Majda closes out Kouts
Washington Township senior takes mound in 7th, strikes out side on 12 pitches
By Mike Hutton
Not many high school teams have a one-inning closer.
With Colin Majda, Washington Township is the exception. The Senators’ senior shortstop prefers to finish games.
Majda came into their game Friday and retired the top of Kouts’ order with strikeouts to preserve a 3-2 Porter County Conference victory.
The Mustangs (9-7, 3-3) were completely fooled by the off-speed stuff that Majda fed them. It took him just 12 pitches to seal the win for Washington Township (11-5, 6-0).
The wind was blowing fairly hard out to right field, and it was cold, so the hitters were struggling. Majda knew he had it before he hit the mound.
His curveball was dropping off a table in warmups.
Senior Cole Deardorff, who hit a two-run homer for the Mustangs’ only runs, struck out to end the game.
Majda was right where he expected to be. He finished it off for senior James Hernandez, who had an eventful but ultimately successful six-inning stint. Hernandez threw 113 pitches, according to Washington Township coach Randy Roberts. He finished with 12 strikeouts and two walks.
“I was ready,” Majda said. “I wanted to go in for James. I was prepared for this. My curveball just felt really good.”
Roberts, who isn’t easily impressed, said Majda was the highlight of the day. Otherwise, Roberts wasn’t happy with the
Senators’ performance. They finished with just two hits. Majda had a hit in the first inning, and sophomore James Kirk had the other hit in the fifth.
The Senators scored two runs in the first on Madja’s hit, two walks and a wild pitch. They scored the go-ahead run in the fourth on two walks, a hit batter and a dropped third strike.
“I’m happy to win, but I don’t know what it means,” Roberts said. “Win or lose, we have to get better based on how we played today.”
For Kouts, it was a test to see where the team stood against Washington Township, which made it to the Class A state championship game two years ago. Kouts is close.
After a rocky first inning, Deardorff was solid on the mound. He struck out eight and walked four.
Kouts coach James Tucker said Deardorff was making “big pitches when he needed to,” but there were times when Tucker felt like Deardorff wasn’t as aggressive as he could’ve been.
“To go from good to great, we are going to need a little more out of him,” Tucker said.
This was the first of three games between the teams. They will play each other in the opening round of the PCC Tournament and then meet again in the first round of the Washington Township Sectional.
Tucker said he believes Kouts can play with the Senators.
“There was plenty to learn from this,” he said. “We’re right there with them.”