South Decatur’s Austin Boilanger reaches third base ahead of the throw to Hauser’s Owen McIntrye Friday at Hauser High School in Hope.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
HOPE — South Decatur is in the driver’s seat.
The Cougars now control their own destiny to capture the Mid-Hoosier Conference crown following a pivotal 2-1 baseball victory over Hauser. The win also gives South Decatur the sweep over the annual MHC powerhouse Jets.
The Cougars can clinch the outright MHC title with a sweep over North Decatur on Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s been a long six years,” said South Decatur coach Anthony Jarvis, who is in his first season at the helm after being an assistant the previous five seasons. “Last year, we had a great group of guys, and I feel like we fell short a little bit. This year’s motto, ‘To finish the job.’ These guys are fighting every day and practicing hard. We are doing really well, and we’re going to go get North (Decatur) on Monday and Tuesday and hopefully bring home a conference title back to South.”
It was a tough way to lose for Hauser (11-9-1, 8-2), which finds itself in uncharted waters by not controlling its destiny for a MHC title. The Jets made solid contact at the plate and only struck out once in the game, but each ball hit in play was right at a South Decatur defender for an easy out.
“We made good contact tonight, but we were hitting the ball right at guys,” Hauser coach Nathan Long said. “We’ve got to do a better job of making adjustments throughout the game, and at the plate, we’ve got to turn those fly balls into hits and in the gap.”
The Cougars (13-5, 9-1) got on the board in the top of the third when Devon Pate drew a one-out walk and then stole second. A grounder advanced him to third, and he then scored on a single from Brady Lane for a 1-0 lead.
Avery Seegers had a perfect game for South Decatur until it was broken up in the fifth inning on a single from Owen McIntyre. Seegers eventually finished the full seven innings to earn the win, allowing one run on three hits and one strikeout. He also blasted a solo home run in the top of the seventh for a key insurance run to put the Cougars ahead 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Jets put two runners aboard when Zayne McCanlis and Simeon Wasil singled to put runners on first and second. A fielder’s choice at third base kept runners still at first and second. A passed ball then put runners at second and third. McIntyre hit a sacrifice to score one run, but South Decatur got the third out on a grounder for the win.
“I saved (Seegers) for this game. I really haven’t pitched him that much. I talked to him before the game and said, ‘This was your game to take,’” Jarvis said. “When I was going to go out there and talk to him in the seventh inning, he shooed me off. I think that was the best thing ever. I’m happy for Avery, I’m happy for this team and hope we can continue going on.”
Seegers finished 2 for 3 with a home run for the Cougars. Lane went 3 for 4 with an RBI, and J.P. Scudder was 1 for 2 with a double.
McIntyre, McCanlis and Wasil accounted for the three Hauser hits in the contest. Holden Pittman took the loss, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with 10 strikeouts. McCanlis came in relief, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts.
“Pittman and McIntyre both in this series pitched great games. We’ve been leaning on them in conference, and they delivered again in this series,” Long said. “Sometimes, you don’t have run support, and those guys kept working out there. Even without their run support, they did a great job for us.
“We’ll go back to the basics. Go back to top-hand, bottom-hand and taking a barrel to the ball,” he added. “We’ll go back to the basis, we’ll put some things together for the kids to do and we’ll see if it works.”
