After squandering opportunities to score in the fifth and sixth innings of a scoreless game, 4A No. 4 Columbus North had yet another opportunity to score the one run it needed to escape with a victory over Conference Indiana opponent Southport Tuesday night.
This time, the Bull Dogs cashed in. Kyler McIntosh grounded a base hit into left field that scored Adam Chapman from third, giving the home team the 1-0 walk-off victory in a battle for first place in the conference.
“My first two at bats were not great tonight, so I am glad that I was able to come through,” McIntosh said. “I wanted to hit something on the ground and run it out. I didn’t even see it go into the outfield. Before I could, the guys were all on top of me (in celebration.)”
It was a pitchers’ duel from the outset between Bull Dog hurler Reese Harmon and Cardinal pitcher Ryan Lezon. Harmon scattered four hits and four walks, striking out seven over 5 2/3 shutout innings.
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Although he flirted with trouble throughout the game, Harmon and his defense were able to keep Southport off the board. In all, the Cardinals (3-6, 1-1) left eight runners on base. Jakob Meyer came in for the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up the victory. Meyer struck out three and did not allow a hit.
“Reese pitched well. He was able to scatter the four hits and walks. He kept his composure out there, and he’s only a sophomore who we honestly haven’t used that much this year,” North coach Ben McDaniel stated. “I’m really proud of our defense tonight. We have a history of letting down defensively when one of our three main starters isn’t on the mound. Tonight, we played well.”
The Bull Dogs (12-3, 2-0), however, were not as solid offensively. North did not collect its first base hit until the fifth inning when Casper Clark lined a single to right field. After being sacrificed to second, Devon Rodgers hit a sharp grounder that was snared by the Cardinal first baseman on a dive, saving a run. The scoring threat ended when Blake Huffman was called out at first on a bang-bang play.
The Bull Dogs had another opportunity to plate a run in the sixth. Harmon led off the with his second single of the game. After a strikeout, Grant Trinkle drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Homare Takauchi then attempted to move the runners up via a sacrifice bunt. He popped the ball down the first-base line, and Lezon made a diving attempt at the catch. When he hit the ground, the ball popped out of his glove, but he had the wherewithal to get the force-out at second.
An intentional walk to Austin Bode followed to load the bases. Southport, however, was able to escape the jam when Lezon got Clark to ground out to short to end the inning.
“We squared some balls up in the early innings, but the conditions were holding everything up, and the ball wasn’t going anywhere. We made some adjustments between the fourth and fifth innings and started to get some hits,” McDaniel said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t execute offensively with the bunting tonight, even though we work on it a lot in practice.”
