14U Batesville Bats win USSSA Hoosier State AA Championship

May 24, 2022 Abby Brinson
The 14U Batesville Bats are all smiles after winning the USSSA Hoosier State Games AA title. Paul Drake photo.

The 14U Batesville Bats won the U-Triple-S-A Hoosier State Championship for the Double-A level.

At the Plex in Greensburg, Batesville bested Panther Baseball from Jennings County, 9-1 in the finals after knocking off Hoosier Extreme from Bloomington, 10-5 in the semis.  The Bats went 4-1 for the tournament.

Top hitters for Batesville were Preston Blessing with a .750 average.  Noah Weigle hit .667 with four doubles and six RBI.  Cade Simonson also batted at a .667 clip.   And Trevor Castner bombed a 325 foot home run during pool play.   Austin Hodge played well behind the dish while Clay Eckstein and Rylan Yeager and Trent Stuart provided good moments on the mound.

Team members include: Austin Hodge, Brody Huff, Caleb Mohr, Cade Simonson, Noah Weigel, Trevor Castner, Keegan Walke, Preston Blessing, Trent Stuart, Clay Eckstein, Carson Hartley, Cayden Drake and Rylan Yeager.

The following is an unedited tournament recap from coach Paul Drake…

The Batesville Bats 14u traveled to the Plex in Greensburg this past weekend and won the AA Championship over Panther Baseball from Jennings County 9-1.  The squad reached the championship contest by defeating the Hoosier Extreme from Bloomington, IN 10-5 in the semi-final.  In the first round of bracket play on Sunday the team advanced with a 7-0 victory over the Midwest Hustle from Lawrenceburg/Southwest Ohio.  The Bats earned the #2 seed on bracket day by defeating the Outlaws from Ripley/Jennings Counties in a well played contest 7-5 before suffering one bad inning in a loss to a solid Centerville team 14-5 on Saturday before the heavy winds and rain hit.

There were several bright spots offensively for the squad over the weekend:  Preston Blessing hit an impressive .750 for the tournament, Noah Weigel hit .667 with 4 doubles and 6 RBI’s.  Cade Simonson .667, Brody Huff .571, Clay Eckstein .556, Cayden Drake .429. Keegan Walke .400, Trent Stuart .333 with 2 doubles and Trevor Castner hit a 325 ft. home run on Saturday.
The team was solid defensively with a .936 fielding percentage on the weekend committing only 5 errors in 5 games.  Austin Hodge led the way from behind the plate.  The catcher caught 15 innings and threw out 2 runners trying to steal.  The middle infield play of Carson Hartley at short-stop and Caleb Mohr at second base was crucial to the team’s success.
Pitching was solid for the Bats and gave the offense a chance at becoming champions.  Eckstein was (2-0) over the weekend with a save in crunch time on Saturday against the Outlaws.  The right hander went 7 1/3 innings for the tournament, allowing only 7 hits, 4 earned runs, striking out 10 and walking only 2.  Rylan Yeager earned the victory in the championship from the hill, going 3 innings, allowing 1 hit, zero runs, striking out 1 and walking 4.  The leftie, Stuart earned the save in the title contest going the final two innings, allowing 1 hit, one earned run, striking out 1 and walking 1.