Base: 4A #8 Cathedral thumps 4A #12 host New Palestine, 14-6
May 3, 2012
Hoosier AuthorityBy Andrew Smith
Hancock County Sports
NEW PALESTINE – In a game where Class 4A eighth-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral was throwing Notre Dame-bound pitcher Nick McCarty against 4A No. 12 host New Palestine’s Reid Clark (sub-1.00 earned run average) in NP's pitcher-friendly park, one would expect runs to be at a premium.
The result was quite the opposite. Cathedral scored in all seven innings, New Pal scored in each of its first four at-bats, and the visiting Fighting Irish won a 14-6 shootout.
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Ryan Levenhagen and Luke Cureton each hit two-run home runs for Cathedral (14-2), which also took advantage of eight walks and five hit batsman in addition to its 12 hits. Of New Pal's eight hits, six were for extra bases: Alec Shull hit two doubles, Reid Clark had a double and the Dragons’ state-best 16th triple of the season, Brian Page had a double (to go along with a single), and Stephen Ochs also doubled.
It allowed New Pal (12-3) to be efficient – the Dragons had six runs and just five runners left on base.
Cathedral took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Levenhagen's two-run homer, but New Pal answered when Shull and Reid Clark hit doubles to plate a run. The teams traded runs in the second, with Ochs' double scoring Page from first base to make it a 3-2 game in the bottom of the inning.
Both teams also scored twice in the third. It was back-to-back, one-out singles by Michael Kseniak and Harry Shipley for Cathedral in the top of the frame, while a one-out triple by Reid Clark plated Jacob Barnes and a sacrifice fly by Connor Swain scored Clark to make it a 5-4 contest.
Cathedral then broke it open with four runs in the fourth – including Cureton's two-run blast – that made it 9-4 and chased Clark. While the Dragons answered with two in the bottom of the inning – Page doubled before Alex Rejer was hit by a pitch, with both scoring on RBI groundouts – Cathedral was able to keep scoring on the Dragons’ bullpen with a pair of runs each in the fifth and sixth and a single marker in the seventh.
McCarthy allowed eight hits and six earned runs while striking out 10 and walking only one over six innings in getting the win for Cathedral, the two-time defending 4A state runner-up that has advanced to the 4A title game in four of the last six seasons.
Clark (3-1) allowed seven hits and nine earned runs with four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings in absorbing the loss for the Dragons, who now have dropped two straight following a late-game defensive collapse in a 10-7 loss at Connersville. Tylar Ledford allowed four runs and three hits over 2 2/3 innings of relief, and Cameron Clark came on to pitch the seventh.
Next up for Cathedral is the quarterfinal round of the annual Indianapolis City Tournament at home May 5. New Palestine will travel May 3 to Batesville, then visit Yorktown the next evening for a Hoosier Heritage Conference doubleheader.
Finally, you can catch New Pal’s May 8 showdown at 4A No. 10 Fishers right here on Hoosier Authority! Just click here for the LIVE stream from our partner, Hancock County Sports!
