BASEBALL: Berries leave 15 stranded in 4-2 loss to No. 7 Mavs

May 27—LAFAYETTE — The Logansport Berries had their chances but couldn't come up with enough RBIs in a sectional loss to McCutcheon on Monday.

The No. 7-ranked Mavericks held on for a 4-2 win over the Berries in the championship game of the Class 4A Lafayette Jeff Sectional at Loeb Stadium.

It was the Mavericks' (22-4) first sectional title since 2014. The Berries finish 15-16.

It's a good sign of the program's strength that the Berries entered with a team with a .500 record compete right with a top 10 team in the state. It was an injury-plagued and inconsistent season for the Berries, but they played their best baseball at the sectional. It's their final year in Class 4A in the foreseeable future as the Berries are headed to Class 3A next year.

They outhit the Mavericks 9-6 but left 15 runners stranded to the Mavs' six which was the story of the game. They left at least one runner stranded in every inning and left the bases loaded in three separate innings.

"We didn't get the big hit when it mattered the most," Logan coach Dan Frye said. "We didn't get the timely hit with a couple runners on base and a ball in the gap that you score a couple people at a time and put a crooked number up. But I can't be any more proud of the way they played this sectional tournament. The pitchers threw the ball fantastic. The defense played great. We just weren't clicking on all cylinders at the batter's box. But McCutcheon has a talented baseball team. They have several kids that can throw the ball and they did what they needed to do to win today. We wish them luck in the state tournament we hope they go out and win one and bring it back to Lafayette."

Dylan Pearson gave the Berries a chance with five solid innings against one of the best lineups in the state. The Goshen College recruit held the Mavs to four runs on five hits, four walks and a hit batter, striking out three.

A hit by pitch was followed by a hit-and-run single by Riley Sands to put runners on the corners with no outs to start the third. The Berries had a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play for two outs as catcher Jake Fincher threw out Sands at second. But a wild pitch brought home the first run. Pearson got Jacob Winger to ground out to first on the very next pitch to end the inning.

The Berries got the run right back. Deagan Kitchel led off the bottom of the third with a triple to right center. With one out, Pearson grounded to the shortstop who threw home but it was not in time as Kitchel slid in before the tag. Fincher drew a walk to put two runners on with one out but McCutcheon starter Owen Smith got a ground out and fly out to get out of the inning.

The Berries stranded six in the first three innings alone as they left the bases loaded with a flyout to center in the first. But it was still a 1-1 game.

The Mavs broke through with a three-run fifth. Back-to-back walks with one out put two runners on. Pearson got Sands to fly out to left for the second out but one of the runners advanced to third on the play. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. Logan Marsell followed with a two-run single to left center to make it 3-1. Winger followed with an RBI triple to right center before Pearson got a ground out to second to end the inning on a nice play by Cayden Walker.

Sophomore Josh Middleton and junior Micah Rogers each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Berries.

Middleton left a runner stranded at third when Kitchel made a running catch in foul territory in right before crashing into the wall for the third out of the sixth. After a couple minutes Kitchel was able to walk off the field under his own power and he remained in the game.

Rogers led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk to chase McCutcheon starter Smith. Herr drew a walk against reliever Winger to put the first two runners on with no outs. Following a strikeout, Kitchel singled to left for his fourth hit of the game to load the bases. But Winger recorded back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Walker came up with an infield single with one out in the bottom of the seventh for the Berries. Carson Dubes drew a walk and Rogers followed with an infield single to load the bases. Herr hit a liner to left that hung up for Jonathan Riley to catch for the second out. Russell followed with an RBI infield single on a slow roller to the hole in short. The throw went to third but it was not in time to make it a 4-2 game.

That brought up Kitchel, who was 4-for-4 in the game to that point. But Winger got him to strike out swinging on a 2-2 pitch on a nasty curveball on the outside corner to end the game.

"We have who want up to bat there in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded," Frye said. "We pinch ran for Isaac Russell because he's the ultimate winning run and honestly as I stood in the dugout with a little smile on my face because I envisioned Deagan hitting that ball in the gap and us winning the game. Hat's off to their pitchers. They did what they needed to do."

Smith allowed one run on five hits and five walks with six strikeouts in five-plus innings for McCutcheon. Winger allowed one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in two innings.

Kitchel went 4-for-5 with a triple and run scored for the Berries. Fincher went 2-for-3 with a double. Walker and Rogers each added a hit. Russell added an RBI single.

Winger had a triple, single and RBI for McCutcheon. Marsell had a single and two RBIs. Jonathan Adams had a single and two runs scored.

"I thought Dylan threw exceptionally well," Frye said. "Their hitters got the big hit and they drove in a couple runs and we came up on the short end of the scoreboard.

"We weren't swinging the bats well enough as far as what we needed to be at the end of the year. I love the effort that the kids put in."

It was the final game for eight Logansport seniors, Pearson, Russell, Fincher, Cooper Smith, Jace Smith, Jon Moss, Michael Gleitz and Jackson Frye.

"We're going to miss our seniors and they're obviously upset that a lot of them their careers come to an end here," Frye said.

The Berries will return five starters from their tournament lineup next year for a team that will compete in their first year in the Hoosier Conference and Class 3A.

"I'm going to ride the bus home with them tonight and just let them know how proud I am of them and the effort that they put forth in the sectional tournament," Frye said. "They played great. That's not the same Logansport team that has played all season that shot ourselves in the foot so many times and gave away games.

"What a great day to play baseball, Memorial Day. The stadium was full for the most part. The girls softball team, we're going to get a bus and go down and support them at Hamilton Southeastern. For losing the game, I'm pretty satisfied. It's a 4-2 game and we stranded a lot of runners. We have a chance to win the baseball game. We just didn't get it done. But we've got a great group of young men who are going to graduate from Logansport High School and go on to adult life here really quickly.

"Memorial Day is so much more important than the baseball game here today with the veterans. My brother is a vet, my sister in law is a vet, my father. All of us could probably go to a family member and that's what's important today is they give us an opportunity to play this game and not have to worry about fear and living that way. This is all about the veterans today. And I appreciate Brian Strong buying the Memorial Day jerseys and I think that is fantastic. I think he got a lot of compliments about the uniforms and I think it's a great way to go. This is about veterans. We're just fortunate to be able to play today and we'll have better days."