'Practice games' hopefully make perfect for Central Catholic baseball

LAFAYETTE − It was intended to be a getaway that also came with some quality baseball.

On a spring break trip to Tennessee, Central Catholic came away beaten, but better, with losses to Lake Forest (Illinois), Willowbrook (Illinois) and Briarcrest Christian (Tennessee) before a trip-ending win over Franklin County (Tennessee).

"That was actually huge for us," senior TJ Bell said. "We saw some really good pitching really early on. When we came back to Lafayette, we just crushed the ball. It made a big difference."

Bell parked one Tuesday that sailed well beyond the Leming Field fence and also clubbed a double during CC's 8-6 win over Benton Central.

Since coming back from Tennessee, the Knights put up 18 runs against Twin Lakes and eight more Tuesday night.

"It was great for our guys to get away and hang out 24 hours a day with each other. And we played great competition," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "It kind of exposed some of our weaknesses, some things we need to work on, which is great. Right out of the chute, our kids competed, but we ran into some really solid teams."

Last year's Class A state champions return seven starters.

The correlation between last year's team and this year's is both good and bad.

"We have probably the most experience on a sports team I've had here," said senior Ben Mazur, the ace of last year's pitching staff and a Murray State recruit. "It is good to put everyone in tough situations and get them used to it so when it comes to that again, it's just another play."

But last year's success means nothing for this year's team, as similar as the roster might look.

"Last year doesn't mean anything right now," Mazur said. "We've got to look past it and focus on these games. You can't get to state if you don't win the games before it."

Which brings us to Tuesday night.

Central Catholic led 8-0 after four innings and appeared to be on cruise control.

A walk, a balk and an infield chopper later, Benton Central closed the gap to seven. CC had two runners on in the bottom of the fifth and Evan Dienhart at the plate when a base runner was called out on an umpire's discretion after apparently shouting while the pitcher was in motion, ending the inning.

Benton Central, sparked by Ryan Foster's three-run homer, scored five runs in the seventh before the Knights finally closed the door.

"We got up 8-0 and we kind of took the foot off the gas pedal a little bit and made it a ball game," said Bordenet, who last season won his record-tying eighth Indiana state championship as a head coach. "We had a chance to put a team away and we've got to do it. Just because we had success last year or tonight doesn't guarantee anything tomorrow night.

"We've got an experienced group. Sometimes it's good to have those reminders. Tonight served as kind of a reminder that we have to play the whole game."

Tuesday showed, like the spring break four-game trip where CC came back with a 1-3 record, that the Knights are still a work in progress.

Part of "30 practice games" the regular season provides.

Last year those "practice games" saw new stars emerge who became key components to a state championship in the postseason, like Brinn Robbins, Owen Munn, Ryan Schummer and Evan Dienhart.

They're now tested veterans, but Central Catholic is looking for the next emerging postseason heroes.

"Regular season games are all about getting better," Bell said. "You make mistakes and you've got to fix them. Until it comes to postseason, you've got to just get ready in the regular season games."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 'Practice games' hopefully make perfect for Central Catholic baseball