INDIANAPOLIS — Their backs were against the wall.
For the second straight year, New Palestine was down to its last few outs, facing a 3-2 deficit on the scoreboard in a sectional semifinal.
Last year, the Dragons fell to Indianapolis Bishop Chatard in nine innings. This year, the Dragons watched their early 2-0 lead slip away in the sixth inning, then saw Lawrence North take the lead in the top of the seventh, seemingly stripping their momentum away.
But New Palestine would not be denied. A seventh-inning rally led to a walkoff winner, and the Dragons prevailed 4-3 and advanced to Monday’s Warren Central sectional final against the winner of Thursday’s late game between Indianapolis Cathedral and Warren Central.
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After a groundout got the Dragons down to their last two outs, Nick Rusche walked, pushing the Wildcats starting pitcher Garrett Burhenn to his pitch count limit and bringing in a reliever. Colby Jenkins was hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch moved the two runners to second and third.
An intentional walk loaded the bases, and in stepped Jacob Garrison to face the third Lawrence North pitcher of the night.
Garrison, recently back in the lineup after a concussion sustained against Fishers on May 7, was the dominant winning pitcher in Wednesday’s sectional opener. But his bat hadn’t caught back up to his pitching since the injury.
“Against Fishers, I got a concussion, and I haven’t really gotten a hit since,” Garrison said. “My swing’s been kind of messed up. I knew there was only one out. I just had to put the ball in the air far enough so Nick Rusche could score and we could live another inning.”
Lawrence North’s Nick Taylor threw Garrison a high, outside fastball. The Dragons senior connected and the ball carried for a base hit. Rusche was an easy run, tying the game. Jenkins, from second, wasn’t so certain. But a good jump and a bouncing throw from the outfield plated the winning run.
“Watching that whole thing happen, I was terrified that it wasn’t going to go far enough,” Garrison said. “But once it got down and Colby scored, I threw my helmet off, everybody started running at me, I got tackled, dog-piled … It was the best feeling ever.”
The Dragons (22-6) were happy to see Burhenn exit the game in the seventh inning. The Wildcats pitcher came into the game one of the state’s top pitchers, boasting a 6-1 record, a 0.71 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 49 innings, giving him the seventh-lowest ERA and fifth-best strikeout total in the state.
New Palestine jumped on him early though and kept battling at the plate, driving up Burhenn’s pitch count.
A throwing error on a grounder by the Dragons first batter of the game, Rusche, put the shortstop on second to start the first inning. Back to back singles by Jenkins and Jack Walker opened the scoring, and a wild pitch scored another run.
That 2-0 lead looked to be all the Dragons would need. With Walker on the mound — he of the 1.83 ERA and only 14 hits allowed all season — New Palestine looked to be in a good position.
“Their young man is an outstanding pitcher,” New Palestine coach Shawn Lyons said of Burhenn. “He’s got command of all three pitches, he can throw them any time in the count, and he’s only walked five guys in 49 innings this year. I think the plan today was grind it out. If you faced pitching like this on a consistent basis, you’d go crazy as a baseball player.”
The Dragons would muster only three more hits against Burhenn after the opening inning, but the pitches added up.
“We knew we just had to jump on him the first inning, get him up in the pitch count so he had to come out,” Garrison said. “He’s a very good pitcher, and he’s going to do great at Ohio State next year, but he ran out of pitches.”
Walker started having command issues in the third inning, allowing the Wildcats back into the game. The first three Wildcats batters of the third drew walks, and a single from Burhenn — Lawrence North’s first hit of the game —got the Wildcats on the board.
Walks continued to put the Dragons in tough positions, but Walker kept getting out of trouble until the sixth inning. A leadoff walk to Cole Sherman started the inning. A steal put Sherman on second, a wild pitch advanced him to third, and a throwing error by Jenkins trying to make the out at third resulted in the tying run coming around to score.
After giving up a single, Walker gave way to Cameron Pitzer on the mound, having gone 5 1/3 and allowing just two hits but walking nine.
Pitzer would pick up the win for New Palestine. After allowing three singles and a run in the top of the seventh, the reliever got a strikeout and a groundout to limit the damage and keep the deficit to 3-2.
That left the Dragons in position for Garrison’s winner.
“They trust in themselves and they’re going to battle to the last out,” Lyons said. “That’s what we preach and today they did it.
