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"The rule is 120 pitches in a day. And I'm sure we'll use all 120 from Luke."
Getting the the most out of his ace, senior Luke Freel, is what Bloomington North baseball coach Richard Hurt knows he has to do to put his Cougars in the best position to win two games in one day on June 1 to take the Bloomington South baseball sectional title
He's not alone. South coach Phil Kluesner will be looking to get as much mileage as he can from his ace, Xavier Hemingway.
And up at Northview, where Edgewood has to win two games in two days just to make the Monday final, coach Bob Jones will be leaving the ball in the hands of Anthony Shields as long as possible.
But in the end, the title likely lies in what happens beyond those aces' potential 120 tosses to the plate. It'll take a group effort to earn a sectional title, so this season has been a 20-game test to see who is next in line.
More: What to watch at Bloomington area IHSAA baseball sectionals
"It definitely comes down to the staff who is throwing well and getting outs," Hurt said. "And it's a matchup kind of thing. Maybe you need a curveball guy here or a strikeout guy there.
"That's why you play all those games, to see what you have and develop guys. All of our staff will be important to us. I've been very pleased. I thought our staff would be a strength for us and that we had good depth and that has turned out to be true."
North's sectional drought dates to 2013 while South had been dry since 2016.
South's depth took a hit in the regular season.
It started with the injury to Indiana University signee Collin Marcum, who is still on the comeback trail to pitch in the postseason. He's been pinch running and hitting in the meantime as his arm heals. It also looked like Amos Ewer would return, but 13 pitches into his second outing on May 8, his UCL gave way.
Hemingway (6-0, 1.14, 51Ks, 8 BB), a Marian signee, has held the fort down as the Panthers' ace in his own comeback from injury.
The big news is the recovery of senior Connor Couch (Columbia) late in the season from a hamstring issue. It's been a rough year at times, reflected in his 7.28 ERA and 17 walks in 25 innings pitched.
"Connor Couch finally healthy and showed it at Floyd Central," Kluesner said. "He finally got it figured out. He was compensating on his front side, which is why he saw a collapse in his velocity.
"The last two, two and a half weeks, he's looked like he did last year (4-2, 2.46 over 42⅔ innings). You could see it wore on him. It didn't effect his offense and he's played a good third base. But he hangs his hit on (pitching) so it bothered him."
While North's main arms have remained healthy, seniors Ryan Grupenhoff and Jake Flynn have had to battle through injuries, but can be effective in short relief, making 13 appearances this year.
Freel (2-2, 3.72) has been complemented by three other arms who threw 22 innings or more this year.
Senior Brogan Hanna (Thomas More) is 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA over 36⅓, sophomore Bohdi Pulley (4-1, 3.74) has 40 strikeouts in 33⅔ and junior Elio Miller (4-0, 1.57) has been strong in a relief role with 30 strikeouts to just seven walks.
"That gives us four arms right there," Hurt said. "It's been to where Luke pitches a big (conference) game on Tuesday, Elio goes on Wednesday and Bohdi and Brogan are our weekend guys. So it's a little like college."
They've shown him and pitching coach Clay Keltner some good stuff this year.
"Elio throwing a lot harder than last year, and has developed an off-speed pitch," Hurt said. "He struggled to put that together last year, so he's able to mix his pitches a lot better.
"Bohdi was not in the strike zone enough last year, so that's one area he's improved. His hips were an issue and he feels a lot better and that's what brought him around."
More: Edgewood baseball pitcher Anthony Shields is 'in it to the end'
Shields made just five starts, but all were big games for Edgewood, which played just 21 games this year. The entire staff was a question when the year started and a few answers have come to coach Bob Jones.
His Mustangs have to beat the defending champs to start (Cascade), then likely take on the host Knights in the semifinals in a span of 24 hours. To get the job done, three juniors, Mason Marotz (2-2, 0.26), Nick Richey (3-3, 3.55) and Braxton Carpenter (4-2, 1.25) will likely play big roles.
"I was concerned who would be our No. 1 and No. 2," Jones said. "One thing I saw last game was Carpenter trying to throw the ball through the wall. We told him you've got to be able to take something off your throws to throw strikes.
"Early in the year, he wasn't doing that. But last game, he threw one inning where you could tell he took something off the ball. He was throwing strikes and guys were still swinging and missing."
More: What to watch at Bloomington, Bedford area IHSAA softball sectionals
Richey and Marotz have a 56-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, always important in the tense moments sectionals bring.
"Mason can keep you in a game the way Anthony does," Jones said. "He locates the ball well. He just gave up his first earned run the other day to Shakamak."
For South, the staff's 169-to-72 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 143 innings has been a sign of success.
Senior Tyler Morris (3-0, 2.39) and junior Gavin Banks (2-1, 2.68) have been good finds this year, pitching a mix of starts and relief. But the Panthers have gotten good results bringing some of its position players to the mound in Reid Walker (4.57, 21 stolen bases) and Drew Palileo (.319, 25RBIs), who pitched 24 innings while doing a lot of other things well this season.
"Morris has been steady," Kluesner said. "He has a curveball, good breaking stuff that's darn near unhittable and he's stepped up his fastball as well.
"Palileo has been good, good breaking stuff, sneaky velocity. Reid, the guy is just a baseball player, a blue-collar type of competitor. We pitched (No. 1) Center Grove with position players and were right there with them. Gavin Banks has done a good job, too. He has an unorthodox release that makes him tough."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: County baseball teams ride pitching depth to sectional titles
Continue reading...
