FLOYDS KNOBS — As his team celebrated the first baseball regional title in school history, Brownstown Central head coach Duane Higgs couldn’t help thinking back to his team’s win on the same field five weeks earlier.
Higgs had just watched his team give up a three-run lead in Saturday’s Class 2A Floyd Central Regional, somehow survive a late rally by No. 2 Providence and force the game into extra innings.
The Braves then produced a rally of their own, a stirring four-run outburst in the ninth inning, to seal a 7-3 victory and claim the title.
The fortitude needed to win such a game, Higgs said, probably wasn’t in his team until it defeated Class 4A heavy Floyd Central by an identical 7-3 score in late April.
“That was the defining moment for us,” Higgs said. “We had this persona the first two years I was here where any time we played someone good or a big school, we bowed down a little. After we got that first big win against a bigger school, and Floyd is a great team and a great program, our mindset became, ‘We believe. Now, we can go play with anybody.’ After that, I asked them, ‘Who are we scared of?’ If we can beat Floyd, we can beat anyone in the state in 2A. We proved it today.”
Saturday’s win advances Brownstown (24-8) to next weekend’s semistate at Mooresville, where Covenant Christian (14-15) awaits. The Warriors defeated Cloverdale 13-1 in the Loogootee Regional on Saturday. The winner of the Brownstown-Covenant Christian game will advance to the semistate championship to take on the winner of the Mitchell-Heritage Christian matchup.
Brownstown’s regional-winning ninth-inning rally was started by Chick Tiemeyer, who walked and came around to third on heads-up base running following a textbook bunt by Ethan Garland.
Garland’s bunt was not a sacrifice but instead was meant to get the junior on base. It accomplished that goal and more.
“Laying down that bunt changed the whole complexion of that ninth inning,” Higgs said. “We had all the momentum in the world after that.”
Garland’s bunt traveled about 15 feet down the third base line, out of easy reach of the third baseman, catcher and pitcher. Providence’s defense compounded its problems by leaving third base unoccupied, allowing the alert Tiemeyer to advance an extra base.
“(Higgs) didn’t know for sure if he wanted to bunt,” Garland said. “But I’m glad he did because it put us in a good spot.”
Garland, a frequent bunter, said he was unaware his bunt was so perfectly placed.
“As soon as the ball hits the bat, I just hope it goes fair and then I run,” he said.
Moments later, Tiemeyer was balked home by Providence pitcher Gavin Jackson to break the game’s 3-3 tie.
With Garland and Carson Darlage on base, Grayson Cassidy then delivered the inning’s big hit, a sinking line-drive triple to right field that Pioneer outfielder Jack Beyl dove for but couldn’t corral. The ball skipped past Beyl, allowing two runs to score and Cassidy to reach third.
“I saw (Beyl) dive and thought, ‘I better get on my horse,’” Cassidy said. “As soon as I slid into third, coach Higgs gave me the biggest chest bump I’ve ever seen. He was ecstatic. I looked in the stands and everyone was super excited. I was just loving the energy.”
Pierson Wheeler quickly followed with a sharp single to left field, scoring Cassidy and giving BC a comfortable four-run lead.
Though two Pioneer runners reached base in the bottom of the ninth, Brownstown pitcher Dalton Reedy got the three outs his team needed to start celebrating.
Reedy entered the game in the sixth to relieve Darlage, who started. Though he gave up a single to Providence’s Nathan Julius that allowed the Pioneers to tie the game, Reedy locked down Providence’s hitters thereafter, throwing three scoreless innings and yielding only one other hit.
Darlage no-hit the Pioneers over the first four innings, though the left-hander allowed 10 walks in his five-plus innings of work.
Boosted by the frequent walks, Darlage’s pitch count climbed to 111. That workload in 90-degree heat caught up to the senior in the fifth and sixth innings as Providence erased BC’s 3-0 lead.
“Carson has been phenomenal for us all year long, but his pitch count got high and you could tell he was getting a little tired,” Higgs said.
At the plate, Darlage was twice hit by a pitch. Brownstown had four batters reach base after being plunked by Providence pitchers. In fact, the game’s first pitch, from Pioneer right-hander Cody Jackson, skipped off of Garland’s helmet.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Garland said. “But it was a good way to get the game started off.”
Garland and Wheeler paced Brownstown’s offense with three singles each. Trent Lowery, Cassidy and Tiemeyer produced the other hits as the Braves outhit Providence by a 9-4 count.
BC’s defense had one error, but it proved to be up to the challenge of Providence’s aggressive base running. Cassidy gunned down two would-be Pioneer base stealers from his catcher’s position.
The Braves also got a crucial out on the base paths in the sixth inning when Providence’s Brantley Whitlock was caught between third and home on a failed squeeze play, turning the Pioneers’ one-out bases-loaded threat into a more manageable two-out situation.
Brownstown’s outfielders, meanwhile, were busy throughout the contest, accounting for 13 putouts as pitchers Darlage and Reedy took advantage of the spacious expanse of Floyd Central’s deep-fenced outfield.
Right fielder Lane Pendleton had four of those putouts in the first two innings, including a lengthy trek into foul territory to haul in a fly ball that ended the second inning.
Saturday’s win extended BC’s win streak to six straight and ended an 11-game run by Providence. However, the only number on the Braves’ minds after the game was “one.” As in, the number of regional baseball title trophies now on displayed in the school gym.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Cassidy, a freshman. “Hopefully, it’s the start of a dynasty for Brownstown. I’m ready to keep it going from here.”
Box score
At Floyd Central Regional
Brownstown Central (24-8);0;0;3;0;0;0;0;0;4;—;7;9;1
Providence (25-4);0;0;0;0;1;2;0;0;0;—;3;4;0
Brownstown pitching: Carson Darlage 5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K, 10 BB; Dalton Reedy 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 2 BB.
Providence pitching: Cody Jackson 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB; Gavin Jackson 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K, 3 BB; Grant Seebold 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB.
Browstown hitting: Hits- Ethan Garland 3, Pierson Wheeler 3, Trent Lowery, Grayson Cassidy, Chick Tiemeyer. 3B- Cassidy. RBI- Cassidy 3, Wheeler 2, Lowery. Sac Fly- Cassidy. HBP- Darlage 2, Garland, Lowery.
Providence hitting: Hits- Jack Beyl, Grant Borden, Luke Kruer, Nathan Julius. RBI- Kruer, Julius.