LINDEN — North Montgomery stayed in the Sagamore Conference baseball hunt with a pair of wins over Lebanon Wednesday.
The 4-2, 6-1 wins, powered by Chargers sophomores, moves North to 7-2 in the conference and into sole possession of second place, with two games against conference leader Crawfordsville next week. The Tigers fall to 5-4 in the Sagamore.
GAME 1
Three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh gave North the 4-2 come-from-behind win, and gave sophomore pitcher Jarrod Kirsch his fifth win of the season.
Kirsch went the distance, throwing 101 pitches. He walked one and struck out nine. He scattered six hits, and after allowing the two Tigers runs in the first, only allowed two runners into scoring position the last six.
The comeback started in the sixth when Brookes Walters reached first base on a dropped strike three.
Corbin Meadows reached on an error, then Jakob Kirsch reached on another error, the first miscues of the game by the Tigers.
Dylan Braun drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, and Austin Sulc drove in a run with a single.
The run in the seventh was also unearned, as Ross Dyson doubled to lead off the inning and Gage Galloway came in to run. Galloway advanced to third on a fly ball out, but a throwing error allowed him to score.
Kirsch got himself out of trouble in the sixth when he struck out three after a leadoff double, and struck out two in the seventh after a leadoff error.
Logan Elsbury went the distance for the Tigers, and took the loss even though he didn’t allow and earned run. He struck out 10.
GAME 2
The Chargers got a run early, but it was a four-run third that did the damage in the 6-1 win.
The big hit of the third was the first career home run for Sulc, a no-doubt blast by the sophomore over the left field fence.
The half dozen runs were plenty for yet another sophomore, as Corbin Meadows pitched the complete game, winning his third decision of the season.
Meadows allowed only four hits and faced only six batters over the minimum.
He used only 87 pitches, walked only two, and struck out four. His defense turned double plays in both the sixth and seventh innings to seal the deal.
Brookes Walters, a junior, got hits in both games to extend his hitting streak to all 17 games that the Chargers have played.
“These were big-time wins for us,” North coach Matt Voorhees said. “They are statement games as we start to get ready for the sectionals also, because we play Lebanon in the first game of the sectional. We also stay right in the fight for the Sagamore. Our defense was solid tonight, and defense will win you a lot of games. We got two great pitching performances from Kirsch and Meadows. They mixed their pitches well and we really limited our errors, plus we turned a couple double plays. I just forget sometimes that so many of these guys making big contributions are sophomores and even freshmen. Our seniors are big leaders, but the younger guys have the maturity and poise.”
The losses drop the Tigers to 7-9 overall and 5-4 in the conference. They play Central Catholic Friday and have Southmont next week in Sagamore action.
The Chargers move to 11-6 for the season to go with the 7-2 league mark.
They travel to Bethesda Christian Friday before next week’s matchups with the Athenians.
