The Batesville Bulldogs defeated the Greensburg 3-1 on Monday to claim the Class 3A Sectional 29 Championship. It is the 15th sectional title in school history and their second in the last three years under head coach Tyler Burcham.
Greensburg opened the scoring in the top of the first. Ethan Smith hit a 1-out double. After advancing to 3rd on a flyout, he scored on a wild pitch to put the Pirates on the board.
Batesville answered in the bottom of the first. Noah Weigel led off with a single. He advanced to 2nd on a groundout before scoring on a 2 out double by Ronan Post to tie the game at 1.
In the top of the 2nd, Greensburg loaded the bases with only 1 out. Brayden Maple induced a grounder to 3rd basement Preston Blessing who fired home to Weigel for the force then Weigel fired to first to complete the 5-2-3 double play to end the Pirate threat.
In the 4th, the Blessing again started a double play to end the inning, this time going around the horn 5-4-3.
After each pitcher allowed a run in the first, the game settled into a pitcher’s duel between Greensburg’s Luke Hoeing and Batesville’s Brayden Maple. Batesville broke the tie in the bottom of the 5th. Preston Blessing was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Jake Schornick came in to pinch run and advanced to 3rd on a pair of wild pitches. Weigel drove him home with a sacrifice fly to right. With 2 outs, Maple was hit by a pitch. He would race all the way home when Post split the gap in right center for his 2nd double and RBI of the game.
With a 2-run lead, the Bulldogs went to Carson Meyer to try to pick up the two-inning save. He retired the Pirates in order in the 6th. Down by 2 in the top of the 7th, Greensburg’s Patrick Robbins singled to lead off the inning. Two outs later, Ayden Sefton worked a walk to put the tying run on base, but Meyer struck Zayden Miller to end it.
Brayden Maple started for Batesville and earned the win for the Bulldogs, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. Carson Meyer earned the save with 2 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit while striking out 3.
Luke Hoeing took the loss for Greensburg. He allowed all 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 6.
Batesville will take on Providence on Saturday. The Pioneers defeated Charlestown 4-0 to claim Sectional 30. They bring a 24-5 record into the regional. The time and location of the regional will be announced by the IHSAA on Wednesday.
/Click here to read the game box score/
(Story by WRBI sportscaster Steve Giesting)