BLOOMINGTON — On a night in which Columbus North couldn’t get the timely hits it needed, the Bull Dogs were able to get runs across the plate any way they could.
The Class 4A No. 2 Bull Dogs scored on two groundouts, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly Wednesday night in escaping with a 4-2 win against East Central in the opening round of the Bloomington North baseball sectional.
“I think the first one is the hardest one, just getting the guys settled down and into a groove and not pressing too hard,” North coach Ben McDaniel said.
The Bull Dogs (25-4-1) advance to Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal to play Columbus East who defeated Shelbyville 2-0.
North rode the arm of senior ace Kyler McIntosh. McIntosh scattered seven hits, including a two-run homer by Sam Bond in the third that temporarily cut the Bull Dog lead to 3-2.
“I didn’t have my good stuff today, but we fought through it,” McIntosh said. “After the home run, I was back on the bump before the guy even touched home plate, so it didn’t really affect me. I was ready to keep going.”
North jumped on the board with a run in the first. Blake Stevens led off with a single, stole second and third and scored on a groundout by McIntosh.
“I wanted to show my teammates that we were ready to go for sectional,” Stevens said. “I thought it was good to get the momentum early so we could keep it on them.”
The Bull Dogs added to their lead in the second. With one out Dyllan Redmon singled, and Zach Wager doubled. After Redmon scored, and Wager moved to third on a wild pitch, Will Baker lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Wager.
Following the homer by Bond in the top of the third, the Bull Dogs got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. Austin Bode led off with a walk and stole second. Pinch-runner Trent Bodart went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Reese Harmon.
After that, McIntosh allowed only three hits. The Trojans, who loaded the bases against him with one out in the first, put runners at first and third with two out in the sixth, but McIntosh again pitched out of the jam.
“Kyler is our guy,” McDaniel said. “He does what we want him to do. He’s not afraid to get on the mound, no matter who we face and put the team on his back. I think he did a fantastic job. Getting out of that bases loaded jam was huge.”
East Central outhit North 8-7 on Bloomington North’s all-turf field.
“Like I said since the draw came out, we know East Central hits the baseball, and they proved that today,” McDaniel said. “They had a lot of great hits off of the best I have to throw at them.”
Harmon and Redmon each went 2 for 3 to lead the Bull Dogs at the plate.
“Credit to their guy,” McDaniel said. “He’s a soft-throwing lefty. He was crafty and kept us off balance, and we weren’t able to square too many balls up. But we were able to scratch some when it counted.”
