Saturday was an eventful day in the South Bend area high school baseball scene, to say the least.
Several upsets happened in sectional semifinal action, setting up some intriguing championship games for Monday. Here’s a roundup of all the local games from the start of the Memorial Day weekend.
Walk-off balk sets Sectional 3 final
South Bend Adams lost in about as painful way as you can, as a balk by Aidan Micinski with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed LaPorte senior Ben Dubbs to walk home for the winning run in a 5-4 victory for the Slicers over the Eagles.
Adams (19-6) had built a 4-1 lead through 2 1/2 innings, with the biggest hit being a two-RBI double from Brock Stultz. LaPorte scored two in the bottom of the third — including one on a balk from Adams pitcher Pearson — and one in the fourth to tie the game.
LaPorte (18-10) advances to play Mishawaka (14-14) in Monday’s championship game at Bill Nixon Field, located in Centennial Park in Plymouth. First pitch is 6 p.m.
The Cavemen made the title game via a 10-3 win over Michigan City Saturday morning. Mishawaka scratched across 10 hits while also drawing six walks in the contest. It scored six unanswered to turn a 1-1 game into a comfortable lead by the bottom of the fourth.
More from Saturday:Saint Joseph girls tennis gets over the Carmel hump in semistate championship
Goshen, Concord pull off shockers in Sectional 4
Sectional 4 continues to be the tournament of upsets, as Goshen upended Northridge, 8-2, and Concord knocked off the two-time defending Class 4A state champion Penn, 4-3.
In the first game, Goshen (13-13) scored the first eight runs of the game, including six in the top of the second inning. Quinn Shreiner-Landes had a three-RBI triple to break the game open, backing up a stellar pitching performance from Ryen Diaz. The sophomore tossed a complete game, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning.
Diaz would be overshadowed by what Concord’s Braeden Messenger did in the next game, as the Minutemen senior led his team to a win over Penn (20-8). The Kingsmen tried to rally in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. Messenger was able to get Austin Eysol to ground out, though, capping off the upset victory for Concord.
Messenger threw 123 pitches, working around 10 hits allowed to give up just the three runs. He also helped his cause at the plate with a base hit and run scored.
The championship game between Concord (18-10) and Goshen will be 11 a.m. Monday at Penn. Concord is looking for its first sectional title since 2014, while Goshen is seeking its first since 2008.
Saint Joseph fights off Jimtown in Sectional 19
In a game pushed from Friday to Saturday due to weather, the Huskies (21-6) scored two runs in each of the first three innings to knock off a solid Jimtown (18-11) team. Brett Mason drove in both runs in the first, Brady Langager and Joe Washburn had the RBI hits in the second and Ben Van Fleit and Langager again did the damage in the third.
Brody Zielinski pitched a complete game for the Huskies, who have earned the right to play host Mishawaka Marian (20-9) in the championship game Monday at 11 a.m. The teams split a pair of games in the regular season, with the Knights winning, 17-9, April 15 before the Huskies picked up a 2-1 victory May 2.
Class 2A, 1A results
Both Bremen and LaVille lost its respective 2A, Sectional 36 semifinal games. The Lions lost to Rochester, 11-2, while the Lancers dropped a 10-8 decision to Wabash.
In 1A, Elkhart Christian Academy lost to Fremont, 12-2, to end their season in the Sectional 51 semifinals.
Note: this story will be updated once the games from Class 3A, Sectional 22 at Fairfield end Saturday night.
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