Kennedy, Stone lead No. 1 Central Catholic to share of Hoosier Conference baseball title

Written by
JEFF WASHBURN
OXFORD — Thanks to sophomore designated hitter Evan Kennedy and senior right-handed pitcher Nick Stone, Class A’s top-ranked Central Catholic eliminated any mystery about the Hoosier Conference baseball championship’s outcome Wednesday night at Benton Central.

Kennedy had a run-scoring single in the top of the first at Snodgrass Field and added a two-run, second-inning single to establish the early momentum in the Knights’ 8-2 victory against the Bison. Benton Central was limited to five hits by the hard-throwing Stone (6-1).

Coupled with Class 3A West Lafayette’s victory against Twin Lakes, Central Catholic and WL share the league crown, each at 11-1. The Tippecanoe County rivals split their two-game series in April.

In this week’s two-game sweep of Benton Central (13-11, 7-5), Kennedy was 5-for-7 with three runs and six RBIs from the cleanup spot. CC was 24-for-56 with 20 runs in 14 innings against the Bison.

Kennedy’s early offense staked Stone to a 5-2 lead, and the pitcher tossed six shutout innings, allowing three singles, the rest of the way for CC’s 11th consecutive victory.

“We were trying not to hit pop flys,” Kennedy said. “Anybody can catch pop flys. We were trying to hit line drives and groundballs. That worked out for us. It was important to get those early runs for Nick so that he could just go out there and pitch with the lead.

“It’s great to win the conference when people were calling us 1A. We can compete with Class 3A teams. It’s really significant to win the conference. It was a good series for me.”

CC coach Tim Bordenet, whose team was a member of the Hoosier Heartland Conference until this school year, looks forward to coaching Kennedy for two more seasons.

“I might just want to stay away,” Bordenet said. “I don’t want to mess him up. He takes a good approach and doesn’t overswing. He hits the ball where it’s pitched. He has great balance in there. He is an extremely hard worker.

“Of anybody we had in the offseason, no one outworked Evan in the weight room or in the batting cage. He is just coming into his own. He had a great series and is one of the big reasons we were able to win the conference this year.”

The Knights (23-2) had five successful sacrifice bunts, helping them score in five of the seven innings.

Martin's Moments/Plays of the week

Nick earns play of the week with his batting performance against #3 Frontier. He had 3 HR's, a grand slam, a game lead off HR, and a 2 run shot. Also threw a 3 hitter against Frontier.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - This week in Martin's Moment I chose two great defensive plays from the softball field and a grand slam from the baseball field.

It was once again a tough week to make a decision on the plays at the two and three spots. At number three, I selected the catch by Central Catholic's Alex Haan. She gave an incredible effort on the play and made the catch look easy. I decided to give the second play this week to Frontier's Kattie Lee. I thought the hustle by Lee and the focus she showed to turn the non traditional double play at second earned her the second best play this week. It was really a toss up though for me, maybe just consider it a tie.

The number one play this week was an easy decision for me though. Central Catholic's Nick Stone just had one of those games that doesn't come around often. He had a grand slam and a total of three homeruns in the Knights 16-4 win over number two Frontier. Stone also added 7 RBI's and struck out 7 batters on the mound! I was impressed!

Martin's Moments April 29: wlfi.com

Nicks 3 HR's vs #3 Frontier & his 3 hit pitching win!

Monday, April 23 scores: wlfi.com

Early season interview

The Knights are ready to defend Class A State Championship

The Knights are ready to defend Class A State Championship: wlfi.com

Ross Bolin

LAFAYETTE, Indiana (WLFI) - The Central Catholic baseball team has already begun the 2012 season. The Knights are off to a 2-0 start and have high hopes for 2012. Six Central Catholic seniors hope to finish their high school careers with 4 straight Class A State Championships.

"That's our goal, it's our number one goal and has been for quite a while. These seniors, that is all they have known so we have a long way to go before we even think about that but we are off to a good start and I know the kids are really hungry to get going," said head coach Tim Bordenet.

The Knights have always relied on pitching and defense on their way to 5 State Championships. CC has another good 1-2 punch on the mound this season with seniors Austin Munn and Nick Stone.

"We worked all off-season, the day after State some of us even got in the weight room and started lifting so I mean we are definitely looking forward to getting back to Victory Field. I know I talked to Austin a little bit and we don't see it happening any other way. We don't see ourselves losing anywhere, we just see another state title and another trophy coming home," said senior Nick Stone.

Lofty expectations have been developed at CC which is a result of the Knights playing in 5 State Championship games since 2004. In those 5 appearances, the Knights are 5-0.

"It's always our expectation to get back to Victory Field, we have a really good team with a lot of starters coming back so I mean every day we are just going out and getting better and trying to get back to Victory Field like the last three years," said senior Austin Munn.

No. 1 Central Catholic off to baseball semistate after Stone, Munn spark 18-3 romp

IHSSA Tournament Scoreboard: wlfi.com

Written by
JEFF WASHBURN
Seniors Nick Stone and Austin Munn of Class A No. 1 Central Catholic will never forget their final baseball game at Gordon Leming Field.

Stone and Munn, who never have lost a postseason game, combined to go 6-for-9, including three home runs, a double and eight RBIs, in the Knights’ 18-3 mauling of Daleville in Saturday night’s regional championship game.

Gunning for a fourth consecutive state championship, Central Catholic (29-4) advances to semistate play on June 9 against Fort Wayne Blackhawk at a site to be determined. Shakamak and South Central (Elizabeth) are in the South semistate.

Now 24-0 in their IHSAA state tournament careers, Stone and Munn helped the Knights post innings of three, two, two, five and six runs against losing pitcher Drew Nuce, who allowed 16 hits in 61/3 innings.

“It definitely felt good, but it’s kind of a bittersweet thing,” said Stone, who was 3-for-4 with five RBIs, including a pair of home runs. “We want to keep going, but playing on this field has been such a great experience.

“Once it started getting dark, I actually had a little trouble seeing the ball. It’s hard not to get pumped up for the regional. It was neat to walk out of here with this victory. It’s something we’re kind of used to, but we definitely don’t overlook any games.”

Munn homered on the game’s first pitch and was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Winning pitcher Andrew Hubertz was 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

“A regional win, at home and this big, especially playing some of our best baseball was all there tonight,” Munn said. “It has been a fun ride. It was the best way we could have ended our home season. Nick played really well and pitched really well. Everything was rolling for us tonight.”

CC led 7-0 before Daleville (17-13) chased starting pitcher Stone with a three-run fourth. The Knights then scored the game’s final 11 runs.

“We had good swings,” CC coach Tim Bordenet said. “Our guys were aggressive, laid off bad pitches and looked for a pitch they could handle. We hit the ball up and down the lineup about as well as we could have tonight.

“We talked before the game about this being their last home game, and those two seniors especially have played a huge role in our success the last four years. For them to go out like they did tonight in their last game at Leming Field was special to watch.”

In the Saturday morning game, Munn and sophomore right-hander Hayes Cronk combined on a five-inning no-hitter in Central Catholic’s 10-0 victory against Turkey Run (10-18).

Third baseman Hubertz was 3-for-3, including a two-run home run, and right fielder Stone was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Pinch hitter Nathan Lippai’s home run with one out in the bottom of the fifth ended the game by the 10-run lead rule.

CC second baseman Dalton Skees added a pair of singles and scored a run. The Knight scored three in the first and extended their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second against losing pitcher Schuyler Jeffers.