ENGINE ENGINE NO. 9
Corona settles into ninth spot in batting order, powers Crown Point past Hobart for sectional title
Matt Corona has hit throughout Crown Point’s lineup this season.
But the senior second baseman has settled in nicely into the No. 9 spot.
“He seems a little bit more comfortable in the nine hole,” coach Steve Strayer said. “And he’s a really good base runner, so it kind of leads into the top of the lineup. “He’s a really good fit there.”
Corona showed his comfort and fit during Monday’s Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional championship game against Hobart.
He went 1-for-2 with a home run, a walk and four RBIs as the Bulldogs topped the Brickies 12-2 in five innings.
Corona had a three-run homer to left-center in the second inning and drove in another run with a fielder’s choice groundout in the fifth.
“We went full count — I was battling with two strikes,” Corona said when asked about his homer. “I was looking for my fastball and I got it.
“I feel more calm (hitting ninth). There’s less pressure on me. I’m able to come through.”
Corona has a team-high three homers this spring for Crown Point (18-11).
“He has a little pop to his swing,” Strayer said. “He’s one of them who has to stay in on the ball, and he did a good job of that on that pitch. He didn’t pull off on it.”
Crown Point scored five runs in the second and added five more in the fourth against Hobart (19-10).
During the regular season, the Brickies beat the Bulldogs 6-0 on May 13 behind pitcher Cam Gonzalez.
“That mentally helped us a little bit because we knew what we were going to face,” Strayer said. “We came through. … We weren’t awesome, but we did a good job.
“We knew Gonzalez was probably going to throw against us and we came out with a plan. We stuck to it, and it got us a big win offensively.”
Blake Sabau had a two-run homer in the fourth for Crown Point. Gabe Stout went 2-for-2 with a run-scoring single and a walk. Johnny Johnson drove in runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.
Stout also picked up the pitching win. The Indiana Wesleyan recruit allowed the two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
“He has good stuff,” Strayer said of Stout. “He wasn’t locating like he normally does. We’re going to try to figure out that too. But he did a nice job.”
First-year Hobart coach Trent Howard credited the Bulldogs.
“Crown Point was really aggressive at the plate,” Howard said. “They got some good pitches to hit and they did a good job at the plate. They put the pressure on us and they earned it.
“I was telling our guys, we made a couple of mistakes, but overall we played really well. It just wasn’t our day.”
Sophomore outfielder Jevan Andrews went 2-for-2 with a walk and three stolen bases. He scored both of Hobart’s runs.
Andrews is emblematic of the Brickies’ roster. Howard noted of their 23 players, eight are freshmen, seven are sophomores and only three are seniors, praising that class for its leadership.
“I don’t think anybody really gave us a chance to be anything better than .500 this year,” Howard said. “… The future’s bright because it’s not just that we have young talent.
“We have young guys who want to learn, who want to work hard, who want to get better. When you have that as a coach, you can’t help but be excited.”
By winning its first sectional championship since 2019, Crown Point advances to the semifinals of Saturday’s LaPorte Regional.
“We have more in the tank,” Strayer said. “We had a lot of mistakes that we cannot make, especially base running. We kind of space out sometimes. We have to correct that.
“We’re getting better, though.”