Third-ranked McCutcheon baseball piling up short-term goals for long-term success

LAFAYETTE — Tristan McIntyre knew the talent his McCutcheon baseball team had.

Enough where the Mavericks could aim their goals high.

To achieve all those championships McCutcheon dreams of, and is talented enough to accomplish, McIntyre had to break it down into much smaller goals.

After beating Lafayette Jeff at Loeb Stadium Monday night, the next goal was to win again the next day. Following a 12-0 victory against the Bronchos on Tuesday, the focus shifted to beating Carmel on Thursday.

"Obviously the goal is to win a sectional championship and keep going and ultimately to get to Victory Field (for the state championship)," senior Sage Adams said. "But we want to go 1-0 in every game that we play. That helps us stay focused on the current game that day."

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It's a strategy that's mostly worked.

Until a Saturday setback against Hanover Central, the Mavericks were undefeated.

With a series sweep of Lafayette Jeff to start the week, they're now 14-1 and ranked third in the Class 4A Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association poll.

"It sucks losing, but at the same time, there's plenty we can learn from that," said senior pitcher Owen Smith, who tossed 4 ⅓ scoreless innings on Tuesday to improve his record to 4-0.

It wasn't a flawless performance on Saturday, though at times, the Mavericks have found ways to win without playing best baseball.

They have enough talent to do that.

But losing was a healthy reminder that despite running through the schedule to this point, McCutcheon is a beatable ball club.

On Tuesday, the Mavericks were in top form against an outmatched Bronchos team, scoring nine runs in the second inning and eventually run ruling host Lafayette Jeff.

If it wasn't Smith's pitching and McCutcheon's defense shining, it was the offense up and down the lineup.

"We've got enough depth everywhere to get the job done," Smith said. "We have a deep bullpen, guys who can throw strikes. On the offensive side, we've got hitters, all nine, who can hit the ball and get on base at any point. For me as a pitcher, I have the confidence the guys behind me are going to get the job done if I put it in play to get the out."

On Tuesday, Riley Sands, Jake Winger, Jonathan Riley, Aiden Riser, Broderick Arnold and Adams all drove in runs, with Sands and Winger tallying three RBI each.

"We're pretty relentless as an offense," McIntyre said. "When we're not hitting the ball all over the yard, it's hitting the zone and you can't give us a lot of free stuff because we're cashing in on that right now."

The Mavericks have been down this road before.

In recent years, regular season success has come before postseason heartbreak.

The sectional tournament is still more than three weeks away and right now, McCutcheon isn't thinking about that.

The Mavericks are just trying to go 1-0 on Thursday.

"We're not bitter. It's hurt a little bit the past couple of years for the guys who have been a part of it, but it's why we continue to work every day, to get back to those type of games and have success," Adams said. "We talk about falling in love with the process. There's a lot of baseball to play before we get back to those games."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 1-0 approach for McCutcheon has Mavericks ranked third in state