Stars sweep Athenians in walk-off thriller

May 1—DOVER — The motto for the Western Boone baseball team this season is 'so what,' referencing the team's need to put mistakes behind them.

On Wednesday night against Crawfordsville with the Stars' looking for the two-game sweep, that motto was put to the test.

Western Boone led 5-3 with two outs in the top of the seventh, but a misplay led to Crawfordsville scoring three runs to take the lead.

But rather than sulk, the Stars rallied themselves, scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and came away with a 7-6 win.

"Heading into the bottom of the seventh, I just told the guys 'so what,'" Western Boone head coach Michael Nance said. "So what that we had a bad inning of defense, now we have to go hit and get some runs. Hunter Brose had a good at bat to start the inning, then Gavin (Hawkins) got on to get us going and we got the job done."

Hawkins singled with one out in the inning, and the Stars executed a perfect hit and run on a Jackson Grimes single to put runners on the corners.

Grimes took second on a wild pitch, and after a strikeout, Luke Jackson was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Cole Wiley drew a walk to tie the game, and Quinn Westerfeld followed with a fly ball to left that was dropped by the Athenian left fielder to allow the winning run to score.

"That was a great approach by Quinn and he just put the ball in play," Nance said. "Good things are going to happen when you do that."

It was the first time the Stars swept the Athenians in at least 25 years.

Last year the Stars had a chance to do it after winning the first game of the series, but lost the second 10-6.

It could have gone the same way Wednesday in a back-and-forth game that saw several momentum swings.

"Hats off to Crawfordsville, coach Motz runs a great program over there, we just had a solid game plan for the last two nights," Nance said. "We were able to execute with key base hits and the pitching the last two nights was really, really good."

Western Boone led 3-1 after an inning, getting an RBI single from Carter Marcum and a 2-run single from Owen Howe.

Crawfordsville tied the game in the third, and nearly took the lead in the top of the fifth, but Grimes made a perfect throw from center to get a runner at the plate to end the inning.

Grimes came up in the next half inning and hit a one-out single, then scored on a Marcum double. Two batters later Wiley single to make it 5-3.

Grimes was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a few highlight reel defensive plays.

"He had a huge catch and that assist at the plate," Nance said. "He came through at the plate too. He was our player of the game for good reason tonight."

It looked like the lead would hold up for the Stars, but a single and an error but two on with one out in the seventh. After a pop out, the Athenians got a double to left to tie the game, and followed it with a single to give them the lead setting up the bottom of the seventh.

"Not rolling over after giving up the lead is huge," Nance said. "It says a lot about our team and I think it really taught us that we are capable of achieving anything."

Marcum was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Westerfeld threw six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out three.

The Stars, now 11-6 and 6-3 in the conference, travel to Bethesda Christian and Hamilton Heights the next two nights before facing Frankfort next week.

"We have to keep believing for ourselves and keep playing for one another," Nance said. "The strength of our team is our team. Being able to come out in the bottom of the seventh and pick ourselves up, that is the strength of our team."

Softball

Western Boone finished off a sweep of Crawfordsville in softball with a 10-0, six-inning win.

Morganne Grant was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Emma Shirley, Ally Lewis, Gabby Lewis and Mickey Burns all had two hits.

Kenzlie Mathews had two RBIs and two runs scored.

Gabby Lewis struck out 10, allowing just three hits.

Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.