectional championship has been long overdue. The Pioneers last advanced to a sectional championship game in 2019, their freshman season, before being ousted by Avon.
Their sophomore season got cancelled and a very talented 2021 team was eliminated at the hands of Mid-State rival Franklin Community and highly touted pitcher Max Clark, ending an 18-7 year. Now, finally, they've accomplished what they've sought for so long.
"It feels really good, I wish we could have been able to do it last year because of the seniors we had," senior Nick Wiley said. "Me, Brody (Bond) and Jack came together and we saw how disappointed we were at the end of last season, and we just decided that this season we weren't going to let that happen again."
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Martinsville is losing the same amount of seniors with six. Replacing that number of veterans is never easy.
"They're going to be tough to replace, I mean you've got some guys there that have played or logged a lot of innings, a lot of at bats, were big time leaders for us this year," Peterson said. "It's tough to replace one senior, let alone six."
Looking ahead
Mooresville will meet Columbus East at Jasper this Saturday for the first round of regionals, with the game set to start at 1 p.m.
Contact reporter Devin Voss at dvoss@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @DevinVoss23.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Mooresville stays step ahead of Martinsville, wins sectional title
