Coal City – Cameron Manns is a big-game athlete.
During basketball season the sophomore entered Shady’ Springs starting lineup in the postseason and helped guide the Tigers to the Class AAA state championship.
In another big spot, he delivered for his school once again.
The 6-foot-4 pitcher struck out nine batters, limiting rival Independence to just one hit as Shady beat the Patriots 11-1 in five innings Friday, forcing a winner-take-all championship game to be played Saturday at Independence.
“Cam’s a dog and you saw that in basketball,” Shady Spring head coach Jordan Meadows said. “He’s just a competitor. I told him yesterday, because we were going to pitch him yesterday, but I told him we had to save him for Independence. I told him if there was any chance of us winning, we had to have him and he texted me this morning and told me he was feeling good. One hit against the No. 1 team in the state, that’s awesome.”
As stellar as Manns was, the Tigers’ bats were equally impressive racking up 13 hits to support him from the jump.
Thatcher Poteat got things rolling for Shady, smacking a one-out double, reaching third on an Alex Johnston single and scoring on a flyout by Josh Lovell. Johnston later crossed the plate on an error at short, giving Shady a 2-0 advantage heading to the bottom of the frame.
That was just the start of what proved to be a long day for the Patriots.
Indy answered with its own run in the bottom of the frame when Manns hit leadoff batter Atticus Goodson. Goodson stole second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Manns retired the next two batters, but an error in center allowed Goodson to cross the plate.
That was the highlight of the evening for Indy.
Shady got the run back in the second when Adam Richmond led off with a solo blast to right, but the avalanche came in the third and fourth innings.
Josh Lovell doubles, scoring Johnston. It’s 4-1 Shady#wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/tVbm1tbp55
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) June 4, 2021
Johnston, Josh Lovell and Parker Redden led off the third with three straight doubles, scoring the first of four runs in the frame. Lovell and Richmond both drove in a run each while a dropped third strike and a bad throw to second on a stolen base attempt accounted for Shady’s sixth and seventh runs of the game.
Johnston’s double that opened the inning forced Indy coach Scott Cuthbert to pull the plug on starter Tanner Sipes but his replacement, Hunter Schoolcraft, fared little better, allowing seven runs in under two innings of work.
“We wanted to get Tanner what we could at the time,” Cuthbert said. “But Hunter’s pitched real well for us all year so we were trying to get him through a few innings there and hopefully we could possibly chip away and if we needed to come with someone else we could come with someone else.”
There was no relief in the fourth with the first three Tigers all reaching base and eventually scoring.
Meanwhile the hope of pitching Schoolcraft and chipping into the deficit failed to come to fruition on both ends as Manns stifled Indy’s offense, striking out four in the second and third innings, retiring the side in order in both frames.
“I was painting the corners really well,” Manns said. “I feel like they were a little behind the fastball. I didn’t have to use the curve much until later when I saw them once or twice. They were kind of behind and I was able to do well.”
Indy’s lone hit came in the fourth inning when Carson Brown laced a double down the right field line, but Manns stranded him on third.
Neither team made much noise in the fifth, but needing a run to keep the game alive Indy went down as Manns struck out the side in order.
“You have to give them credit,” Cuthbert said. “They really hit the ball real well today and then we didn’t do a very good job. It seems like, I don’t know exactly, but we weren’t ready to play today.”
The two teams will meet again on Saturday at Independence to decide the sectional championship. The winner will advance while the loser calls it season.
Shady will roll with Alex Johnston, its ace.
“I just told them we’ve got to have this same mentality tomorrow,” Meadows said. “We’ve got to be ready to roll. What more can you ask for than a winner-take-all game against you county rival to go to regionals. You know what I mean? It’s what you want. It’s what you play for.”
First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
SS: 214 40 – 11 13 1
I: 100 00 – 1 1 4
Pitching and catching – SS: Cameron Manns and Parker Redden; I: Tanner Sipes (2 innings), Hunter Schoolcraft, Dillon Darnell and Caleb Daniels. WP: Manns, LP: Sipes. Hitting – SS: Thatcher Poteat 2-4 (2B0, Alex Johnston 3-3 (2B), Josh Lovell 2-4 (2B, RBI), Parker Redden 2-4 (2B, RBI), Adam Richmond 2-2 (HR, 2B, 3 RBI), Mason Palmateer 2-3 (2B, RBI); I: Carson Brown 1-2.
Richmond keeps a double fair, drives in another run. It’s 5-1 in the third, runners on the corners for Shady. #wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/KYeM7rlBNH
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) June 4, 2021