The old saying is in sports that big time players make big time plays in big time games. Wednesday at North Montgomery, Montgomery County baseball fans got to watch two elite pitchers when Crawfordsville and the Chargers squared off. Coming off an 11-5 win on Tuesday, CHS turned to Cale Coursey while the Chargers went with their ace in Jarrod Kirsch. The result was a pitchers dual which went the Athenians way. They defeated their county rivals 3-0 for the Sagamore Conference and Montgomery County sweep.
The win also secures the county title for CHS who is 4-0 against Southmont and North Montgomery this season.
Coursey was locked in from the opening pitch and everyone in attendance knew it. He struck out the side in the first and second innings. The senior allowed just two hits total and struck out 11 in the win and didn’t walk a single hitter.
“Last year I missed this game and it lit a fire under me,” Coursey said. “I was motivated more than coming into this game and watching (Kale) Wemer do his stuff yesterday, it drove me to a whole new level. From the moment I woke up this morning I was locked in and ready to go.”
Crawfordsville (18-6, 8-3 SAC) didn’t get the first run of the ball game until the top of the fifth inning. Kaden Patton drew a lead-off walk followed up by a perfectly placed bunt by Javier Resto which resulted in a in-field single. Jude Coursey reached on a fielders choice which allowed Patton to cross home for the first run of the game. Resto continued to play the hero role for CHS as an inning later. Withe runners on second and third and two outs, Resto slapped a single to right field to score two more Athenian runs. That was more than enough for Coursey in the top of the who got the Chargers in order to secure the win.
“There was something different about Cale tonight that I haven’t seen before,” Crawfordsville coach Brett Motz said. “He had something inside himself that you could tell he wanted it more than anyone else. It was fun to watch and I was glad we weren’t the ones who had to face that tonight.”
Not to take away from the performance from Kirsch on the mound as the junior kept his team in the game for the entire night. In 6.2 innings Kirsch allowed those three earned runs and eight hits. He struck out five and walked four in what was just his first loss of the season.
North Montgomery’s (13-9, 8-3 SAC) two hits both went for extra bases. Austin Sulc and Dylan Braun both doubled for the Chargers.
“You have to give Cale a ton of credit because he is just a phenomenal pitcher to go up against,” Charger coach Matt Voorhees said. “He’s proven it for several years now. I felt like we squared up some nice balls against him. At the end of the day despite these two losses I still love this team.”
Crawfordsville’s eight hits in the win were highlighted by Resto’s two-hit performance. Wyatt Motz had a pair of hits as well for the Athenians while AJ Hall, Bryce Dowell, and Kaiden Underwood all had a hit each.
“I’m extremely happy for Javy for what he did for us offensively,” Motz added. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities but he stepped up and had a great bunt and then executed a two out hit to give us two additional runs.”
The Athenians with the sweep even up the SAC standings with their county rivals as they both sit 8-3 in conference play with three games remaining. Tri-West still holds steady in first with a mark of 10-1. North Montgomery still controls its own destiny as next week they’ll see those Bruins with the game set scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Crawfordsville still will have to contend with a scrappy Frankfort squad next Monday and Tuesday before ending SAC play Friday at Lebanon. The Chargers end play with a county matchup at Southmont next Friday.
“You want to be the team to go in and take two games against the leader in the conference,” Voorhees said. “That’s the position we know find ourselves in. We have to get back because we’re in the art of playing for championships.”
Coursey knows what this county title and SAC sweep of a county rival can do for his entire team as the Athenians look to continue to play their best baseball when it matters most in the seasons final weeks.
“These two brings a ton of confidence for us,” Coursey said. “Confidence in baseball goes a long way and when we’re confident we’re a really good team.”
