Gallery by Tina Laney
Just over a week ago, Shady Spring beat county rival Independence 5-3 with a little bit of controversy thrown into the mix.
Friday night in the rematch, the outcome was cut and dry and all about the red-hot bats of the Coal City boys.
Never trailing in the contest, Independence hammered out 13 hits to even the season series with a 9-6 win.
“I thought we were able to score a lot early. Last time it was more of pitcher’s thing,” Independence head coach Scott Cuthbert said. “We put the ball in play and put pressure on them. Then we got some big hits when we needed to.”
Independence wasted no time applying pressure to the home team.
Brayden Kiblinger worked a one-out walk before stealing second. The Patriot shortstop moved to third on a single by Blake Stratton and made it 1-0 on a single from Cole Cunningham.
Shady answered the run in the bottom of first.
Jake Meadows walked in the leadoff position and stole second with one out. Meadows moved to third on a single by Brody Seabolt and scored when Seabolt was trapped in a rundown trying to steal.
An error to lead off the second hurt the Tigers when Levi Barnett singled home Indy’s second run of the game two batters later with two outs.
“I thought we did a good job when we got runners in scoring position. Even on outs, we were able to score runs,” Cuthbert said. “If you can manufacture a run or two that really helps. We kept (Shady) from being able to do those type of things. They like to bunt and run and do stuff. Pushing the lead makes it harder for them to do that.”
The Patriots expanded the lead to four runs in the third.
Cole Cunningham ripped a double to get the momentum started and Micah Cuthbert increased the lead to 3-1 with a one-out single.
Reid Warden helped his own cause by scoring Orion Wills on a fielder’s choice. Wills had reached on a walk ahead of Cuthbert’s base hit.
Levi Barnett picked up his second RBI of the night with a single to score Cuthbert for a 5-1 lead before Shady could stop the bleeding.
“Early on (starting pitcher) Sam (Barnett) was struggling to find the strike zone and he was in his head some,” Shady Spring head coach Jordan Meadows said. “He was trying to throw it right down the middle and they were hitting it.”
Shady Spring kept the game within arm’s reach with a pair of runs to inch closer to the Patriots.
Noah Fox reached on a ground ball error in the third and went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jalon Bailey. A single from Jake Meadows scored Fox cutting the lead to 5-2.
The Tigers then notched another run in the fourth inning on a single from Mookie Cox, scoring Gavin Davis.
However, the game got away from the home team in the sixth when Indy recorded another three-run inning.
Barnett continued to be a thorn in the side of the Tigers by hitting a single with one out in sixth for his third base knock of the night.
Hitting out of the leadoff position, Barnett’s ability to get on base was a big key to success for the Patriots (13-9) Friday.
“That is big and the bottom (of the order) got on a couple of times which helps,” Cuthbert said. “The 7-8-9 spots have struggled a little bit, but we have had a lot of bodies in those spots.”
A sacrifice bunt from Kiblinger and a single from Blake Stratton made it 6-3, but the Patriots were just getting started. An intentional walk to Cunningham was followed by run scoring singles from Degan Williams and Wills for an 8-3 lead.
“We had a couple errors and some goofy stuff to let them score some runs they shouldn’t,” Meadows said. “It should have been a closer baseball game, but in the end they win because of our goofy mistakes.”
The Tigers made it interesting with three runs in their last at-bat.
Jake Meadows singled home one run before a throwing error allowed another run to cross. Sam Barnett singled to score Meadows, but Shady Spring could get no closer.
The win Friday was the seventh in the last eight games for Independence.
“We did what we wanted to do this week,” Cuthbert said. “We are on a pretty good run right now, but the two important games we thought were Tuesday (against regional foe PikeView) and Friday. I wish we could have finished it a little better tonight, but we have played a lot. I could see yesterday they were getting a little run down. Could be a good or bad thing to have a couple of days off.”
On the surface it appears that Independence will draw the No. 2 seed in the sectional tournament, while Shady Spring will likely be the three-seed.
“We will likely see these guys again in a couple of weeks,” Cuthbert said. “Typical season and it has been wild with them the last three or four years. It has become an exciting section.”
While admitting home field advantage would have been nice, Meadows is naturally looking for a different outcome when sectional play begins.
“You have to make the routine plays and hit the baseball,” Meadows said. “In the end, they have seen our top two pitchers and we have seen their top two pitchers. It is going to be battle and hopefully we can come out with a win.”
