West Vigo baseball beats Edgewood for sectional title on walk-off squeeze bunt
ELLETTSVILLE — Bob Jones couldn't help but feel like he was suffering some karmic payback for 2019.
The long-time Edgewood baseball coach and his Mustangs were the ones who caught the break in the sectional semifinals against West Vigo that year, taking advantage of a dropped pop-up in the bottom of the seventh inning that would have ended what turned out to be a special season. Harrison Pittsford followed with a walk-off-home run, the Mustangs claimed the sectional title later that day, and eventually advanced to the Class 3A state title game before losing.
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That memory flashed in Jones mind on Monday when defensive miscues allowed West Vigo to beat Edgewood 4-3 in the sectional championship without needing to hit the ball out of the infield to produce the winning run.
West Vigo senior Nick Lindsey reached on a throwing error, advanced to third on an infield single, then scored on a safety squeeze bunt by junior Ben Kearns to give West Vigo its first sectional title since 2018, ending Edgewood's season.
"As I told (West Vigo coach) Culley (DeGroote)," Jones said, "It kinda balanced out there, didn't it?"
Considering how loaded his 2019 squad was with two players now on Indiana's roster in Luke Hayden and Ethan Vecrumba, Jones might have been willing to sign up to pay off a debt somewhere down the line to keep that season going.
That being said, Monday's loss still stung considering how resilient these Mustangs have proven to be. They posted a 9-1 conference record and 17-12 overall mark and had to fight back from a 3-1 deficit Monday just to have a chance to lose in heartbreaking fashion.
Both teams score early
Edgewood took the lead in the top of the first when senior center fielder Cam Ingalls doubled and then scored on a throwing error. However West Vigo opened the bottom of the first with three straight hits off Edgewood ace Conner Thummel, and all three scored.
But Thummel was determined to stay in the game and eventually found a groove mixing fastballs with tight sliders and curveballs. After throwing 33 pitches in the first inning, he never needed more than 17 to get through another. He surrendered just four hits and two walks after the first and struck out four batters. He didn't allow a runner to reach third from the second through the sixth.
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"The first inning, I was mainly throwing fastballs and they were hitting them," Thummel said. "Off-speed was either too low or too outside. They're a good hitting team. They're going to hit a fastball. If you can get at least one strike with your fastball, then you can play with off-speed."
After the shaky start, Jones debated on pulling him.
"Our pitching coach Jake Bauer said, 'Hey, we get so many pitches, maybe we ought to take him out.' He said, 'No. This is my game and I'm going to win it for us.' He went out and battled."
West Vigo ace Kaleb Marrs made it difficult for Edgewood to get runs across with high 80s velocity on his fastball and a floating curve. He struck out 10 batters in six innings and surrendered just three hits.
In the fourth, however, Edgewood's Gabe Headdy drew a walk, went to third when senior Alex Mullis hit a grounder that took a strange spin to get past West Vigo second baseman Rhyan Shaffer and into short right field, then scored on a passed ball. Edgewood's Aiden Gorges brought Mullis in with an RBI groundout to tie the game 3-3.
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Decisive seventh inning
The score stayed the same until the bottom of the seventh. Thummel got Shaffer to pop up to short and Lindsey hit a hopper to short that Edgewood's Isaac Lawson fielded cleanly. However, he skipped the throw well to the right of Headdy, Edgewood's left-handed first baseman. The throw went to the fence in foul territory and Lindsey went to second.
Senior Peyton Clerk followed with a liner that took a hop before it got to Headdy, who knocked it down but couldn't field it cleanly enough to get the out a first. With first and third and one out, DeGroote decided it was a good time to take a risk.
"We had a trail runner on," DeGroote said. "Even if he gets out, we'd have had first and third two outs with Carter Murphy and Gabe Skelton up so we were going to take a chance, so we were going to put the pressure on and that was the right guy to do it. Ben (Kearns) is the perfect guy to do it. He's only bunted one time all year this year, but he's a veteran, he's fast. There's nothing Ben can't do."
Kearns' bunt wasn't perfect. Thummel got to it with time to make the play at home, but his throw squirted out of catcher Brayden Ault's glove before he could get the tag down. Lindsey scored and West Vigo's dugout emptied out to mob him.
"In 2019, my seniors, that was their freshman year," DeGroote said. "I am happy they get a little bit of revenge. It's always interesting with us and Edgewood."
Follow Herald-Times IU Insider Dustin Dopirak on Twitter at @DustinDopirak or email him at DDopirak@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Edgewood baseball drops sectional title on squeeze bunt vs West Vigo
