Elkhart Baseball Sectional: Central, Penn Earn Semi Wins
ELKHART – Jake Shreiner capped a long day by being the second sectional hero for Elkhart Central Saturday.
Shriner’s one-out RBI single in the home half of the final inning lifted his team past Elkhart Memorial 2-1 in semifinal action of the Class 4-A Elkhart Memorial Sectional.
Central, which had outlasted Warsaw 4-3 in 10 innings earlier in the day on Saturday, advances to play Penn Monday in the title game at 11 a.m. at Memorial.
Penn defeated Goshen 10-6 in the first semifinal game Saturday, which was played following the Warsaw-Central first-round game which was postponed by rain Friday night.
Shreiner’s single scored pinch runner Adam Moon to send Central into the championship contest. Jake Dempsey started the final frame with a walk for the Blue Blazers. Jared Miller’s sacrifice bunt sent Moon to second and he reached third on a passed ball. Memorial then opted to intentionally walk the No. 2 and 3 hitters for Central, setting the stage for Shriner’s heroics.
Shreiner also worked the first four innings on the mound for Central. Miller pitched the final three innings in relief to collect his second win of the day, both in relief. Miller also smacked the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the tenth frame to beat Warsaw earlier.
Memorial outhit Central 4-3, but left 11 runners on base in the loss. The hosts stranded six baserunners in scoring position in the game.
Memorial pitcher Matt Kloss allowed just the three hits, but had six walks and hit three batters.
Central improves to 17-11, while Memorial finishes its season at 13-14.
Nolan Metcalf drove in three runs and Trevor Waite had three hits and three runs scored as Penn topped Goshen in the first semifinal game.
Ryan Lau also had three hits for the Kingsmen, who had 14 hits (all singles) in the win. Penn, which will shoot for its fourth straight sectional crown and 15th in the last 17 years on Monday, sits at 23-6.
Michael Pinarski had two RBI and Austin Bontrager scored two runs to lead Goshen. Tyler Colpitts took the pitching loss for the RedHawks, who finish at 21-9.