By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Momentum has the attention span of a toddler, the shelf life of old bread, the longevity of a teen romance. One minute it loves, the next minute it has forgotten and forsakes. Bedford North Lawrence was the victim of its fickleness.
After rallying from a six-run deficit, the Stars were poised to take the lead. Two swings of fate later, they were jilted again and eventually jolted as Bloomington South roared away to a deceiving, but decisive, 18-8 triumph on Wednesday evening.
Deadlocked at 7-7, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers escaped further damage with an inning-ending double play. In the next half-inning, with two outs and two runners on, South’s Jake Arnett jacked a mammoth home run to center, restoring South’s lead and confidence. BNL got dumped faster than a straying boyfriend.
South (7-1 with seven consecutive wins) took advantage of BNL’s pitching shortage, with the Stars in the midst of a five-game, five-day schedule whirlwind, pounding out 12 hits while BNL’s five hurlers (four of whom had combined for only 3 2/3 innings this season) totaled 13 walks. No wonder Miss Momentum went home with the Panthers.
“It’s a game of momentum,” South coach Phil Kluesner said. “It could have just snowballed, that’s a good hitting team and it could have gotten worse for us. Our mantra is, whatever happens, we’re one pitch away. That was it. We got the double play, and we were able to gain momentum, and then senior leadership hits it over the fence. That’s a big plus.“
South struck early as Luke Thompson ripped a two-run double during a four-run first, Arnett added a RBI single in the second, and Lucas Waldron smacked a two-out, two-run double in the third. The Panthers were poised for a quick kill.
But then BNL (6-3) battled back. Kline Woodward crushed a two-run homer to right-center to highlight a three-run third. In the fourth, with the bases loaded, Woodward whacked a two-run double. Ryker Hughes was intentionally walked to reload the bases, and Carter Bennett drew a walk to force the 7-7 stalemate. But then South relief pitcher Teddy Kroeger got Cade Mungle to ground into the double play, and that changed everything.
“We very easily could have said ‘That’s it’ and got beat,” BNL coach Jeff Callahan said of the comeback. “We fought back and had opportunities. We went out and competed. If we get the lead, you never know how that changes the game. You can’t ask for a better situation. The pitcher just won that one. That changed the momentum and put us behind the eight-ball.”
Arnett’s blast, well over the 350-foot marker in deep center, was the second turning point. South pulled away as Jacob Reinhardt had a two-run single during a four-run sixth, and the Panthers added four more in the seventh.
Waldon was 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs while Arnett drove in five runs for South. In addition to the walks, BNL pitchers hit four batters, and the Stars also had three errors.
“We put some guys in some spots where we asked them to do some things we haven’t done this year,” Callahan said. “That’s tough on them. But we also had to think that we need somebody to pitch tomorrow and Friday.”
Woodward was 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs as BNL collected 13 hits (with Hughes and Maddox Ray adding doubles to their two-hit nights).
The Stars will look to end their two-game skid when they host Trinity Lutheran in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser game on Thursday, then cap the busy week with a road trip to Jeffersonville on Friday.
