Published: May 25, 2008 12:01 am         

Baseball teams ready for sectional

Sectional play opens up across the state on Memorial Day.

Baseball sectionals open up across the state on Memorial Day one last time — at least in the foreseeable future.

Rules changes beginning next year shift the traditional starting date for IHSAA baseball sectionals. But for now, teams are readying to open sectional play on the holiday — at least teams that didn’t draw a bye.

One of the teams that did draw a bye is Logansport (17-11) in Class 4A Sectional 7 at Lafayette Jeff. The Berries will face McCutcheon on Thursday at 5 p.m. Harrison plays Kokomo in the Memorial Day game, and the winner of that game faces the host Jeff Bronchos Thursday night at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. Since Logansport’s graduation ceremonies are also scheduled for Friday night, if the Berries win the sectional final will be moved to Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

Logansport enters the sectional with a five-game winning streak after sweeps of Marion and Muncie Central and a win over Plymouth.

“We’re playing OK,” Logan coach Jim Turner said. “We’re putting the ball in play. Our defense seems to be picking up a little bit.”

Turner added the sweeps of Marion and Muncie Central still hold value despite the teams winning a combined nine games on the year.

“It’s still Marion. It’s still Muncie,” he said. “Even though they’re down they’re still competitive. And they were conference games so there’s always a little more pressure.”

Logansport’s last baseball sectional title was in 2002. Kokomo is the defending sectional champion and the Wildkats were the state runner-up a year ago.

Turner said this year’s sectional field is evenly matched.

“Everybody has a pretty good shot. It’s a tough sectional,” he said. “We’ll have to execute in order to win.”

Winamac (4-20) is competing at Class 2A Sectional 34 at Culver Community. The Warriors face sixth-ranked Boone Grove at 10:30 a.m. (EST) on Memorial Day. Culver versus North Judson follows that game. Hebron and North Newton play on Thursday.

Boone Grove is a two-time defending sectional and regional champion.

“The kids know we have our hands full with Boone Grove,” Winamac coach Mark Hendryx said. “Their No. 1 pitcher, Farber, he’s one of the top three or four pitchers in Class 2A.

“They’re a running team. We’re going to have to keep their leadoff hitters off base.”

Hendryx added his squad had its best practice of the season on Saturday.

“We’re gonna have to be able to win one of those games where you only get four, five, six hits,” he said. “We’re capable of doing that. We just always have one bad inning that derails us.”

Hendryx added that big upsets are more prevalent in baseball than in any other sport.

Cass hosts Class 2A Sectional 38 this year. The Kings (11-10) face Southwood on Memorial Day at 11 a.m. Manchester plays North Miami following that game. Northfield faces Wabash on Tuesday night.

Northfield is a two-time defending sectional champion.

Carroll is hosting Class 2A Sectional 39. The Cougars (10-13) drew a bye and faces Seeger on Wednesday. Delphi (19-8) plays Clinton Central on Memorial Day at 5 p.m. The winner faces Fountain Central on Wednesday following the Carroll-Seeger game.

“We’re playing pretty well,” Carroll coach Steve Keown said. “We need to hit the ball more consistently. Our defense is playing pretty well. The thing I like about the tournament, when we have our No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers (Riley) Eller and (Brad) Benson pitching, we can stay in ballgames and compete with just about anybody.”

Keown added Seeger is “a good team. They’re a lot like us. The Ware kid is a tough pitcher. He leads the Lafayette area in strikeouts and has a 1.7 ERA. He throws hard.”

Both Pioneer (11-14) and Caston (18-7) compete at Class A Tri-County Sectional 50. The Panthers face the host Cavaliers on Memorial Day at 11 a.m. West Central plays seventh-ranked North White following that game. The Comets drew a bye and face South Newton on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

Tri-County is the defending sectional champion.

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com