EVANSVILLE — In the top of the seventh inning of Saturday night’s Class 4A Evansville Reitz Regional final at Bosse Field, the Jeffersonville baseball team fought hard to keep its state championship hopes alive.

Trailing 9-6, the Red Devils rallied with three runs to deadlock the game at nine, forcing New Palestine to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

But with one swing of the bat, Jeff’s championship aspirations all of a sudden came to a crushing end.

With two out and a runner on first base in the bottom half, Dragons’ senior Jacob Barnes blasted a pitch from Red Devil relief pitcher Mark Meyer over the left-field wall for a two-run walk-off home run to give the Dragons an 11-9 victory. New Palestine (25-6), which won its fifth regional title and its first as a Class 4A team, will face Indianapolis Roncalli (22-8-1) in the Class 4A semistate at either Plainfield or Jasper next Saturday.

“I hate to see a walk-off,” Jeff interim head coach Lonnie Oldham said. “It just hurts because we were focused on winning the whole thing.”

Before Barnes’ game-winner, the Red Devils (19-8) overcame a deficit for the second time in the contest in the top of the seventh.

Jeff senior Chanse Oliver led off the inning by drawing a walk against Dragon reliever Ryan Evans, followed by a Dalton Conway single to center.

After New Palestine head coach Shawn Lyons pulled Evans for senior Reid Clark, who returned to the mound after starting for the Dragons, junior catcher Isaac Crafton smacked a double to left-center field to drive in Oliver to cut the Red Devils’ deficit to 9-7.

The New Palestine lead shrunk to 9-8 when Jeff shortstop Drew Ellis plated Conway with a sacrifice fly to left. After Red Devil junior Trent Astle grounded out to the pitcher, teammate Josh Burke knocked an opposite-field base hit to right to drive in Crafton from second and tie the game at nine.

“We got the leadoff guys on and Pudge (Crafton’s nickname) got up there and got a nice hit. Then Burke hits a nice single,” Oldham said. “My hats off to them, but we played hard and kept coming back.”

The two things that hurt the Red Devils the most on Saturday night were walks and errors.

The Jeff pitching staff walked seven Dragons, while Red Devil fielders committed two errors.

Jeff starting pitcher Nick Gallagher yielded four walks in three innings of work, as he gave up four runs (none earned) on three hits. Gallagher struck out three.

Jeff’s Aaron Wenger, who relieved Gallagher in the fourth, did not fare much better. In one-plus inning, Wenger surrendered five runs (two earned) on three walks and five hits.

As for the errors, the Red Devils’ first miscue came in New Palestine’s four-run third where it took a 4-2 lead. Jeff’s second error came in the fourth, helping the Dragons score three two-out runs. The seven New Palestine runs in the third and fourth combined were all unearned.

“I felt we had the better team. But you can’t make mental mistakes if you are going to win ballgames,” Oldham said. “With us walking so many guys, it’s hard to win ballgames.”

Crafton went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Conway and Ellis each went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Ellis had three RBIs and smacked a two-out solo homer over the left-field wall in the top of the first for Jeff’s first score. Gallagher wound up going 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Despite surrendering the walk-off blast, Meyer had a solid night in his three innings of relief. He gave up two runs (both earned) on three hits with one strikeout and no walks.

The Red Devils say goodbye to five seniors in Conway, Oliver, Wenger, Marcus Gray and Charlie Garwood. Jeff expects to return several key players next season, which should make expectations even higher for the 2013 campaign.

But Oldham would not speculate about the Red Devils’ future after Saturday’s regional.

“There is obviously a good core group of players. But I hate thinking about next year right now,” Oldham said.

Oldham, the Jeff High head football coach, took the helm of the Red Devil baseball team shortly after former head coach Matthew Rigsby resigned on May 14.

Despite Saturday’s regional final setback, Oldham enjoyed his time as the Jeff manager.

“It was a fun ride,” Oldham said.



SEMIFINAL

• Red Devils down Cougars: Jeff advanced to the regional final by avenging a regular-season loss to Bloomington North in the semifinals, 3-2. The Cougars defeated the Red Devils on May 19 at Don Poole Field, 6-5.

After the Cougars (18-10-1) scored in the top of the first, Jeff tied the game in the bottom half. With a runner on second with two out, Astle drilled an RBI single into center to plate Ellis.

Jeff took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. After North got the first two batters out, Oliver and Conway collected back-to-back singles. Then Crafton launched a double into the left-center gap to drive in Oliver and Conway to put the Red Devils up 3-1.

North got within one run in the top of the sixth when senior catcher Brice Stratton drilled a one-out solo homer off Astle, the Red Devils’ starter, over the left-field wall.

The Cougars threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh, as leadoff batter Tyler Hurt advanced to third with two out. But Astle forced North’s Blake Richardson to ground out to second, enabling Jeff to advance to the regional final.

It was another solid postseason outing for Astle. The junior left-hander collected his third victory in the state tournament in the complete-game effort. Astle allowed two earned runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts, two walks and one hit batsman.

Oldham credited Jeff pitching coach P.J. Thomas for getting the Red Devils’ ace ready for the regional opener.

“P.J. challenged him and got the best out of him,” Oldham said. “P.J. has a lot of confidence in him. The kids rallied around (Astle).”

Crafton ended up 2-for-2 with two RBIs, while Astle was 2-for-3 with an RBI.



CHAMPIONSHIP

JEFF    200 400 3— 9 12 2

NEW PAL    004 320 2—11 11 3

    W — Clark (7-2). L — Meyer (3-3). 2B — Crafton (J), Ellis (J), Al. Rejer (NP). HR — Ellis (J), Barnes (NP).

    Records — Jeffersonville 19-8, New Palestine 25-6.



SEMIFINAL

BL. NORTH    100 001 0—2 5 0

JEFF    100 020 x—3 7 0

    W — Astle (7-3). L — Stratten (6-3). 2B — Hurt (BN), Crafton (J). HR — Stratton (BN).

    Records — Jeffersonville 19-7, Bloomington North 18-10-1.