Indians fall to Norwell in high-scoring affair

Throughout Tuesday’s night contest with Norwell, the Mississinewa showcased their offensive abilities, playing right with one of the more historically stout baseball programs in the state of Indiana.

However, failure to bring home runners in scoring position, combined with several defensive miscues, proved to be the difference in a 17-8 loss to the Knights.

“That is a really good team,” Mississinewa Head Coach Mike Scott said. “That’s a sectional opponent that we are going to have to be ready to play. If we are going to [make it] through that sectional, we are going to have to beat Norwell. Norwell continues to be strong 1-9, they are solid, and they do not make mistakes.”

With the Indians taking a 4-1 lead after the second inning of play, the Knights exploded in the middle frames, scoring five runs in the third, four runs in the fourth, and three runs in the fifth to grab an advantage they would not relinquish.

Mississinewa scored three of its eight runs in the first inning, taking the early 3-0 advantage. Carson Campbell, who finished 3-for-5 with a pair of singles, a double, and three runs scored, led off the inning with a base hit, and Holden Brown reached first after being hit by a pitch, putting two runners on with nobody out.

Colin Yoder followed with a walk, and Landen Swanner capitalized on the bases-loaded opportunity, plating both Campbell and Brown with a two-run single to right field. Freshman Kohen Bailey brought home the final run of the inning with a bases-loaded walk.

Campbell scored his second run of the game on sacrifice fly from Brown in the second, giving the Indians a 4-1 advantage.

However, after that, the Knights began to find their groove offensively, and they quickly turned the contest in their favor.

Norwell’s first five batters in the third reached base safely, and all five eventually came around to score. Eli Riley and Luke Graft led off the frame with back-to-back singles, and a fielding error by the Indians allowed Riley to cross home plate. Brody Bolyn, who had a monster day at the plate with four hits, a two-run home run, and five RBI, plated a pair of runs with an RBI single, and the Knights tacked on two more before it was all said and done to turn a three-run deficit into a two-run lead.

After a strong start, the Indians’ bats fell silent in the third, fourth, and fifth frames, recording just three hits and stranding four runners, including bases-loaded in the fourth.

Norwell added seven more runs in the fourth and fifth, taking a 15-4 lead into the sixth. However, the Indians continued to battle, extending the contest with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Yoder scored Campbell and Nolan Quaderer with a two-run double, and Swanner collected his third RBI of the game, a single, to score Brown.

The Indians loaded the bases in the seventh but were only able to push one more run across.

Offensively, the Indians left a plethora of runs on the basepaths, leaving 10 men on base, including the bases loaded in two of the contest’s seven innings. Additionally, the Indians’ committed four errors, which directly led to several of Norwell’s runs.

“We need to make the routine play 100 percent of the time,” Scott said. “We need to be situationally aware at the plate, and on the mound, we need to throw strikes. We need to limit walks. Right now, what’s happening is that we are compounding our problems and our mistakes, and we are not closing the door and shutting off the bleeding. This season, that is what has hurt us a little bit. We need to rebound from those mistakes.

“That’s the telltale sign of this game. If you are going to beat a program like that, and if you want to advance in the state tournament, those are things you just cannot do.”

Despite the loss, however, the Indians still showcased a plethora of positives. Their top five batters in the order – Campbell, Brown, Yoder, Bailey, and Swanner – combined for eight RBI, eight hits, and six runs scored, providing a lethal combination of pop, speed, and power.

Additionally, Keaghan Williams, while he took the loss, pitched well against a strong lineup. The junior showcased an effective fastball together with an outstanding curveball that fooled several Norwell batter in the contest’s early stages.  

Together with Swanner, the two form an effective 1-2 punch that could prove deadly later in the season.

“Keaghan can be a big part of our pitching program moving forward,” Scott said. “His ball moves. He has a little bit of a funky motion that is hard to get the timing down. He can sneak a couple of fastballs by you. There is some promise there for sure.”

Going forward, Scott hopes that his group will learn from their mistakes against the Knights and use that knowledge to grow and improve as a unit as the season progresses.

“I will accept mistakes early in the season as long as we are learning from those mistakes, apply that knowledge to the next game, and we clean it up and make it better,” Scott said. “One loss isn’t going to define our season, but we need to be able to recognize our deficiencies and work towards making improvement in those areas. That’s how we become a better team later in the season.”

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