Getting the the most out of his ace, senior Luke Freel, is what Bloomington North baseball coach Richard Hurt knows he has to do to put his Cougars in the best position to win two games in one day on June 1 to take the Bloomington South baseball sectional title
He's not alone. South coach Phil Kluesner will be looking to get as much mileage as he can from his ace, Xavier Hemingway.
And up at Northview, where Edgewood has to win two games in two days just to make the Monday final, coach Bob Jones will be leaving the ball in the hands of Anthony Shields as long as possible.
But in the end, the title likely lies in what happens beyond those aces' potential 120 tosses to the plate. It'll take a group effort to earn a sectional title, so this season has been a 20-game test to see who is next in line.
More: What to watch at Bloomington area IHSAA baseball sectionals
"It definitely comes down to the staff who is throwing well and getting outs," Hurt said. "And it's a matchup kind of thing. Maybe you need a curveball guy here or a strikeout guy there.
"That's why you play all those games, to see what you have and develop guys. All of our staff will be important to us. I've been very pleased. I thought our staff would be a strength for us and that we had good depth and that has turned out to be true."
North's sectional drought dates to 2013 while South had been dry since 2016.
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Injury bug hits South
South's depth took a hit in the regular season.
It started with the injury to Indiana University signee Collin Marcum, who is still on the comeback trail to pitch in the postseason. He's been pinch running and hitting in the meantime as his arm heals. It also looked like Amos Ewer would return, but 13 pitches into his second outing on May 8, his UCL gave way.
Hemingway (6-0, 1.14, 51Ks, 8 BB), a Marian signee, has held the fort down as the Panthers' ace in his own comeback from injury.
The big news is the recovery of senior Connor Couch (Columbia) late in the season from a hamstring issue. It's been a rough year at times, reflected in his 7.28 ERA and 17 walks in 25 innings pitched.
"Connor Couch finally healthy and showed it at Floyd Central," Kluesner said. "He finally got it figured out. He was compensating on his front side, which is why he saw a collapse in his velocity.
"The last two, two and a half weeks, he's looked like he did last year (4-2, 2.46 over 42⅔ innings). You could see it wore on him. It didn't effect his offense and he's played a good third base. But he hangs his hit on (pitching) so it bothered him."
While North's main arms have remained healthy, seniors Ryan Grupenhoff and Jake Flynn have had to battle through injuries, but can be effective in short relief, making 13 appearances this year.
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An army of arms
Freel (2-2, 3.72) has been complemented by three other arms who threw 22 innings or more this year.
Senior Brogan Hanna (Thomas More) is 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA over 36⅓, sophomore Bohdi Pulley (4-1, 3.74) has 40 strikeouts in 33⅔ and junior Elio Miller (4-0, 1.57) has been strong in a relief role with 30 strikeouts to just seven walks.
"That gives us four arms right there," Hurt said. "It's been to where Luke pitches a big (conference) game on Tuesday, Elio goes on Wednesday and Bohdi and Brogan are our weekend guys. So it's a little like college."
They've shown him and pitching coach Clay Keltner some good stuff this year.
"Elio throwing a lot harder than last year, and has developed an off-speed pitch," Hurt said. "He struggled to put that together last year, so he's able to mix his pitches a lot better.
"Bohdi was not in the strike zone enough last year, so that's one area he's improved. His hips were an issue and he feels a lot better and that's what brought him around."
More: Edgewood baseball pitcher Anthony Shields is 'in it to the end'
You must be registered for see images attach
Shields made just five starts, but all were big games for Edgewood, which played just 21 games this year. The entire staff was a question when the year started and a few answers have come to coach Bob Jones.
His Mustangs have to beat the defending champs to start (Cascade), then likely take on the host Knights in the semifinals in a span of 24 hours. To get the job done, three juniors, Mason Marotz (2-2, 0.26), Nick Richey (3-3, 3.55) and Braxton Carpenter (4-2, 1.25) will likely play big roles.
"I was concerned who would be our No. 1 and No. 2," Jones said. "One thing I saw last game was Carpenter trying to throw the ball through the wall. We told him you've got to be able to take something off your throws to throw strikes.
"Early in the year, he wasn't doing that. But last game, he threw one inning where you could tell he took something off the ball. He was throwing strikes and guys were still swinging and missing."
More: What to watch at Bloomington, Bedford area IHSAA softball sectionals
Richey and Marotz have a 56-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, always important in the tense moments sectionals bring.
"Mason can keep you in a game the way Anthony does," Jones said. "He locates the ball well. He just gave up his first earned run the other day to Shakamak."
For South, the staff's 169-to-72 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 143 innings has been a sign of success.
Senior Tyler Morris (3-0, 2.39) and junior Gavin Banks (2-1, 2.68) have been good finds this year, pitching a mix of starts and relief. But the Panthers have gotten good results bringing some of its position players to the mound in Reid Walker (4.57, 21 stolen bases) and Drew Palileo (.319, 25RBIs), who pitched 24 innings while doing a lot of other things well this season.
"Morris has been steady," Kluesner said. "He has a curveball, good breaking stuff that's darn near unhittable and he's stepped up his fastball as well.
"Palileo has been good, good breaking stuff, sneaky velocity. Reid, the guy is just a baseball player, a blue-collar type of competitor. We pitched (No. 1) Center Grove with position players and were right there with them. Gavin Banks has done a good job, too. He has an unorthodox release that makes him tough."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: County baseball teams ride pitching depth to sectional titles
Continue reading...
