All Tucker Hinds’ teammates had smiles as he rounded third base and headed for home plate.
The North Montgomery senior first baseman had just topped a big Charger fourth inning with a two-run home run during a 6-4 win over Crawfordsville on Thursday at John Froedge field.
The win on the road clinched the Montgomery County Championship for coach Matt Voorhees’ team and got Hinds, who had dealt with an injury and missed several games, back in the groove.
“A huge at bat for Tucker,” Voorhees said. “He took a foul ball off the foot before the home run. Just to see him get that home run, you love those moments for those kids.”
North tallied four times in that fourth inning. Lucky Young drove in the other two runs with a single. The five hits and four runs all happened with two outs.
The home team put on a furious seventh inning rally, scoring three, but fell short. Athenian coach Brett Motz liked the way his team competed.
“It was one of those nights the baseball gods weren’t in our favor,” Motz said. “They decided every hard hit ball was going right to a defender and (North) made great plays. I thought we hit the ball as well as we had all season long. We battled at the plate with two strikes, the guys put it in play and the gods just didn’t want us to find gaps tonight. Give their guys credit.”
The win was only Voorhees’ third against Motz (9-3 versus Voorhees) and offset a loss Monday. North (15-5, 8-4 Monon Athletic Conference) moved into a second place tie in the conference with a two-game showdown coming up next week against league leader Cascade.
Junior Talyn Sheldon (4-1) pitched into the seventh inning for North and got the win, giving up five hits. Aiden Ambriz-Cruz picked up his third save. Landon Gerold (3-2) took the loss for CHS (12-10, 7-5).
“Talyn does a great job on the mound,” Voorhees said. “He consistently is throwing strikes, pounding the zone and giving his defense the opportunity to make plays.”
Ambriz-Cruz, who played the rest of the game at shortstop, had two hits and was on base four times. Keaton Brown had a hit and reached base three times.
For CHS, senior catcher Matt Miller had a pair of singles. Henry Bannon and Konner Ellsbury were each on base twice. North outhit CHS 8-6.
Motz’s team heads to Park Tudor on Saturday to play the team coached by CHS alum Courtney Whitehead.
“It’s been a fun conference season, fun rivalries,” Motz said. “It’s been fairly even. Everyone has been beating on each other. Our guys are battling and rest of the season should be fun.”
North has five games in the next five days, starting Friday at home against Class A No. 4 Rossville.
“The boys did a great job and put on a show for the fans,” Voorhees said. “Crawfordsville didn’t go away quietly and the battle is what it’s all about.”
