Eli Miller
OSGOOD — One word would describe Hauser’s baseball game Monday afternoon against Rising Sun — “Heartbreak.”
Both starting pitchers went deep into the game, throwing the max 120 pitches. It came down to the relief pitchers, and in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Shiners got the extra hit needed to score the winning run to end the Jets’ season with a 3-2 loss in the semifinals of the Class A Jac-Cen-Del Sectional.
“When you play a 10-inning ballgame, and our starter goes nine innings, that means we were efficient on the mound, that means we didn’t make many errors behind him,” Hauser coach Nate Long said. “We were a base hit and a couple baserunning mistakes away from really winning that game. You take away that home run they hit early on, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Regardless of how the results turned out, it was still a winning season for Hauser, which finished 15-13.
“I’m very proud of our kids this year. We played a really tough schedule. We were fortunate to win (Mid-Hoosier) conference, which was a great feat,” Long said. “We play a tough schedule, and anytime that you’re above .500 with the schedule that we play and the mix of bigger schools that we play to get ourselves ready for the tournament, I feel very proud about that.”
It was tough for the batters from both teams to get a hit off of Hauser’s Eli Miller and Rising Sun’s Jonathan Jimenez. Miller had his best outing of the season, going nine innings and giving up two runs on five hits and striking out 17 batters. Jimenez went seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out 12.
Peyton Merica picked up the win in relief for the Shiners going three innings and adding five strikeouts. Koby Johnson took the loss giving up one run on one hit with one strikeout.
The Jets got on the board first in the top of the fifth when Owen McIntyre doubled and later scored off an error to make it 1-0. The Shiners responded in the bottom half of the fifth when Merica hit a two-run home run to put them ahead 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Sam Miller led off the inning with a double and later scored on two passed balls to tie the game at 2-2.
Long appreciated his four seniors in Johnson, Sam Miller, Eli Miller and Caleb Walker.
“They’re four really great kids, not just baseball kids, but four really great individuals,” Long said. “Their parents should be real proud of them. I’m very proud of those kids and very proud of their leadership ability.”
