Nick & media coverage

Scoreboard on April 27: wlfi.com

McCutcheon baseball shuts down Knights

Written by
NATHAN BAIRD
On paper, McCutcheon pitcher Jordan Young gets credit for the shutout in Friday's 7-0 victory over Class A No. 1 Central Catholic at Leming Field.

Yet the sophomore shared the execution of his five-hitter with his teammates, and was quick to share the credit as well.

"I wasn't trying to strike anybody out," said Young, who walked two (one intentionally) and struck out three. "All I was trying to do was get some ground balls for the infield and just keep everybody off base."

The Mavericks (13-3) won their seventh straight while snapping Central Catholic's seven-game winning streak.

Young (2-1) stranded seven Knights on the bases, including five in scoring position, and allowed only two runners beyond second base. When Central Catholic (12-2) did put runners on, Young relied on his defense, recording 13 outs via ground balls or pop flies on the infield.

Among the highlights were second baseman Kaleb Waller stopping Andrew Hubertz's hard shot in the second inning and shortstop Zach Tippy's diving stab of Jake Churchill's line drive in the fifth.

"He has a good two-seam fastball that kind of sinks in, so he gets a lot of ground balls," said McCutcheon catcher Cody Strong, who doubled twice and scored three runs. "He throws a lot of strikes, which helps out a lot. The defense is always in it."

McCutcheon led 1-0 in the third when Young encountered a two-on, two-out situation. After a wild pitch left first base open, the Mavericks chose to intentionally walk CC No. 3 hitter Austin Munn to pitch to sophomore cleanup hitter Evan Kennedy.

Kennedy lined out to left field to end the threat. In the top of the fourth, Strong's two-run double and a pair of CC errors keyed a three-run inning that gave the Mavericks some breathing room.

The Knights left two more runners on in the fourth and finished the game 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

"We've still got to be tough and keep working," said CC junior center fielder Cowan Olinger, who had two of the team's five hits. "We were hitting the ball well; we just didn't string enough hits together. Our approach wasn't bad tonight, but I think it could be a little better. They just made plays."

Justin Curry went 3-for-4 for the Mavericks, and Austin Kiracofe went 2-for-4 in his first game back from suspension. McCutcheon piled up 11 hits without usual No. 3 hitter Hank Gray, who broke a bone in his hand when hit by a pitch against Harrison on Thursday and could be out a month.

After losing to West Lafayette earlier this season, McCutcheon is now 5-1 against county rivals.

"I played with Austin and Dalton (Skees, CC's second baseman) for a lot of my life," Strong said. "It's big rivalry. It's good to get out here and get a win."

Central Catholic 2, Rensselaer 1

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STAFF REPORTS

Austin Munn fought his control, issuing seven walks, but when he was in the strike zone he was nearly untouchable. Munn struck out 15 and allowed two hits, both to Jay Resendez.

Stone went 2-for-3 against Rensselaer's Jake West, who allowed five hits and struck out five.

Nick had doubled in the winning run in the 6th inning after being down 1-0 going to the 6th.

Central Catholic 4 Rensselaer 3

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STAFF REPORTS

The Class A No. 1 Knights rallied from three runs down to score four times in the fifth inning.

CC had just four hits, one apiece from Cowan Olinger, Austin Munn, Evan Kennedy and Jake Churchill.

Florida sunshine lures Central Catholic's Munn to Ave Maria

Written by
NATHAN BAIRD

Central Catholic senior Austin Munn was waiting out another dreary Indiana winter when he took a visit to Ave Maria (Fla.) University in January.

When he got there, it was 82 degrees and the baseball team was already playing. That helped sell the Knights pitcher and outfielder on the NAIA program, with which he officially signed a letter of intent on Tuesday.

"They play from Day 1 when you get on campus," said Munn, the reigning Journal & Courier Small School Player of the Year. "It felt right. I feel it's going to be a fun time and a good experience all around."

