By Noah Dalton
LINTON – After a dominant 2-0 start to their season, Mitchell High School, the #8 ranked team in 2A according to the IHBCA Preseason Poll, faced their toughest test thus far on Monday in a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinal against Linton-Stockton.
Mitchell was victorious in their last meeting, concluding an 11-inning marathon with a walk-off to advance. This time around, the Bluejackets could breathe a bit more easily in victory, holding a narrow, but consistent lead throughout the game before ultimately winning 4-2.
In their previous wins this season, Mitchell’s bats were what stood out the most, averaging 14 hits per game with 27 runs scored across both games. Against a stronger opponent in the Miners, the Bluejackets earned just five hits, the same as their opponent. The difference, according to Mitchell head coach Jerry Chaney, was the team’s defense and pitching.
Senior Ben Seitzinger took the mound for the Bluejackets, going the distance for a complete game with 97 pitches and 16 strikeouts.
“Our defense was phenomenal. Simon Gaines made so many plays, and that’s great, but the big thing was Ben was dominant, fifteen Ks. And, you know, I didn’t want to pitch him 97 pitches, but he told me he wanted to go one more inning and he’s a senior, he deserves it,” said Chaney.
Mitchell’s offense wasn’t as potent as it’d been in their other games, but when a play needed to be made, it was made, and those timely swings, walks and steals helped them get the job done.
Both sides were even at 0-0 through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth, the Bluejackets loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to a lead-off single from Seitzinger and back-to-back walks from Gibson Glassco and Bryson Zeeks. In the next at-bat, a wild pitch gave just enough time for Gavin Martin, who was brought in as a pinch runner for Seitzinger, to score from third, also advancing the other runners.
A few pitches later, Ethan Turner hit a deep fly ball to left field, bringing in Glassco on a sacrifice fly to give Mitchell a two-run advantage.
The Miners came out swinging in the next frame, with Jamison Fields getting on base with a single and later stealing second, to set up Jackson Miller, who crushed a base hit to center field, bringing home Fields for their first score of the game, making it 2-1.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Turner and Kody Earl both walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Next up was Conner Teague, who hit a ground ball that was nearly turned into a double play, but instead resulted in Earl being forced out at second, Teague landing on first and Turner moving to third.
In the next at-bat, Teague attempted to steal second but was caught in a pinch between two Linton infielders. As they struggled to make the tag, Turner bolted home, resulting in a stolen base and another run on the board for the Bluejackets.
They tacked on another run in the sixth after a lead-off triple from Gaines led to him being sent home on another sac fly, this time from Glassco, giving them a 4-1 lead as they headed into the bottom of the final inning.
The Miners added one run to their final total, an RBI single from Brandon Husband, batting in Tristan York, who’d reached base earlier in the inning, eventually reaching third before scoring.
“I thought we had some great at-bats up there, we battled, put the ball in play when we needed to. For example, Gibson Glassco coming up with the sack fly, that’s huge, that’s another run. Ethan Turner battling back from O-2 to getting a walk. Those are great at-bats that people are kind of like ‘oh, well they walked’, well that’s huge,” said Chaney.
Chaney said the Miners are a good team who were hungry to avenge their sectional loss from last season, which made this win standout from their others so far in the season.
“I felt like Linton was ready to go. They wanted to beat us over that sectional loss that they had last year. That coach had them fired up,” he said. “They’re a good team. They showed that they still have the power to win the sectional. What we saw tonight, to me, feels better because we beat a quality team.”
