Gallery by Tina Laney
Summersville – Independence baseball head coach Scott Cuthbert felt all along that he would have a solid team when the postseason rolled around.
So far, the Patriots have made their coach look pretty smart.
Combining some new faces with a sack full of youngsters, the Patriots rolled through the Class AA Region 3, Section 2 tournament unscathed.
Monday night, behind the play of two wily veterans, No. 2 seed Independence knocked off No. 1 seed Nicholas County, 11-8, to win the sectional crown.
The Patriots will now play PikeView Monday in the best-of-3 regional series. Independence will host Game 1, while Game 2 will be played at PikeView. If Game 3 is necessary, it will go back to Coal City.
“I thought we would be pretty good,” Cuthbert said. “We struggle throwing strikes sometimes, but when we throw strikes, we are pretty good. I think we have improved offensively and we are better offensively than I thought we would be. I have some pretty good ninth-graders. They stepped up and played pretty good throughout the year.”
After beating Nicholas County Friday night in the first sectional meeting, Independence was in the driver’s seat needing just one more win to advance to regional play.
With ace Cole Cunningham on the bump, the prospect of advancing looked even more promising when Indy jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Grizzlies had swung the first bat.
The outlook for that win took a drastic turn in the bottom of the first.
Cole Brown singled home two runs and Caleb Jarvis smacked an RBI-single two batters later, trimming the lead to 4-3.
The early outburst from the Grizzlies forced a quick pitching change for the Patriots.
Cuthbert handed the ball to senior Brayden Kiblinger.
“We tried to throw Cole on three days rest and we hadn’t done that all year,” Cuthbert said. “He wasn’t quite ready for that. I thought Kibby did an excellent job, coming in a bad situation. We told him early to be ready to throw in case it went bad because we haven’t thrown anybody on three days rest all year. Our defense is setup is best with either Cole or Reid (Warden) on the mound.”
Although Kiblinger understood he might be called upon, it still came as a slight shock.
“I didn’t expect to go in that early. Especially not the first inning,” Kiblinger said. “I just had to calm down a little bit. I struggled that first inning, but after we got rolling, I was fine. It was good.”
Before Kiblinger could stop the bleeding, Nicholas County added two more runs for a 5-4 lead.
“We were a little down after the first or second inning. I just told them they had to keep playing,” Cuthbert said. “It’s a long game. It’s the great thing about baseball and the bad thing about baseball. You can’t run the clock out. You have to find outs.”
The Grizzlies threatened to add to the lead in the second inning when they moved runners to second and third with two outs. A sinking liner from Ira Mylott looked like it might drop, but freshman Degan Williams made a diving catch to save two runs.
“Scotty has been on me all year about diving and getting dirty, so I think I had to do that one time,” Williams said, with a big smile.
In the top of the third, Williams, riding the momentum of his defensive play, blasted his first career home run to give Independence a 6-5 lead.
“I came close all year. I finally got one and it felt great,” Williams said about the two-run blast. “I felt pretty relaxed. I have been trying to take the ball backside, stay within myself and not do too much.”
The lead did not last long when a throwing error on what would have been the third out of the inning, allowed Nicholas County to score twice a retake the lead.
“This time of year, anytime you can advance, no matter how pretty it is, that’s great,” Cuthbert said. “I think the nerves got to them a little bit early and we made some mistakes and stuff. We hit the ball really well tonight. We struggled to play defense.”
The home team added another run to the lead in the fifth inning thanks to two more blunders by the Patriots.
Undaunted by the struggles, Independence took control of the game in the sixth inning with a five-run outburst.
Micah Cuthbert started the rally with a leadoff single. Three straight walks pushed the first run across and brought senior catcher Blake Stratton to the dish.
“A big change in the strike zone there, all of sudden. Things were really squeezed tight, so you had throw it down the pipe,” Nicholas County head coach D.J. Martin said. “There was no place to put Stratton. He is going to shell it. He was a good transfer for those guys. There was nowhere to throw it. You had to take your chances.”
Stratton transferred to Coal City for his senior season after playing at Woodrow Wilson.
“I grew up with these boys, played Little League with them and all that. Coming over here was like coming back to family,” Stratton said. “Everybody accepted me without a problem. It’s a great group of guys and they are amazing.”
Stratton put the Patriots back on top for the final time by ripping a double to center field, clearing the bases.
“It was a little stressful. I was struggling in the at-bats before,” Stratton said. “I was in my own head and everything. I went up there and just said, hit the ball. I thought it was gone, but it was nice.”
Cunningham followed with a rocket that could not be handled on the infield, pushing across the final run of the game for the 11-8 lead.
The final two innings belonged to Kiblinger. After a lead off single in the sixth, the crafty veteran retired the next six batters to secure the win.
With the defense struggling at times behind him, Kiblinger remained focused on the task at hand.
“They are great ball players, but they are not used to playing those positions, obviously, because I haven’t pitched a lot this year,” Kiblinger said. “Having to move them around hurts us a little bit. I just have to stay calm and throw strikes.”
Playing a tough schedule with so many new faces on the team has been trying for the Patriots this year. None of that seemed to matter Monday night.
“It took a little bit to get there, but these guys are really good and they have been good for awhile too,” Kiblinger said. “Seeing how they have developed all season, it’s been real good.”
“It feels great,” Stratton said. “We do everything as a team. We work every day as hard as we can. All that work paid off.”