Munn has started for each of Central Catholic's three consecutive Class A baseball state champions. He also played on three straight football state champions, starting at quarterback for the past two.

As a junior, Munn batted .360 with five home runs and 32 RBIs and finished 9-1 with an 0.77 ERA. So far this season Munn is batting .371 with four doubles and nine runs and is 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA.

"He throws easy, and I think he'll be able to hone in on his mechanics by only playing baseball year-round," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "His potential as a pitcher is definitely there to grow at the next level. He's not done maturing physically, either. When his body fills out, that will help him even more as a pitcher."

Munn, who also considered Franklin, Wabash, Manchester and Parkland, among others, is looking forward to remaining a two-way player.

"Last year I kind of thought I'd just be pitcher and started to focus more on that," said Munn, an outfielder when he's not on the mound. "The way the year went with my hitting and pitching, I wanted to do both, because I didn't want to stop hitting altogether."

ADVERTISEMENT Stone's three homers help Central Catholic breeze

Written by
NATHAN BAIRD

CHALMERS -- Central Catholic senior Nick Stone stepped off the bus at Frontier on Monday afternoon and into an interesting dilemma.

The wind howling out toward the short outfield dimensions could have made his job as a starting pitcher tougher. But he also had that breeze at his back when he stepped to the plate.

Stone led off the game with a wind-aided home run, then added two more homers in Class A No. 1 Central Catholic's 16-4 victory at No. 3 Frontier.

"All three of them I kind of thought, oh, this might not get out," said Stone, who said he'd never hit three home runs in a game at any level. "The third one, it was a line drive. I thought it might hit off the wall, but it still got out. It felt good."

On Tanner Hayden's second pitch of the game, Stone hit what would be a routine fly ball in most parks. It dropped over the center field fence for his first home run of the season, but he wasn't done.

Stone was the ninth of 11 Knights to bat in the third inning, and he connected on a 2-0 pitch from Frontier reliever Kyle Whitlow for a grand slam to center. He hit a two-run home run off Whitlow in the fifth to left-center, when CC again sent 11 men to the plate.

"The good hitters don't change their approach," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "No matter where you're playing, you just try to hit the ball hard, square it up, hit it back up the middle. Nick did that today, and fortunately the wind carried a couple of them out of here."

Frontier (10-4) played without top hitter and starting shortstop Brandon Gallinger, who suffered a broken right hand on Saturday. Falcons coach Ryan Long said the sophomore is expected to miss two weeks.

Long was less concerned about the home runs than he was about the sloppy play that extended some CC innings.

"They're a good team, and you have to come out and put your best foot forward to beat them," Long said. "We were poor defensively; that, to me was the most disappointing part. Defensively we need to be a lot cleaner."

Central Catholic junior Jake Churchill, who had battled back problems all spring, made his season debut at shortstop. He did not bat, but fellow returning starters Austin Munn (3-for-4, one run), Evan Kennedy (2-for-3, RBI double, two runs) and Andrew Hubertz (2-for-3, two RBIs, two runs) helped Stone fuel the offense.

Kyle Whitlow homered for Frontier, which managed just three hits. Stone (2-0) struck out seven.

"You always want to keep the ball down," Stone said. "It doesn't matter where you're playing, what wind you've got, what weather, anything. I just try to come out here and throw my game."

Cronk, DeBoy lead No. 1 Central Catholic

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STAFF REPORTS

Hayes Cronk (3-0) gave up just three hits and one unearned run during a complete game victory Friday night as Class A No. 1 Central Catholic topped Eastern 4-1 at Leming Field.

The Knights (9-1) took the lead on Ryan DeBoy's two-run single in the third inning. Wiley Lodde supplied an insurance run in the fifth with an RBI single.

Central Catholic 17 Twin Lakes 4

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STAFF REPORTS

MONTICELLO -- Evan Kennedy had a monster night at the plate, and the Class A No. 1 Knights scored five in the first and nine in the seventh to secure a Hoosier Conference sweep.

