Hauser’s Koby Johnson fires a pitch to the plate against Indianapolis Lutheran Monday at Hauser High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
HOPE — If the Hauser baseball team was looking to carry some momentum into the postseason, it will have to resurface it in tonight’s regular-season finale.
The Jets struggled Monday in a 13-2, six-inning loss to Indianapolis Lutheran. Hauser matched the Saints with five hits, but the Jets surrendered nine walks and committed three errors.
“We came out sluggish,” Hauser coach Nathan Long said. “We walked too many guys, had too many errors and even though we matched them in hits, we couldn’t match them in runs. When you do that, and you walk too many guys and have too many errors, that leads to extra runs and extra outs.”
The Jets (15-11) didn’t get a bad pitching performance from ace Koby Johnson. He allowed two unearned runs in the third, then was removed after allowing his first hit, a bunt single, in the fourth.
Johnson threw 65 pitches in three-plus innings.
“He felt a little discomfort out there, not necessarily soreness or anything like that,” Long said. “He just felt a little discomfort, so we made a switch, and this late in the year, it’s nice to see other guys get opportunities on the mound. We can do in-game bullpens, and that’s what we did tonight and that’s what we’ll do (today).”
Sam Louden came on and allowed the two runners he inherited to score. By the time the inning was over, the Saints had scored nine runs to build an 11-0 lead.
Hauser got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Johnson singled to right, went to second on a two-out single by Simeon Wasil, and the runners advanced when Caleb Walker reached on an error to load the bases. Owen McIntyre then delivered a two-out, two-run single to make it 11-2.
Lutheran added two more unearned runs in the sixth. The Jets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but couldn’t plate the runs to avoid the 10-run rule.
Wasil finished 2 for 3 to lead Hauser at the plate.
The Jets have added a game to the regular-season schedule and will host Eastern Hancock at 5:30 p.m. today. Hauser will play either Oldenburg Academy or Rising Sun on Monday in the semifinals of the Jac-Cen-Del Sectional, and the sectional final is that night.
