NEW PALESTINE — One game doesn’t define a team nor a season, and the New Palestine Dragons emphasized that point on Wednesday night.
After losing 10-3 at Shelbyville on Tuesday during their season and Hoosier Heritage Conference opener, the Dragons returned the favor at home, 10-3, handing the Golden Bears their first loss of the year.
“After last night, this was the only thing we were thinking about. We just wanted to come out and play to the absolute best of our abilities and we were all hungry for it,” New Palestine senior third baseman Brendan Tabor said.
The Dragons (1-1, 1-1 HHC) posted eight hits, including four during a five-run bottom of the fourth inning, and were gritty on the mound to split the HHC series and get back on track.
New Palestine recorded three extra-base hits led by Tabor’s three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth with one out.
“It looked like he hung a curveball a little bit, so I sat back, got my hands back and just went with it,” Tabor said.
Tabor, an Anderson University recruit, finished the night a perfect 3-for-4 with six RBI and two runs scored.
Eli Bruns, a junior, went 1-for-1 with two RBI — a sacrifice bunt in the second to give New Palestine a 2-0 lead and an RBI single in the fourth.
Zayden Stiller, a junior, was 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the top of the fourth, and Nolan Cox, a sophomore, laced an RBI double into left field to get the rally going in the fourth.
“We challenged them today, and they did a nice job of coming back up and responding,” New Palestine head coach Shawn Lyons said. “Tonight, our hitting was on. Our approach was great. Our hitting coach has done a really great job with our hitters and got them focused and hit lasers all night.”
The Dragons jumped out 1-0 in the bottom of the first as junior Carter Stogsdill reached first base on one of Shelbyville’s three errors. Two at-bats later, Tabor drove in Stogsdill with a single.
“He’s the straw that stirs the drink here,” Lyons said of Tabor, who hits third in the batting order. “He’s a baseball junkie and we’re going to ride with him. He works hard, sets a great example for our program with his work ethic.”
A Luke Legault leadoff double in the bottom of the second setup Brun’s one-out sacrifice bunt before the offense found its timing against Shelbyville starter and Franklin College recruit Tyler Smalley, a senior right-hander.
Smalley pitched 4.0 innings with four strikeouts, three walks and seven hits allowed while being charged with three earned runs. A pair of those earned runs crossed home plate in the bottom of the fourth as New Palestine unloaded with four RBI hits.
The Dragons’ hitters worked Smalley into a 40-pitch frame and took advantage of a throwing error to put senior Reise Quillen on base with two outs. From there, Tabor and Stiller drove in three runs combined with back-to-back singles.
“We saw we were getting his pitch count up a little bit, so we decided to be a little bit more patient and make him come to us instead of us coming to him,” said Tabor, who scored two runs on his hard grounder into left field in the inning.
“I think it worked out in our favor. We’re kind of dirt balls. We’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the win. We don’t care. We’re willing to sacrifice anything to make sure we get the win.”
The Dragons utilized a trio of pitchers to hold Shelbyville to five hits, striking out seven overall and walking eight.
“We have zero experience on the mound. We just have growing pains we’re going to have to go through, and last night was not indicative of the type of team we have,” Lyons said. “Our pitching has a long way to go, but we’re making progress.”
Junior right-hander Caleb Davis started for the Dragons, going 2.0 innings with 51 pitches thrown and 23 going for strikes. He struck out one and allowed one hit in his first varsity appearance of 2021 after recovering from an injury.
“Davis started tonight, and he’s been out since September with a shoulder injury, so we’re making small gains with him,” Lyons said. “We’re going to be Johnny staff for a while until we get healthy.”
Davis was relieved by Quillen in the third, and the right-hander went 4.1 innings with six strikeouts, four hits allowed and three unearned runs due to three of New Palestine’s five errors.
Quillen left seven Golden Bears stranded while working himself out a few jams, settling in to strikeout three batters looking.
Tabor closed out the game by inducing a ground out and a fly ball to right field to leave two runners on base.
“Last night was tough. These guys were on the beach on Saturday in Florida (for spring break), they come back and we have one practice on Monday. Baseball is a repetition sport and we still have a long way to go, but I’m happy for them,” Lyons said. “If last night’s game had been week three, it could have been ugly, but it was our first game.”
Shelbyville had outscored their opponents 31-12 through its first three games until the Dragons halted its run.
New Palestine has four straight home games ahead, beginning with Knightstown on Friday and another two-game HHC series on Tuesday against Yorktown.
