GREENFIELD — The Greenfield-Central baseball team is playing with a ton of confidence right now.
It shows.
After starting conference play 0-2, the Cougars caught fire, finishing 11-3 and securing sole possession of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title. They are riding a winning streak that includes the HHC-clinching sweep of Shelbyville and three sectional wins, giving up one run or less in three of those five games.
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The Cougars are rolling, and it’s earned them a spot in today’s Decatur Central regional.
“I think they’re very confident. They understand the challenge, but we’ve been there before,” Greenfield-Central coach Mark Vail said. “We were there just two, three years ago. We were anxious to get back. Some of these kids were there, and they experienced a tough loss there that day. I think they understand what it’s about.”
Three current Cougars played in the 2017 regional semifinal, a 1-0 loss to Cathedral: Adam Hutchison, Nick Atwood and Blake Wilson.
The Irish are the opponent again, having advanced with a 10-2 win against New Palestine in Monday’s Sectional 10 championship game.
The Cougars are ready for their regional rematch.
“We are very pumped right now,” Hutchison said. “I think we hold players accountable, and if someone gets out, we just pick them right back up. If someone’s not having a good game, we pick them right back up, come through with some big hits and score some runs. We just want to beat Cathedral.”
A lot of the Cougars’ confidence comes from Hutchison and the rest of the pitching staff. The junior has been a dominant force on the mound all year, but he hasn’t been alone.
Bradley McDowell and Brady Mundell have both stepped up alongside Hutchison, giving Greenfield-Central a three-headed pitching attack that has a combined 2.29 ERA this season.
“Coach (Harold) Gibson does a great job with our pitchers,” Vail said. “Adam and Bradley are both experienced; they both threw for us last year in conference games. Brady’s come along as a junior and developed very well. They just buy into what we want to do and they work at it. They work at it hard.”
Greenfield-Central started this year confident in their pitching and defense. They figured the offense would be the question mark into how far they could go.
They’ve scored 7.3 runs per game this year, more than enough to get the job done most days and helping the team get to a 20-7 record.
The Cougars’ strength is the pitching and defense. The offense is not exactly a weakness, though.
“We knew we had the pitching staff to carry us through,” Vail said. “If we could score runs, we’d be all right, and we ended up being able to hit the ball real well.”
Hutchison will be on the mound in today’s semifinal, looking for payback after throwing the final inning against the Irish two years ago and taking the loss as a freshman.
He has been almost unstoppable this year, his only loss a 2-1 defeat to New Castle in the first conference doubleheader of the season. He is just shy of 70 strikeouts and is in the single digits in earned runs allowed.
Having the junior ace on the mound gives the rest of the team an added adrenaline boost as they search for the program’s second regional title ever, the first coming in 2006.
“I’ve known him since I was 14,” junior catcher Jacob Hauser said of Hutchison. “We played travel ball together. We just have a connection whenever we’re playing together.
“We’re very confident, because we’re going to have Adam on the mound.”
Greenfield-Central will face Cathedral at 11 a.m. today. The winner will meet the winner of the 1 p.m. semifinal between Avon and Decatur Central at 8 p.m. with a spot at semistate on the line.
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Class 4A Decatur Central regional
11 a.m. – Greenfield-Central (20-7) vs. Cathedral (19-6)
1 p.m. – Avon (18-13-1) vs. Decatur Central (16-11)
8 p.m. – Championship game
Favorites: Greenfield-Central
Contenders: Cathedral, Avon, Decatur Central
Players to watch: Greenfield-Central — Adam Hutchison (1.08 ERA, .253 avg., 3 HR, 20 RBI), Blake Wilson (.453, 3 HR, 15 RBI), Carson Gibson (.353); Cathedral — Peyton Schofield (1.00 ERA, 73 K), Kyle Cortner (0.68 ERA, 6-0, 33 K), Cole Vassilo (.412, 2 HR, 33 RBI), ; Avon — Cam Melvin (.366, 4 HR, 20 RBI), Mark Gemmer (.325, 14 RBI); Decatur Central — Parker Harrington (3.17, 4-3, 58 K), Derik Profitt (.272, 15 RBI)
Outlook: This is a wide open regional, and any of the four teams could walk out of it as champion and move on to the semistate round. Whoever advances out of the first semifinal game – the Cougars or Irish – should be the favorite over the other semifinal winner based on pitching. Both Greenfield-Central and Cathedral have been on a roll lately, and both pitching staffs have been dominant. The Irish have a team ERA of 1.36, with four regular pitchers holding an ERA below 1.75. The Cougars have an ERA of 2.29 and will have ace Adam Hutchison and his 1.08 ERA on the mound. The first game likely comes down to hitting, and the Cougars looked better at the plate than the Irish did this week, giving them the slight edge here.
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What: Class 4A Decatur Central baseball regional
Where: Decatur Central High School, 5251 Kentucky Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46221
When: Today. Greenfield-Central vs. Cathedral, 11 a.m. Avon vs. Decatur Central, 1 p.m. Championship game, 8 p.m.
Cost: $7 per session or $10 for season
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