ELNORA — Hauser was three outs away from the North Daviess Semistate championship game.
The Class A No. 7 Jets were flying along with a 1-0 lead when they were hit by a combination of enemy and friendly fire.
No. 8 North Central (Farmersburg) scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, thanks to an infield single, a bloop single that fell between three Hauser fielders and two fatal errors — one which appeared so unlikely, but it allowed the winning run that gave the Thunderbirds a 2-1 win, stunning the Jets team and fans alike.
With a runner on third, Tessa Sims had just struck out a North Central batter for the second out, when freshman catcher Hannah Johnson — in what was supposed to be a routine procedure, one done hundreds of times in a game — threw the ball back to Sims, however the throw was off-target and with no backup, the ball dribbled into center field, allowing the Thunderbirds’ Hannah Simmons to score the game-winner.
Hauser coach Craig Sims could be forgiven for looking up at the sky and asking how and why.
“That’s what happens. You make a couple of mistakes and the next thing you know you’re going home,” Craig Sims said. “I thought we played really well for 6 1/2 innings, but that doesn’t win the ballgame. We left too many runners in scoring position in the first three innings and couldn’t get them home. You hate to end the season like that. We beat ourselves.”
Before that fateful inning, Tessa Sims and the Jets were playing errorless ball. Tessa Sims had scattered four hits (and only one of those was solid), while striking out 10.
While she was having her way, Hauser (21-6) wasn’t doing too badly at the plate, getting seven hits.
In the second, Jets leadoff hitter Katie Taylor singled, was sacrificed to second, stole third and scored on an infield single by Lauryn Starnes. Unfortunately for Hauser, it couldn’t get anyone else to third base safely.
The Jets did have four runners in scoring position, but in the fifth and sixth innings, they had runners thrown out trying to grab third on hits.
North Central for its part couldn’t really solve Tessa Sims. The only solid single was from Simmons, who slapped a sharp single to left in the fifth, but it was her bloop that fell between the Jets’ shortstop, left fielder and center fielder that would end up hurting them.
“It’s one of those hits that you hate to write down in the scorebook as a hit, but it’s still a single,” Craig Sims said.
The Thunderbirds’ Kaelee Moody, who started off the seventh with a single and was bunted to second, took third on the play, but a wild throw that went past Hauser third baseman Shelby Fugate, went into the dugout, scoring Moody, but more importantly sending Simmons to third.
Five pitches later, another error sent North Central (22-6) to the championship.
“That’s a hard way to lose, but it went in our favor,” North Central coach Erica Arnold said. “The girls played well and they are fighters.”
The Jets should have the nucleus of a good team next season, but they lose three seniors — the big one being Tessa Sims, who will continue her career at Indiana State. But the biggest loss could be Craig Sims, who said this was his last game after seven seasons at the helm of Hauser.
It’s been an exciting seven years, highlighted by the Class A state championship in 2015.
“We had a lot of success,” Craig Sims said. “This is our third semi-state in four years, we’ve won three regionals, six sectionals and a state championship. It’s been a great run.”
