By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Behind a dominant performance from junior pitcher Ben Seitzinger, No. 3 ranked Mitchell High School earned their thirteenth win of the season on Thursday, putting away Patoka Lake Athletic Conference opponent Orleans, shutting them out 10-0.
Seitzinger pitched all six innings for the Bluejackets, striking out 11 and only giving up two hits throughout the game. He was able to retire 21 Bulldogs’ batters in just 70 pitches, with nearly 73% of his throws being strikes.
Seitzinger walked one batter in the game, breaking a potential perfect game in the third inning. He maintained a no-hitter until the bottom of the fifth when Kyler Taylor singled for Orleans with two outs.
Mitchell head coach Jerry Chaney said he felt this was the best game of the season from Seitzinger, who moves to an undefeated record of 4-0 from the mound this year with this victory.
“I thought Ben was dominant from start to finish and that’s probably his best performance of the year and he’s been awesome for us all year, but I think that’s probably his most dominant performance. His curveball was breaking, his fastball, he just had awesome, awesome control and did a great job,” said Chaney.
Seitzinger wasn’t only dominant from the mound, he also had a strong day at the plate, finishing the game with three hits to lead Mitchell, going 3-3 on the day and even drawing an intentional walk in the fourth inning after hitting two doubles in his first two at-bats. In his final at-bat in the top of the fifth, Seitzinger batted in two runs with a triple to left field. He finished with a team-high five RBIs for the game.
Three other Bluejackets finished the game with multiple hits, those were Simon Gaines, Bryson Zeeks, and Ashton Luman. Zeeks crushed his second home run of the season in the top of the fifth.
Mitchell took an early lead in this game, scoring two runs in the first inning after one of Seitzinger’s doubles, which allowed Gaines and AJ Sarver to cross home plate. From there, they did not let up, adding to their point total in nearly every inning, with their most productive being the fifth, where they scored four.
“Well, I believe we were focused. We have a tendency to get ahead and then let off the gas and so I’m trying to preach, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving,” said Chaney. “But defensively, I thought again, we were making the plays, we made the routine plays and when Ben is throwing strikes like that, that makes us look like an even better team. I thought we had some very timely hits. Ashton Lumen came through with a couple of big hits and of course, Zeek’s home run, which was awesome, and then Ben with the two doubles.”
Chaney felt his team performed well across the board against the Bulldogs, as they continue to work hard toward improving and being the best possible version of themselves.
“I thought our hitting was good. I thought our defense was good. I thought our pitching was dominant. So, I really believe that we did what we should do. And I wish we’d have had that kind of performance Friday night. But you know, the kids are doing their best and coming up and they’re fighting for me every game so all we can do is get better. Get better, keep pushing, try to win all the games we can in PLAC, and have a good winning season and get better every day.”
Chaney said Orleans is a quality opponent and commended the efforts of the coaching staff as well as Bulldog’s pitcher Ian Hall, who threw 114 pitches across five innings with six strikeouts, also earning one of the team’s two hits in the game from the batter’s box.
“Orleans is only going to get better. And I thought the coaches did a good job for them and I thought [Ian Hall] pitched his heart out. I mean, his pitch count got to 114 and that’s kind of what we do. Again we work pitchers and work pitchers. So, we’ll make your pitchers throw a lot of pitches and eventually, it works out,” he said.
With this win, the Bluejackets broke a conference record tie with Orleans, moving to sole ownership of second place in the PLAC with a record of 4-1, behind Perry Central, who are 4-0 after defeating Mitchell on Friday, a loss which Chaney hopes to avenge in a future matchup.
“I’d like to play Perry again. The possibility is if we can get through the sectional, maybe we can see them in the regional. But, our goals are big and they’re a good team. Either team could have won that game and I just hated that we had one bad inning and I’m trying to make sure the team realizes, one bad inning doesn’t make a season,” Chaney said.
Stats
Mitchellmore stats
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Gaines | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| AJ Sarver | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ben Seitzinger | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Carsyn Herald | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ethan Turner | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kody Earl | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bryson Zeeks | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Gibson Glassco | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ashton Luman | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Aiden Premo | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 29 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 6 |
Batting2B: Simon Gaines, Ashton Luman, Ben Seitzinger 2
3B: Ben Seitzinger
HR: Bryson Zeeks
TB: Simon Gaines 3, Gibson Glassco, Ashton Luman 3, Ben Seitzinger 7, Ethan Turner, Bryson Zeeks 5
RBI: Simon Gaines, Gibson Glassco, Carsyn Herald, Ashton Luman, Ben Seitzinger 5, Bryson Zeeks
SF: Gibson Glassco
ROE: Simon Gaines, Gibson Glassco
HBP: Kody Earl
SB: Kody Earl, Simon Gaines 2, Ashton Luman, AJ Sarver
CS: Bryson Zeeks
TotalsTeam QAB: 24 (64.86%)
Kody Earl 2, Simon Gaines 2, Gibson Glassco 3, Carsyn Herald, Ashton Luman 3, AJ Sarver 3, Ben Seitzinger 4, Ethan Turner 3, Bryson Zeeks 3
Team LOB: 9
Orleansmore stats
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Williams | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ian Hall | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryce Berning | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blake Love | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nolan Robbins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kaden Berning | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kyler Taylor | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Troy Dille | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Wyatt Mullins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dane Freed | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Cameron Holt | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
BattingTB: Kyler Taylor, Ian Hall
TotalsTeam QAB: 4 (19.05%)
Kyler Taylor, Ian Hall, Hunter Williams, Blake Love
Team LOB: 3FieldingE: Cameron Holt, Blake Love
Mitchellmore stats
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Seitzinger | 6.0 | 70 | .729 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 6.0 | 70 | .729 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
PitchingW: Ben Seitzinger
Pitches-Strikes: Ben Seitzinger 70-51
Groundouts-Flyouts: Ben Seitzinger 5-2
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Ben Seitzinger 19-21
Orleansmore stats
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Hall | 5.0 | 114 | .588 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Blake Love | 1.0 | 16 | .562 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 6.0 | 130 | .585 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
PitchingL: Ian Hall
HBP: Blake Love
WP: Ian Hall, Blake Love
Pitches-Strikes: Ian Hall 114-67, Blake Love 16-9
Groundouts-Flyouts: Ian Hall 5-4, Blake Love 0-2
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Ian Hall 16-31, Blake Love 2-6
