By KEVIN HARRIS
SEYMOUR — The New Albany Bulldogs know how it feels to get their hearts broken in the Class 4A sectional.
In each of the past three sectionals, New Albany’s season has come to an end on a walk-off hit.
But on Monday night at Owls Field, the Bulldogs decided that enough was enough.
No. 5 New Albany smacked four home runs, including three in a seven-run fourth inning, to down two-time defending sectional champion Jeffersonville in the 4A Seymour Sectional final, 13-4. The Bulldogs (25-4) advances to the Evansville North Regional on Saturday at Bosse Field, where they will face the Martinsville Sectional champion in the semifinals at noon EDT.
It was New Albany’s first sectional title since 2005 and its fifth this decade. The Bulldogs lost 1-0 to the Red Devils in eight innings in last year’s sectional final.
“I thought no matter what, I do not want to be in a situation in the bottom of the seventh with the game on the line,” Bulldog head coach Chris McIntyre said. “People think these (championships) fall off trees. They don’t understand how hard these are to win. These teams can flat out play some baseball.”
It also was the first sectional crown for the seven New Albany seniors.
“It’s great,” said Bulldog senior Graham Brown, who was 2-for-5 with four RBIs. “Both of my brothers got (sectional titles) in basketball, but this is the first one for me. We knew coming out we had to take care of business and we did.”
The Bulldogs’ first homer came in the opening inning. With one out and a runner on first base, senior Phil Forbis smacked an opposite-field, two-run shot off Jeff starter Hunter Tipton to put New Albany up 2-0. The ball traveled over the right-center field wall, right underneath the scoreboard.
In the next frame with the bases loaded and two out, Forbis hit an infield single to the third-base side to plate Taylor Klein from third.
Jeff (20-12) answered with a run in the second and three in the third to go up 4-3.
The momentum swung the Red Devils’ way in the third when senior Sam Burke launched a two-out solo homer to left to cut their deficit to 3-2. Shortly thereafter, Ryan Pierce smacked an RBI double into the left-field corner, and Jeremy Chesher collected an RBI single to give Jeff a one-run lead.
But New Albany quickly snagged the momentum back in the fourth.
After Tipton forced the first two batters to ground out, he walked the next three Bulldogs to load the bases.
Then Brown recorded the shot that put Jeff away.
On a 1-0 change-up, Brown pulled a grand slam that traveled just inside the left-field foul pole to give the Dogs a 7-4 advantage. Once Brown touched home plate, his teammates greeted him with a bunch of celebratory slaps on the helmet.
“Once I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Brown said. “It’s just a huge lift for our team. It got us right back into the game. Things like that really change a ballgame.”
But New Albany wasn’t finished.
After Tipton walked the Bulldogs’ Eric Burnett and was relieved by Jordin Marshall, New Albany catcher Simon Weber blasted a two-run homer to left, followed by a Klein solo shot to make the score 10-4.
Clutch two-out hits have been a common occurrence for the Bulldogs late in the season after they struggled to get those timely hits earlier in the year.
“That’s the mark of a great team,” Jeff head coach Al Rabe said. “Great teams do that — they score runs with two outs and they make things happen. That’s why they’ve won 25 games.”
Forbis wound up 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Weber was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while Klein went 2-for-4. Teammates Sean Godfrey and Nathan Poff scored three and two runs, respectively.
New Albany starter Jacob Jones upped his record to 6-0 with a complete-game effort. Of the four runs the senior allowed, one of them were earned. He surrendered six hits and one walk, struck out two and hit a batter.
Tipton suffered the loss. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up eight runs (all earned) on four hits with eight walks and four strikeouts.
The lackluster effort came after he tossed a two-hitter in last Thursday’s first-round victory over Floyd Central. Rabe did not hesitate bringing his ace back to the mound on three days rest.
“That’s what we were going to do,” the Red Devil skipper said. “But that’s something that we haven’t done during the course of the season, and you’re not going to do that during the course of the season. It’s hard to do.”
Chesher was the lone multihit Jeff player, going 2-for-2 with an RBI. The Red Devils lose 12 seniors, and Rabe lauded each of them after the game.
“They are great kids. They’ve been great assets to our baseball program, and I think they’re going to be great assets to the community of Jeffersonville,” Rabe said.
CLASS 4A SEYMOUR SECTIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
NEW ALBANY 210 700 3—13 10 3
JEFFERSONVILLE 013 000 0— 4 6 0
W — Jones (6-0). L — Tipton (7-3). 2B — Poff (N), Weber (N), Fertig (J), Pierce (J), Chesher (J). HR — Forbis (N), Brown (N), Weber (N), Klein (N), Burke (J).
Records — New Albany 25-4, Jeff 20-12.
