Late rally sends Adams Central to sectional semi-final
With their season hanging in the balance, the Adams Central Jets scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Blackford Bruins 6-4 in the Class 2A Sectional 37 Baseball Quarter-finals on Wednesday night. The game was played at Blackford High School in Hartford City. Adams Central (16-8, 3-3 Allen County, 1-0 IHSAA) got off to an inauspicious start Wednesday. The Jets left the bases loaded in the top of the first, before conceding four runs in the latter half of the session. The bottom of the first began with Jets Pitcher Cade Van De Weg throwing consecutive walks to Ethan Morris and Brayden Teer. An error loaded the bases for Blackford (17-12, 3-4 Central Indiana, 0-1 IHSAA), before the Bruins opened the scoring on a walk drawn by Peyton James. Gage Baker then singled to drive in Teer. After Van De Weg struck out Max Bonewit for the first out of the inning, Mason Merkel laced a single into right field to score Landon Rogers- the beneficiary of the earlier error. Blackford concluded their first inning outburst by scoring a run on an error. After a scoreless second, Adams Central would slice the margin in half. Trevor Currie and Ryan Tester started the inning by drawing walks. Currie scored on a single from Ryan Black. A wild pitch allowed both Tester and Black to advance a base. Dakota Perry grounded out to second, but Black came in to make the score 4-2. The Jets kept the Bruins off the scoreboard in the bottom of the third with a one, two, three inning. The fast offensive start to the game gave way to a defensive struggle through the middle innings. Adams Central threatened in the fifth. Tester hit a one-out double to right field, but was left stranded at second. After a rough first inning, Van De Weg settled in nicely. He did not allow another run in his outing. Though Adams Central kept themselves in the contest defensively, they needed to wake up the offense. With three outs to rescue their season, the Jets did exactly that. Down by two at the beginning of the seventh, Van De Weg reached on an error. After Currie struck out, Tester doubled once more, sending Van De Weg to third and putting the tying run in scoring position. Black brought Van De Weg home with a single to left. The throw to the plate was tardy and Black advanced to second on the throw home while Tester scooted to third. With the deficit down to one, a defensive mistake would cause the rest of the lead to evaporate. Dakota Perry laid down a bunt, but the throw to first was off the mark. Both Tester and Black scored while Perry went to second, and the Jets were in front for the first time. Perry stopped at third on a base hit by Keegan Bluhm. Perry ultimately scored when Ethan Poling grounded into a fielder’s choice, putting Adams Central up 6-4. Logan Uhlman replaced Van De Weg on the mound in the sixth, and he inherited the responsibility of shutting down the Bruins in their half of the seventh and preserving the win. Having come all the way back, the Jets were determined to not let their newly acquired lead slip away. Rogers led off with a line drive that was caught by Center Fielder Jack Hamilton. James grounded out to Perry for the second out. Baker extended the game and brought the potential tying-run to the plate by drawing a walk. But the game would end during the next at-bat in an unusual way. Baker tried to steal second in order to take away a potential game- and season-ending force out there. Keegan Bluhm’s throw down to second was right where it needed to be and Dakota Perry applied the tag on Baker who was called out. Uhlman picked up the win in relief for Adams Central. Tense sectional quarter-final victories were the theme of the evening for Adams County squads in Hartford City on Wednesday with South Adams defeating Eastbrook 2-0 on the back of 12 strikeouts by Owen Wanner. Now the two schools will go head-to-head with one advancing and the other heading home. Adams Central and South Adams will face each other in the sectional semi-finals on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Blackford.