PREP BASEBALL: Mishawaka tops Northridge in 11 inning thriller

May 17—SOUTH BEND — Chad Gerard admitted afterwards it was one the craziest games he's ever been a part of.

Unfortunately for Gerard, the result of the game has created even more end-of-season drama in the race for the Northern Lakes Conference baseball championship.

In a game that went nearly three and a half hours, Gerard's Northridge Raiders lost a 7-6, 11 inning thriller to Mishawaka inside the South Bend Cubs' Four Winds Field. The home Cavemen strung together five-straight singles in the bottom of the 11th, culminating with junior AJ Budd's RBI base hit that drove in junior Matt Pelletier.

The two runs for Mishawaka came after Northridge had taken a 6-5 lead in the top half of the inning on an RBI single from junior Harrison Kauffman.

"Right now? I'm mentally exhausted right now," said the Northridge head coach after the marathon of a game. "All credit to Mishawaka: they played great. They put pressure on us in the last inning and got those runs on us after we put pressure on them in the top half. ... I told these kids, 'That's one of the most exciting high school baseball games I've ever been a part of in my life.' It makes me proud of them because we played tough and played hard for 10 full innings and just came out a little short at the end."

NLC STANDINGS UPDATE

What the loss for Northridge means is its now 9-4 in NLC games, falling into a tie for first place with Goshen, who was a 12-11 winner over Wawasee Monday. Mishawaka's win, combined with victories from Warsaw and Plymouth Monday, moves all three of those teams into a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with 8-5 marks.

The final NLC games are scheduled for Wednesday. Northridge visits Plymouth, Goshen hosts NorthWood and Mishawaka travels to Warsaw in games that all could factor into who wins the NLC title.

There are scenarios where as many as four of the teams can earn a share of the conference title, while Goshen and Northridge still have chances to win the NLC championship outright should the results go their way Wednesday. If Goshen and Northridge both win, though, they will be the co-conference champions.

MONDAY'S BACK-AND-FORTH AFFAIR

Northridge (15-8 overall) was able to score in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Max Horner ripped a two-out triple, then scored when a Mishawaka defender mishandled a ground ball from Raiders senior Carter Gilbert.

The Cavemen (12-8 overall) immediately countered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. Maddux Yohe doubled, then Kaden Rose hit a single to tie the game at one just two batters in. Rose then scored on another groundout two batters later, courtesy of Tommy Harringer.

Both teams would go scoreless in the second and third innings before Northridge got back on the scoreboard in the fourth. With one out and two runners on, junior Jethro Hochstetler crushed a two-RBI triple, scoring Gilbert and senior Korey Beehler. Sophomore McClain Miller then laid down a beautiful suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Hochstetler to make it 4-2 visitors.

Mishawaka scored one run in each of the next three innings to regain the lead. Isaac Valdez hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, Cooper Pritchett an RBI single in the fifth and Yohe an RBI single in the sixth to give the Cavemen a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

Down to their last at-bats of the game, the Raiders made sure to keep the contest going. With the bases loaded and one out, Horner hit a sacrifice fly, scoring sophomore Jack Urbanski to tie the game at five. Gilbert was then intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases again, creating a force-out at any base with junior Kade Sainz stepping up to bat.

Unfortunately for Sainz, a chance to be a hero for his team was taken away after Gilbert was picked off at first base to end the inning.

Mishawaka had runners reach first and second base with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but junior Kaden Plank was able to strike out Budd looking to end the threat and send the game to extras.

Plank came in with one out in the sixth inning, relieving starter Qade Carrington. While the Cavemen eventually scored the final two runs off of him in the 11th, the junior pitched out of some jams in the first three extra innings, including a bases loaded, one-out scenario in the 9th.

"He came in and did a great job," said Gerard of Plank. "He threw strikes. ... He put pressure on them and made them hit, and even in the last inning, he did the same thing. He threw strikes, and they just hit the ball into the right spots."

Another base running error potentially cost Northridge a run in the top of the 10th. Gilbert walked to start the frame, then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Sainz. This brought up Beehler, who whipped a single up the middle and into centerfield.

It looked like Gilbert was going to round third base and try to score, but Gerard held him at third. The throw went toward home plate, so Beehler tried to make it to second base because of that. Beehler was thrown out by Mishawaka catcher Chris Grontkowski, though, while Gilbert remained at third base during the whole exchange.

A flyout from Hochstetler then ended the inning, leaving Gilbert stranded at third.

Northridge would take the lead in the top of the 11th after junior Gavin Collins drew a two-out walk, stole second base and then was driven in by a single from Kauffman. Along with his clutch hit, Kauffman made a diving catch to end the 8th inning on a ball that would've won the game for Mishawaka had it landed.

"Harrison's been great for us in the 2-spot (of the lineup) for us," Gerard said. "We can count on him to come up, make contact and put the ball in play. He's absolutely fast as lighting running down (to first base), and the same goes for coming in on plays in right field."

Rose, Pelletier, Harringer, Pritchett and Budd had the five hits for the Cavemen in the final frame. It was Pelletier's single that tied the game at six.

Despite Mishawaka finding its groove on offense, Gerard rode with Plank until the end of the game.

"We had two guys ready in the dugout," said Gerard when asked if he considered making a pitching change. "We had two guys who knew that they had to be ready on any given moment, but Plank was throwing strikes and was around the plate. We had every bit of confidence in Plank, so we stuck with him."

Plank was scheduled to start Wednesday against Plymouth, but since he threw 90 pitches Monday, he's ineligible to pitch against the Pilgrims.

"Me and my pitching coach, coach (Mark) Bell, we'll talk about (who we're going to pitch against Plymouth on Tuesday)," Gerard said. "We still have Trevor Yoder on full rest. McClain Miller will be on full rest Wednesday. Zak Martin will be on full rest Wednesday as well. So, we've got plenty of options."

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.