BY GREG MENGELT
Greg.Mengelt@newsandtribune.com
PENDLETON —
New Albany’s 11-12-year-old All-Star baseball team continued its dominance of the state tournament with a 6-1 win over Evansville Golfmoor in the semifinal at Pendleton Little League on Thursday.
New Albany, which has now outscored its opponents 50-5 in five games at the state finals, will face Terre Haute North at 7 tonight for the state crown with a berth in the Great Lakes Regional on the line.
“I knew we had a chance to (get to the title game) the way we’ve been playing,” New Albany coach John Striegel said. “I could see us being here.”
New Albany got there with strong pitching and defense and a good start — its modus operandi in the tournament — against Golfmoor.
Before Golfmoor even had a chance to bat, New Albany jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Ricky West opened the contest with an infield single. After he stole a base, he went to third base on a Matt Sogge groundout. Then West scored on a wild pitch with two outs.
After pitcher A.J. Nixon retired Golfmoor in the bottom of the first, New Albany struck with two more in the second inning. Cal White drew a one-out walk, followed by a Justin Striegel double.
A Cody Ogden sacrifice fly scored pinch runner Luke Eskins, then Striegel scored on a passed ball.
“We’ve done that all year,” Striegel said of his team’s early lead. “This is the 10th (of 11) games that we’ve been visitors, and we’ve said all along (being) visitors doesn’t bother us. We have enough sticks and we want to jump on (opponents early).”
Golfmoor broke into the scoring column against Nixon in the second, then neither team scored again until the sixth inning. New Albany went three innings with only one hit as Sogge singled for the second time in the third inning.
During those three innings, New Albany lived on the edge.
Twice Golfmoor loaded the bases, and once it had runners on second and third with one out.
The biggest defensive play of the night came in the third inning. Golfmoor loaded the bases with one out when Nixon induced Alex Stein into a groundball to third base.
Timmie Redford — New Albany’s third baseman — threw home to Ogden to get the first out. Ogden then fired to Sogge, who was covering third base for the frame’s final out.
“That was huge,” Coach Striegel said. “Oh, yeah, that was huge. Just getting the out at home plate was very critical. For Cody to be alert and see the kid didn’t take off from third immediately, that was even better.
“We played great defense. We’ve always been known for our defense.”
In the fifth, Golfmoor put runners on second and third with nobody out. Coach Striegel brought in West to pitch and secure the 3-1 lead. West struck out the first batter he faced, then induced a pop out and a groundout to White at first base to end the rally.
New Albany then added three insurance runs in the top of the sixth when Eskins came off the bench to blast a three-run home run over the left-field fence to give New Albany a 6-1 advantage.
“He’s hits bombs in practices all the time,” Coach Striegel said of one of two New Albany 11-year-olds. “We know he has it in him. He loves fastballs and he sat on one and drilled it.”
West pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to nail down the victory and earn a save. New Albany’s ace has tossed just 39 pitches during the tournament and is available for 85 pitches in tonight’s championship game.
“I really thought we would have to use him more, but the rest of our pitchers have come through,” Coach Striegel said. “They’ve all stepped up.”
The New Albany manager warned his team afterward of a premature celebration. He said he believes North is the best opponent his team will have faced to this point.
“They hit the ball very well,” Striegel said of North. “Probably as well as any team we’ve seen this year.”
