Knights strike back against West Lafayette

Written by
NATHAN BAIRD
Central Catholic's baseball lineup on Wednesday included five returning state championship starters, some with multiple rings from multiple sports.

Yet it was a sophomore with 21 innings of varsity experience who took the mound in the Knights' bid to split a Hoosier Conference series with West Lafayette.

Lucas Richardson met the challenge, throwing a four-hit shutout and leading Class A No. 1 Central Catholic to a 2-0 victory over 3A No. 6 West Lafayette at Leming Field.

"With (Austin) Munn throwing yesterday, it was definitely a little bit of pressure," said Richardson, who walked three and struck out seven. "But I just went out there and did my job, throwing strikes."

Richardson (2-0) confessed to experiencing early jitters, as he walked the first two Red Devil hitters. But he didn't allow a hit until Brahm Bea's two-out single in the fourth, and West Lafayette didn't advance a runner past second base until the seventh inning.

Richardson threw a two-hit shutout against Tri-County in his other start this season.

"He's really poised for a sophomore," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "He was around the plate all night, and the defense made the plays behind him."

Nick Moody's six-hit shutout led West Lafayette (5-2, 1-1 Hoosier Conference) to a 4-0 home victory on Tuesday.

Miami of Ohio recruit Brian Ghiselli (1-1) threw a five-hitter, walked one and struck out eight. But the Red Devils never put together two hits in an inning to support him.

"That's the worst I've seen us hit all year, and there's really no explanation for that," said Bea, who provided two of West Side's four hits. "We've just got to go back out hard to practice tomorrow and work."

CC's Nick Stone led off the bottom of the first with a single. Ghiselli fielded Mitch Witteveen's sacrifice bunt attempt, but the umpire ruled his high throw to second pulled Brandon Cebulla off the base. One out later, Andrew Hubertz's high-chop single to left field made it 1-0.

Evan Kennedy doubled on an 0-2 pitching leading off the fourth and eventually scored on Cowan Olinger's sacrifice fly. The Knights (6-1, 1-1) had gone 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in Tuesday's loss.

West Lafayette was 0-for-7 in the same situations on Wednesday.

"For whatever reason, I guess I didn't have us prepared today, because they wanted it more," WL coach Joel Strode said.

"They were more into the game than we were, they were tougher than we were, they were smarter than we were, and we've got to get better. We've got to get to that level."

Richardson said he noticed early that the home plate umpire's zone allowed for strikes low and on the corners, and he tried to use that to his advantage.

Moody's pinch-hit double leading off the top of the seventh sparked the West Lafayette dugout. But Richardson responded by forcing a groundout, a pop-up to left and another groundout to end the game.