Kennedy went 5-for-5 with three doubles, two home runs, four runs scored and five RBIs. Andrew Hubertz went 2-for-5 and drove in two runs for CC (8-1, 3-1 Hoosier Conference). Mitch Witteveen went 2-for-2 and Cowan Olinger added two RBIs.

CC's Lucas Richardson allowed his first earned runs of the season but improved to 3-0. Jordan Crabb went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for Twin Lakes (1-7, 0-2).

Central Catholic 6, Twin Lakes 5

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STAFF REPORTS

Evan Kennedy singled home Austin Munn in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete a comeback by Class A No. 1 Central Catholic (7-1, 2-1 Hoosier Conference).

Twin Lakes (1-6) jumped ahead on Jordan Crabb's grand Slam in the first inning off Munn. With one out in the seventh, Munn doubled off Crabb to set up Kennedy's game-winner.

More rain!!! LOL

We are rained out again tonight at Frontier. This game is rescheduled for next Monday!!! Nick is still scheduled to start but will do some relief work this week.

Rain, rain, then some rain!

Sorry folks, we got rained out last night vs Lafayette Jeff!!!

Nick starting on the mound?

Nick has only pitched a couple of innings thus far this year due to tendonitis in his elbow. Coach says his arm is now fine & he is good to go on Monday vs #2 ranked class A rival Frontier at Frontier. Good luck Big Guy!!!

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.

West Lafayette pitcher shuts out No. 1 Central Catholic

Tuesday, April 10 scores: wlfi.com

Written by
NATHAN BAIRD
Nick Moody was not on the field for West Lafayette football and boys basketball losses to Central Catholic earlier this school year.

Those heartbreakers still inspired the senior pitcher as he took the mound for the rivals' baseball meeting on Tuesday.

"I think it fueled the people that played more, but it definitely trickled down," Moody said. "The rivalry's always there. It's intense, and we're going to treat it the same no matter who wins in another sport."

Moody threw a six-hit shutout, and the Class 3A No. 6 Red Devils backed him with clutch two-out execution in a 4-0 victory over Class A No. 1 Central Catholic at Bob Friend Field.

West Lafayette (5-1) opened defense of its Hoosier Conference championship by handing the Knights (5-1) their first loss.

"It definitely makes the games even more intense than they were before," WL senior catcher Thomas Fisher said. "It's big. In future seasons, them being in the conference is going to make this rivalry a tradition for a long time."

The game set up as a pitchers duel between Moody and Austin Munn, CC's No. 1 pitcher and the reigning Journal & Courier Small School Player of the Year.

Munn struck out the first two batters he faced in the third inning before Fisher hit a line drive to center that was misplayed into a triple. Fisher scored on Parker Rhoads' infield single. Rhoads stole second and scored when Brian Bangs grounded a single through the left side.

In the fourth, Munn again struck out the first two Red Devils before Moody reached on an error. Brody Forbes' bloop single and Thomas Deranek's base hit to left pushed Moody across to make it 3-0.

"That's baseball," said CC sophomore shortstop Mitch Witteveen, who went 2-for-3. "You've got to play through. If you get a bad hop, that's all right, you've got to play through it."

Central Catholic could never find that clutch hit against Moody. The Knights' best chance came in the fourth inning, when Munn led off with a double and Andrew Hubertz reached on a bad-hop single off the lip of the grass in front of shortstop.

One out later, Ryan DeBoy's hard-hit ball to the right side struck Hubertz, who was called out. The dead ball situation meant Munn had to stay at second base. Moody struck Wiley Lodde out to end the inning.

"We had some early opportunities in a couple of innings to score and just didn't execute," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "I thought we competed all right at the plate, hit a couple of balls right at them. Moody does a nice job. He mixed pitches well and their defense made the plays."

