With Pearson on the mound, South Bend Adams baseball shuts down New Prairie
SOUTH BEND — At this rate, the South Bend Cubs should consider signing Aidan Pearson — but only to pitch home games.
The Adams High School senior made his second career start at the home of the Cubs, Four Winds Field, Monday night, and was the star of the show once again. He tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out six in a 3-0 win over No. 5 (Class 3A) New Prairie.
“I feel like it makes it a bigger stage,” said Pearson of pitching in a minor league park. “I just have my teammates behind me, and I trust them all.”
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In his start for the Eagles against South Bend Riley in the same ballpark last year, Pearson had 16 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout. That gives him 22 total punchouts and zero runs allowed in 13 innings worked at Four Winds Field, which begs the question — should Adams play all of its home games there?
“I would love to do it, but it costs us money to do that,” joked Adams coach Michael Cass.
Pearson only ran into trouble twice Monday against a New Prairie team averaging nearly seven runs a game. The Cougars (7-2, 1-2 Northern Indiana Conference) had runners at second and third base with one out in the second after a double from senior Joe Kinney. Pearson recorded a strikeout and flyout in the next two batters to end the threat.
In the fourth, Pearson issued back-to-back walks to start the frame. The left-hander settled down after that, getting a groundout to second base and back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
“Just had to step off the mound and calm the nerves,” said Pearson of his fourth-inning escape job. “Just had to believe in myself and believe in the guys behind me to make plays.”
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Pearson retired the last nine batters he faced overall after those two walks to start the fourth. The win brings the Eagles’ record to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in NIC competition.
“He’s a battler,” said Cass of Pearson. “I think he closed the game against Glenn for us the other day, too. He’s just a competitor.”
Adams takes advantage of New Prairie mistakes
Of the three runs the Eagles’ scored, only one was earned. That came in the first when junior Brock Stultz hit a sacrifice fly, scoring senior KJ Johnston.
A pair of errors hurt the Cougars in the third. The first one came when senior pitcher Tyson Greenwood was errant with a throw to first base, allowing Adams senior Kai Whitlow to score. Two batters later, it looked like the inning was going to end with a popout to the shortstop, but the ball bounced off the palm of Colin Wind’s glove, bringing in Jacob Mulvehill.
“This is a frustrating one because we didn’t play our best,” New Prairie coach Mark Schellinger said. “And part of that is to Adams’ credit — Adams is good. I don’t think they get enough credit for how good they are, especially with Pearson on the mound. But we did not play well defensively; made some mistakes on offense, too, that we typically don’t do.”
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Greenwood ended up pitching all six innings for New Prairie. The Eagles had runners on base in every inning, with Greenwood working around it to keep his team in the game.
Honoring Jackie Robinson
For the third-straight year, Adams honored the late Jackie Robinson by partaking in “Jackie Robinson Day.” All 30 MLB teams wear special “42” jerseys on April 15 every year to honor Robinson, who broke the league’s color barrier by becoming the first Black MLB player in 1947. Robinson went onto have a Hall of Fame career and was a key figure in the United States’ civil rights movement of the 1960s.
To celebrate, Adams players and coaches also wore “42” jerseys with Robinson’s name on the back. Prior to the game, New Prairie senior Carson Young and Adams senior Kai Whitlow were presented plaques to celebrate their leadership qualities both on and off their respective teams.
“To be able to do this, honor Jackie Robinson and play here — the experience itself is just awesome,” Schellinger said. “We’re grateful South Bend Adams organized this and wanted to have us here. … it’s good for high school kids to experience something like this.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Adams baseball shuts down New Prairie on Jackie Robinson Day
