RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
KOKOMO – The Northwestern Tigers scored three runs on wild pitches, including the game-winner, in a 5-3 win over Adams Central in the first round of the Howard County Invitational Baseball Tournament Friday night at Northwestern.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when, with one out against Jet starter Jami Roach, the Tigers (1-0) loaded the bases with a walk to Sam Jones, a bunt single by Brayden Taylor, and a walk to leadoff hitter Landen Begley.
Northwestern catcher William Rees then lined hard to right center for what looked like a bases-clearing double, but Jet right fielder Max Byerly made a spectacular diving catch, and the Tigers had to settle for a single run as Jones tagged up at third and scored. Taylor and Begley held at second and first, respectively.
With an 0-1 count on Kade Dill, Roach threw a low pitch that hit the front of the plate and bounced high over the head of catcher Reece Hammond. By the time the ball came down and Hammond could retrieve it, Taylor had rounded third and was barreling home. Roach, covering the plate, got tangled up with the sliding Taylor just as he was trying to catch Hammond’s throw, which deflected away from the tangle and trickled toward third base. The fleet Begley took advantage of the confusion, scoring all the way from first with a headfirst slide.
In the fifth, the Jets (0-2) battled back. Hammond tripled to the right field corner to drive in Jacob Miller, who had walked with one out. Hammond then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2.
The Tigers responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Jones led off with a double and Taylor worked Roach for a walk. Adams Central coach Josh Foster replaced Roach on the mound with Ethan Funk. Begley greeted him with a sacrifice bunt to move Jones and Taylor to second and third.
Then it was déjà vu all over again. With two outs and Dill once more at the plate, Funk threw a wild pitch. Jones dashed in from third with what turned out to be the winning run. Dill walked, putting runners on first and third, and the Tigers had Dill leave early to get in a rundown. The Jets tagged him out but not before Taylor crossed the plate to give Northwestern a 5-2 lead.
Again the Jets battled back. With one out in the seventh, consecutive singles by Hammond and Lawson Deathe put runners on first and second. Freshman Colston Pruitt hit a grounder to Northwestern shortstop Nate Correll, who stepped on second for the force out but threw wildly to first, allowing Hammond to score and Deathe and Pruitt to reach third and second.
Suddenly, the Jets had the tying runs in scoring position with two outs and Joey Everett at the plate. Everett hit a sharp ground ball, but unfortunately for the Jets, it was within range of Tiger first baseman Jaxson Trueblood. He got the out unassisted to end the game.
Coach Foster anticipated that the Jets would probably need to score a lot of runs to compete in this early-season game. “We know we need to score five runs, because our pitching and defense, I mean, we’ve only practiced outside four times. This is our second game. So we know we got to score five runs to be able to compete. That’s our team goal, and we got three tonight. Five would have done it.”
He also knew how close the Jets came to getting those five runs. “Yeah, it [Everett’s seventh-inning grounder] goes ten more feet away from first base…tie game,” he said. “We’d still be playing.”
Roach took the loss for the Jets, giving up five runs on three hits and three walks in four innings. He struck out four. Begley went six innings for the Tigers to claim the win. He gave up only two hits and three walks while striking out eight. Funk and Pruit each pitched one inning for the Jets. Neither gave up a hit or a run.
Hammond, with a triple and single, was the only player on either team to get multiple hits.
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