Published: June 01, 2007 12:13 am            

Seventh-inning rally lifts Kats to title

LAFAYETTE — The Kokomo Wildkats dramatically ended their baseball sectional championship drought Thursday night.

Lafayette Jefferson scored a run in the first inning and maintained a 1-0 lead through six tense innings, but No. 3-ranked Kokomo rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 win in the Class 4A Lafayette Sectional final at Loeb Stadium.

“I can’t even describe it right now,” said Kokomo senior Nick Sale, who earned the pitching win and scored the go-ahead run. “This is my fourth year on varsity and it’s the first time I’ve won a sectional. I can’t even explain it right now. I’m at a loss for words.”

The Kokomo players and fans soaked up the celebration following the hard-fought win and for good reason. The Kats had just won their first sectional championship of the class tournament era and first overall since 1995.

“I told these guys when I came in that we had to get over the hump and win the sectional. And now that we’ve won the sectional, our next goal is to win the regional and move on after that,” third-year Kokomo coach Steve Edwards said. “It’s an exciting time for Kokomo baseball. This is the first step in becoming one of the top programs in the state.”

Kokomo (25-3) advances to play Zionsville in a one-game regional Tuesday. Zionsville, which will host the regional game, beat Ben Davis 12-0 in the Brownsburg Sectional final.

“It feels amazing,” said Kokomo junior Craig Dollens, who played a big role in the Kats’ comeback win. “We’re not stopping until we get a state championship.”

Kokomo beat McCutcheon 1-0 in eight innings in the sectional bye game Wednesday. The Kats found themselves in another tight contest Thursday.

The Bronchos took the lead in the first inning. P.J. Tyson led off with a walk and Timmy Horner followed with a single to put runners at first and second. Sale struck out Brent McNeil, but Tyson advanced to third on the play and cleanup hitter Andrew Riley brought him home with a little bloop hit that fell just beyond the Kats’ drawn-in infield.

From there, the game turned into a pitchers’ duel. Sale shook off the first inning and cruised through the next five innings while McNeil protected the Bronchos’ 1-0 lead with solid work of his own. The Kats left seven runners on base through six innings as McNeil worked in and out of some jams.

The Kats finally broke through in the seventh. Dollens led off with a single back up the middle. McNeil struck out the next batter. Sale followed with a seemingly routine grounder to second — but Dollens collided with the Bronchos’ Frank Hrdy and Hrdy dropped the ball leaving the Kats with runners on first and second.

“He fielded the ball and he was in the line where Craig was running, and Craig has every right to run to the bag,” Edwards said. “The ball dropped out of his glove. Craig just did a good job hustling.”

“He got in my way. I had to get to second,” Dollens noted.

After Ryan Herr drew a walk to load the bases, Dollens raced home on a wild pitch to knot the score. The Bronchos intentionally walked Andrew Quinnette to re-load the bases in an attempt to set up a double play, but Corey Ringley foiled that plan with a slow roller to second that scored Sale with the go-ahead run.

Bryce Robinson, who pitched a complete game against McCutcheon on Wednesday, relieved Sale on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and retired the Bronchos in order to seal the championship and set off a Kat party.

Sale (7-1) held the Bronchos to three hits over his six innings of work. He struck out two and walked one.

“The key to this game was pitching,” Edwards said. “Nick Sale was phenomenal. I said to win a sectional, you had to have a good No. 2 and we just proved that we have a good No. 2.”

Lafayette Jeff coach Kevin Maxwell also tipped his hat to Sale.

“We just couldn’t get that second run on the board,” Maxwell lamented. “He had us off balance and I think we were trying to pull some of his pitches. That third baseman [Quinnette] made some nice plays. Their infield made some nice plays and the routine plays. They just stepped up and did the job defensively.”

Dollens finished 2-for-3 to lead all hitters.

The Bronchos felt a couple calls went against them including a foul call on a shot over the left-field fence in the third inning and Dollens’ play on the basepaths in the seventh inning. Still, Maxwell took a high road and congratulated the Kats on a hard-fought win.

“I don’t think the umpire won or lost the game because we could have scored a couple more runs and had a couple insurance runs that would have made the difference in the last inning,” he said.

The Bronchos closed with a 19-11 record.

        

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