SHELBYVILLE — It wasn’t the strongest start to conference play for defending Hoosier Heritage Conference champion New Palestine.
It took five innings for the Dragons to get a hit Friday night, as a pitchers’ duel between New Palestine’s Jack Walker and Shelbyville’s Connor Beagle kept the score tied at 0-0 until the sixth inning.
The Dragons struck first in the sixth inning. Shelbyville countered immediately, and the Bears took Game 1 of the doubleheader, 3-1.
After winning the first game on the strength of their pitching, control problems killed the Shelbyville momentum early in Game 2. The Dragons took advantage of nine walks, three hit batters and a slew of wild pitches to earn a split of the doubleheader with a 12-3 win, their first of the season.
“It’s a tough week. We saw a really good pitcher at Batesville, their No. 1, and last night (Franklin Central) threw a really good pitcher at us,” New Palestine coach Shawn Lyons said. “Our kids, they care so much. They want to live up to New Palestine’s stigma in how we’ve played for many, many years, that sometimes they press, because they care. You can see it — they’re pressing. Once they relax and get back in a groove, I feel like we’ll get back in the right direction.”
The New Palestine offense was slow to get started in the opener. All five Dragons hits came in the final three innings, and it was the second straight game they scored just one run.
After New Palestine pushed the first run of the night across — a leadoff triple by Walker and a double by Noah Mack in the sixth — the Golden Bears, held to two hits through five innings, finally got some momentum against New Palestine’s ace.
The Bears started the inning with a walk and a single, and a wild pitch moved the runners with no outs. Walker got a big strikeout, but a sacrifice bunt was followed by three consecutive two-out singles, giving Shelbyville a 3-1 lead after six.
Walker gave up six hits and the three runs in the loss. He struck out seven, walked three and hit one batter. Beagle allowed five hits and one run, striking out five and walking one.
“We’re struggling a little bit, but we were hitting all strides before we went on spring break,” Lyons said. “I think these kids care so much, they’re going to be taking extra (batting practice). We’ll figure it out. This is a humbling sport, baseball is."
The Dragons got on the board right away in Game 2, as Colby Jenkins was hit by the first pitch he saw, advanced twice on outs, and scored on a wild pitch.
A disastrous second inning for Shelbyville helped the Dragons offense finally get on track.
That inning saw the Dragons bat around the order, sending 10 to the plate and scoring six runs several hits, walks and wild pitches.
An early 7-0 lead was more than enough for the Dragons in the second game. Pitching woes continued for the Golden Bears, as wild pitches plated two more New Palestine runs in the fourth and more in the fifth.
Zach Neligh got the Game 2 win on the mound for the Dragons in his first career varsity start, throwing five innings and allowing three runs and six hits. He struck out three and walked five. Grant Hickman took over from there to close out the game.
“We saw him in the winter. We knew he has potential,” Lyons said of Neligh. “He’s got to peel back some confidence layers, but we’re hoping he keeps growing from this. He did a good job controlling the running game and mixing some speeds. One thing we’ll have to work on with all our pitchers is our base on balls, but I was really happy with our pitching tonight.”
Jenkins led the New Palestine offense on the night with four total hits and two RBIs. Trevor Rush and Noah Mack each had two total hits between the games.
New Palestine (1-3, 1-1 HHC) will look for its second win Monday at Perry Meridian.
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Game 1
Shelbyville 3, New Palestine 1
NP (0-3, 0-1);000;001;0;—;1;5;1
S (2-0, 1-0);000;003;X;—;3;6;1
WP: Connor Beagle. LP: Jack Walker.
3B: Jack Walker (NP). 2B: Noah Mack (NP). RBI: Mack (NP); Jaeden Carter, Grant Martin, Beagle (S).
Notable: Jack Walker 6 IP, 7 K, 3 BB, 1 HB
Game 2
New Palestine 12, Shelbyville 3
S (2-1, 1-1);001;020;0;—;3;4;3
NP (1-3, 1-1);160;221;X;—;12;7;2
WP: Zach Neligh. LP: Benny Thompson.
2B: Colby Jenkins (NP). RBI: Jenkins 2, Tabor, Dant (NP); Mahin 3 (SB)
Notable: Jenkins 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
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The New Palestine softball team also opened HHC play on Friday night, traveling to New Castle to take on the Trojans.
The Dragons jumped on the hosts immediately, scoring 12 runs in the first inning en route to a five-inning, run-rule win, 15-0.
After the first two runners reached base safely, Emily O’Connor smacked a three-run home run to give the visitors the early lead. Sam Booe notched her first career home run in the third inning, a three-run shot that extended the lead to 15-0. New Palestine finished the game with 13 hits, and O’Connor led the Dragons with four RBIs.
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