Moody (2-0) struck out seven and didn't walk a batter in an efficient 85-pitch outing. Fisher said Moody's fastball was not as effective as usual, so the battery instead relied on off-speed offerings and curveballs. CC advanced only one runner past second base and none after the second inning.

Munn (2-1) struck out eight and walked one. The teams play again today, this time at CC's Leming Field.

"I always enjoy playing them," Moody said. "It's always a good game; it's always very competitive. Whenever you can get another game on your schedule like that it's a good thing."

Mondays baseball scores

High school baseball:

Benton Central 6/Lafayette Jeff 5

O'Malley (BC): 3-4

West Lafayette 6/Logansport 3

Domondon (WL): winning pitcher

Frankfort 11/Delphi 10

Lopez (f): 2-run homer

North White 2/Twin Lakes 0

Buschman/Lowry (NW): 5-hit shutout

West Central 6/LaCrosse 2

Central Catholic 7 Carroll 2

Central Catholic 7
Carroll 2

Filed Under
Sports
High School Sports

Andrew Hubertz went 3-for-3 with three RBIs to lead Class A No. 1 CC.

Hayes Cronk struck out four and Ryan DeBoy scored three runs for the Knights (5-0).

It appeared as in the newspaper that Nick closed out the 7th inning & had a double, a complete box score was not given.

CC 7 Harrison 2

CC vs Harrison video highlights!!!


Written by
NATHAN BAIRD

After Harrison's Nick Leuck laced a triple off the base of the right field wall in the third inning on Tuesday, Central Catholic pitcher Austin Munn resolved to stay away from the middle of the plate.

Sometimes that nibbling backfired; the senior right-hander walked seven Raiders. But he also didn't allow a hit after that triple and struck out eight in the Class A No. 1 Knights' 7-2 victory at Harrison.

"After that hit I was kind of like, well, if I'm going to keep throwing it over the plate like that they're going to keep doing that," Munn said. "I tried to spot up, make my pitches. Wiley (Lodde, CC's catcher) did a great job back there. I knew my defense was behind me and everything worked out."

Harrison, playing its season opener, chased Munn in the bottom of the seventh. 

Joe Dinkel greeted reliever Andrew Hubertz with an RBI single, but Hubertz responded with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.

"We need to work on our offense," said Leuck, a senior who took the pitching loss. "Our defense was pretty tight, except for a few. But our hitting needs to get going from the start instead of getting down and then coming back."

Munn walked Dinkel to open the game, setting the tone for a game that featured 14 free passes and 255 pitches. He walked at least one batter in every inning except the second, when Leuck tripled home Evan Tislow, who had singled.

Yet Munn also shut down the middle of the Raiders order, holding the Nos. 3-6 hitters to an 0-for-10 day with four strikeouts.

"I definitely try not to go out there and walk people, and I try to throw strikes," Munn said. "But I don't want people hitting triples on me every game. I kind of keep it in my back pocket that I try to hit my spots. I'm always trying to throw strikes and get my team back in the dugout to hit."

Dalton Skees and Nick Stone provided two-out, two-run singles in the second inning. Central Catholic never trailed while improving to 4-0.

"We knew once we were up they weren't going to come back," said Stone, who also reached on a two-out bunt single in the fourth and later scored on a wild pitch. "After that first inning (Munn) was just dealing up there."
 

# 1Central Catholic 1 #7 Tri-County 0

Since the JCOnline does not have a story on our game nor does WLFI.com, I found the story in the J&C newspaper and have now retyped it.

By J&C:

A passed ball decided a pitchers duel between Central Catholics Lucas Richardson & Tri-County's ace Riley Benner.

Nick Stone scored on a passed ball in the 6th inning for the class A top ranked Knights (3-0). Stone had one of CC's 3 hits off Benner.

Richardson pitched a 2 hitter with 6 strike outs, Benner fanned 14 for class A #7 Tri-County in its opener.