Sports fans, baseball season is here again
Has it been two full weeks since basketball season ended? It seems like just yesterday we were watching the Bloomfield Cardinals in the State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Another baseball season is upon us and in full swing. Well, nearly full swing. Wednesday's games involving three area teams were canceled or postponed. Typical of spring in Indiana.
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Shakamak Laker baseball coach Todd Gambill said it best.
"It all comes down to the basics - catching and throwing."
Shakamak committed a decidedly un-Laker-like 11 errors combined in the two games of the Northview Invitational -seven against Northview and four more in the afternoon session with Bloomington North.
"The first three games we've played we've just made too many errors. We haven't done the things you have to do to be competitive."
I'll cut the Lakers a little slack. Steady winds gusting in excess of 40 miles an hour - which knocked out power throughout Linton - made every fly ball an adventure.
Shakamak isn't the only area team hoping to nail down the basics of catching and throwing.
Eastern Greene found itself in an 8-0 hole to Owen Valley after four errors in the first two frames.
"Errors killed us. We put up several errors in a very short amount of time. I think we were up to four or five in the second inning. That in itself is enough to lose a game on," first-year Thunderbird coach Ben Hutcherson said.
With 16 hits - five for extra bases, including two homers - it wasn't as if the visiting Patriots needed any extra help from the hosts.
Surely it isn't an Owen Valley thing, but the error bug bit the Bloomfield Cardinals hard when they visited the Patriots in Spencer.
Seven Cardinal miscues led to five unearned runs and a 10-5 loss in the Cards' lid-lifter Tuesday.
It was even worse for White River Valley.
After racking up a pair of impressive wins at the Springs Valley Round Robin Saturday, the Wolverines went down to Jasper to face Northeast Dubois and committed 10 errors in a 17-1 loss.
Only three of the Jeeps' 17 runs were earned.
It's a long season and these things are correctable.
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Now for the bright spots...
Shakamak rebounded nicely from is 0-3 start with a resounding 4-2 win at Terre Haute North Monday.
Ace southpaw Braden Scott scattered nine hits in the complete game win. The Marshall University signee fanned five batters and walked one.
So far, Parker Green and Scott have picked up where they left off last year as two of the Lakers' dependable sticks.
In the Bloomington North game, Green drove in Shakamak's first run of the year on a line shot down the left field line following Scott's double. Scott added an RBI single in Lakers' final at-bat.
At Terre Haute North Green delivered an RBI double and Scott aided his own cause with an RBI single.
As mentioned earlier WRV was impressive in its debut piling up 26 runs and 22 hits at the Springs Valley Round Robin, winning 14-2 over the hosts and beating Loogootee 12-5.
The York brothers, Tyler and Dalton, the Cornelius siblings Hunter and Brayton and Dilean Delph all enjoyed multi-hit games.
Despite the errors an unearned runs in the disappointing opening loss at Owen Valley, this year's edition of the Bloomfield Cardinals looks to be improved.
Five Cardinals combined for eight hits, all singles. Cole Deaton, Dustin Kettler and Keagan Kinser all had a pair of base hits. Sammie Query and Brandon Dagley also rapped out base knocks.
Eastern Greene just might have a star in the making in Caleb Hamilton.
Hamilton had three hits in four trips to the plate, needing a home run for the cycle.
The sophomore third baseman has the look of a legitimate five-tool guy.
His double and triple Monday both challenged the fence indicating he has home run power. He's speedy on the base paths and looks athletic fielding his position.
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Speaking of being a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, Bloomington North's Riley Crean went 4-for-4 against Shakamak with a triple, double and two singles. Someone Tweeted to me "looks like he can play baseball better than his dad can coach basketball which is a good thing."
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Both area sectionals will have a different look this season due to reclassifications.
Shakamak replaces defending champion Sullivan in 2A Sectional 47. An enrollment increase places the Golden Arrows in 3A. The Lakers move up to 2A under the IHSAA's Tournament Success factor on the heels of consecutive 1A State Finals appearances.
North Central drops to 1A from 2A and joins the sectional field at White River Valley.
With sectional realignments both area sectionals will be wide open.
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After three games Linton-Stockton appears as well-stocked as any team in the area.
Staff ace Logan Hollingsworth returns.
Hollingsworth has had two strong outings, giving up two earned runs while striking out 18 and allowed 12 hits combined in his first two starts. Chad Trent did a nice job in his first outing, scattering five hits in six innings in a 10-1 win over Mitchell.
The Miners have some bats too.
Five players - Austin Allen, Hollingsworth, Trey Passen, Noah Woodward and Kendall Williams - have multi-hit games already.
Linton-Stockton followed up a 6-5, eight-inning loss to North Putnam on Opening Day with the win over Mitchell Monday and a 2-1 win over rival Sullivan Thursday.
Shakamak graduated eight seniors from last year's State Runner-up squad and must retool up the middle.
Catcher Mike Huddleston, shortstop Dylan Collins, second baseman Jake Walters and ace hurler Braxton Yeryar all departed. Collins and Walters also saw mound duty.
Gambill will be looking for a few good pitching arms to fill out the rotation behind Scott.
Shakamak opened its Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference season Friday at North Daviess.
Eastern Greene's Hutcherson will be looking for some pitchers to emerge as well - and some hitters to support Hamilton.
"Our batting is starting to come around. We still have a lot of guys who look really passive at the plate. But we've got few guys who are starting to shake the jitters off and hit the ball like they're supposed to," the T-Bird coach said after Monday's Owen Valley game.
Mitchell and the Knoxes, North and South, round out the sectional field.
The Miners and Thunderbirds open SWIAC play against each other Saturday in Little Cincinnati.
Should be a good one.
And a cold one. Saturday's forecast high temperature is 39 degrees.
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With the Shakamak Lakers moving to 2A, White River Valley will assume sectional hosting in its newly-renovated ball yard.
And the Wolverines are well-positioned.
Coach Chris Cornelius returns his core group from last season - sons Hunter and Brayton, Delph and Tyler York. All are proven hitters and all have seen mound duty.
Delph will pitch on occasion but most often will crouch behind home plate. And he has home run pop in his bat.
Bloomfield looks noticeably improved. But the Cardinals are a team coach Jason Pegg said is still trying to find its way.
North Central has played just once, an 11-0 loss to West Vigo Saturday. NC's next two games were postponed.
Clay City and Eminence complete the sectional field at WRV.
The Eels could be a formidable foe when ace hurler Hunter Wolfe is on the mound. But when he isn't...
Clay City lost 25-2 to Turkey Run Saturday.
Eminence is, well, Eminence. The biggest question is, will the "other Eels" even field a team?
Last year after a couple players quit or were suspended Eminence was unable to put nine players on the field and did not finish the season.
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With some teams having just one or two games under their belts it's a little premature for weekly rankings. So I'll hold off for now.
Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.
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