LEBANON — On what was their final regualar season game of the season, Crawfordsville baseball secured yet another 20-win campaign by defeating Sagamore Conference foe Lebanon on Saturday afternoon. The two teams got rained out on Friday but the wait was worth it for Cville who brought home an 8-5 win.
Bryce Dowell got thigns started witha bang for the CHS offense with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Both teams then exchanged some blows and after three innings the score was all knotted at 4-4. Cville added a single run in the fourth and got some insurance with a three-run sixth to seal the deal. An added bonus to the win for the Athenians was they secured a second place finish in the SAC with a mark of 10-4.
“It’s always good to end the season on a high note,” Crawfordsville coach Brett Motz said. “We secured second place in the conference and did it with a big win. We wanted to head into the post-season with momentum and I’m glad that our kids were able to to get it done today.”
Crawfordsville (20-8, 10-4 SAC) took advantage of six Lebanon (12-13, 6-8 SAC) errores in the win. Those six errors didn’t stop the Athenians from still reaching double digit hits. Wyatt Motz continued his steallr sophomore season at the plate with three hits. Motz ends the regular season batting .491. Cale Coursey had two hits incluidng an RBI triple. Along with Dowell’s long ball, Jude Coursey, Kaden Patton, Javier Resto, and Dylan Farley all had one hit each.
“Wyatt has doen a great job this entire season of getting a lot of hits for us,” Motz added. “A lot of them stems from how fast he is as a runner. We have a lot of speed in out lineup throughout and being able to get timely hits had been key for us. I really like where our lineup is right now heading into the post-season.”
The Athenians were without the services of starting catcher AJ Hall who was given the day off to nurse a small ankle injury he suffered against Frankfort this past week.
Dowell also got the start on the mound for the Athenians and pitched the first three innings. He gave up just three hits and four runs, three earned. He struck out seven Tigers and walked four. Sophomore Jude Coursey cmae on in relief to pitch the final four innings and picked up the win. He struck out three and walked three while allowing just two hits and a single earned run.
Lebanon ended with five hits in the loss. Joel Acton went 2-3 and hit a home run for the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh. Korbyn Sloggett, Bryce Nelson, and Gavin Haines all added in a hit.
Cville will now shift their focus to Wednesday where they will host the Class 3A Sectional 25 Tournament. Crawfordsville will look to avenge two of their losses during the regular season as they’ll get the SAC champion Tri-West Bruins in the opening game.
“It’s going to be fun and I look forward to our team competing,” Motz said of the matchup. “The ultimate goal is to win a sectional title and you’re going to have to beat a good tema like Tri-West probably anyway to do it. I think we’re playing some of our best baseball right now and I’m hoping that carries over into the post-season.”
The Bruins and Athenians will square off at 5 pm on Wednesday. You can catch a live broadcast of the game on Thunder 103.9 beginning at 4:45.
